Discograffiti

Everyone needs a Beach Boy break every now and then, and I’m happy as a clam to announce this sharp left turn with Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite, as we take a mutual descent into the heart of darkness.  Our examination of every last triumphantly bleak release by post-punk progenitors Joy Division is a dependably in-depth celebration of this great band’s “eerie spatially.” Here’s just a few of the ma...

Everyone needs a Beach Boy break every now and then, and I’m happy as a clam to announce this sharp left turn with Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite, as we take a mutual descent into the heart of darkness.  Our examination of every last triumphantly bleak release by post-punk progenitors Joy Division is a dependably in-depth celebration of this great band’s “eerie spatially.” Here’s just a few of the ma...

Believe it or not, this explicitly vulnerable catch-up was simply my prelude to rapping with Pete Kember about The Beach Boys’ Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!). Pete’s a truly great man, so wonderful to talk with, and these 15 minutes were a free-range roam during which we tackled a wide variety of topics just as compelling as anything ever spoken about on Discograffiti. There’ll be a short sneak...

For our big Season 2 Finale, Discograffiti’s opted to fudge the timeline just a bit in order to give the proper red-carpet drum-roll gravitas to Season 3, especially since much of the music on The Beach Boys’ “Stack-O-Tracks” was created during this period, by the musicians who’d go on to create 99% of the music created during Season 3.  In this very special episode, the inimitable Don Randi and W...

This Beach Boys 45 is the band’s final musical communique prior to Pet Sounds’ release, and although it’s indisputably up there with the greatest music they’ve ever created, it died a relative death at the hands of FM radio DJs at the time due to the extremely unconventional and bold series of silences featured in the song. DJs were left scratching their heads, horrified by the prospect of dead ai...

The Best Show’s Tom Scharpling has been a Beach Boys obsessive for over 40 years, and the idea behind bringing him on for Party!, The Beach Boys’ oft-dismissed 10th LP that also served as a stopgap measure allowing Brian Wilson to buy time to shape Pet Sounds, was to feature a guest who took this record seriously. In addition, the various unreleased experiments in which Brian was engaging during t...

This incredibly special bonus episode, possibly the longest documented conversation about The Beach Boys 9th LP, is exactly as its title suggests.  Here we have four human beings disproportionately excited by the task at hand, throwing down in a medically unadvisable manner. I crushed this 3 1/2 hour behemoth down to 2 1/2 hours, and I couldn’t conceive of losing another second of it.  I’m not kid...

Returning guest Pete Kember (aka Sonic Boom) is back, and better than ever, as he tackles the 9th LP by The Beach Boys.  As it says in David Leaf’s 1990 CD two-fer liner notes: “After side two of Today!, it didn’t seem possible that Brian could return to these simpler themes, but for one last album, he found a way to combine Capitol’s commercial demands with his artistic calling.”  Stay tuned, Pet...

This is an absolute treat of a bonus episode, featuring the remainder of my interview with David Leaf…and the most important material, to boot.  This hour-long special is a track-by-track rundown of all the songs featured on The Beach Boys’ classic 8th LP, “Today!”  Part 1 found us just getting started—welcome, then, to the main event.   There’ll be a short sneak peak running publicly for free, bu...

Welcome to Season 2 of “The Beach Boys: And Your Dreams Come True!” Sub-titled “Icarus Ascending,” this season focuses solely on the year 1965 because, well…a whole heck of a lot can happen in that short a timespan if you’re Brian Wilson edging ever closer to your peak.  The Beach Boys’ 8th LP, Today!, is tackled by none other than author/filmmaker David Leaf, who’s long held the belief, despite t...

Welcome to the fulcrum point of Season 1’s finale and the beginning of Season 2! In this episode, special guest Joe Kennedy and I talk about all the juicy Season 1 Wrap-Up Gossip I can’t talk about on the public platforms, an explanation of Season 2’s entire line-up, what’s coming up around the bend in Season 3, and a bonus guest spot that couldn’t fit elsewhere but is packed with transportive, tr...

The Beach Boys’ sixth LP is unquestionably one of their best. It’s a transitional one, too, which is why this record stands as the perfect signpost at which to conclude “Catch A Wave: 1961-1964.” This two-part Season One Finale is an intense investigation of the heady days that built up to the explosion of creativity that still stands unequalled in the annals of music history. Beach Boys author Jo...

Welcome to Discograffiti’s exploration of The Beach Boys’ seventh studio album, this one packed with holiday cheer and orchestral sparkle. In this episode, special guest David Beard and I talk about Brian’s album-length excuse to work with one of his heroes, Four Freshman arranger Dick Reynolds, whose expertise with the 41-piece orchestra that plays on half this LP foreshadows Brian’s just around...

The Beach Boys’ sixth LP is unquestionably one of their best. It’s a transitional one, too, which is why this record stands as the perfect signpost at which to conclude “Catch A Wave: 1961-1964.” Part 1 of Discograffiti's Season One Finale is an intense investigation of the heady days that built up to the explosion of creativity that still stands unequalled in the annals of music history. Beach Bo...

Welcome to Discograffiti’s exploration of Brian Wilson’s truncated yet intriguing foray into film. In this episode, Domenic Priore and I talk primarily about the Annette Funicello American International flick Muscle Beach Party,  which houses an original Brian Wilson soundtrack created during the All Summer Long period, as well as details about the Beach Boys movie that almost was! This podcast wi...

By the time The Beach Boys had released their fifth LP, they were firing on all cylinders, creating some of the best and most powerful music they’d ever make.  Enter Dennis Diken: Smithereens drummer, rock historian, co-producer of this very series, and mensch-about-town, who takes us by the collective hand and guides us through this fraught era of the Boys’ history, as the Fab Four rose up from o...

Welcome to Discograffiti’s exploration of Brian Wilson’s Outside Productions, of which there are very many, discussed with both Endless Summer Quarterly’s Editor-In-Chief David Beard, who is currently entrenched in a year-long series on this very topic (!), as well as Producer/Songwriter Russ Titelman—Brian’s pal and confidante during this time, as well as producer of all the classic 1970s Randy N...

In today’s bonus episode, Discograffiti is thrilled to introduce the passionate David Beard, whose Endless Summer Quarterly, The Beach Boys Publication of Record, is mandatory reading for Beach Boys fans.  In this podcast, we talk about ESQ’s origin story, how a chance meeting with Lee Dempsey changed the course of his life, our shared love of Smile and how he first learned of it, and how the memo...

David Marks never stayed in one place for long after leaving The Beach Boys. In this special episode, David Marks biographer and Beach Boys author Jon Stebbins steps aboard the Discograffiti train to address the ridiculous controversy behind the volatile David Marks season opener interview, before transitioning into a blow-by-blow account of a consistently fascinating career that has as its tradem...

Welcome to Discograffiti’s exploration of The Beach Boys’ classic first live album, discussed with the man responsible for it in the first place: the great Fred Vail. In this episode, Fred and I talk about how he initially got involved with The Beach Boys, the noticeable lack of live albums in the early rock and roll era, how each of the band members wound up changing, the last time he ever saw th...

This episode was recorded just six days before the untimely and tragic death of Indie rock legend Will Cullen Hart. It also marks the beginning of Patrick Fleming as part of the team. The original theme of the discussion was to be “Explanation II” by Olivia Tremor Control, but we wound up covering both of the band’s LPs, as well as the work of some of Hart’s favorite musical artists. We’ll be sure...

The story goes that it only took a single day to record this album. Well, Discograffiti ironically took this opportunity to double down on our efforts to discuss it. Featuring two incredible special guests—The Patti Smith Group’s Lenny Kaye and Smithereens drummer Dennis Diken—topped off by Righteous Brother Bill Medley, who drops in for a quick visit. If you asked me (which you didn’t), this is o...

Welcome to Discograffiti’s epic exploration of The Beach Boys’ classic 3rd LP, a deservedly rich, two-headed beast accessible on the Major Tier of Discograffiti’s Patreon. Musician Jason Falkner—not only Beck’s guitarist, but he of the amazing Jellyfish, too—and Producer/Songwriter Russ Titelman--who co-wrote Guess I’m Dumb and Sherry She Needs Me with Brian Wilson, was his pal and confidante duri...

Carnie assured me she’s never done an interview like this in her life, so it’s an honor for Discograffiti’s “Beach Boys: And Your Dreams Come True” Series to have had this opportunity. Here, then, is Part 3 of the longest interview Carnie’s ever given, and on a subject she rarely talks about…her father’s band, and what it means to her. She picked 7 of the most important Beach Boys albums of her li...

Carnie assured me she’s never done an interview like this in her life, so it’s an honor for Discograffiti’s “Beach Boys: And Your Dreams Come True” Series to have had this opportunity. Here, then, is Part 2 of the longest interview Carnie’s ever given, and on a subject she rarely talks about…her father’s band, and what it means to her. She picked 7 of the most important Beach Boys albums of her li...