During the 1980s, The Beach Boys, riding high on a wave of nostalgia, remained a popular live draw, playing over 150 shows a year to sold-out crowds all over the world - something that Mike Love was quick to remind a stunned audience during his infamous acceptance speech at The Beach Boys' induction into The Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
Dennis Wilson's Death
The death, by drowning, of drummer, Dennis Wilson, in December, 1983 temporarily cast doubt over the band's future at the start of the decade, but they soldiered on, employing Dennis's friend and co-drummer, Mike Kowalski as his full-time replacement.
Did Mike ever think that The Beach Boys would cease to exist after Dennis's untimely demise?
"It was Carl, Mike, Bruce, and Al – they made the decisions and we were the players," replies Mike, "and if they did decide not to tour, then so be it, but it seemed that back then, there was a market - people still wanted to hear it.
"The nostalgia thing was going on in ’84, ’85, ’86, and The Beach Boys had too many hits, you know what I mean? Too many hits that people wanted to hear, that was part of their growing up - and the kids wanted to hear it too."
The Beach Boys: Kokomo and the '80s
As Brian Wilson struggled with personal problems throughout the '80s, becoming a virtual prisoner of his psychologist, Dr. Eugene Landy, The Beach Boys released songs and albums, that although mostly panned by the critics, saw them return to the top of the charts.
Kokomo was their first number one hit since Good Vibrations back in 1966, and was written without any contribution from Brian. The lovely Getcha Back, a duet with The Fat Boys on Wipeout , and a version of California Dreamin' also kept them in the public eye.
How did Mike Kowalski feel about the negative criticism?
"Well you’re always gonna get that kind of stuff," he replies. "When it comes right down to it, when you’re listening to Brian Wilson’s music, how can you defy his genius? Every note, every bass note, guitar note, every vocal part, every percussion part - he was a master.
"To me, if you go back a couple of hundred years for instance, say 150 years, I always say Claude Debussy, George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Brian Wilson - Burt Bacharach’s one of my favourites as well, as far as writing and producing, but Brian wrote it, arranged it, played on it, and sang it!"
The Beach Boys: Baywatch and the '90s
The first Beach Boys album of the '90s, Summer in Paradise, was also lambasted by the critics on its release in 1992, and, to date, is the last "proper" Beach Boys album - not counting the Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 project, where country singers, backed by the group, performed classic Beach Boys hits.
In 1996, The Beach Boys appeared on the popular TV show, Baywatch, in a storyline that involved them staging a charity concert to save a polluted beach from being closed down. The songs featured in the episode included Summer of Love - the third track off Summer in Paradise, which was played over the opening credits, Surfer Girl and Fun, Fun, Fun.
What are Mike Kowalski's memories of the experience?
"With Baywatch, it’s different because David Hasselhoff was a very good friend of my brother's, my brother Bernie, because he worked on Knight Rider.
"He was the executive producer and he directed a lot of those, so when we did Baywatch, I had some kind of 'in', not that I would tell everybody that, but he knew who I was and he knew my brother intimately since they worked together for so long, and playing that gig was fun."
Carl Wilson's Death
When Carl Wilson, the "glue that held The Beach Boys together," died of cancer in 1998, the future of the group seemed less-certain that it had previously, but Mike Kowalski was in no doubt that the strength of Brian Wilson's songs would be enough to carry them through.
"It was totally shocking when Dennis passed away and even just as bad when Carl passed away in February ’98," he says. "That was really…that might have set us back…no, I wouldn’t say that because Brian Wilson’s music is just so wonderful, but I’m just saying with a person like Carl, he was…so kind, so generous, so complementary, that you really enjoyed it when he said you sounded good - it made your day.
"When Carl died, things changed a bit, but the music was just too powerful. People wanted to hear it and we had to make sure the band sounded good, so they did the best they could."
The Beach Boys Today
The Beach Boys are still on the road in 2010, now with only two official members - Mike Love and Bruce Johnson - and without Mike Kowalski, who left in 2007. Other members of the group, such as Al Jardine and David Marks continue to perform in various off-shoot bands, and, in the case of Brian Wilson, as a solo act.
Through thick and thin, Mike Kowalski succeeded in his mission of doing his bit to keep the enduringly popular music of The Beach Boys alive, and in doing so, helped introduce Brian Wilson's timeless melodies to a new generation of fans.
Adrian Peel - Adrian is an English freelance writer and journalist currently living in Mexico. Over the past eight years, he has had articles, features ...
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