NASCAR anyone? Options

[Chuck]

In that they had so many car/race songs, I'm wondering why the BB's ot BW+wondermints doesn't get to range a nat'l anthem for the beginning of a Daytona 500!

Also, some car songs from them would be cool throughout the race shows!

[Mark]

In that they had so many car/race songs, I'm wondering why the BB's ot BW+wondermints doesn't get to range a nat'l anthem for the beginning of a Daytona 500!

Also, some car songs from them would be cool throughout the race shows!

That makes such perfect sense. It's so obvious I'm sure it has been over-looked. Go for it Chuck, a submission and E-mails from you retired in sunny Mexico, thats the ticket
I never thought when I was growing up I would hear half the music one hears now at say Baseball games. The ninth inning and the closer is coming up, cue up Smoke On The Water. Robb Nenn used that theme when he was the closer at Pac Bell park/SBC park, It was an inspired choice.
We've had a few chats over at our Beatles board about how songs are sometimes, well mostly ruined by product placement, I can never hear James Brown sing I Feel Good without realizing it is used as a laxative song now
But as in other sports events hearing Ronnie and The Daytona's doing Little GTO is a choice idea. Chuck wins the yearly award, oh heck it's only January !!!!

[Chuck]

Brian's in the pre race show...Brian's in the pre race show...millions and billions will be watching and Brian's in the pre race show!

Boy, were we prophetic or what!

Check it out! Sunday, February 20. The ad said "prerace" which I don't think will be "NASCAR this Morning" at 11:00 am on Speed Channel, rather I would guess it will be the main show on FOX at 1:00. All times EST.

I'm sorry I don't have more exact info, but I just caught it out of the corner of my eye. I'll be sure to have my recorder going and I'll post a Flash file of whatever Brian does(((((((((:

I got a love-hate relationship going with NASCAR Cup these days. I'm an old fart so I'm from the old school. The new NASCAR has been consumed by money.

In the old days, one owner owned one car and the rules left much for imagination to make your car go fast. Whoever had the best imagination went the fastest. It used to be that the best cars pulled out way ahead of the field. Lots have changed about that these days. Heck, one year, Richard Petty won the Daytona 500 by TWO laps!

Now the rules hold the cars very similar. It's dictated what sets of shocks, gears, springs they must chose from, how the body's mount (lol), SO MUCH makes the cars identical. Now the cars run in huge packs, very close together on the superspeedways...NASCAR tells Us that's exciting.

Also, owners have bought multiple teams...sometimes up to five teams under one owner...what does that do to the single owner efforts and the new blood entering?

Well, take testing for example. Each team gets to pre test at five tracks. That means when they get to the track on race week, they can unload off the truck pretty well tested and faster than the others who didn't pre test at that track. OK, so what's wrong with that? Well, lets say you're a big money owner with three cars...that's fifteen tracks you can test at, and each test really is testing for that team, and the other two team mates setups and cars as well. They can transfer the setups, or even slap a different number on there and test the team mates cars.

So compared to a single car team who can test at five tracks, the three car owner can test at fifteen tracks.

It doesn't stop at testing...also resources are affected. A single car team must bring everything he needs to the track, a spare motor, transmission, all kinds of sub assemblies and equipment...but a multi car owner can share those resources between his teams.

Same for super super super super expensive wind tunnel testing for body shape...a triple team owner can pool the money from the three sponsorships to have more for wind tunnel time...and test for his three teams when he goes...a single car team pays full price, but only gets his one car tested.

In the practice just before qualifying (when all the teams are getting ready for a race), the three teams with their three car chiefs can share information on what works...three car chiefs working together testing three cars pooling info is far better than one single team car chief testing-qualifying one car all alone with no help. it makes the three cars qualify faster.

And during the race it's nice to have team mates to help you.

Because the mult-team cars have all these advantages they do better and get the big sponsorships...first through tenth place costs about 30-35 million per car. Compare that to the 10-12 million that a single car team gets. Ten million against 35 million, plus the 35 million is multiplied with the 30 million from each of his team mates. How can 10 million compete with 90 million? That is the truth, it's really what's happening. It means some of these multi car owners pool their engineering and development...some literally have HUNDREDS of engineers working full time. Ten million can support a shop of 50 people total, to do everything...not an extra 20 million for a hundred extra engineers.

Those are the highlights of how the sport has changed with the influx of money in the last 10 years. What does it mean? The highest single car team last year finished 34th in points. Hell of a team, hell of a driver (Ricky Craven)...but what sponsor wants to buy into a 34th place team that will run with FAR less (miniscule), camera time. The cameras are always up front covering those who paid big.

And for the fans, they pay $100 for a $20 ticket to watch the cars run in one pack when the $20 ticket of ten years ago provided a LOT more variety, imagination and excitement. But the numbers of fans has swelled HUGELY in the last 5-6 years. it means we lose the old smaller historic tracks like North Wilksborough where Richard Petty, and Buddy Baker, Niel Bonnet, and the greats ran. We lose them because they're not physically big enough to hold 150,000 fans in a race...and in place we get boring cookie cutter tracks like Texas and Chicago that can hold the fans. The problem with these tracks is they were designed for fans, not for racing. The upside of this is that most of the fans are new and never knew how exciting it was in the old days, they literally don't know what we're missing.

And this year NASCAR's sponsor (money), friendly rules pulled a real boner...get this...no longet do the top 35 in points teams have to qualify to get into a race...say wha??? Automatically in without having to qualify? And what of teams who are not ALREADY in the top 35? They must qualify to get in. Not only must they be faster, but they must come to the track having spent more money than the big money teams because they have to qualify to get in, and the big money teams can just go through the motions of qualifying for start position IN RACE TRIM. The big money teams no longer have to worry about a qualifying package on the motor, or the car because they can literally run around the track backwards, in reverse, at 15mph...and they're guaranteed to get into the race. The rationalization is that the big money sponsors paid a lot so they should be guaranteed the TV exposure...excuse me, but that is NOT the definition of racing..".being "guaranteed" in if your slow"...displacing someone with less money, that had to qualify, and is faster. duhhhhhhh!

Well, what do you want for $100 a ticket?

What has gotten better at the Cup level? Saftey. Especially since Dale crashed at Daytona (with his open face helmet and NO hans device). We have now soft walls which we needed for 30 years, we finally got them last year. The recent safety improvements are tremendous

OK, have I got sour grapes? Well, it sure is sad what happened to Cup, but I subscribe to the philosophy that you "ski on what's there"...whether it's powder or ice.

Which brings me to my next post...(which will take me a little while to write, it's real fun information....

[Chuck]

OK, here's the fun part...the reason I havent changed to the Busch or ARCA series where money does NOT yet rule everything.....

I work for a company who was a major sponsor of the #4 car for many years...lol, back when the sponsorship of $6 million could win the title. The #4 team was great, always finishing the year in the top ten..highest was third for the year.

Then Jack Rouch got the idea to buy another team and it all started going wrong.

My company actually slightly underfunded the #4 team, but they were sooooo good, they could pull it off with Tony Glover as the chief, and drivers like Mark martin, Sterling Marlin and such at the wheel.....well, problem is...we were doing too well...Sterling was winning back to back Daytona 500's, and finishing 3rd for the year...he and Tony got bought away from the #4 shop with a spnsor/team that would double their salray (can't blame then for leaving). This was the beginning of the current "money years," and it was the beginning of hard times for the #4 shop (actually, half the shop and crew left with Tony and Sterling).

But the #4 car was still real good, so we attracted Ernie Irvin who needed a boost to his career (instead of welding the seats together at Martinsville). Ernie got our good ride and headed for the top (13th I think it was), so he got hired by a big money team who was part of a multi team org, again a milti car team with big bucks.

Ok, so now the 4 shop is in emergency mode, looking to start up a second car to get the test dates, double the sponsorship dollars, and split the costs between the teams. Literally, the 4 shop was scrambeling.

Meantime, sponsorship $$$ was rising for the multi teams, the snowball had begun...the 4 shop was getting 8 million, and the double and triple (even quardruple and lol 'pentuple'), teams were getting $14 million for each car. Our beloved 4 car has been pretty pretty desperate in recent years to get a second sponsor, but they couldn't cuz...well, as you saw above, the highest single car team last year finished 34th (wthe 4 finished 36th).


Oops, excuse me, I tend to refer to the shop and team as "we"... I need to say I don't work there, I'm not related in the family, nor own any part of the deal..I'm just a friend (but I do help sponsor the upstarting career of Eric who I'll get to in a minute...about 35 of us banded together when Eric first started racing, to fix his wrecked cars, and help him get started...we were called FOB "Fans on Board" and to us the money was inconsequential when compared to the fun of helping Eric. One time he wrecked hard, and we had $1500 up to get his car fixed, and got him in the next race without missing a beat. Anyway, I know I'm going to slip a lot and say "we" instead of "they"...but it's really friendship of Fans on Board...and Eric is such a cool dude(:


So for the last 5 years two things have been going on in paralell... Eric has been building his career (he wins a lot). he's been in ARCA and Busch and even a Cup race last year, (at Talladega last year, Eric finished 26th on the lead lap when theoretically he shouldn't have even qualified), (it may not sound like much finishing 26th from 43 on the lead lap...until you consider that they were ALL big name Cup drivers he beat). Here's Eric at his home track in his first car...a Chevy Nova he bought for $200...it's the #99 black, with the screetch face on the hood, outside front row...


Fans on Board(:


Lol, FOB approved spoiler for good luck(:


So that was his car about four years ago, I'll maybe get into some of his interm cars later, but for now...here's his car now, (this photo was from this week)...
[img]http://www.znakomi.com/4user/znakomi/2005/nascarcup-2005-day-eg-1052%5b1%5d.jpeg[/img]

OK, now back to the story..isn't this a fun story((:

The 4 shop was sinking, even their $8.3 million dollar sponsorship left for a multi car team, buying in for $14 million...man..the 4 shop had been scraping by on 8..and the new team get's 14? (the vindication was the $14 million onl bought them a 27th place finish for the year...the team may have been part of a three car owner, but the team wasn't that much better).


Anyway, the 4 team desperatly needed a team car to leverage the huge advantages, but as a single car team (then 27-34th in points), they couldnt attract a second sponsor. It literally seemed that the money was going to run out, and 54 guys in Abingdon were going to be out of a job when the shop closed. That's how desperate it was, especially the last two years....

But EUREKA, the rabbit MAY have just been pulled out of the hat....MAYBE. Here's what's going on...

Eric has gotten in enough races and done very well with his father spotting (who has also been the spotter for the Cup cars all through the glory years), to attract a full time Cup ride. It's the wierdest arrangement in NASCAR because we are sorta like a multi car team now, but there are two owners working together (cuz single owners can't survive alone anymore). How to explain this simply...

MMM motorsports stands for Morgan McClure Motorsports of whom two McClures and a Morgan have owned since the late eighties. Jerry McClure is Eric's father (who discoraged Eric from racing and made him finish college). Eric worked at the shop for the family busness and even did such duties such as testing Cup cars so lazy drivers could just show up on the weekends and race. Eric got track time testing Cup cars...(meanwhile he was racing Saturday Night stock cars).

Now a new person named Ed Raabe has bought Eric's car (and one spare motor), and hired a lot of MMM personell including Tim Brewer from MMM, to be Eric's Crew Chief. He sorta bought a turnkey team from MMM. He bought in to the tune of $12 million. But Ed's shop is just an empty building for now, everything is coming out of MMM which is the 4 car shop. Ed and Larry McClure have formed a VERY unusual alliance, 2 owners co-operating as one. All the information can be shared, all the resources, wind tunnel and all can be shared just like a real multi-car team...Heck, even the SON of one owner is driving the car for the OTHER owner, (Eric).

Things are definatly looking up. It will (i think), be a window of opportunity for about one season, it the ship will fly, or it will totally disentegrate.

Mike Wallace (Rusty's brother), is driving the 4 car, and Eric is driving the 73. Both the 4 and the 73 have just enough to survive a season, they don't need to finish top ten this year (that's for the $90 million dollar orginizations), but if they can make some noise, the only way to go will be up.

Eric just failed to qualify for the Daytona 500 this week, his 2.5 mile lap came up three tenths of a second too slow. He tried to race his way in yesterday, but was beat by two multi owner, big time teams. There were 57 cars competing for 43 slots..the rest of the races this year won't be that way, so Eric should get in most of them.

The 4 car was the first car that didn't make the 500 on time, but Mike Wallace successfully raced his way in yesterday, so MMM will have one car in the 500. Eric will have to wait a week for the next race, (where they'll be only about 46 cars or so trying for 43 slots, not 57...Eric will start making races).

There is only one cloud on the horizion. This year NASCAR changed the entry rules to favor the established teams, and exclude the new teams. The rule id this: Every car in the top 35 points is guaranteed a place in the race every week...those outside the top 35 will habve to compete for the remaining 8 slots.

The first 6 races this year will use last years points. Eric is new, and the 4 is 36th in points, so they BOTH must qualify every week, against 35 teams that don't have to qualify. (You guys like underdogs who challangre the system on a shoestring?)

Here's where it messes up. If you are not top 35, and you miss a race, then you don't get the points for that race and you move further aawy from top 35. The top 35 are automatically in those races so they get those points which keeps them in the top 35. They changed this rule away from "everyone had to qualify every week to get in" to guarantee the big money spenders would be in each race every week. Now, the weekly qualifying for the top 35 only detirmies start position, for example, Eric can literally be faster than some of the preferred teams, but still not get in.

The first 6 races this year go by last years points, then it switches to this years points. As you can see, the top 35 all got Daytona guaranteed, but Eric didn't, they already have a huge advantage to stay in the top 35, but keep shut Eric out. Not so for the 4 car because he qualified in this week...if he can get in the next five also, without missing one (against the people who don't have to qualify at all), then he then gains an equal shot as them for all the rest of the years races after the seventh race. Eric is one behind already...he really needs to make the next 5 races.

So, long story short, Eric is the main reason I still watch Cup, and a loyalty to the MMM shop and the other FOBers who helped give him a chance. More fun stuff on Eric later, but them's the basics...the more one knows, the funner it gets(:


Shut it of, shut it off, buddy gonna shut you down!


FOR REAL!
Go 4, Go 73!

[Chuck]

BTW, in yesterdays two daytona races, (half the field in each), Eric got as high as 10th place running against the big boys. There were only two Daytona 500 slots available for him out if the 26 cars...but to see him passing big names was a REAL rush!

Here's Eric in his FIRST big time arca race in Michigan in 2003. He was running a borrowed Winston cup car and got as high as second place and finished 6th (of 43). (The borrowed cup car with the Kodak paint could run ARCA because ARCA and Cup cars are practically identical(:


It's a realplayer file that will take a minute or two to start playing on dsl...but it will start, just click it once(:
http://www.znakomi.com/4user/Eric4/EricArcaclip1.rm


Here's Eric qualifying for Talladega last year:

http://www.znakomi.com/4user/Eric4/tallade...a/Q/streamrm.rm

You go Eric, bet your butt you can learn!


In good company(:

[brianmargo67]

My whole attitude re NASCAR can be reflected in a call to the local sports talk station here in Philly, WIP, a couple days ago:

Host: Jim, you're on WIP.

Jim: Hey Steve, Anthony... I say enough of this Eagles talk... I wanted to talk about the Daytona 500 coming up.

PAUSE

Host: Matt, you're on WIP...

[Chuck]

Different strokes for different folks(:

[viper]

I'll be at the Speedway on Sunday for the Daytona 500. I'll be watching the cars go 'round in circles for 4 hours and then dart over to Orlando for a convention and sit in traffic for 4 hours. It's going to be a blast!!!

[Mark]

Different strokes for different folks(:

Thats always an important thing to remember. Whatever it is music, sports, friends,or even which food we enjoy. Its all there for one to choose from and obviously if we all liked the same things the world wouldn't be the diverse place it is. I always get raised eyes when I talk baseball. I happen to like things that have no time limits-no lights to focus- no major sound challenges-so that works for me. I really have a hard time sitting in a theatre as to me after 23 years it means I watch the work I did. Thats whats so magical with a Brian Wilson or a Paul McCartney or Ringo Starr show, it takes me back to a time when I didn't know squat. I just sit or shake my grande butt to music that is timeless.
Thats what is also so cool about forums like this. We may share one interest but we all have more to bring to the table with differing views.

[brianmargo67]

I was just being a smart-ass...but what you said about baseball, Mark, is what made me actually give NASCAR a chance a couple years ago... because I was married (twice) to people who didn't get my February-to-October Phillies and Orioles obsession... "Why do you ALWAYS HAVE TO HAVE THE BASEBALL GAME ON THE RADIO?" I probably sounded the same way about NASCAR.

But one afternoon I thought "You know, rather than be one of those people who ridicules something without giving it a CHANCE (ie, like my two exs), why not see if I ENJOY it???" And I watched a race with a bunch of people and found it exciting (I liked watching the pit crews) but I still just don't GET it... having come to it late as an outsider (and an outsider with a burned-out left turn signal ) maybe I never will. THe drivers certainly seem like nice guys... one thing that kind of got me was that the drivers-cars were like moving billboards... but then, commercialization runs rampant in ALL sports. It fuels sports. So that's no basis for objection. It's just not my thing, I guess... or not my thing as much as sitting and watching a baseball game or a good college basketball game (goin' up to State College tomorrow to see the Lady Lions play, by the way!).

Anyway... I gave it a chance... and will probably give it another chance. But I still don't GET it...

[Chuck]

.... So that's no basis for objection. It's just not my thing, I guess... or not my thing as much as sitting and watching a baseball game or a good college basketball game (goin' up to State College tomorrow to see the Lady Lions play, by the way!).

Anyway... I gave it a chance... and will probably give it another chance. But I still don't GET it...

It's one of those "the more you know" things. If you watched baseball, or football, or basketball, and you didn't know anything about anyone, the rules, nor what must be done to do well, then it would be a kick to watch once or twice, but all it's depth would be gone. Same deal with racing, it's very rich and deep in detail.

There's also one interesting thing about NASCAR that's different from any other sport (and I don't say it makes it "better or worse"), every team "plays" together every week in the same event, which is different from other sports where it can be only two teams at each event. (lol, that would be funny, imagine a football game with three or more teams, lol).

It's also different from other sports in that the playfield is different every week. Some weeks it's Daytona, a 2 1/5 mile superspeedway, then the next week it can be Martinsville, a half mile paperclip, (Martinsville is two drag strips connected by tight u-turns at each end), and then the next week it can be a road course, with left and right hand turns. Lol, imagine a football gane where it was 100 yards one week, 25 yards another, and 1000 yards the next week, lol

If you want to give it a chance in a really big way, grab yer girl and go on down to a track some Sunday. It's a ball with 150,000 partying fans, and 43 cars flying by at 200 mph (300kph), with 850 horsepower each, and no mufflers! It's a physical rush. Also, sometime during the race, walk on down trackside for a good idea of what a 200mph traffic jam looks like, as 43 cars fly by you within two seconds(:

Alas, this week, my favorite car (#4), hit the wall...it wasn't our fault, we got collected when the 21 car lost a tire. The 4 was good this week too, it picked up 22 positions in 26 laps until the march to the front came to this abrupt end:

(Note: this gif will replay every 20 seconds).

They need to get above 35th in points in the next 6 races, but this wreck caused them to finish 42nd, making them 42nd in points (there has been only one race so far this year). "We'll get 'em next Sunday!"

Of course I still had a high point, Brian played

video here of Brian performing at Daytona:
http://znakomi.com/bbs/2005/brianwilsondaytona.htm













Is this Blondie?




It was great to see Brian's big smile, especially while he's playing in front of 200,000+ people, but why "Good Vibrations?" I have for a long time felt there should be a hook-up between NASCAR, and the multitude of car and racing songs The Beach Boys did. To me, this was the perfect opportunity to get that connection started. I'm just a peon, but wouldn't it nice if they'd played a car song medly? Or how about "Spirit of America about Craig Breedlove breaking the land speed record, or "Shut it off, shut it off, buddy gonna shut you down" would have been perfect. Heck, a NASCAR - Brian link up might even get Brian and the Wondermints to write some new car racing songs together
Lol, but who am I to say?

[Mark]

Speaking from my point of view and NOT knowing Brians, I'd say he did that song because thats what he felt at that moment. If you look at what the songs Brian includes in his songbook,its logical although your right Chuck with his catalog he might have chosen another car song as they did have so many. But thats the past and this is now and its also one of the songs he is currently still plugging with the album. To many listeners Good Vibrations is a new song. Just us old roadster's remember the past and I think Brian is happy doing what he is now. If they wanted the old car songs then Mike Loves tribute to the Beach Boys would probably have been more to Nascar's liking???

[beachboylvr13]

[B][COLOR=purple]yOU GUYS TOOK ALL THE GOOD REPLYS, SO ILL JUST SAY, "GOOD PICTURES"

[Mark]

[B][COLOR=purple]yOU GUYS TOOK ALL THE GOOD REPLYS, SO ILL JUST SAY, "GOOD PICTURES"

Typical chico's eh Lady B?????

[Chuck]

Hey you guys, there's a video of Brian's performance at Daytona up there! Nobody clicked on it

[brianmargo67]

For those of us who have dialup, how was Brian on Sunday? I get the impression that it wasn't all that hot, and I keep looking at the Brian Wilson.com message board for reviews, but it seems like the posts there are being edited for some reason.

Hate to see Brian stumble on a big stage and just was curious what everyone thought of it... I have no idea when I'll get to see it.

[john k]

Hey you guys, there's a video of Brian's performance at Daytona up there! Nobody clicked on it

I just clicked on it Chuck (hi folks, just got back from the UK) and I've got to admit that I clicked off it almost immediately (okay shoot me ). It's wonderful (to put it mildly) that Brian's back out there doing concerts, but some facets of his re-emergence seem to be getting slightly out of hand (giving spiritual advice to Donald Duck indeed!). I do sincerely hope Brian isn't letting himself be used as some sort of added crowd-pulling attraction (like Justin and Janet - but that was a bunch of laughs). It's only one step away from being treated as a circus freak and that would be a gross insult to the man and his musical achievements. A line needs drawing somewhere, is my opinion.

As it's still confession time (but on a less serious note), I have to admit I've NEVER bought a live album. Which is why "In Concert" isn't in my collection although of course it's a priceless document if nothing else. In fact chronologically speaking since the pretty patchy "15 Big Ones/Love You" twofer the only new BB-related album I've invested in is "SMiLE" which truly is a gas (oh I did buy the Don Was soundtrack which was a mistake; apart from Brian's jarring solo rendition of 'Still I Dream Of It" it's all too middle-of-the-road for me - Brian deserves better).

Must go - I've just become the proud owner of a bunch of CDs that require some serious listening on my part. And... there's that "duty-free" bottle of whiskey to consider.

[Chuck]

Hi Jokn K,
Welcome back!
I see another side of this, but I don't say you're right or wrong. But just for information, I don't think Brian is a crowd puller to the Daytona 500, I would say the Daytona 500 is a crowd puller to Brian, because it's the biggest event of the year. Millions and millions watch it, but millions and millions (unfortunatly), don't tune in Brian these days. There are over 200,000 tickets sold, and the majority of Daytona 500 tickets are reserved years in advance (all the good seats are sold years ahead, some even for thousands of dollars each). They don't need to do anything to push tickets, they could sell 400,000 if they built the seats, and that's the literal truth.

And with that said, I saw that as an opportunity to get introduced to literally millions and millions who never saw him.

There are advantages to Brian being invited to sing, it's my opinion that he was using the free publicity, and it's a great opportunity.

Brian wrote a lot of beautiful car songs. He did that on his own. It was only later he wanted to advance to more "deep" songs. In that he wrote so many beautiful car songs, including race songs, (it happened at the strip where the raod is wide), it seemed to me that the biggest car race on the planet is a neat place to get invited to(:

To me, the event isn't anything like a catagory of spiritual advice to donald duck.

But that's my personal opinion, and again John, I respect you for yours, and I don't say I'm more right than you. I just offered that information for your reconsideration(:

Personally, I was so happy in my heart to see him recognized and invited for such a great honor, and also I was really happy in my heart to see such a big smile on his face.

Sure, Brian advanced light years beyond car songs, but I like to just have simple fun too, so I still listen to them a LOT

[john k]

I see another side of this, but I don't say you're right or wrong. But just for information, I don't think Brian is a crowd puller to the Daytona 500, I would say the Daytona 500 is a crowd puller to Brian, because it's the biggest event of the year. ...
And with that said, I saw that as an opportunity to get introduced to literally millions and millions who never saw him. ...

There are advantages to Brian being invited to sing, it's my opinion that he was using the free publicity, and it's a great opportunity. ...

But that's my personal opinion, and again John, I respect you for yours, and I don't say I'm more right than you. I just offered that information for your reconsideration(:

Chuck I was so eager to get back into the fray that I somewhat overstepped the mark, I can see that now. First I bow to your superior judgement about the Daytona 500, about which I know squat as you say on your side of the Altantic. And maybe I assume that EVERYONE knows who Brian is and knows that he really is back this time..... I shall exercise more caution in future.
I think it was because Brian hit some bum notes at the beginning of "Good Vibrations" and that threw me off. When I was young I would actually leave the room if someone singing live on the TV got their words muddled up and sometimes the song would grind to a halt. It all ties in with my aversion to live performances. I'm always afraid something will go wrong, certainly if all eyes are on one individual - which is certainly the case with Brian these days. Give me a symphony where everyone's on equal footing rather than a concerto where some poor sod in the spotlight has to battle it out with the orchestra and even the most innocent bum note stands out like a sore thumb. Anyway, that's enough of that. Thanks for reacting with such restraint, I was expecting a broadside for what I said.

[Chuck]

I felt the same way about the human side of the performance. It's almost like a family member hits a wrong note. They nailed a lot of it too, in a way only they could do. Both sides the way it was that day, a moment in an endless harmony...