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  THE 1980's WERE BARREN TIMES for the Beach Boys and the legion of worldwide fans that followed their recording career so loyally through the years. After the disappointing response to the “Keepin’ The Summer Alive” album the band journeyed to the UK, where they headlined the prestigious Knebworth Festival – a poignant moment in Beach Boys history as the event (filmed and recorded for possible future release) would be the final time that all six band members journeyed together to one of the most loyal of supporting markets.

  Carl Wilson would temporarily leave the band the following year, issuing two solo albums during his absence, whilst Mike would also release (at a third attempt) his debut solo offering. In 1982 Brian would be ‘sacked’ from the band for a period of time, in an bold attempt to get his wayward lifestyle back on track (one that would see the return of his former therapist, Dr Eugene Landy) … but all this would pale into insignificance following the tragic turn of events during late 1983 when middle Wilson brother, Dennis, his own lifestyle and health at virtually rock bottom, dove into the icy waters at Marina Del Ray in Los Angeles. He didn’t resurface …

  Between 1980 and 1985 only one ‘new’ recording credited to the Beach Boys name would appear, despite a 1982 attempt at negotiating with producers for a new collection. This one solitary offering was a version of the old Mamas & Papas hit from 1966; “California Dreamin’”, that appeared on a Mike Love-instigated cassette collection entitled “Rock’n’Roll City” – and it appeared at that stage that their status as successful recording artists had reached an unsatisfactory conclusion (although 1981 had seen the astonishing Top 20 chart success of the ‘Beach Boys Medley’ – an ad-hoc montage of various ‘hit excerpts’ edited together). However, for the Beach Boys as a performing act in their homeland, things couldn’t have been going more differently.

  As regular visitors to the annual Washington 4th of July concerts in the nations capitol, sometime with, sometimes without Brian Wilson, the band attracted mammoth sized audiences to their shows, now no more than a nostalgic journey back in time to their halcyon days of 1960’s hitmaking. Re-christened amongst these enormous crowd-pulling events as ‘America’s Band’, and courted by supporters no greater than the President himself, the Beach Boys were now the ultimate tribute band to happier times. With Carl back in the line-up, and Bruce re-established (albeit unofficially) as a band member, their ‘live’ persona in the public eye couldn’t have been stronger … and so surely it was only a matter of time before they attempted to capitalise on this second resurgence with new studio material.

  Subsequently, May 1985 saw a brand new single release, produced by flavour-of-the-month studio-wizard Steve Levine, the man partly responsible for the phenomenal pop-superstardom of Boy George and Culture Club. From the opening Dennis Wilson-influence of the pounding drum track, “Getcha Back” was pure Beach Boys … the harmony drenched sound, the wailing falsetto, the dumb sum-sum-summertime lyrical naiveté … and, most notably, a Top 30 hit. The album that followed shortly afterwards, titled simply ‘The Beach Boys’ (but often referred to amongst aficionados as ‘Beach Boys 1985’), was again sublimely polished by Steve Levine and his endless bank of synthesisers and electronics, and it achieved a similar reception, peaking just outside the Top 50. It was a welcome and somewhat surprising return for the band, but the collection of songs

that were featured, suggested a group unsure of their true musical directions.

Variations On A Theme

  Should they concentrate on mimicking the hits and sounds of yore, a formulated caricature of what the public expected ? Listen to “Getcha Back” or “California Calling” and decide … or should they rely once again on Brian’s whimsical, yet uncertain musical explorations and deliver the quality of “I’m So Lonely”, “Male Ego” and “It’s Just A Matter Of Time”? Then again, were Carl Wilson’s more formulated ‘rock’ progressions (“It’s Getting’ Late” and “Maybe I Don’t Know”) the right direction ? Or should they capitalise on current trends and rely on modern songwriters and current studio technology in the mould of Boy George (“Passing Friend”) ? Think “Here Comes The Night” before you stay too long with that thought …

  Despite the uncertainties that prevailed throughout the actual recordings one cannot deny that CBS threw one last bag of $$$ at promoting the release, perhaps in a final attempt at recouping some of their earlier misplaced faith. An expensive promotional video was shot for the initial single launch, and the album itself was packaged with a glossy colour cover and inner sleeve. Just perhaps there was still some mileage in the ol’ surfin’ woodie yet …

  The front of the album cover was a simple affair. Dominated by an uncredited artwork, featuring an array of sand, surf and palm trees, the design falls once again under the direction of CBS Directors Tony Lane and Nancy Donald. The extra large print of the words “Beach Boys” stand out boldly against the plain white backdrop - possibly a deciding factor in this was that the album simultaneously appeared as the first all-new Beach

The reverse of the sleeve

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Boys compact disc, thus demanding a smaller sized cover - and yet the immediate focus for the eye is drawn towards the painting actually inside the lettering. The disjointed image of a tropical coastline appears within the individual letters themselves and, whilst it’s an ingenious concept, the actual reality of the design falls way short of the mark, due in no doubt to the positioning of the painting. The last four letters of the word ‘Beach’ simply appear to be a mixture of brown and gold colouring, with no clear definition as to the symbolism, and it’s only with the sea and surf breaking in the letters below that the artwork starts to succeed in its task. If anything, the actual concept worked far better when the idea was originally utilised for the earlier picture sleeve of the “Getcha Back” 45rpm release (see above), whereupon the image was shifted upwards slightly and the blue colouring of the sea featured within the lettering at the top.

  Likewise, for the second U.S. single taken off the album, Carl’s “It’s Getting’ Late”, the design was re-used once again, even more successfully this time, with an alternate piece of artwork, featuring the flowering red bloom of tropical fauna against the white crests of the breaking surf. But indeed, by then it was certainly getting too late, and when the third single appeared in the record stores of America the idea had been used to it’s limit and a weak, non-descript package graced the cover for Bruce’s “She Believes In Love Again” instead (notably, the U.K. chose to issue “Passing Friend” as the second single, but that appeared in a photographic cover) …

  For the reverse of the sleeve the Lane/Donald partnership again focussed heavily on the simplistic, choosing to rely on a predominantly white canvas, with a clean colour photograph of the five-piece band as the central image. Additional details are sparse, with a track listing and a few additional credits for management, production and design listed to the right of the sleeve. In addition, a touching dedication to the late Dennis Wilson appears, tidily squared off from the remaining text.

The featured picture, taken during a session with celebrity photographer Harry Langdon, is a decidedly high quality image, with all group members seemingly relaxed and smiling, although it must be noted that Mike’s choice of headwear and sweater offers up a decidedly middle-aged, fatherly image, a fact that even Bruce’s alarming Hawaiian shirt, or Brian’s satin sky-blue jacket cannot eradicate. Interestingly, the photograph also appears unnecessarily cropped at the bottom, making an uneven balance against the space above the band – although an outtake from the shoot suggests that the bands choice of ‘comfortable’ foot and sockwear hardly suggested ‘cool’ …

  The inner sleeve contains a full set of lyrics for each track, and musician and songwriting credits (including the notable and ominous presence of Eugene E Landy) alongside additional production credits, clearly highlighting the dominance over the project by British tech-wizard Steve Levine. There are an awful lot of familiar English names scattered throughout, and the inclusion of such musicians as Graham Broad, Roy Hay, and Julian Lindsay (all sidekicks of Steve Levine’s Culture Club sessions) suggest that most, if not all the instrumentation was created at Levine’s Red Bus studios in London.

  Finally, it is worthy of note that four additional pictures are also featured on the inner sleeve; although the origin of these is somewhat open to speculative suggestions. Apparently, the four black and white snapshots (featuring various members of the general public) were the results of a “Keepin’ The Summer Alive” photograph competition, and all bear some relevance to the ‘Beach Boys’ or summer in general. Just where the contest originates from is unclear twenty years down the line … but one assumes that CBS held a Beach Boy promotion at some stage, possibly even during the “Keepin’ The Summer Alive” launch … although did all participants expect to have to wait FIVE YEARS before the next album …

Brother Records SL-9431

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