RADIO BROADCAST #845
06–14–25
Fanatic. Two true music legends have passed: Sly Stone and Brian Wilson. It’s possible you’ve never heard the work of one or either of these two amazing artists but at this point that’s highly unlikely, which is a testimony to the impact they had on modern culture.
As a young person, I heard a lot of music by Sly And The Family Stone but it was only as an adult that I got a better understanding of his true brilliance and learned about his often bewildering mercurial behavior. At one point, he became almost as famous for not showing up to a show as actually arriving and performing.
There’s a really interesting version of Sly’s album Fresh that’s worth pursuing. Apparently, alternate takes were mistakenly released commercially on CD. I was lucky enough to find one of these. Some of these alternate takes were released officially years later, but I’m not sure if they’re the same alternate takes. I know that sounds confusing. I think at one point we might have listened to the two versions of Babies Makin’ Babies on our show. My mother had very good taste in music and we had a few Sly records at the apartment, which she played regularly. As an adult, I found the records and understood them much differently. The more you listen, the better they get.
Many years ago, Ian MacKaye played me a VHS tape of interviews with Sly from the Mike Douglas show. I found them online. Some very interesting viewing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY2iQit87IQ
Not only was he incredibly talented, Sly Stone was a larger than life, perfect definition of a rockstar. On your best day, you’ll never look as good as he does in these interviews! In this link, you’ll see Muhammad Ali on the show as well. It’s really worth watching.
I’ve had a few lucky breaks. One of them came in the early 2000s when a pal of mine who was the press relations person for the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson invited me to Capitol Records to watch Mr. Wilson and his band do a live performance of a solo album he was soon to release called That Lucky Old Sun. The performance was going to be incorporated into a DVD. Of course I went. I’ve been to the Capitol Records building a few times and it’s always an incredible experience. I was told the studio the band would perform in was the same one where Frank Zappa recorded his Lumpy Gravy album.
With a full band and camera crew, the room was pretty full, so there wasn’t much room for the audience, which seemed to be people from the label, a few members of the press and some family. The band assembled on stage, cameras and lights were adjusted, and the band started playing. I don’t know if you’ve ever been around a truly talented musician. They stand out. There are a lot of good musicians, of course, but truly great musicians are far fewer. Imagine the best musician you’ve seen in a long time but there was an entire band of them. Those are the people who were playing with Brian Wilson that evening. The line-up would describe a small orchestra. Horns, string instruments—the works, as they say. Within several seconds, we spectators understood we were witnessing something truly amazing. The band and Brian Wilson sounded like a fully overdubbed studio album but live. The precision and perfection of the players was incredible. They could all sing, too. You can go online and watch parts of this performance. There was one reason all of those top shelf musicians, crew and audience were in that room: Brian Wilson. When I watched all of these players perfectly integrate into a single musical entity, it occurred to me: this is what Brian Wilson hears in his head.
Brian Wilson and the band came to the end of the set list and it was like being woken up from a trance. They had my attention the entire time. It was then announced there’d be a brief break, and the man and the band would do the entire run through one more time. They’re going to play again?! No way! We were told that if anyone was interested, we could stay. I saw a few people check the time and leave, as the real world of family traffic and whatever else made them go. Of course I stayed. Brian Wilson and the band, unsurprisingly, were great as they went through the set once more. This time around, there were only a few of us standing in front of them. It was like a concert in your living room and easily one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had.
It's very easy with Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, to think of a few songs and how great they are, but at the same time, overlook the sheer tonnage of music Brian Wilson put into the world.
One of the most remarkable bootleg series I know of, which only rivals the exhaustive scrutiny paid to the Beatles, are the Beach Boys Unsurpassed Masters box sets on a label called Sea Of Tunes. It seems someone got to the tape stash of the Beach Boys and put them all out on CD. I remember when these first started showing up and I bought every single one of them I could find, even if it took me years to finally play them. I knew I had to retrieve them before they were gone. I was finding them at record stores in New York and Tokyo, as well as a mail order place, I believe in Thailand or Singapore. I don’t know if I got them all, but I tried. I spent a lot of time listening, and it’s from that, the dizzying genius of Brian Wilson made itself apparent to me.
Around the same time, I saw Brian Wilson, and his band play, I was invited to a dinner, again through the same press liaison, to celebrate Brian Wilson picking up a lifetime achievement award at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. That was the night I briefly met Brian Wilson. I also met Van Dyke Parks that night, which was incredibly cool. Luckily for us, the band was there and they played a short set, which was a real thrill. We are each given an etched glass paperweight to commemorate the night, which I still have.
Two great reads on Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys:
The Nearest Far Away Place: Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys, And The Southern California Experience by Timothy White
Heroes And Villains: The True Story Of The Beach Boys by Steven Gaines
Fanatic, we have a great gathering of tunes for you tonight. One of my favorite tracks is the Empire song Enough Of The Same. One half of a great two song 7’.
Have a great night of listening, thank you so much for tuning in, and stay Fanatic.
–– Henry
We’re on Bluesky
Hour 1
01. Charles M. Bogert con Frogs - Mating Call Of The Little Grass Frog With The Squirrel Treefrog In The Background / Sounds Of North American Frogs
02. The Third Bardo - Five Years Ahead Of My Time / Trash Box
03. The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated (Basic Ruff Mix) / Road To Ruin Box Set
04. Wire - French Film Blurred / Chairs Missing
05. Empire - Enough Of The Same / 7”
06. Pure Hell - No Rules / Noise Addiction
07. Minutemen - Disguises / The Punch Line
08. Melenas - Osa Polar / 7"
09. Otoboke Beaver - I'm Tired Of Your Repeating Story / Itekoma Hits
10. The Fall - Happy Holiday / Middle Class Revolt (2025 reissue)
11. Grinding Eyes - Gotta Hold On / Out Of Focus
12. The Bobby Lees - Move / Skin Suit
13. Artificial Go - The World is My Runway / Musical Chairs
14. The Dominic Frontiere Orchestra - Control Voice / The Outer Limits
15. Cheech & Chong - Earache My Eye / Greatest Hit
16. Art Ensemble Of Chicago - Theme De Celine / 1969-1970
17. David Bowie - Queen Bitch / Hunky Dory
18. Iggy Pop - I'm Bored / New Values
19. Dree Leer - Seer / Throw Hands
20. Tim Presley - Clue / The Wink
21. Devo - Explosions / Oh No! It's Devo
Hour 2
01. The Jesus & Mary Chain - Rider / The Power Of Negative Thinking: B-Sides And Rarities
02. XYZ - Camouflage / 5 Stars EP
03. O’ Summer Vacation - Black Heat / Wicked Heart
04. Count Ferrell - Wizard Of Ah's / Mad Mike Monsters Vol. 02
05. The Misfits - She / Box Set
06. Boris - Les Paul Custom '86 / Attention Please
07. Scientists - It Came Out Of The Sky / Absolute
08. Kilynn Lunsford - Gateway To Hell / Promiscuous Genes
09. Model Zero - Missile Protector / Model Zero
10. Eno + Beatie Wolfe - Breath March / Luminal
11. Flin Flon - Roman Valley / Et Cetera
12. Teri Gender Bender - Nadie Me Quiere / TGB
13. Jay Reatard - Blood Visions / Singles 06-07
14. The Trashmen - King of the Surf / Surfin' Bird
15. Buzzcocks - Why She's A Girl From The Chainstore / Singles Going Steady
16. King Tubby & Prince Jammy - A Living Version / Dub Gone 2 Crazy : In Fine Style 1975-1979
17. Say Sue Me - One Week / Semin - RSD 7" EP
18. The Cramps - Five Years Ahead Of My Time / How To Make A Monster
19. Sort Sol - Interpreter / The Blackest Box
20. Fela Ransome Kuti & Nigeria '70 - Witchcraft / The '69 Los Angeles Sessions