Welcome to Betamax Blocker! A classy place for classic movies, classic rock, classic tech, and lots of other random classic things. I specialize in home media collections, The Beach Boys, and old telephones. Feel free to swing by anytime!
Howdy Beta B. You've been an integral part of Steve's Basement, so looking forward to actually WATCHING this and Pt. 2 ! (BTW, just wondering where you pulled your nickname from? Did you ever mess w/ actual Beta VCRs?)
My name came from beta blockers and Betamax tapes LOL I actually don't have a Beta player at the moment but I do have several cassettes. Steve is a fount of knowledge and a great guy to work with. I always look forward to his weekly vids. Part 3 might be coming in the future! Thanks for the great comment!
The difference between the 1990 and 2001 twofers is the 1990 twofers have noise reduction which lops off the top end. The 2001 twofers have the top end restored.
I have an interest in these US/Canada cheapo compilations on Pickwick.Some of them are so odd, like the one with the "20/20" cover avoiding any hit and any later track! It's actually a pretty cool selection of early surf tracks, but more like a deep dive; We had some strange compilations in Europe as well, on MFP for example. As for the reissues of the original albums minus two tracks, I never understood what reasoning went behind that. Most Beach Boys albums were so short to begin with!
I suppose the abridged reissues were mostly a cost-saving measure. I have to look into getting some of the MFP releases. I feel like they would make good companions for the unusual Pickwick releases!
Enjoyed this, just like I enjoyed Pt.1! Wished you hadn't skipped over Stars & Stripes, Vol. 1 CD. Can see the picks you both made for each album. For 1979's L.A. (Light Album), not surprising (except for the late 1970s setting) that "Shortnin' Bread" was recorded and included on the album. It's a song Brian seems to have had an obsession with. Also, it seems to be a song (For whatever reasons) a bunch of '60s surfing groups took a liking to. The Astronauts recorded a live version of it, placing it on their second album, which was a concert appearance. The Pyramids and Trashmen may also have recordings of it. I would take anything Bruce tells you (In this instance, about the history of the song "She Believes In Love Again") with a grain of salt. So, he offered the song to Hall & Oates (A very successful recording duo during this time) and, of course, they turned the song down. WHY would they want a song from someone who had only written ONE hit (Barry Manilow's "I Write The Songs" from nearly 10 years before!) who was a member of a band that hadn't had a hit song or album in nearly 20 years at this point. Bruce has also claimed that Keith Moon of the Who wanted to join the Beach Boys, and that the Beach Boys and Who were considering recording an album together during the early 1970s.
If we do Part 3, we will indeed cover Stars & Stripes! I never realized Shortenin' Break was such a go-to song for so many; that's good to know. I've never seen any evidence to back up what Bruce told me, so you're right about that but who knows, maybe he thought he had an "in" with someone and that would get the song done. Glad he ultimately worked with Carl on it though as it's my favorite song from Beach Boys '85. Thanks for the great comment!
Using the original definition of songs that are out of place, Everyone's in Love With You sticks out a lot on 15 Big Ones. Unless you redefine weird as worst song or strangest song. Talk to Me fits the vibe of 15 Big Ones perfectly.
The only reason Talk to Me feels so weird to me is because of the Tallahassee Lassie bit. It comes from nowhere and doesn't suit the song at all. A straight version of Talk to Me would be much more grounded in my eyes. Everyone's in Love with You is a good choice for oddball too but I think it kind of goes with TM Song and even Had to Phone Ya to a degree.
It seems the definition of weird changes as you go. Because if we are talking strange, I might go with Coo Coo Clock or Moon Dawg on Surfin Safari. She's Going Bald could also be the strangest song on Smiley. But if you define weird as what sticks out the most, She's Going Bald fits the vibe perfectly on Smiley Smile
Different Beach Boys albums are weird in different ways LOL Smiley Smile is a tough one because as Steve pointed out- it's all weird. I think the main reason Ten Little Indians feels like such a weirdo on the first album is because it feels more like a children's song than a song for teenagers. Thanks for the comment- this was a fun project and the kind where everyone could get a different answer!
Nice collection! I have sunshine dream on eight track tape as well as a few other harder to find ones by the beach boys. I got rid of a lot of them at one time, but I kept probably way too many! Nice collection and great video!
Thanks so much! I wish I had Sunshine Dream on 8-track or cassette. That's a fun album with a cool cover. I have the vinyl but I'd like another format too.
In my experience, the green labels do sound the best, and even by far. My green label reissues of wild honey, smiley smile, and pet sounds sound as good as ever…. And they are presented in mono only just as intended. I’ve bought multiple copies of the original mono Wild honey, and they all sound extremely muddy with the exception of the Capitol green label. The one released on Brother as a 2-fer in the mid 70s is decent too but I prefer the Capitol reissue though. They do have their problems like you mentioned, leaving off two songs usually from each album, but thankfully, this isn’t the case for Party! - 20/20. These reissues have no omitted songs. I also like this be true to your school album because all songs are presented in mono. Cheers and great video. I’m checking out a lot of your videos and enjoy what you’re doing. Thanks.
Thank you for the kind words! Glad you enjoy my videos. Thanks for the heads-up about the audio quality on the various releases as well. I'll have to watch for more green label releases!
Hey Betamax, cool to see you chatting it up with a fellow fan. I've been working at the computer so much lately, listening to lots of music so I'll check out these weirder picks.
No way man, the biggest jump scare on a Beach album is on Smiley Smile where Wind Chimes gently fades to nothing....and then....SUPER LOUD ORGAN!! on the song Gettin' Hungry.
They could have cheated and put "Talk to Me/ Tallahassee Lassie" to give us at least a little warning. I know some releases call it "Talk to Me (Medley)" so I guess that kind of counts. But they definitely couldn't have made it a proper 16th song.
I like it the fish eye lens, Steve! Listening to "Keepin' the Summer Alive" on vinyl when first released through an old tube stereo console (which my Mom found at a garage sale) left a lasting impression on me. When the track "When Girls Get Together" came on, the "bomp-bomp,bomp" of the bass drum (or timpani?) would shake the room. My bones are still rattling! Good episode, guys.
great conclusion just great to see you both having so much fun, sorry i really like wipeout its fun something music now has forgotten about, cheers, part three yes please
man sounds like you had a blast, so cool you got the vip treatment and it went so well, great you got the 8 track signed as well, love the fact they did still cruisin love that song, rockaway beach cool too, must listen to them again, think i said before only seen them once in 2014 at newmarket here in the uk and it was great, doubt they will come back at there age, they were on tv over here a few months ago talking about the documentary and mike talked to classic rock magazine about the boys hopefully recording some new songs, did they say anything about that when you was with them, he also let the cat out of the bag when he was on tc over here about them all getting together again then saying i shouldnt of said that, we will see, cheers man so jealous
I had never heard Still Cruisin' live before so I was super happy! They might come back to the UK, you never know. Or it could be a good excuse for you to go on vacation to the US LOL Surprisingly, we didn't talk about music/ albums too much- it was mostly anecdotal stuff from their lives. A very fun time! Hope a new record is in the works from them! That would be amazing!
The first concert I ever saw was a Beach Boys concert last August in Cleveland. I was very excited as the Beach Boys are my favorite band, and I enjoyed the show a lot. It was a great venue (Jacob's Pavillion) and everyone sang great. It was all going normal until the second half of the show, when a woman came up to me and my brother who I was there with along with my mom. She asked us if we wanted to go on stage and dance and we said yes. I assume this was their touring manager, but I'm not sure. We followed her towards the stage and she asked another couple of people on the way. There were two people she asked but made sure they were too drunk before allowing them to come with us. We made it to behind the stage, and she briefed us before we went on and told us not to be too rowdy or anything. We all walked on as they started playing Barbara Ann. I should also say that me and my brother were wearing the classic blue and white striped shirts that the boys wore back in the day. When we walked on, me and my brother walked toward Bruce and his keyboard where he had his hands on our shoulders and let us sing into his microphone. After he had walked away, I did the Mike Love dance where he crouches over and rolls his arms around each other. (He did that on the Ed Sullivan Show for reference) Someone recorded this all and put it on RU-vid if you'd be interested in seeing it. Anyways, after Barbara Ann we went back to our seats and let the show finish. After it was over, we thought we had a chance to get backstage. We waited around and let the place empty out a little until we asked a security guard and they went to ask whoever and we were let backstage. When we got back there, Bruce came out of this little building and said "Boys boys boys!" and we proceeded to talk to Bruce for a good while. He told me and my brother not to get into drugs or alcohol and was telling us about how his sons went to Bond College in Australia, presumably the same one he talked about to you. We also talked about "Tears in the Morning" And he told us that when he wrote that he didn't relate to it at all and he had never been heartbroken in his life. He also told a story about how he's shorter than his wife now that they're older. Sadly Mike was too tired to come out and so we didn't see him, but we got some pictures with Bruce. Sadly no autographs either. He was very touchy with my mom which was interesting but it was a great experience and I didn't expect it for a first-time concert. I do hope to go to another concert one day, and maybe be let backstage again to meet Mike. Anyways, sorry for the long comment, and I'm looking forward to the next episode with Steve Lewis.
I almost went to that show but I saw them in Salamanca, NY instead. I found the video you mentioned. Looks like you guys had a good time. Good thing Mike didn't seem to notice you copying his 60s dance moves. He might have held that against you LOL I'm assuming Tara Ricart (the woman I have a photo with near the end of this video) was probably the person who invited you up. She's terrific! Thanks for the cool anecdotes about Bruce. He is always fun to talk to and is full of great stories. Mike can be a little more standoffish. So jealous you got to dance on stage too- they never invited me up! I hope you get to see and meet them again sometime. Thanks for the great comment!
If I was at a Beach Boy show I'd try n' start a mosh pit lol. I've lost my mind to the surf/hot rod stuff more than any punk/metal rrcord. I wouldn't be goofin' during In My Room or Warmth Of The Sun though.
Agree 100%! Surfing and car songs are fine for moshing and it was nice to see everyone having fun, but I've never heard of mosh pits for melancholy ballads!
Great,some of the ‘reissue’s ‘ were a bit strange. Not sure about Capitol’s bargain basement philosophy! I have most of them. We had MFP bargain basement albums in U.K. 😂
Definitely some weird choices across the board. I have a couple of the MFP releases. They aren't as common in the US but they still pop up at used record places from time to time.
For me, Summer In Paradise is a Beach Boys album that I try not to take so seriously and just enjoy it. The production is not great, songs like “Summer Of Love” can just be really stupid, but it’s still a pretty fun album. I think most Beach Boys fans need to understand that Mike Love isn’t trying to make his own Pet Sounds with Summer In Paradise, it’s supposed to be just a fun summer album and nothing more to it.
I owned all of these at one time or another. I agree some of the choices of shorts they put in the DVDs were out of place. I mainly got them because I wouldn't have to worry about scouting around for VHS copies or rely on my older TV recordings to watch them. During 2003-2004, they released three more DVDs, Three Stooges in History, Stooges at Work, and Stooges and the Law. Then, from 2004-2006, they released compilations of newly-colorized shorts, which I steered clear from. Truthfully, Spook Louder should have included the following: Spook Louder Shivering Sherlocks The Ghost Talks If a Body Meets a Body We Want Our Mummy A Bird in the Head And I sort of wished they did a valentine's day-themed Stooge DVD as well, called Love Those Stooges Three Smart Saps The Sitter-Downers G.I. Wanna Home Rhythm and Weep Love at First Bite Gypped in the Penthouse
Great lists! The Merry Mavericks DVD needed an overhaul as well to make it all Westerns. Weirdly, not many post-1950 shorts were released to the themed DVDs. I have reviews of the colorized and later themed releases as well and I'll be doing one on the proper DVD sets (1934-36, etc.) very soon. Thanks for the great comment!
Enjoyed watching and listening to you both talking about the Beach Boys weirdest songs on each of their studio albums! Glad you were able to do this, and hope you'll continue this in the future!!
Awesome video - I love the concept. You guys are two of my favorite content creators on RU-vid. It's like chocolate and peanut butter - two great tastes that taste great together!
Since it's your channel I'll go with @betamaxblocker as the peanut butter - you hold it all together. That makes Steve Lewis @thebeachboysbasementwithst6444 the chocolate! Hope you both keep up the awesome work!
Thanks again for having me on the show! It was a great time. I was stunned this morning to see my big ol' moon head come up a thumbnail for "new recommended" RU-vid videos. Continued good luck on the channel!
Heeeey wassup Betamax. Excellent pickups and good to see you got a deal on the Freaks set! That Lon Chaney collection looks wonderful as well. Wall-E...that will look amazing in 4K. Hope you enjoy it more on your rewatch. I'm still mad I have to go into Manhattan or travel to visit a Barnes & Noble, there's no more in the BX! Bummer...ah well, be well man, have a nice week ahead!
Very excited for both Wall-E and the Browning films! I highly recommend "The Unknown" even in its edited form. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen a Lon Chaney film I didn't enjoy. I have to drive about 45 min to reach my nearest B&N but it's mostly country driving so it's not too bad. Sounds like you might be better off ordering online. Be well and I'm looking forward to your next TZ video!
@@betamaxblocker the marx borthers only did one skit. the weyans brothers did it for the WHOLE movie. imagine belittling white women like that? women who have suffered from the beginning of time. they're sacrosanct, don't cha know?
My number 1 would have been monkey business too. Always my first go to when I watch their movies every few years, but duck soup may be better. Excellent reviews.
Thanks for a great and interesting series! As I've mentioned, I found some of your ranking really unusual, but also interesting and you provided a really understandable basis for your choices. I love the perspective! BTW, if you haven't heard it, you might enjoy checking out a 1933 radio broadcast called "The Paramount Movie Parade." It's a twelve minute promotional feature for "Duck Soup" and is interesting because it includes a lot of material that didn't make it to the final cut of the film. Groucho does, pretty much, a whole different routine with Margaret Dumont when he arrives at the reception at the beginning of the film. (I'm not sure if it's on RU-vid, though I suspect it is. I got it in a download of Marx Brothers audio clips from iTunes years ago.) Anyway, great job and keep up the excellent and interesting work!
Thanks for the heads-up about the radio promos. I had never heard those before. Not only are they using an early version of the script when they introduce the brothers (i.e. Harpo's "Pinky" is still called "Skippy") but it's neat to see what they cut and reshot between those recordings and the release. Very great find! Thanks again for doing a collab with me as well. That will be uploaded very soon!
Re: Duck Soup…Check out the final battle scene and look at how much fun the boys are having. Full of adlibs and chaos, the brothers molest Margaret Dumont, wreck the set, and run amuck in their own version of the Crazy House routine. Great fun. Thanks for the video BB.
