15 Times the Beach Boys Embarrassed Us – And We Loved Them Anyway

Being in the Beach Boys fandom requires the sort of unconditional love that’s usually reserved for children or close family members. Sometimes, it seems like the boys from Hawthorne are even better at making bad decisions than they are at singing pristine harmonies–and yet, no matter how many times they embarrass themselves, and us, we keep on loving them. Here are a few of the band’s most cringe-worthy moments.

1.  The time they let this happen to “Forever”:

Because what Dennis Wilson’s best ballad really needed was a shirtless John Stamos playing footsie with his TV babies.

2. Not to mention this:

Because what Dennis Wilson’s best ballad really needed was a dance break.

3. The time they performed “Summer of Love” over the opening credits of Baywatch

With lines like “Doin’ unto others is the Golden Rule/But doin’ it with you would be VERY COOL,” it’s no wonder that Mike Love is known as a lyrical genius… oh, wait.

4. The time Mike Love wore this:

5. And this:

6. And this:

No. Just… no.

7. The time Carl Wilson had a Mai Tai and a Valium before going onstage

Of course, in all fairness, this might have been the only time in his life that Carl Wilson was not perfect.

8. The time Dennis Wilson was a little too Dennis-like on Good Morning America

9. The time a dancing robot that looked eerily like Brian Wilson performed the song “Night Time” on Dick Clark’s Prime Time

…while wearing black leather pants.

10. The time the band discovered disco

“Hey, remember that song from the second side of Wild Honey? What if we made it five times longer and added a disco beat?…What? Of course we’ll process the vocals so that we sound like aliens, and throw in a screechy saxophone solo and some random screaming! Don’t you think we know how music works? We’re the goddamn Beach Boys!”

11. The time Brian discovered rap

His name is Brian and he’s the man. He writes hit songs with a wave of his hand. But this is not one of those songs.

12. The time the rest of them discovered rap

Only in Beach Boys world is “I wanna see you in a bathing suit!” considered trash talk.

14. The time Mike forgot to meditate before being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

You know how, at Thanksgiving dinner, that one uncle of yours sometimes has a little too much to drink, and ends up ranting about how the “glitterati-glissando” are so caught up in their “interstistine” squabbles that they don’t even remember how their ancestors came over from the old country with nothing but the shirts on their back, until finally he passes out face-first in his pumpkin pie, mumbling something about challenging Bruce Springsteen and Mick Jagger to a fight? It’s kind of like that, except somehow even more mortifying.

15. The time they got upstaged by Gilbert Gottfried and one of the most annoying child stars of the ’90s

Did we leave out your favorite embarrassing Beach Boys moment? Share it in the comments!

Carey Farrell

Carey Farrell is a writer, musician, and teacher from Chicago. She enjoys collecting vintage books and records, watching terrible movies, and telling people about the time her band opened for Peter Tork. Find her on YouTube or Bandcamp.