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Irrational Obsessions


Gus Mears

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For me it used to be cookery shows. I used to constantly have one of those channels on in the background and I'd infuriate people by constantly flicking it over if they left the room and had something else on. Nowadays that's been replaced by watching those 'dinner in 60 seconds' style videos on Facebook. I've liked about 30 pages that post them and they're one of the first things I look for every day.

 

The irony is that although I'm a more than passable cook I very rarely cook anything I've seen in tv or in one of these videos.

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Demographics of different cities or towns and how they've changed over time, I spent about half of my lunch break reading about different ethnic enclaves in New York for example. 

 

I suppose I find it fascinating to see how much things change and how much they're predicted to change in the future, and how different it would be to step out in 1945 compared to 2016 for instance.

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Im obsessed by the later non successful periods of singers and bands i will seek out an album of say chuck berry from 1979 or a 1995 album of a 60s band i have no reasoning for this other than maybe hoping for a rare gem! It rarley happens tho

 

I'm currently nurturing an interest in Mike Love, who's responsible for some of the most horrendous late Beach Boys material, and massive tit.

  

Mike Love is one of the best heels ever. His acceptance speech at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a joy to behold.

  

Yeah it's great. Coming after the earlier sweet, nervous speech by Brian Wilson, the needless confrontation and bitterness is amazing. It helps that he looks like a serial killer too.

Edit: After double checking there's just one Mike solo record called 'Looking Back with Love'. The other ones were unreleased - Country Love & First Love and a record he did in the 2000's. One has a track called Pisces Brothers which is a tribute to George Harrison. But yeah Mike is mostly disliked amongst the Beach Boys fans community mainly for his mistreatment of Brian and him pushing for Smile to be shelved because it was different from the BBs girls and cars schtick. I'm sure you've come across Brian is Back by Mike which although cringeworthy lyrics wise is also catchy with the chorus.

 

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Speaking of Mike and the Beach Boys, there's Classic Albums: Pet Sounds on BBC iPlayer. Interestingly Mike, Bruce, David Marks (original Beach Boy) Al & Brian speak about the album among others but they don't sit down collectively and speak about it. Both still are divided with Bruce & Mike on one side and Brian & Al on the other.

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I go through phases of being obsessed with something, then it dies out and I'll move into something else. Like, if I've watched a particular film that I really liked I'll read up on it and learn more about the subject, then the actors and what other films they've been in. Or if I've seen a band I'll go back through their catalogue, read about how the albums came about, learn more about the musicians and any side projects.

 

I've been absolutely mad on the West Memphis Three case since I watched the documentaries last year.

This was an obsession for a while too. I read loads of books on the subject, seen all the documentaries, went to a Q&A with the director of West of Memphis, read through pages and pages of legal stuff online. Then just moved onto the next thing.

 

Is that normal? Obsessing over something for a couple of months then just dropping it and moving onto the next thing so quickly?

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Oh god yeah Mike Love is a great Heel! It must be tough being in the shadow of a genius tho I'm a massive Dennis Wilson fan his solo stuff is brilliant

  

Dennis Wilson's stuff would normally be stuff I'd pass on, but it's just so good

Yeah Dennis work is definitely worth checking out. His voice is super raspy on Pacific Ocean Blue but it gives the songs a more earthy soulful quality. I've got the Deluxe edition which includes a unreleased album Bambu. But speaking of hoarse/raspy voices Brians voice went down hill post 74 due to excessive smoking and drug use. Carl Wilson on the other hand his voice didn't really change and sounded great even on his final album he did with Beckley, Lamm and Wilson. Most of the Beach Boys released solo records, even David Marks. But going back to Dennis he Co wrote You are so Beautiful with Billy Preston but for some reason is uncredited as a a writer. I think there's also some unreleased songs which didn't get included on Bambu release. Some are with Brian and a few are from the Surfs Up era. He was also very underrated and a songwriter.

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The Dennis Wilson and Charles Manson stuff is very real. Manson wanted to be a songwriter and was musician of sorts. Dennis became friendly with Manson and brought him into the fold because he liked some of his musical ideas. Little did he know how crazy Manson was, there's a story Van Dyke Parks has told that Charlie threatened Dennis with a bullet and said something threatening about his family and Dennis reportedly responded by throwing Manson to the ground and in Van Dyke's words

 

“Dennis grabbed Manson by the head and threw him to the ground … He beat the living shit out of him.”

 

One Manson song did sort of make a Beach Boys album they reworked his 'Cease to Exist' into "Never Learn Not To Love" which is on their 20/20 LP.

 

 

 

I go through phases of being obsessed with something, then it dies out and I'll move into something else. Like, if I've watched a particular film that I really liked I'll read up on it and learn more about the subject, then the actors and what other films they've been in. Or if I've seen a band I'll go back through their catalogue, read about how the albums came about, learn more about the musicians and any side projects.

 

Is that normal? Obsessing over something for a couple of months then just dropping it and moving onto the next thing so quickly?

 

I think it's normal. I'd take it more so as like a thirst for knowledge and once you've absorbed as much as you can you move onto the next thing and learn more. I mean if you just liked one thing there's only finite possibilites to learn and re-learn about it.

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The Dennis Wilson and Charles Manson stuff is very real.

 

Super interesting, too. Being a horny musician, Wilson picked up a couple of female hitchhikers and took them home, not knowing they were part of the Manson family. Manson himself showed up later, and basically took over Dennis Wilson's mansion for a year, filling it with girls and drugs. Wilson fell under Manson's spell, considering him a guru, and let the family have free reign over his money, which they spent on cars and treatment for their rampant STDs, almost bankrupting him. Wilson also bought into Manson's music, and via Terry Melcher -- record producer and son of Doris Day -- got him a demo recording session, but Manson was uncharacteristically nervous in front of the mic and fucked it up, never hearing back.

 

Eventually, the Manson Family had trashed Wilson's home so much that he just upped and left it to them, while Manson seethed at Wilson and Melcher about his 'sabotaged' record deal, when the Beach Boys used a reworking of one of his songs, uncredited. The first of the double-murders of Sharon Tate and her friends happened at the former home of Terry Melcher, where he'd been taken by Wilson previously, leaving Wilson traumatised until his death that he was partially to blame.

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