I noticed he was on Facebook the other day.

Wonder if he ever feels guilty about giving Dennis a good kicking with that horrible poseur Rocky Pamplin?

I find it very difficult to like any of the Love faction, even after the reunion. Am I alone or do others feel this way??

I have mixed feelings about this.

It appears that a great number of diehard Beach Boy fans who love and admire Brian, Carl and (especially) Dennis Wilson have, over the years, come to despise Mike Love.

Any Beach Boys fan knows that Mike Love has certainly done some rather stupid, egotistical and thoughtless things throughout his life. Yet I have often defended Mike Love on several ocassions.

The lawsuits, for example. In some instances (but certainly not all), such as the case where Mike sued the distributors of Brian Wilson's 2004 "Smile" oveseas, he had every right (you may recall the unauthorized release of a Beach Boys greatest hits compilation that was packaged with the release to help spur sales).

On the flip side (pun intended), no one will ever convince me Mike had a hand in writing "Wouldn't It Be Nice." That is rubbish, and an insult to Brian and Tony Asher.

Then there are the infamous battles with Dennis. It's interesting that the general consensus is that Mike and Dennis despised each other. That could not be farther from the truth. I truly believe that Mike loved his cousin (and vice versa), yet despised the drug and alcohol use that made it very difficult to rely on Dennis. That was the start of it all, in my opinion. Mike Love has a corporation to run (yes, folks, the Beach Boys are a corporation - they ceased being just a band decades ago).

I would also argue that the guy is is an incredible (though frugile) businessman; I really don't think there would even be Beach Boys today if it weren't for his business saavy.

Again, I'm not here as a cheerleader for Mike Love; I do feel however that at times he has been an unfair target.

Of course, opinions are like a certain body orifice. Everybody has one.

Patrick Stibbs
On the Spot Productions
onthespotradio.com

Nice reply Pat - but do you REALLY like Rocky Pamplin?

Is he even still alive?

Yes, he is still among the living. In fact, I give him a bit more credit than Beach Boys history has.

It seems that Pamplin joined Marilyn Wilson and sister Diane Rovell's band American Spring for one year in 1977. Pamplin sang lead vocals on the unreleased track California Feelin', a song written by Brian Wilson and Steve Kalinich.

Pamplin also co-wrote the song It's Like Heaven with Brian Wilson and Diane Rovell for American Spring, but it would later appear on the Shaun Cassidy album Under Wraps.

And we all thought he was just a big dumb bodyguard!

I completely agree Rob, particularly after Mike has now announced his tour without Brian, Al and Dave.

Thanks! Glad to have an ally