Music Trivia: Beach Boys Connect-the-Dots

My regular readers know of my long-standing love of the Beach Boys. While I am not (contrary to popular belief) old enough to have been a fan all the way back in their earliest days, their music has been a part of my life for a very long time. From hours spent listening to various albums to seeing them in concert with artists like Billy Joel and Chicago to singing their songs when no one is around to hear, I love me some Beach Boys!  And their music has been very influential in the lives of other artists as well. So today we are going to play a little trivia game I am calling Connect-the-Dots. Here's how it going to work. You will see a list of 7 artists and songs, all of which have some direction connection to the Beach Boys. Your task is to identify the connection. For example, if the list reads Jan & Dean- Surf City, then the connection is that Beach Boy head honcho Brian Wilson co-wrote the song. See how it works? Just to make it more of challenge, you will not know if it is the artist or the specific song that connects it to the Boys. This is not going to be easy, but it should be fun! Take your best guesses, and then after another picture you will find the answers. Enjoy, and let me know how you do. Steve Semmler, if you don't get 100% you should turn in your fan club badge!!!  :) OK- let's do this!

1. Barry Manilow - I Write the Songs
2. Wilson Phillips- The Dream Is Still Alive
3. Chicago- Wishing You Were Here
4. Glen Campbell- The Wichita Lineman
5. The Beatles - Back in the USSR
6. Jesse and the Rippers - Forever
7. The Captain & Tennille - Love Will Keep Us Together

Think you have some of the connections figured out? Let's take a look at the answers and see how you did!

1. The huge Barry Manilow hit was, ironically, not written by Manilow but rather by longtime Beach Boy Bruce Johnston! It seems that Bruce writes the songs that makes the whole world sing!
2. There were 3 Wilson brothers in the Beach Boys- Brian, Carl and Dennis. Carl and Dennis have passed away, but Brian is still going strong. The "Wilson" part of the 90s pop trio Wilson Phillips were 2 of Brian's daughters- Carnie & Wendy. For a little pop music bonus, the "Phillips" was Chynna, who was the daughter of John and Michelle Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas. Pretty cool, huh?
3. The Boys did a couple of tours with Chicago over the years, and seeing them close a concert with all of both bands on stage was truly something to behold. On the Chicago hit Wishing You Were Here the Beach Boys provided the background vocals. And they are amazing...
4. Around 1964 the band was constantly on tour, and an inner ear problem made the noise and the travel unbearable for Brian Wilson. He stopped touring and dedicated himself to songwriting and studio work. Brain had been the band's bass player, and he was replaced for a while on tour by an unknown studio musician named Glen Campbell. Things that make you go hmmm!
5. The Beatles and the Beach Boys were rivals in many ways in the early 60s, but later on became friends and were often inspired by each other. Paul McCartney has stated that Sgt. Pepper was pushed to new levels in the studio because they were so amazed by Pet Sounds. Back in the USSR was written as a California Girls style tribute to Brian Wilson and his musical genius.
6. Uncle Jesse (a character played on Full House by John Stamos, who has sat in with the Beach Boys on numerous occasions over the years ) was in a band called Jesse and the Rippers. They struggled to get a break for quite a while before the Beach Boys appeared on the show and gave them a song called Forever. The song was one of the few BB tunes written and sung by Dennis Wilson, who died in 1983. The song became a hit again after being on the show, and the Rippers reunited on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in 2013 to sing it again as part of a Full House medley!
7. When Love Will Keep Us Together became the #1 song of 1975, Daryl (the Captain) Dragon and Toni Tennille were unknown artists. But not to Beach Boys fans. Daryl had spent several years as keyboardist for the group on tours, and on his recommendation Toni was added as an additionally keyboard player for a year. That stint was enough to qualify her as the band's one and only "Beach Girl."

It's difficult to find musicians who were not influenced in some way by Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. I hope you have fun playing along with me today, and that you have enjoyed the good vibrations. Wouldn't it be nice to listen to some Beach Boys today, and the get together and do it again?  Have a blessed day!

Get To Know Me- The Sequel!

Back in February of 2011 I wrote a post called Get To Know Me to help you, my beloved readers, understand a little more about the weirdness that is me.  Today I bring you the sequel, with even more fun facts abut my life.  Again, in traditional youth ministry fashion, we will do this as a game.  Hidden in the following list of facts is one false statement.  Post your guess as to which one is the lie in the comment section and I will draw a winner from among the correct answers.  What will you win? How about the latest Newsboys CD, God Is Not Dead!  Pretty cool, huh?  So here we go...

*  I was once part of a Womanless Beauty Pageant at Springfield Friends Meeting, entering as the fabulous Carlita.  I finished dead last. I was one UGLY woman!  All pictures have been destroyed.
*  I have written or co-written close to 200 songs. Some of the silly ones are quite famous in certain circles.  Some of the more serious ones I have sung in a few places (like Quaker Lake Camp) for small audiences.  Some of the best ones have only been heard by one person.

Conner Dog

*  My first dog (and only dog until Conner came along many years later) was named Tippy, because he had a tip for a tail.  Tippy was a "Heinz 57"- a mutt, who only had one eye due to an accident he had when he was 6 weeks old.  He died with his head in my lap on our way to visit my grandparents.  To this day whenever something goes missing or I forget to do something, I blame it on Tippy.
*  I cannot read music.
*  My mother was one of 5 sisters, yet I have only 3 cousins on that side of the family.
* Eating lima beans will make me barf. My second grade teacher, Mrs. Ware, did not believe me.  She does now.

The Caribbean Beach Resort

*  I have stayed at 10 different Walt Disney World resort hotels.
*  I once performed an hour long concert in the Pioneer Family Restaurant in Archdale, NC, under the stage name Bubba.
*  At various points in time I coached youth football, youth basketball and Little League baseball.  Just to be clear, at no point in time did I ever coach youth soccer.
*  I have seen both Neil Diamond and Barry Manilow live in concert. 
*  Among my 2290+ Twitter followers are at least 10 former youth group members.
*  In high school, as part of a Yearbook assembly (I was editor), I once danced to Rock Around The Clock in front of the entire student body.

Myabi Kyoto's, Myrtle Beach

*  In 28 years of student ministry, not once were we ever asked not to come back to someplace we were staying or dining.
* I was once on stage with the band Third Day.
*  I once sold steak knives door-to-door in North Carolina.
*  My first girlfriend was Susan Kochel- in 5th grade. She dumped me on a field trip to Old Salem.
*  I once took a group from FUMC-Kissimmee to Atlanta for a Braves game and it was delayed for a few hours. But not by rain. Because the stadium caught on fire.
*  In 1988 I was featured in a brochure for YouthQuake, a national Quaker youth conference. Everyone agreed that my picture looked like a young Hitler.
*  My youth ministry career spanned 8 different churches in 4 states; one camp, one para-church organization, and one denominational position.

Long time ago...

* My wife, whom I have known for 30 years, has never seen me in person when I did not have a moustache.
*  And finally, the first new car I ever bought for myself was a 1984 Renault Encore. It was wrecked by an unnamed youth who drove it less than 2 miles one Sunday afternoon.

So there you have it.  Lots of random facts, a few pictures, and one lie.  It's more than you wanted to know I'm sure, but now you have a little more idea of why I am the way I am!  Hope you enjoyed it and will take a guess at my one untruth.  See you tomorrow with the correct answer...and the winner!

Get To Know Me!



Me, 1981. No gray hair- yet!

Happy Saturday!  I thought that since I have so many new readers via Twitter who may not know me very well that perhaps it was time for some info on the world's most trivial subject- ME!  Some of you will know some of this and some of you will know none of this, but hopefully none of you will know all of this!  Confused?  Good!  And just for fun we'll make it like an old youth group game, 4 Truths and a Lie.  Except there are way more than 4 truths.  If you think you know which of these very unremarkable facts is not true, leave a comment with your guess.  Or you can just choose to make fun of all of them.  The winner, as always, gets a can of SPAM!  Here we go...

• I was born in Asheboro, NC while Eisenhower was president.  Technically speaking I am in my 7th decade.  Ouch...
• When I was 4 years old I went on The Old Rebel Show, a local children's show in Greensboro, NC, and won a wild west quick draw contest.  The show was never seen because it was due to air November 22, 1963, and was preempted by coverage of the JFK assassination.

• I once wore all pink- including pink tights- for my role as Prince Dauntless in the Western Guilford High School (Greensboro) production of Once Upon A Mattress.
•  The hardest I have ever been hit in my life was by my dear friend Sabrina "Sis" Perry after she found out I had talked my best friend Steve Semmler into asking someone else out, right after she told me didn't care if he did.   Ahhh, high school! 
• My freshman year in college I helped start a fake fraternity called Omega Zeta- or OZ.  We  joked that we didn't have a president, we had a wizard. 
• In high school there was a group 0f 7 girls who referred to me as Snow White.  I can't make this stuff up...
• The first concert I attended was a Jimmy Buffett show with Steve and our dates in an ice skating rink around 1974.  The guy sitting behind us threw up on our dates, so we missed half the show.  Hooray beer!
• In 1979 I drove across the country with my friends Alan Brown & Carl Semmler.  We were gone a month, made it to Cali, went to Disneyland and never saw the Pacific Ocean. 
• I saw Michael Jordan, James Worthy and Dominique Wilkins play basketball in person- all while they were still in high school!
• As a matter of fact I DID have a collection of John Denver albums on 8-track tape...
• I won tickets from a radio station to see Monty Python's Holy Grail in a sneak preview, two weeks before it actually hit theaters.  I took a date.  We didn't get it.  I now pretty much have it memorized.  Best.  Movie.  Ever.
• At my first meeting as a paid youth leader, at Centre Friends Meeting, I was still 18.  There was at least one student there who was older than me.

• During my 6 summers (1978-83) of working on the summer staff at Quaker Lake Camp (and for a few years afterwards) I had a group of female campers who called me Pops.  Pictured are Sharron Tutterow, Mollie Edwards, me, Debbie Tully, Kristin Hayworth,  Laura Wheeler, Jane Tesh & Jane Terrell.  Even at age 20 I was already a father figure- or at least old!  :)
• At one point I owned over 20 Beach Boys albums.  Those were the big CDs with the hole in the middle...
• I have a Tigger tattoo on my left shoulder. I got it at Disney on a dare from my long-time Summer Intern, Jerry Hanbery. He got a Goofy...
• I was in Atlanta at the Braves game the night Hank Aaron hit his 700th home run.
• Marilyn and I were married on August 30, 1986 in Elkin, NC.  William Joshua was born July 16, 1995.  Conner the Dog was born March 15, 2003.  That's my family!
• I once attended a Washington Senators baseball game. Yes, SENATORS!
• Alan Brown and I wrote the song There's A Blue Pick-Up Truck Where My Heart Used To Be after he drove behind a really slow truck while trying to get to my house in the early '80s.  I later performed it at a National Youth Workers Convention and Tony Campolo stood up in his chair and waved a candle (click here for story).
• My youth ministry career included working with the Quakers, the United Methodists, the United Church of Christ and Young Life. 
• I have lost nearly 75 pounds in the last 6 years.
• While at FUMC-Kissimmee in 1997 I put together a big concert featuring Geoff Moore & the Distance that lost nearly $8000. Unfortunately, this is NOT the lie.  See that story here.
• I attended a performance of The Lion King on Broadway and sat next to Batman.
• I have seen Les Miserables 11 times on Broadway- twice from the front row!
• Places I have lived: Greensboro, High Point, Asheboro (all NC);  Worcester, MA;  Clarendon Hills (Chicago area) IL;  Kissimmee, FL; Tampa, FL; & Waycross, GA.
• And finally...I led a seminar at the 2004 NYWC in Atlanta called Pagan Eye For the Christian Guy.  CDs are available.  Well, CD.  I think I still have one...

So there you have it.  Lots of random facts, a few embarrassing pictures, and one lie.  It's more than you wanted to know I'm sure, but now you have at least some idea of why I am the way I am!  Hope you enjoyed it and will take a guess at my one untruth.  See you tomorrow with the correct answer!

Because of Jesus,