The Beach Boys - 1980-04-18 - Philadelphia, PA (FM)

The Beach Boys
featuring Brian Wilson
1980-04-18
Philadelphia Spectrum
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
FM Broadcast
320 kbps
Artwork Included

CD 1
01. California Girls
02. Sloop John B
03. Darlin'
04. School Days
05. WWFM Radio Announcement
06. In My Room
07. Do It Again
08. Little Deuce Coupe
09. Keepin' The Summer Alive
10. God Only Knows
11. Good Timin'
12. Some Of Your Love
13. Surfer Girl
14. Goin' On
15. Be True To Your School
16. Catch A Wave
17. Livin' With A Heartache
18. Lady Lynda
19. Disney Girls

CD 2
01. Long Tall Texan
02. Help Me Rhonda
03. Wouldn't It Be Nice
04. Rock And Roll Music
05. I Get Around
06. Surfin' USA
07. WWFM Radio Announcement
08. Good Vibrations
09. Barbara Ann
10. Fun Fun Fun

The Beach Boys - 1980-04-18 - Philadelphia, PA (FM)

They were the pride of Hawthorne CA, a town just 15 miles south west of Los Angeles. Brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, cousin Mike Love and good friend Al Jardine formed the Beach Boys in 1961, and set out on a career that made them one of, if not, the, pre-eminent American rock band. In the beginning, the embodied the sound of culture of Southern California - surf, hot rods and blond girls at the beach. As the band and rock grew up side by side, their sound, under the direction of Brian, became more mature and sophisticated, incorporating intricate hormones and multi-layered sound. Ironically, the leader of “America’s Band” suffered a nervous breakdown and almost destroyed the band in pursuit of emulating and outdoing London’s greatest musical export, the one and only Beatles. While in the 1970s and beyond, the Beach Boys may never have reached the heights of success that they achieved in the 1960s, the band has survived breakdowns and breakups, deaths and disillusionment to remain a fixture on the rock scene. Just 2 years ago, the surviving members reunited for a sold out tour to celebrate the band’s 50th anni9vrsary. This post captures the band during one of the more difficult times in their long career. On March 24, 1980, The Beach Boys released Keepin’ The Summer Alive, their 24th studio album and 2nd with CBS Records. The production and recording of the album was filled with tension and drama. While Brian Wilson worked with Mike Love to write some new material for the disc, it was evident that Brian was no longer the creative force he once was. Nor was he able to function as producer, as he had in the past. In fact at one point, Brian stopped production because he only wanted to work on oldies. Dennis Wilson also had his issues with the album and left the recording studio after a few sessions. The group brought in Bruce Johnston to handle production, and needed to reach back into a library of songs recorded years earlier, but never released, in order to fill out the album. Keepin' the Summer Alive only reached #75 in the U.S. on the Billboard charts, not the performance that CBS was looking for when they signed the Beach Boys to a massive record deal in 1978. It would be 5 years before the Beach Boys released another album, by which time they had lost Dennis Wilson, who drowned in December 1983. This FM broadcast captures the group on tour in support of their latest release on April 18, 1980, 34 years ago today, sans Dennis but with Brian. Despite their troubles in the studio, the band would continue to tour and draw crowds of folks who, like the group, were intent on Keepin The Summer Alive.