A serendipitous encounter involving a cassette of The Beach Boys’ album ‘Pet Sounds’ led Badly drawn Boy to collaborate with Mark E. Smith of The Fall,according to a story recently shared by Badly Drawn Boy.

The anecdote surfaced on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, June 12, a day after news broke of the passing of The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson at the age of 82.

Badly Drawn Boy recounted the incident: “Mark E. Smith got in my car thinking I was a taxi in 1997, I was playing a cassette version of ‘Pet Sounds’. Mark asked what it was and could he have it?”

Mark E Smith got in my car thinking I was a taxi in 1997, I was playing a cassette version of Pet Sounds. Mark asked what it was and could he have it ? I said he could keep it if we could do a collaboration. We recorded a song ‘Calendar’ a few weeks later. Thanks Brian Wilson !

– Badly Drawn Boy (@badly_drawn_boy) June 12, 2025

“I said he could keep it if we could do a collaboration,” he continued. “We recorded a song ‘Calendar’ a few weeks later.Thanks Brian Wilson!”

the resulting track, ‘Calendar,’ co-written by the two musicians, became a B-side to The Fall’s 1998 single ‘Masquerade’ from their album ‘Levitate.’

Mark E. Smith’s Unfamiliarity with The Beach Boys

“What’s this,I like it can I have it ?”

In a subsequent post,Badly Drawn Boy addressed skepticism about whether Mark E. Smith was genuinely unfamiliar with ‘Pet Sounds,’ an album widely regarded as one of the greatest of all time since its release in 1966.

“Yes,” he confirmed. “He was indeed very merry. I was shocked and laughed that he didn’t seem to recognize the Beach Boys..he literally said ‘ what’s this, I like it can I have it ?'”

Yes.. he was indeed very merry. I was shocked and laughed that he didn’t seem to recognise the Beach Boys.. he literally said ‘ what’s this, I like it can I have it ?’

– Badly Drawn Boy (@badly_drawn_boy) June 12, 2025

Mark E. Smith passed away in January 2018 at the age of 60, later revealed to be the result of terminal lung and kidney cancer.

Tributes to Brian Wilson

The music world has been paying tribute to Brian Wilson,with Paul McCartney among those offering heartfelt words,praising Wilson’s songwriting.

“Brian had that mysterious sense of musical genius that made his songs so achingly special,” wrote Paul McCartney. “The notes he heard in his head and passed to us were simple and brilliant simultaneously occurring. I loved him, and was privileged to be around his radiant shining light for a little while.

“How we will continue without Brian Wilson, ‘god Only Knows’. Thank you, brian.”

Elton John shared: “Brian Wilson was always so kind to me from the day I met him… I grew to love him as a person, and for me, he was the biggest influence on my songwriting ever; he was a musical genius and revolutionary. He changed the goalposts when it came to writing songs and shaped music forever. A true giant.”

Bob Dylan also shared a tribute: “Heard the sad news about Brian today and thought about all the years I’ve been listening to him and admiring his genius. rest in peace, dear Brian.”