Good Vibrations

In his Soundstage special, Brian Wilson performs hits from his illustrious award-winning career as a Beach Boy, as well as selections from his new album No Pier Pressure. Joined by friends old and new…

The Troggs were one of the toughest and most gloriously unpolished bands to emerge from the U.K. during the British Invasion era - the leering, monolithic pound of "Wild Thing" and "I Can't Control Myself" was about the closest thing to the Stooges that emerged on vinyl before James Osterberg reinvented himself as Iggy Pop, and lead singer Reg Presley all but defined the word "lascivious" with his guttural howls and moans on their best recordings. The Troggs had dropped off the charts by the end of the '60s, but they were the sort of band that simply didn't believe in giving up, and in 1975 they returned to the studio to cut their first album in five years. Simply called The Troggs, the album found the group updating their sound just a bit, with the results at times suggesting a cross between Status Quo-style boogie and blue collar glam in the manner of Slade, especially on the honest self-celebration of "Full Blooded Band"…

Todd Rundgren considered 1966 the beginning of his professional musical career, largely because the Nazz formed around that time. As a celebration, he recorded Faithful. Presumably, Faithful celebrates the past and the future by juxtaposing a side of original pop material with a side of covers. Actually, "covers" isn't accurate – the six oldies that comprise the entirety of side one are re-creations, with Rundgren "faithfully" replicating the sound and feel of the Yardbirds ("Happenings Ten Years Time Ago"), Bob Dylan ("Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine"), Jimi Hendrix ("If Six Was Nine"), the Beach Boys ("Good Vibrations") and the Beatles "("Rain," "Strawberry Fields Forever"). All of this is entertaining, to a certain extent, especially since it's remarkable how close Rundgren comes to duplicating the very feel of the originals.

The Troggs were one of the toughest and most gloriously unpolished bands to emerge from the U.K. during the British Invasion era – the leering, monolithic pound of "Wild Thing" and "I Can't Control Myself" was about the closest thing to the Stooges that emerged on vinyl before James Osterberg reinvented himself as Iggy Pop, and lead singer Reg Presley all but defined the word "lascivious" with his guttural howls and moans on their best recordings…