"The Being Known As Wonder Girl...."

art by Mike Allred

I don't know if I first heard the song "Randy Scouse Git" by The Monkees on their TV series or as a song  on their third album, Headquarters. I just remember listening to it and being surprised to catch the phrase, "the being known as Wonder Girl is speaking, I believe..." I was a big fan of the DC Comics' super-hero group The Teen Titans, and Wonder Girl is a member of that group. I, of course, assumed that Micky was singing about *this* Wonder Girl.

The Monkees circa summer 1967

The Teen Titans made their debut in The Brave And The Bold #54 (June 1964) as the trio of Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad. This one-and-done story was a hit, so a year later the trio was joined by Wonder Girl for their first appearance as Teen Titans in The Brave And The Bold #60 (June 1965). Writer Bob Haney added her to make the trio an actual team (instead of long-established Green Arrow side-kick Speedy), which added a sense of fun to the three boys. However, there was one problem: Wonder Girl was originally Wonder Woman as a girl! Much like Superboy is just stories of Superman as a boy, there was no way that Wonder Girl could actually co-exist with Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash while her adult self was attending JLA meetings with Batman, Aquaman, and the Flash!

art by Dan Jurgens

Eventually the writers and editors moved to correct their error. In Teen Titans #22, Marv Wolfman gave the details: Wonder Woman had found a baby in an apartment on fire. Her parents were dead and all identifying papers were burned. So Wonder Woman took the girl to Paradise Island, where she was adopted by Queen Hippolyta. She grew up and was given super-strength by the Amazons. Eventually, she became Wonder Girl and followed in the footsteps of her "sister."

art by Nick Cardy

Unfortunately, several years later DC Comics decided that Wonder Woman hadn't existed at that time, so Wonder Girl became Troia instead. Eventually her original origin was re-established, so never mind. Then Wonder Girl was "killed" but got better a few years later. So never mind about that, either. Finally, DC re-booted their entire universe, and the being known as Wonder Girl no longer exists at all. If it makes anyone feel any better, there is no Kid Flash, Aqualad, or Speedy, either. It's kind of a lonely comics universe right now.

art by George Perez

As for the song "Randy Scouse Git" (British slang for "Drunken Horny Idiot"), Micky wasn't really writing about the the Teen Titans, but you probably already guessed that. In the book The Monkees author Andrew Sandoval writes, "Throughout the evening, Michael, Micky, Peter, and Chip (Douglas, the producer) run through a new song of Micky's that was written during and about his recent trip to London. Micky: 'It was the morning after The Beatles had thrown us a party at some club. I had some girl with me and my friend was in the room and we were just sittin' around. I was literally just making it up as I went along. It's not very significant but mentions The Beatles, and it mentions this girl that I was with at the time who later on was to become my first wife. She's the girl in the limousine...Well, I'd written the song in England and when I got back we were just sitting around in the studio doing Headquarters and I started playing it. I don't recall specifically how we managed to get the arrangement together, but it was a pretty collaborative effort at the time with Chip Douglas.'" That girl became Micky's wife, Sarah Juste. So she was his Wonder Girl, for sure.

The video features probably the most famous 2nd season "set piece" of blue lines around various other rainbow lines. Besides being seen here, it was also uased in the "Daydream Believer" video.