[quote name='Oops! I did it again.']Andy Fletcher of Depeche Mode
He's a member of the band, technically. He performs with the on stage. He's there in photoshoots and interviews. He gets the same third of the pie that the other two guys get. He gets a vote in final decisions with regards to the band and the creative/professional decisions they make.
Pretty sure the only musical contribution he's ever made was playing crude bass on one or two tracks on their most recent album. Never sang, never written, never arranged, never produced, never done any of that.
He's basically a 'leader,' a 'team captain' if you will. I think he used to be active as the defacto manager of the group, but has since relinquished most of those duties. These days, he just does his thing...a member of Depeche Mode who, well, is
just a member.
There are lots of reasons that point to Mike not being the ONLY reason Smile was never completed. Brian was a huge flake at the time anyway, and he had no problem getting projects completed past Love before that. Even if Van Dyke Parks abandoned the project solely because of Mike, I think it's unfair to shoulder the blame for Smile on him...because, as I said before, Brian was able to deal with that exact problem in the past successfully. There's got to be more than the story than Mike Love stifling the project.
Also, like another poster said, I would not discount Mike's contributions to the group, both creatively and vocally. That distintive voice of his played (and still plays) a massive role in what sets Beach Boys songs apart from the rest of the pack...not to mention tracks on which his voice is downright beautiful (All I Wanna Do, for instance). Plus the guy knew how to lyricly craft a hook, let's not discount that either.
I agree with your point of his steering the band away from creative records and more towards recording covers and throwbacks to their surf/car tunes. That's a shame. But I won't use that to discount the positives he contributed. It's impossible for me to imagine the Beach Boys without Mike Love's vocals somewhere on the record, it really is. As brilliant as the Wilson brothers were in each of their own rights, Mike Love was unique and distinct talent that was necessary for The Beach Boys to be
The Beach Boys...IMHO.[/quote]
Wow, you get it.
I like you.
Maybe even
like like you.
