The Summer of 85

As it turns out, 1985 was quite a significant year for The Beach Boys. But I was far too young to appreciate, much less remember with any great detail, what I must have witnessed one July evening.

I was 14 years old and attending the National Boy Scout Jamboree in Virginia. Thousands of Scouts from all over the country had gathered together for a week of activities. One of which I was particularly looking forward to: a concert, at an amphitheater on the grounds of the Jamboree, starring The Oak Ridge Boys and The Beach Boys.

All I remember is that I saw them in concert. I must have been thrilled to hear those three or four songs I had found in my parents' oldies compilations. But the biggest response we Scouts gave The Boys was when they went into a rousing rendition of David Lee Roth's recent hit, “California Girls”.

Now, in my full blown fandom, here are some of the things I have learned about The Beach Boys in 1985:

First, “California Girls” was originally a Beach Boys song! Imagine my surprise!

But here are some other facts that make witnessing a 1985 concert special:

The 1985 tour was historically significant because it was the first tour without Dennis Wilson. Dennis, brother of bandmates Brian and Carl, died tragically in 1983, leading to a long break from the road. The year started off in high profile. In January, they performed at Ronald Reagan's inaugural bash.

But in addition to finally touring again, the band actually had a new album out, the first in five years. Not only that, but they had scored a legitimate hit song with “Getcha Back”, which peaked at #26. They even shot a music video for the song, a first.

On top of all this, very close to when I saw them in Virginia, there was the 4th of July. That morning they performed a show in Philadelphia then, on the same day, they flew down to Washington DC and played in front of another 750,000 fans at a free concert on the national mall, earning a spot in the Guinness World Records.

Nine days later, on the 13th, The Beach Boys performed at the Live Aid concert event. They played a set of five songs to a worldwide audience. And just eleven days after this historic performance they played the Scout Jamboree, where I saw them.

But most important of all, in my mind, is the presence of Brian Wilson in all of these things. Brian was the healthiest he had been in 20 years. Gone was the bloated, greasy, regressed figure that had been trotted out and plopped behind a piano for late-70s concerts. For all the twisted, unethical things Dr. Eugene Landy would eventually do, the fact is he in all likelihood saved Brian's life in the early 80s.

The Brian that played the inaugural party, lent his long-missed wailing falsetto to “Getcha Back”, and appeared on the album cover of 1985's “The Beach Boys”, was a thin, energetic Brian. Still fractured, perhaps, but healthy.

And I must have seen him! Of course, I don't remember. I couldn't have told you the names of any individual members at the time my 14 year old self saw some old men sing David Lee Roth's song at Scout Camp!

Years later, I saw Mike, Carl, Al and Bruce in 1995. I even saw the soulless, empty 1999 iteration of the band featuring Mike, Bruce and Dave Marks. By that time, I knew the musician I really wanted to hear was Brian Wilson himself. The man who created all the classic hits that Mike and his band continue to make their living with. I have been fortunate enough now to attend two Brian Wilson concerts. I caught the Pet Sounds tour in 2000 and the Smile tour in 2004.

But in 1985, I didn't know better! Having done the research and examining what other 1985 performances involved, I must have seen Brian on stage with The Beach Boys. How frustrating it is that I actually was able to witness that, but I can't remember a lick of it.

It can certainly never happen now. Carl has now also passed away, cancer taking him in 1998. Mike and Brian remain estranged, as do Mike and Al, who tours with his own act. Mike has retained legal rights to the use of the name Beach Boys and continues, at age 70, to perform with Bruce and a cover band-- er, I mean supporting band. Mike even had the audacity to sue Brian when the name “Beach Boys” was mentioned in promotional material related to Brian's “Smile” CD. A project, as most fans know, that began as a Beach Boys album intended for 1967.

So the band members have either died or splintered. Brian remains the artist, the creative force, producing new material. Mike is more of a human jukebox, he and his supporting musicians now little more than a cover band paying nightly tribute to Brian's earlier work.

I'll cover the 1985 self-titled album and “Getcha Back” in more detail at some point in the future, but suffice it to say that witnessing the band in concert at the Scout Jamboree was, despite all my ignorance at the time, another important step in my development at a Beach Boys fan.