Was 1967 the greatest year in US television history?
Well, I guess that depends on what the criteria is for quality. There weren't a whole lot of lead women on TV yet (but it was getting better). THAT GIRL, for example, was on its second year. There weren't a whole lot of minority characters, either, but the ones that *were* there were not maids, such as Uhura on STAR TREK or Barney on MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE. So things were getting better.
I'm sure arguments could be made for more overall quality in different years, but just take a look at the shows that were on the air as of September 1967. See for yourself how many of these shows have stood the test of time and are still beloved, 50 years later!
Last week I asked you to try to remember something from 50 years ago that is still vibrant and
"fresh" today. Star Trek is the obvious answer, but today we celebrate another television series that made its debut 50 years ago. Yes, The Monkees made their debut on NBC-TV on September 12, 1966. The episode was "Royal Flush," with music "videos" of "This Just Doesn't Seem To Be My Day" and "Take a Giant Step."
And while Star Trek conquered TV, film, toys, and other aspects of pop culture, it never had a number one single or number one album. The Monkees were the first to blur TV, acting, and music in a way that still has repercussions today.
December 30 is the birthday of both Robert Michael Nesmith AND David Thomas Jones. Mike was born on December 30, 1942 and Davy followed three years later.
According to history, more than 400 young men tried out for The Monkees' casting call. How odd is it that *two* of the guys who made it share the same birthday? Of course, Davy Jones was already contracted Screen Gems records, so he was already in. But then producers Bert Schneider and Bob Rafelson chose Mike. And this is why the Monkees' fourth album was called Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, & Jones, Ltd. Until I knew that Davy and Mike were *both* Capricorns, I though Davy was getting the short-end of the stick.
Did you see what I did there? I made a short joke.
Although Davy and Mike shared a birthday, that's about all they shared. Mike was tall and Texan. Davy was short and British. Mike was "the musician" of the group. Davy was the "Broadway actor" of the group (he played The Artful Dodger in OLIVER! before joining the Monkees). Mike was "the leader." Davy was mostly just a "follower," not wanting to rock the boat.
Oddly enough, because Micky sang most of the songs and Peter didn't sing almost any, Mike and Davy were responsible for many of the best Monkees songs.
Don't believe me? Well, Davy sang lead on I Wanna Be Free, Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow), A Little Bit Me, Forget That Girl, Shades of Gray, Daydream Believer, Cuddly Toy, Star Collector, and Valleri.
Mike sang (and usually had a hand in writing) Papa Gene's Blues, Sweet Young Thing, You Told Me, You Just May Be The One, The Door Into Summer, What Am I Doing Hanging 'Round, and Listen To The Band.
David Bowie changed his name because his birth name was "Jones."
Michael Nesmith's mother was a secretary who created "Liquid Paper."
Davy Jones, of course, passed away on February 29, 2012. I still can't believe he's gone. He's eternally young and fun on the endless reruns of THE MONKEES. And of course, with all the great music.
Happy Birthday, Mike Nesmith!
May you enjoy many many more!
Happy Birthday, Davy Jones!
We miss you, sir....
"You Just May Be The One" was written by Mike and recorded for the HEADQUARTERS album in March, 1967.
"Daydream Believer" went to Number One in the US the week of Dec 2, 1967. Another reason to make December Monkee Month! It was written by former Kingston Trio member Jon Stewart.
During the two years that THE MONKEES was on television, they only did one holiday-themed episode: "The Christmas Show," which first aired in the US on December 24, 1967. It's about the Monkees being hired to baby-sit spoiled rich kid (Butch Patrick) while his aunt takes a holiday cruise. The boys at first try to entertain him and then, when they realize he has none, they try to instill a little holiday spirit in him. Butch Patrick, famous as "Eddie" from THE MUNSTERS, resists their efforts. The boys keep at him, however, and he eventually sees the error of his ways, letting a little more love into his heart.
The episode is pure Monkees: an abundance of slap-stick with a thick layer of heart. They mean well. You can certainly see that at this point the show was trying to practice what it preaches: money isn't everything (they lose the money they get for the gig by paying various doctor bills and department store damages), but Love is. Also, Love saves the day. It still holds up, some 40 plus years later.
The episode ends with a beautiful a capella version of a 16th century Spanish song, "Riu Chiu." I researched this song and it is about the birth of Jesus. I have never heard this song before or since, but evidently it is a well-known folk or chorus song. It's a beautiful tune, and with this performance alone doubters should stop hating the Monkees. They are obviously singing here, and singing well.
If you want to read the lyrics or see a translation, visit this Tradition In Action homepage.
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.
There is an interesting story about "Last Train to Clarksville," the Monkees' first Number One hit it the US. Writers Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart came up with the song in the summer of 1966. In The Monkees by Andrew Sandoval, Hart is quoted as saying, "As I was pulling into my carport I was punching the radio stations and I heard just the tail end of "Paperback Writer" for the first time....I thought they were saying, 'take the last train....' to something. Then of course a couple of days later I heard the whole song and I realized it wasn't about a train....So, I just had it in the back of my mind. Then we were coming down to the end of producing the first album and we needed another song or two. So I said I had this idea and Tommy and I got together and did it really quickly. "
The song was released on August 16, and by the week of November 5, 1966 it was Number One.
When I was a kid I was not a huge fan of this song; maybe because they played it all the time. I liked more of the Monkees' less popular songs. Now, though, I really like it. Did you ever happen to notice that it's about a guy meeting up with his girlfriend before he gets shipped off, presumably to Vietnam? It's actually a pretty deep song about loneliness, duty, and love. Give it a listen.
...Continuing our Monkee Month, today is the anniversary of the very FIRST Monkees concert: December 3, 1966 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
When The Monkees premiered on TV in the fall of 1966, there were plans for NBC-TV's recording company, Screen Gems, to release their music. However, because the four leads were so busy actually filming the series, only the vocals belonged to them (and sometimes not even then; the background vocals were not always the boys). Famously, Glen Campbell was one of their initial guitarists.
However, as soon as they were making actual music, the critics started arguing that the band was "The Pre-Fab Four." To begin to "own" their own identities, the four began to practice every night after they had completed filming on the series. Because they had no actual shared musical history, the group went "Off Broadway" to debut their show; hence the trip to Honolulu.
The show was a huge success, and the surviving members are still touring to this day.
Thank you, Monkees!
Heres' the last episode of their first season, The Monkees On Tour. There is some fun concert footage, from when the concert tour went to Phoenix.
Because of three very important events that occurred in the history of the super-group The Monkees in the month of December, we are going to be celebrating the group ALL MONTH LONG!
First of all, a brief introduction. When The Beatles hit big (they were huge, by the way) they made a movie called A Hard Day's Night. This Richard Donner film about the daily lives of pop stars was also a huge success. Producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider decided to come up with a similar idea for US television. So on September 8, 1965 they placed an ad in Daily Variety for an open audition for musicians and singers for acting roles. Eventually they chose David Jones, Mickey Dolenz, Peter Tork, and Michael Nesmith. The series The Monkees premiered in September 1966 on NBC-TV, and the world would never be the same.
The Monkees recorded as a pseudo-real rock band and eventually became a real presence in the musical world. They had a dozen popular songs and three Number One USA songs: Last Train to Clarksville, Daydream Believer, and one of my all-time favorite songs, I'm A Believer. It was originally written by Neil Diamond (check out *his* version of this song here if you're a Neil Diamond fan) but the Monkees made it their own. It premiered on The Monkees TV show and was released in the fall of 1966; it hit the top spot in December 1966 and was Number One for seven weeks, making it in some lists I've seen the Number One Hit of 1966.
Micky Dolenz was born on March 8, 1945. When he was ten years old he starred as "Corky" on the TV series, CIRCUS BOY (1956-1958). Nearly ten years later he had his second overnight success as "Mickey" on THE MONKEES. You've probably heard of him.
I know a lot of people liked Davy Jones best, but Micky was always MY favorite Monkee. Even when his hair started frizzing out at the end of the first season and then became a full-fledged white-fro in the second season, he was my favorite. Evidently his hair was naturally curly, and he had it straighted during the first year. Well, if anybody is keeping tabs, I always liked "straight-hair" Micky over "frizzled curly-hair" Mickey, haha.
What attracted me to him is probably what attracted millions of others: his crazy comedic sense. Mike was the leader; Davy was the romantic; Peter was the naive waif; but Micky was the comedian. How often would he break into mimicry of James Cagney (I didn't even knew who he was at the time!) or do a double-take as a reaction to something some other Monkee said!? And of course, Micky was "the voice." For one reason or another, he sang most of the Monkees' leads, so to many he was the voice of The Monkees.
A few years ago when I was still living in Indiana a friend had tickets to the Tim Rice-Elton John musical, AIDA. She had no one else to go with, so she asked me. I grudgingly went, not knowing anything about the show or the production. Well, Micky Dolenz was "the father" in that show and he did a hell of a great job. Both of us enjoyed ourselves immensely, and I am still thankful I went.
Happy Birthday, Micky Dolenz!
Many Happy Returns!
The members of The Monkees recieve a STAR
on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1989.
Micky Dolenz as "Zolar" in AIDA
My all-time favorite Monkees song!
video is from a first season episode performance of the song
This Wednesday, February 13 is Peter Tork's 71st birthday. Yes, you read that right. Hard to believe, yeah?
When I was a kid, Peter was my least favorite. For the record my favorites in order were Mickey, Davy, Mike, and Peter. Now that I'm older I see that I was somewhat manipulated to feel this way: Mickey and Davy were the "actors," so of course they had more lines and more episodes written for/around them. They were "performers," so got the lead roles as well as the lead vocals. Conversely, Mike and Peter were the "musicians," so they didn't have the weight of the series on their shoulders and thus didn't have the spotlight on them nearly as much. In one early episode I remember Peter was held as a captive of gypsies, and all he got to do was sit around while the other three Monkees had to steal a diamond or something. This was typical of many of the episodes, so of course I didn't think as highly of Peter as I did the others.
Now, of course, I see that he was in a difficult spot. He had musical integrity but maybe not the same forcefulness that Mike had. He wrote a few songs (again, not as many as Mike) such as "For Pete's Sake" and he did lead vocals on a few other songs such as "Auntie Grizelda" and "Shades of Gray." As time went on he got the most frustrated with the "business" and was the first to quit.
He was also the first to come back. He and Mickey Dolenz recorded "That Was Then, This Is Now" in 1986 for the 20th anniversary of the group's formation. It went Top 20 and lead to the semi-regular reunion tours that continue to this day.
I have never had the pleasure to meet any of The Monkees. I missed the chance to see them in concert in December 2011, a decision I will never forget. I would be honored to meet any of them, including and perhaps especially, Mr. Peter Tork.
Happy Birthday, Peter Tork!
A photo from the same session as their album HEADQUARTERS,
probably their all-time best album.
Here are The Monkees on the Rosie O'Donnell Show in 1996 (without Mike).
You can see Peter obviously playing...and enjoying it. ;-)
Believe it or not, today (December 30) is the birthday of TWO members of The Monkees... Michael Nesmith was born on December 30, 1942 and Davy Jones on 30 December 1945 (because he's British, don'tcha know). Of course, we lost Davy this past February at the age of 66.
When I was a kid I used to watch The Monkees on TV all the time. I listened to my sisters' Monkees' albums and became a second generation fan. I think I believed that they were a real group on a real show, much more than I believed in, say, Mr. Spock really flying around the universe on Star Trek. I never bought into the idea that these guys were not talented; I mean, I saw singers lip-synching on American Bandstand etc all the time. To me they were true musicians, and I believe that they belong in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; more so, in fact, than some of the acts that the jury has already inducted.
Unfortunately, Davy didn't live long enough for this one last accolade. All he had was the love of millions of people around the world. And as we toast Mr. Michael Nesmith on his reaching the epic 7-0 this year, we must light a candle for our dear departed Davy.
I leave you with two of my favorites of their songs....
Last week I forgot to post about the anniversary of The Monkees' FIRST live concert, which was held in Honolulu on December 3, 1966. Oops!
This live concert showed anybody who was paying attention that these guys were not "just actors" who didn't deserve to have a few Number One songs and albums. The boys showed the world that they could and DID play their own instruments and that they were not just puppets dancing to Don Kirshner's drum. To me and millions of fans it is a slap in the face to not have The Monkees in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And now poor Davy has passed and he will never know the honor of having his name in that hallowed hall. For shame, Cleveland, for shame!
To make up for not posting about this *last* week, I decided to start my Christmas music collection early with this obscure (?) song by The Monkees, "Riu Chiu." Dig the harmonies, baby!
The lyric "Riu Riu Chiu" is supposed to represent the song of the Nightingale. This Spanish song is about the birth of Christ. The song itself is from the Renaissance, circa 1550, and was handed down by generations. This version is from their TV episode, "The Monkees' Christmas Show" first broadcast on Dec 25, 1967. The song can be found on the CD, "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, and Jones Ltd." It's a beautiful, beautiful song.
On September 12, 1966 a brand-new television series made its premiere on the NBC-TV network. We are talking about THE MONKEES, of course. The ratings were great, and at the Grammy Awards the following summer, this show *won* the Grammy for Best Comedy of the Year. And although the snobs in Cleveland refuse to admit these four fabulous musicians into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, in the past 40 plus years they have entertained generations of fans!
Although we lost Davy this past February, we still have Peter, Mickey, and Mike. In fact, they are going out on tour again this year, the first time Mike Nesmith has re-joined the others in several years. Unfortunately they aren't coming anywhere near to where I will be, but I will be present in absentia (is that even possible?).
I can't remember when I didn't have music in the house. My parents loved music (classical and Herb Albert, mostly) and with two older sisters and one older brother, I was *always* being exposed (or subjected!) to their music. So in our house you could hear everything, from Doris Day to the Jackson Five, Jesus Christ Superstar to Ted Nugent. This has served me well as a listener, for even though I'm known as more of a Motown/Oldies type of guy to my friends, I can appreciate good music when I hear it, no matter what the genre.
Now the first music I ever chose to listen to belonged to the "teeny bopper" sound of the early 1970s: yes, I'm talking about The Monkees. I didn't know anything about them and their musical controversies at the time: I only knew I liked to watch them on TV and listen to my sisters' hand-me-down albums. Don Kirshner and ColGems definitely had something going with their marriage of TV and music! Years before I knew who the Beatles or the Temptations even were, I was a fan of Peter, Mike, Mickey, and Davy.
I mean, what's not to love, right? Especially as a kid, if you see four fun guys hanging out enjoying various adventures together you want to be their friend! I've since read how the producers picked Mickey Dolenz, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork to represent four different types of guys: as a unit, they are one "perfect man." I think I must have bought into this on a sub-conscious level because I liked all of them. Sure, Peter was my least favorite (he never seemed to do anything!), but when he wasn't around it just wasn't the same. I can see now that he definitely added a special "something" to the mix that I didn't appreciate as a kid. In fact, I later read all about how The Monkees were "The Pre-Fab Four" etc, but if *anybody* could throw a group together and do what they did and be successful, why do so many bands fail to be successful? The Monkees had talent, both individually and collectively, no doubt about it. Sure, they were lucky to be in the right place at the right time, but if they hadn't had the talent to back up all the hype, they would have failed. Period.
I used to watch the TV series over and over again. My favorites were definitely in the first season when The Monkees themselves seemed to be more "into" it and less counter-cultural. That, and the fact that I don't like perms on guys, haha. Sometime between the end of the first season and the beginning of the second, Mickey Dolenz let his hair go curly. At the same time, the double-buttoned shirts and Monkeemobile disappeared. They guys became more "hip." I don't think I would have minded the change in look so much if it hadn't come with such a drastic tone. The episodes got "darker" and less fun (and funny). When I go back as an adult and re-watch them they are different, but I still find them less entertaining than the first season. Was it their excessive marijuana usage? Was it the stress of success? I don't know, but as I got older and found out that the Monkees as a group self-destructed after the TV series folded, I wasn't surprised.
The Monkees were like a group of co-workers in your office who are put together to work on a project: they aren't friends. Yet they created something (from nothing!) that evolved into something timeless. The Monkees were hired as actors and ended up as legends. They were and ARE one of my favorite bands.
I leave you now with one of my all-time favorite Monkees songs....featuring Rose Marie, Peter Tork & Mike Nesmith having a ball, and Davy Jones as The Wolf Boy. ;-) Love those kids doing those cool Sixties dances, haha!
