3. Jock Sacks Genius
For a family affair, life in the Beach Boys was rarely harmonious. Consisting of the three Wilson brothers Brian, Carl and Dennis, their friend Al Jardine and cousin Mike Love, the Boys were responsible for some of the most forward-thinking, layered and downright beautiful pop of the 60's and early 70's. Sadly, theirs was a story inflicted by personal tragedies, no more so than the fragile mental health of in-house genius Brian Wilson. It's a genuinely gripping tale, but every story needs a villain and this one has Mike Love. The ironically named Love was a bullying jock par excellence. Whether it was admonishing Brian when he was at his weakest, changing arrangements to put himself centre stage over the more talented Dennis and Carl or causing lyricist Van Dyke Parks to walk out, Love never left anybody connected with the band in any doubt as to whose feet stamped the loudest. One of his chief crimes was cajoling the rest of the group to return to the cheerful juvenilia of the Fun, Fun, Fun era due to his being turned off by the direction Brian was taking with Pet Sounds and the Smile sessions. The world was denied Smile in any form other than bootleg until 2004, and seventies works such as Holland were flawed if fun substitutes. Despite all the fractiousness within the group, the Beach Boys released That's Why God Made The Radio in 2012 and returned to form with an almighty bang. Resembling Sunflower and Pet Sounds being put through Heaven's own blender, the record was backed with a tour comprising the group's surviving members to coincide with the Boy's 50th anniversary. Love then shattered the burgeoning expectations of both fans and Wilsons by announcing at the tour's end that the Beach Boys - whose name he had licensed - were to continue touring with himself and session musicians. Love denied sacking Brian and Al, both of whom thought differently, but if you can think of a more suitable phrase to adequately describe the removal of a genius, let us know in the comments section; I'm stumped. Mike Love, shame on you.