The Beach Boys’ Mike Love has been speaking about the “good vibrations” he feels about the band, even after a half-century of being an item. Love was there at the outset, playing on songs like “California Girls”, “Fun, Fun, Fun”, and “I Get Around”. Many triumphs and tragedies have befell the band in that time, including Dennis Wilson’s death by drowning in 1983, and Carl Wilson’s spreading cancer and death in 1998. Meanwhile those Brian Wilson tour tickets keep selling, and Al Jardine’s Endless Summer Band are setting standards all the time. Mike Love and Bruce Johnston themselves tour as the Beach Boys Band, and they, too, are enjoying continued adoration and stardom. And so they should.
Love has the distinction of playing not just to his own age-group, but to the children and even grandchildren of that age-group, as the music of the Beach Boys never seems to lose its class and new kids continue to pick it up and be impressed.

Love recently said, “There are children, pre-teens, teens, young adults, middle-aged adults and seniors. There are multiple generations from the same family. The cool thing about it is you say, ‘How the heck did that happen?’”

The Beach Boys were among the leading players of the 60s, with only the Beatles to challenge their creative dominance, so it really isn’t any surprise that they remain so popular. Brian Wilson tickets are set to register high on the Richter scale sometime very soon, and if you snooze, you lose! Recent media exposure has meant that the demand for Brian Wilson tour tickets is going to be a universal phenomenon.

“Our songs keep getting played in today’s entertainment,” said Love. “The movie ‘50 First Dates’ featured ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice,’ and our songs have been on soundtracks for movies like ‘Happy Feet.’ Then there are the ‘Full House’ reruns. We were on ‘Full House’ a few times because John Stamos is a fan, and kids are still watching that program. And our songs are used in radio and television commercials quite a bit.

“Plus, collections of our songs are packaged and released every few years, and kids have our songs on their iPods,” Love continues. “So there are many, many ways in which the Beach Boys’ music continues to be introduced, exposed to succeeding generations.”

Everyone loves the Beach Boys sound and rumor has it that there is even a possibility of a Beach Boys reunion. The old wounds are healing more each year, and the fault lines that emerged between members of this exceptional band are beginning to fade. Each of the surviving members has a wealth of new material stored away, much of it recorded a long time ago – but not yet heard by the public. Things could really be in the pipeline, Beach Boys fans!

“We have a 50th anniversary coming up in two years,” Love recently said. “I think it’d be fantastic to get together and maybe do a PBS special and maybe — actually, absolutely — try to come up with something really great for a new album.”

Imagine that?! The Beach Boys recording a new album in a new millennium. It would be bliss for those of us who love this sound…come on guys, you know you can do it.