I've never had a very strong opinion of Bruce Johnston, one way or the other. As far as I was concerned, he was kind of just there in the Beach Boys, neither good nor bad. Recently, I bought this album, which I had never heard of, seen or listened to. About half of the record is just about what you'd expect: decent, but average Beach Boy style surf tunes with passable vocals. The rest is certainly NOT what you'd expect. I couldn't believe my ears...
(from 1963)
Jersey Channel Islands Part 7
Virginia Beach
Hot Pastrami, Mashed Potatoes, Come On to Ricon, Yeah!!!
Malibu
Dear Sir -
ReplyDeleteThis, without a doubt, is the find of the year. Amazing that treasures like this are still hiding out there ... wow. Thank you SOOOOO much!
Heh. If anyone is curious and/or bored, check Amazon for some other folks' perspectives ...different strokes, different strokes.
ReplyDeleteBut dear lord, while there I also learned that Bruce is responsible for Barry Manilow's "I Write the Songs" ??!!
Dear Holly, Thanks! Yeah, the couple of reviews I read online just said something like: bland Beach Boys ripoff. Obviously they didn't listen to the whole thing!
ReplyDeleteI love the style of Bruce Johnston since I was a kid. Love these songs, thanks!
ReplyDeleteAmazon reviewers can be incredible mainstream morons. This is great...I just bought it. Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeleteAwesome. You're welcome John! Maybe we can get some better reviews up on Amazon...
ReplyDeletesomebody found out. Ebay has the vinyl for $99!
ReplyDelete