Line #55 Music/MikeLove


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/66271ad969dccb2ee0599fcf7b33fc41.jpg]]
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3	->''"For those who believe Brian walks on water, I will always be the Antichrist."''
4	-->-- '''Mike Love''' acknowledging his polarising status.
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6	Michael Edward Love (born March 15, 1941) is an American singer/songwriter who remains known for being part of Music/TheBeachBoys as one of its lead singers and lyricists. Contrasting with the falsetto vocals of Music/BrianWilson, his tenor/bass-baritone singing made his voice recognizable on classic songs such as "Surfin' USA" and "I Get Around".
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8	The son of Milt Love and his wife Emily "Glee" Wilson Love, he often sang with with his cousins Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson (the sons of Glee's older brother Murry Wilson) as a child. Before considering a musical career with the Wilsons, Mike was expected to take over his father's sheet metal business. Along with Brian Wilson, he wrote songs which were key elements in the foundation of the Californian music scene with themes such as summer, hot-rod and love. He is also known for his stage presence where his banter antics made him the showman of the band. Compared to founding members who have been on and off the band, he is the most consistent Beach Boy and was rarely absent for a live show.
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10	He is a controversial figure among Beach Boys fans for various reasons: being a member who wanted to take a leading postion in the band, not liking ''Music/PetSounds'' and ''{{Music/Smile}}'', bringing Brian Wilson back on stage even though his mental health was at a low point, wanting The Beach Boys to become a concert machine fueled by nostalgia, making a hostile speech during The Beach Boys' induction into The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, suing Brian for songs he didn't get co-writing credits on, owning the Beach Boys license for touring for himself (despite also touring with Music/BruceJohnston) and being the executive producer and main writer of ''Music/SummerInParadise'', The Beach Boys' most loathed album. Some of those claims were denied or proven wrong by the man himself while others are true yet sometimes exaggerated. Despite The Beach Boys being once affiliated with cult leader UsefulNotes/CharlesManson or manipulative psychiatrist Eugene Landy, Mike still has the reputation of being TheScrappy in the band's history. He is either seen as an iconic rock'n'roll singer (such is the comment Brian made about him) or as someone who was lucky enough to have talented people in his entourage.
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12	Outside of his work with The Beach Boys, Mike Love has a solo career which is based on his experience and success as a Beach Boy. From the release of his first album ''Music/LookingBackWithLove'' from 1981 to 2019's ''Music/TwelveSidesOfSummer'', he also took part in other projects which involved Beach Boys sidemen (the band Celebration, the albums produced by Music/AdrianBaker and the duo he formed with [[Music/JanAndDean Dean Torrance]]).
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14	!!Discography
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16	* 1978 - ''[[Music/FirstLoveMikeLoveAlbum First Love]]'' [[note]]Canned album[[/note]]
17	* 1978 - ''Music/CountryLove'' [[note]]Canned album[[/note]]
18	* 1981 - ''Music/LookingBackWithLove''
19	* 1983 - ''Music/RockNRollCity'' (with Dean Torrence)
20	* 1983 - ''Listen To The Air - Winter Party On The Beach'' (with Dean Torrence)
21	* 1996 - ''Music/CatchAWave''
22	* 1998 - ''Music/SaluteNASCAR'' (with Music/BruceJohnston and Music/DavidMarks)
23	* 2001 - ''Music/SummertimeCruisin'' (with Bruce Johnston)
24	* 2004 - ''Music/MikeLoveNotWar'' [[note]]Canned album and first draft of ''Unleash The Love''[[/note]]
25	* 2017 - ''Music/UnleashTheLove''
26	* 2018 - ''Music/ReasonForTheSeason''
27	* 2019 - ''Music/TwelveSidesOfSummer''
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29	!!'''WHEEEEEEEEEEEN''' some loud braggart tries to put me down and says his tropes are great:
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31	* ArtistAndTheBand: In 1990, he toured as Mike Love Of The Beach Boys And The Endless Summer Beach Band, a backing band consisting of musicians who previously were touring members for Music/TheBeachBoys, including Music/AdrianBaker.
32	* BandOfRelatives: He is the cousin of the three Wilson Brothers (the cover of The Beach Boys album ''Music/SummerDaysAndSummerNights'' is interesting in how it only features the band members who are relatives).
33	** His children are featured on his christmas album ''Reason For The Season'' and his son Christian acompanies him on stage.
34	* {{Biopic}}: Mike has been depicted in three Beach Boys movies. He was portrayed by Casey Sander, Matt Letscher and Jake Abel.
35	* BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine: On some Beach Boys concert banters, Mike and Music/BruceJohnston would sometimes joke about the meaning of ACappella and the fact that Bruce was the only Beach Boy to have a grammy.
36	* TheCameo: Mike (and bandmate Bruce Johnston) appeared on the Music/JanAndDean's 1978 biopic "Deadman's Curve" in their own role.
37	* ChristmasSongs: He played and sang in a christmas special along with [[Music/JanAndDean Dean Torrance]] and recently released the christmas album ''Music/ReasonForTheSeason''.
38	** Relying on the success of "[[Music/StillCruisin Kokomo]]", he has also released the song "Santa's Goin' To Kokomo".
39	* [[SiblingRivalry Cousin Rivalry]]: He had moments of tension with Music/DennisWilson that sometimes descended into fisticuffs, most famously onstage once after a backstage argument where Dennis was allegedly kicked in the balls by either Mike or Mike's brother. The two of them were also known to have short fuses and CreativeDifferences in the kind of music that the band should perform.
40	** While his relationship with Dennis was always fraught, he had periods where he was on the outs with [[Music/CarlWilson Carl]] and to this day, he and [[Music/BrianWilson Brian]] don't say very many nice things about each other, either.
41	* CoverAlbum: Through the nineties, he has released two albums consisting of Beach Boys covers. The 2017 album ''Unleash The Love'' is a double album whose second disc only contains Beach Boys covers.
42	** ''Rock 'n' Roll City'' only contains covers performed by various 60s bands, including Mike.
43	* CoverVersion: The Beach Boys song "[[Music/TheBeachBoys1985Album Getcha Back]]" has been compared to Music/BruceSpringsteen's "Hungry Heart" in terms of similarity. Mike acknowledged that by covering the song in 2007.
44	* DolledUpInstallment: In 1998, The ''Salute NASCAR'' album was released. It features Mike Love, Bruce Johnston and David Marks honoring the NASCAR brand by rerecording hot-rod songs of The Beach Boys' early career. However, despite those three Beach Boys presenting the album, it is actually a Mike Love project featuring some members of The Beach Boys touring band.
45	* FreeHandedPerformer: His tenure as a lead singer of the band on stage is a slight subversion of the trope. Early in the band's career, he provided (very limited) saxophone input on songs such as "[[Music/SurfinSafari Ten Little Indians]]" and "[[Music/SurfinUSA Shut Down]]" and would later play a simplified version of the theremin while performing "[[Music/SmileySmile Good Vibrations]]" on stage. Following the mid-seventies, he would go back to being the regular tambourine-shaking lead singer (and he still does, [[LongRunner 60 years in his career]]).
46	* LargeHam: Mike's stage presence is notorious for his whacky banters but his personality reached its peak during the nineties.
47	* LongRunner: The longest serving member of The Beach Boys and he rarely missed a live show outside of health reasons.
48	* UsefulNotes/{{Meditation}}: Transcendental meditation played a big part in his life, to the point that he organized TM classes along with bandmate Al Jardine. This obsession inspired him to [[Music/MIUAlbum record a Beach Boys album at a meditation center]].
49	* NeverBareheaded: He's almost never seen without a hat.
50	* OpulentOutfits: He especially sported those in the seventies before settling with a summer-themed hawaiian shirt.
51	* PimpDuds: an unique look he wore during the mid 70s.
52	* ProductPlacement: Mike rerecorded the song "Be True To Your School" along with [[Music/JanAndDean Dean Torrance]] and gave the lyrics a beer twist for the promotion of the Budweiser brand.
53	* PrematurelyBald: Mike had already developed a noticeably receded hairline by the time he was a senior in high school, [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/Mike_Love_-_Dorsey_-_1959.jpg/170px-Mike_Love_-_Dorsey_-_1959.jpg as this picture shows.]]
54	* PunBasedTitle: Album titles such as ''Looking Back With Love'' or ''First Love'' prove that you better use your last name if it involves caring, peace or romance.
55	* SoloSideProject: Mike releases his solo albums while still being a member of The Beach Boys.
56	* UpdatedRerelease: "Rock 'n' Roll City" was first released to no commercial success until it got reissued with The Beach Boys' cover of "[[Music/TheMamasAndThePapas California Dreaming]]". It was also released under the title "Listen to the Air" with an additional track.
57	* VocalEvolution: While Mike's voice has always been known for being nasal, it reached a climax during the eighties and nineties. It weathered down after the 2000s.
58	* {{Workaholic}}: 60 years after The Beach Boys released their first single, he is still touring along with bandmate Bruce Johnston.
59	* YoungerThanHeLooks: Despite only being in his twenties during the band's most successful period, Mike Love had a receding hairline and a much more mature face than the baby faced Wilson brothers. As such, he looked much older than he actually was (hell, in some pictures he looked like he could've been the Wilson brothers' ''uncle'' rather than their cousin). When he grew his beard out in the late 60s, he could've passed for a man in his early to mid fifties. Once he lost the beard in the 80s, though, he actually looked much younger and has barely aged at all since then.

Context Music / MikeLove