June 11, 2025 • 10 mins
With the passing of legendary Brian Wilson, music icon and creative force behind The Beach Boys, at 82. We got into our archives from August 2022, when Conway spoke to Mike Love, Beach Boys singer and songwriter. He was a co-founder of the Beach Boys with his cousins Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson and their friend Al Jardine
Mike will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame Class of 2025: George Clinton, Rodney Jerkins & More.
Mike will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame Class of 2025: George Clinton, Rodney Jerkins & More.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm thinking up.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
She's getting me exciticians. She yes, Beaches.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
This is the best man, all right. The soundtrack of
all of our childhoods is The Beach Boys. Yes, unbelievable.
And we have Mike Love with us, lead singer the
Beach Boys. Mike, how are you, sir.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Jim, I'm great. Don't put me on the.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Program, man, I tell you, you know, I can't believe
that that I'm talking to you. You know, my mom
and dad and myself, my wife, all major, major Beach
Boys fans. And I'm telling you it's not just even
you know, the older guys or guys in their fifties.
We have a news editor from Detroit. She's in her twenties.
(00:53):
I think she's twenty three or twenty four, and when
she heard you were coming on tonight, she screamed.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
She pro only watched a full house when we when
John Samos had a.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Son, probably, But man, what a run this has been.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Huh Yeah, sixty years as Miraco.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
That is great.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Yeah, with Vince Scully and and then your music in
the background. That's ninety percent of my childhood right there.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
You know that's good. Well, you know we took a
family hobby, which was, you know, singing and making harmonies
because we didn't have any money, and turned it into
a profession based on the fact that my cousin Brian
and I got together wrote some songs that people really liked.
Oh yeah, we still like him.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Now the Great Theater, it's got to be one of
the greatest plays for you to play. It's it's outdoors,
it's in southern California. I mean, it's almost designed for you.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Guys.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
It's hometown. It really is. Yeah, it's it's we were there.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
But first of all, I'm sure your songs have been
covered a million billion different times.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
I really liked the cover of California Girls that David
Lee roth Di Oh awesome video. Awesome video.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Yeah, now how does that work? Did you know him?
Did he ask permission or how does something like that work?
Speaker 1 (02:10):
No, he just liked the song. A few years back,
I got an award, an Ello Award, which is, you know,
a really nice thing, and I called him and said,
would you like to come in and do the song
with me? He did, He came out and we did
it together. It was pretty awesome.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Yeah, And and the video you know, that was when
MTV was at its peak. And the video for that
for that song is just awesome.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Oh it's classic, it really is.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
It really is that trick? What is the what? What?
Speaker 3 (02:37):
What is the one song where the audience I mean
if you if you didn't play it, the audience would
kill you.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
If we didn't play it. Cookomo Oho Okay, that is
our biggest sing along. It's thirty four years young, but
it's been played on full House numerous reruns. It was
in the Tom Cruise movie soundtrack Cocktail, and it is
like a massive sing along. Everybody, all ages sing along
with that song.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
It's the best and it gets into your head and
you just sing it over and over. What was there
an actual place called Cocomo or is that something you
guys fabricated?
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Well, as you know, there's one in Indiana, there's also
one in Malloy, But this was a stigma of John
Phillips's imagination. He came up with a verse melody. I
came up with the chorus Ruba Jamaica. Who I want
to take it? And then Terry Melcher who came up
and who do I want to take it? Down to Coomo?
True collaboration that one.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
You know, I there are very few songs where you know,
you hear just the opening of the song and you
you know, every one of the lyrics did stretch over generation.
But my mom knew every every every lyric to that song.
So did I, and I guarantee you there's a lot
of people like our our news director Aaron who knows
every lyric to that song as well.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Yeah, it's it's a catchy one.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
It's great ding dong with these beach Boys. Man, this
is great.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Yes, I am at six forties Conway Show lead singer
Mike Lof and the Beach Boys is with us. You guys,
weren't originally called the Beach Boys? Was the Pendletones?
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Is that correct?
Speaker 1 (04:14):
That's correct. We all were of those Pendleton shirts that
we surfers used to do over a T shirt, you know.
But with the the record promotion man heard the song
and said, hey, it's about serving. What about the Beach Boys?
I said, what's better than what we got? So it
stuck for sixty one years.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Yeah, so you guys immediately warmed up to the titled
Beach Boys.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
It was awesome.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Yeah, that's a winner. That's a winner, man.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
I mean, I think you know everybody knows the Beach Boys.
And also not not only everybody you know, just the public,
but people in high places as well. I know that,
you know, my father knew Nancy Reagan pretty well, and
I don't think there was a bigger fan. And then
Ronald and Nancy Reagan.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
She called me one time to apologize for James Wattat said,
oh really, yeah, she environed me to the White House.
We played two separate Reagan inaugurations. Wow, two different bushes. Also,
oh that is why other endless done. Yeah, yeah, so
you're right. We did a show in uh, well, a
(05:25):
couple of shows in Washington, d C. One year back
in the mid eighties. We did Philadelphia the afternoon and
they said there were nine hundred thousand people on the
street there in the evening, d C. Or another half
a million people were always Wow, we're over a million
half people in person, which is pretty awesome.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Yeah, that would have been January February of eighty five
and eighty nine, I guess it.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Would have been back in the day.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
And that second Ronald Reagan victory nineteen eight eighty eight,
I believe it was five hun in twenty five electoral votes.
I mean it was a wipeout. Mondale I think won
his home state and Washington, d C. So that was
I mean, in the heyday of you know, a politics
when you know, when the Republicans you know, could really
(06:16):
sweep this country and really had a huge, huge difference
and a huge majority.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Yeah, it was. It was. But they were very nice
to us. They were so nice to us, and so
you know, we really appreciate that. It really made us
feel good about what we had done. I came up
with the idea to do a free concert in Washington,
d C. To Yeah, it was beautiful.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Now, you guys.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
I got into the Rock rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
I think that same year, like it was eighty eight, wasn't.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
It eighty eight?
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Okay, what a year, right, playing for Reagan and rock
and Roll Hall.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Of Fame and Cocomo came out then wow.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
And the Dodgers won the World Series, the Lakers won
an NBA title.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
That was some year.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
It was all good, all good.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
That was great.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Now that that must be something to see though you're
walking through the you know, the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame and to see you know, all the greats
up there and you're right there on the on the
top shelf with all of them.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
That's got to be really pleasing.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
It's awesome, it really is. It's a miracle. I mean,
our parents didn't have any that much money or anything like,
but what they had is they had the passion for
music and they they instilled that in us. My cousin's
Brian Dennison Carl who lived in Hawthorne. I live in
Baldwin Hills overlooking Lambert Park in La Wow. And uh yeah,
(07:32):
so we're homeboys were and we're Mike.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
If you want to keep this a secret, I understand,
But how many of the original Beach Boys and or
anybody's ever played for and with the Beach Boys. How
many of you guys can actually surf?
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Oh now, wait a minute, that's a little blow.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
I am.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
I'm a rotten, terrible surfer, but but I can sing
about it really well.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
That's great, man, That is terrific. That is that's really awesome. Boddy.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Whenever a band as big as the Beach Boys are
in town, you've got to go see them, because you know,
you never know, I mean, you know, but you guys
might go on to European tour and not come back
for another you know, a year or so.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Yeah, it might just end up in Switzerland, like Tina Turner.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
That's right. I can't believe that we had John again.
It spans three or four generations and it is the
soundtrack to where most of us grew up. And if
you didn't grow up with the you know, the original
music in the sixties and seventies, all the remakes of it,
and it's just it's when you hear it, you cannot
be depressed when you listen to your music, and that
(08:40):
is a huge, huge uplift for a lot of people
in life. All Right, I really appreciate you coming on,
and anytime you're in town, please you always have a
friend here, will always, you know, give you a shout
out and talk about the tour dates. And I really
appreciate coming on.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Well, thank you so much. Tim. It's been enjoy to
be on your program.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Excellent, Thank you sir. All right, all right, there he goes.
That's wild man, Mike Love with the Beach Boys. That's crazy.
And Aaron's reaction was unbelievable. You know how old is Aaron.
She's got me be what twenty three, twenty four, twenty five,
She's twenty five, okay six, she's getting up there. And
when we heard when she heard the Mike Love was
coming on, she screamed.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
She's like, I got what. Yeah, she's just a couple
of days ago she was.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
I don't even know how it came up, but she
was talking about her love for the Beach Boys, all
time favorite band. Yeah, I think it's I think it's
you know, this new generation is going to get into
it the same way our dads did, in the same
way we did.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Was your dad a big Beach Boys gun?
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (09:34):
I saw him in DC he did. Yeah, it was
eighty eighty one. When when I saw him out there,
Oh that's wild man. What a show they put on. Huh.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
I gotta go see him at the Greek. I don't
know what tickets cost, but you know I thought when
I said, hey man, I got to get out Sunday
and see that show, I thought, oh.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
You know, it's God's on us.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
We gotta, you know, send a car and the buffet
and they we'll drive the venture together.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Jimp
I'm thinking up.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
She's getting me exciticians. She yes, Beaches.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
This is the best man, all right. The soundtrack of
all of our childhoods is The Beach Boys. Yes, unbelievable.
And we have Mike Love with us, lead singer the
Beach Boys. Mike, how are you, sir.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Jim, I'm great. Don't put me on the.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Program, man, I tell you, you know, I can't believe
that that I'm talking to you. You know, my mom
and dad and myself, my wife, all major, major Beach
Boys fans. And I'm telling you it's not just even
you know, the older guys or guys in their fifties.
We have a news editor from Detroit. She's in her twenties.
(00:53):
I think she's twenty three or twenty four, and when
she heard you were coming on tonight, she screamed.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
She pro only watched a full house when we when
John Samos had a.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Son, probably, But man, what a run this has been.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Huh Yeah, sixty years as Miraco.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
That is great.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Yeah, with Vince Scully and and then your music in
the background. That's ninety percent of my childhood right there.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
You know that's good. Well, you know we took a
family hobby, which was, you know, singing and making harmonies
because we didn't have any money, and turned it into
a profession based on the fact that my cousin Brian
and I got together wrote some songs that people really liked.
Oh yeah, we still like him.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Now the Great Theater, it's got to be one of
the greatest plays for you to play. It's it's outdoors,
it's in southern California. I mean, it's almost designed for you.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Guys.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
It's hometown. It really is. Yeah, it's it's we were there.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
But first of all, I'm sure your songs have been
covered a million billion different times.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
I really liked the cover of California Girls that David
Lee roth Di Oh awesome video. Awesome video.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Yeah, now how does that work? Did you know him?
Did he ask permission or how does something like that work?
Speaker 1 (02:10):
No, he just liked the song. A few years back,
I got an award, an Ello Award, which is, you know,
a really nice thing, and I called him and said,
would you like to come in and do the song
with me? He did, He came out and we did
it together. It was pretty awesome.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Yeah, And and the video you know, that was when
MTV was at its peak. And the video for that
for that song is just awesome.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Oh it's classic, it really is.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
It really is that trick? What is the what? What?
Speaker 3 (02:37):
What is the one song where the audience I mean
if you if you didn't play it, the audience would
kill you.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
If we didn't play it. Cookomo Oho Okay, that is
our biggest sing along. It's thirty four years young, but
it's been played on full House numerous reruns. It was
in the Tom Cruise movie soundtrack Cocktail, and it is
like a massive sing along. Everybody, all ages sing along
with that song.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
It's the best and it gets into your head and
you just sing it over and over. What was there
an actual place called Cocomo or is that something you
guys fabricated?
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Well, as you know, there's one in Indiana, there's also
one in Malloy, But this was a stigma of John
Phillips's imagination. He came up with a verse melody. I
came up with the chorus Ruba Jamaica. Who I want
to take it? And then Terry Melcher who came up
and who do I want to take it? Down to Coomo?
True collaboration that one.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
You know, I there are very few songs where you know,
you hear just the opening of the song and you
you know, every one of the lyrics did stretch over generation.
But my mom knew every every every lyric to that song.
So did I, and I guarantee you there's a lot
of people like our our news director Aaron who knows
every lyric to that song as well.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Yeah, it's it's a catchy one.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
It's great ding dong with these beach Boys. Man, this
is great.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Yes, I am at six forties Conway Show lead singer
Mike Lof and the Beach Boys is with us. You guys,
weren't originally called the Beach Boys? Was the Pendletones?
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Is that correct?
Speaker 1 (04:14):
That's correct. We all were of those Pendleton shirts that
we surfers used to do over a T shirt, you know.
But with the the record promotion man heard the song
and said, hey, it's about serving. What about the Beach Boys?
I said, what's better than what we got? So it
stuck for sixty one years.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Yeah, so you guys immediately warmed up to the titled
Beach Boys.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
It was awesome.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Yeah, that's a winner. That's a winner, man.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
I mean, I think you know everybody knows the Beach Boys.
And also not not only everybody you know, just the public,
but people in high places as well. I know that,
you know, my father knew Nancy Reagan pretty well, and
I don't think there was a bigger fan. And then
Ronald and Nancy Reagan.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
She called me one time to apologize for James Wattat said,
oh really, yeah, she environed me to the White House.
We played two separate Reagan inaugurations. Wow, two different bushes. Also,
oh that is why other endless done. Yeah, yeah, so
you're right. We did a show in uh, well, a
(05:25):
couple of shows in Washington, d C. One year back
in the mid eighties. We did Philadelphia the afternoon and
they said there were nine hundred thousand people on the
street there in the evening, d C. Or another half
a million people were always Wow, we're over a million
half people in person, which is pretty awesome.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Yeah, that would have been January February of eighty five
and eighty nine, I guess it.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Would have been back in the day.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
And that second Ronald Reagan victory nineteen eight eighty eight,
I believe it was five hun in twenty five electoral votes.
I mean it was a wipeout. Mondale I think won
his home state and Washington, d C. So that was
I mean, in the heyday of you know, a politics
when you know, when the Republicans you know, could really
(06:16):
sweep this country and really had a huge, huge difference
and a huge majority.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Yeah, it was. It was. But they were very nice
to us. They were so nice to us, and so
you know, we really appreciate that. It really made us
feel good about what we had done. I came up
with the idea to do a free concert in Washington,
d C. To Yeah, it was beautiful.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Now, you guys.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
I got into the Rock rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
I think that same year, like it was eighty eight, wasn't.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
It eighty eight?
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Okay, what a year, right, playing for Reagan and rock
and Roll Hall.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Of Fame and Cocomo came out then wow.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
And the Dodgers won the World Series, the Lakers won
an NBA title.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
That was some year.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
It was all good, all good.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
That was great.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Now that that must be something to see though you're
walking through the you know, the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame and to see you know, all the greats
up there and you're right there on the on the
top shelf with all of them.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
That's got to be really pleasing.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
It's awesome, it really is. It's a miracle. I mean,
our parents didn't have any that much money or anything like,
but what they had is they had the passion for
music and they they instilled that in us. My cousin's
Brian Dennison Carl who lived in Hawthorne. I live in
Baldwin Hills overlooking Lambert Park in La Wow. And uh yeah,
(07:32):
so we're homeboys were and we're Mike.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
If you want to keep this a secret, I understand,
But how many of the original Beach Boys and or
anybody's ever played for and with the Beach Boys. How
many of you guys can actually surf?
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Oh now, wait a minute, that's a little blow.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
I am.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
I'm a rotten, terrible surfer, but but I can sing
about it really well.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
That's great, man, That is terrific. That is that's really awesome. Boddy.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Whenever a band as big as the Beach Boys are
in town, you've got to go see them, because you know,
you never know, I mean, you know, but you guys
might go on to European tour and not come back
for another you know, a year or so.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Yeah, it might just end up in Switzerland, like Tina Turner.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
That's right. I can't believe that we had John again.
It spans three or four generations and it is the
soundtrack to where most of us grew up. And if
you didn't grow up with the you know, the original
music in the sixties and seventies, all the remakes of it,
and it's just it's when you hear it, you cannot
be depressed when you listen to your music, and that
(08:40):
is a huge, huge uplift for a lot of people
in life. All Right, I really appreciate you coming on,
and anytime you're in town, please you always have a
friend here, will always, you know, give you a shout
out and talk about the tour dates. And I really
appreciate coming on.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Well, thank you so much. Tim. It's been enjoy to
be on your program.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Excellent, Thank you sir. All right, all right, there he goes.
That's wild man, Mike Love with the Beach Boys. That's crazy.
And Aaron's reaction was unbelievable. You know how old is Aaron.
She's got me be what twenty three, twenty four, twenty five,
She's twenty five, okay six, she's getting up there. And
when we heard when she heard the Mike Love was
coming on, she screamed.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
She's like, I got what. Yeah, she's just a couple
of days ago she was.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
I don't even know how it came up, but she
was talking about her love for the Beach Boys, all
time favorite band. Yeah, I think it's I think it's
you know, this new generation is going to get into
it the same way our dads did, in the same
way we did.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Was your dad a big Beach Boys gun?
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (09:34):
I saw him in DC he did. Yeah, it was
eighty eighty one. When when I saw him out there,
Oh that's wild man. What a show they put on. Huh.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
I gotta go see him at the Greek. I don't
know what tickets cost, but you know I thought when
I said, hey man, I got to get out Sunday
and see that show, I thought, oh.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
You know, it's God's on us.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
We gotta, you know, send a car and the buffet
and they we'll drive the venture together.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Jimp
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