Peter Bagge’s “In Defense Of (And Praise For) Mike Love”

This is a really excellent 2001 article on Mike Love that, even if you don't agree with all (or any) it, is very entertaining and thought provoking. Hope you enjoy - http://www.mbird.com/2012/05/beach-boys-101-peter-bagges-in-defense-of-and-praise-for-mike-love/

 

This is great – thanks for posting.

And if you're not familiar with Peter Bagge's Hate, it's a pretty awesome all on its own.

 

As was his old series "Neat Stuff"!

 

bumpa!

 

I've got to say, I thought this article was so awful I eventually stopped reading. There were so many idiotic comments I can't believe anybody the slightest bit familiar with the Beach Boys could stomach it. I mean the author himself doesn't get it at all..

on Pet Sounds..

"with the exception of “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and “Sloop John B” (the latter of which was included at the record company’s insistence) it’s not a very easy record to listen to all the way through."

Reading the first quarter of the article, I could've posted 20 examples like this which were just hooey. The only part that was worthwhile was his litany of Mike Love character flaws.

 

It's a good article - try it again and let yourself be challenged.

 

I spent a fair amount of time with it and found it mostly idiotic. The writer is comically clueless imo.

 

To each his own. It's among the best pieces of writing on the BBs I've ever encountered. I really appreciate his humour and off-consensus take on the situation and I think even Mike Love haters with an open mind could get a lot from it. I think an extreme description like 'comically clueless' is way off base when applied to this article and suggests you've been more irritated by the idea of its premise than the way it's articulated.

 

Translation: "Bagge's opinion differs from mine; therefore he's just a big stupid head."

I thought it was a good read that took some appropriate shots at critical sacred cows (Van Dyke Parks, I'm looking at you) and came from a perspective that knew of which it spoke, even if you didn't agree with its take on Love or certain aspects of the Beach Boys catalog.

 

One positive aspect I will mention, you have to commend Mike Love for reaching out to his cousin Brian regarding lifestyle. During the recent reunion, Love offered to put Brian on a special regimen involving lifestyle changes, such as exercise, weight loss and eliminating fast food and junk food. Mike is about 10 years older than Bill Clinton, but looks much younger than Bill. All of us want for Brian to be healthy so that he can live a fruitful life and continue to create the art of music which for which he's been blessed.

 

I suppose I'm biased as I think Peter Bagge was/is one of THE great comic artists in the late 80s and found this article an articulate take on a whole lot of BB~related subjects. Couldn't help but 'hear' Buddy Bradley's voice whinging about the band!

 

I think you meant to say "The writer's comics are great". Good article, too.

 

And here's Bagge's take on Murry Wilson:

 

No, I found it unenlightened at pretty much every turn. I also found his perceptions of how the Beach Boys were received to be out there, I've met few people in my life with these attitudes. but like you said, to each his own.

 

It's fair enough to disagree with what Bagge is saying, but I think the way you have quoted part of this sentence doesn't quite capture what he is saying:

"Pet Sounds is indeed an artistic masterpiece, although it’s taken most people 25-30 years to agree with that assessment, since with the exception of “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and “Sloop John B” (the latter of which was included at the record company’s insistence) it’s not a very easy record to listen to all the way through. This isn’t a party record. You have to be in the mood for it."

This hardly supports the idea that Bagge "just doesn't get it".

 

Whoever said Pet Sounds was a party record and since when does a record have to be a party record to want to listen to it the whole way thru? That's absurd. People listen to Pink Floyd records all the time from beginning to end and they are generally not cheery.

 

It needed a bump a day later?

 

Hey, leave VDP alone! He was a steadfast ally of the band's, even after the Smile debacle would have scared others away. He helped get them signed to a new label in the 70s when they reputation was at a low ebb and he kept pushing Brian to create (i.e. "Sail On Sailor"). He even helped the Lovester a bit with "Kokomo". As for the author's assertion that "Parks has admitted himself that the lyrics he wrote for Smile don’t mean a goddamned thing", I don't believe Parks has made any such admission, whatever you might think of his lyrics.

 

Maybe you haven't encountered Scott S. on this forum before. He likes to argue, just for the sake of arguing, and his comments in this thread are pretty indicative of his standard interaction with other forum members.

 

I thought it was a real good article, though I don't get the love for Student Demonstration Time.

 

Yeah, there are plenty of Bagge's opinions I don't agree with in this piece, but overall, it's interesting, well-written, and in a few places, laugh out loud funny.

 

Well OK, I'll go easy on Van. His work - that with which I'm familiar, natch - just irks me sometimes, as it comes off like someone trying to be clever but not actually being clever enough to pull it off.

 

He's definitely got his own idiosyncratic style. I guess you could argue that his lyrics weren't a good fit for the Beach Boys and that the whole Smile project was misguided folly. . . but you would be wrong and I would fight you!

 

Regarding "Pet Sounds", " it’s not a very easy record to listen to all the way through."
WTF !?!?
To me that is just an idiotic statement.
Guess he "gets" the Beach Boys in a different way than I do.

Like the writer I have been able to get past the fact that Mike Love is quite famously a dick and have been able to enjoy the music.
As far as his musical critiques I (like I'm sure many) disagree with him time and again.

Interesting funny article but it is one man's opinion.