The Monkees

[Lt Plonker]

I've loved The Monkees ever since I first saw them on the telly, back when Nickelodeon was good. I got my dad to do me a cassette tape of The Monkees songs which I would listen to over and over again whilst I was drawing.

Although not at all tired of any of their more well-known hits*, the bonus disc that came with The Definitive Collection has opened my ears to a world I never knew existed. From So Goes Love - a lovely, slow, meandering sort of song to the utterly fantastic Party - with it's sort of 'morning after' dizziness feel*, and Look Down - which I stuck on after making out with  a girl because it had such a happy and optimistic sound. :D

I don't know much about this 'period' of The Monkees career, or about the albums so maybe we can kick off a chit-chat about it. Maybe toss in some album recommendations and general Monkees banter!

I love their clothes, too.

Let's go!







*(I've grown to appreciate "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" more and more the past few months, especially the "Pa-Pa-Paaa" backing vocals)

* I am sorry. I am SHIT as describing music.

[Huzzie]

Sorry if you see a reply Lieutenant and presume someone has joined in your discussion, I'm sure people will, I am just not that people.

All I want to say is.

The Monkeys were the first band I ever saw live.


Sorry.

[Ciarán2]

"Head" is an extraordinary rite-of-passage type film, which is essential viewing during one's teens. It's hilarious and baffling and contains much of their best recordings. I might have to stick it on when I get home, now. First saw it when I was about 15. My favourite bit is "As We Go Along". Completely gorgeous that song.

I haven't seen "33 and a third Revolutions Per Monkee", but after reading about Jerry Lee Lewis and Fats Domino and other rock n rollers playing pianos which are stacked on top of each other (in another thread here recently), yes, I want to see that now.

Predictably, my favourite Monkees album is the chaotic and witty "Head" soundtrack. The re-issue has the film versions of the songs as extras, which in the case of "Can You Dig It" and "Circle Sky" are superior to the LP mixes.

"What Am I Doing Hangin' Around" is an underrated single isn't it?

[CaledonianGonzo]

I too can give a thumbs-up to the Head soundtrack.

And Pleasant Valley Sunday is my favourite single.  A shoe-in for the 1000 singles thread at some point.

Fans of the ole Cosmic American Music could do worse than check out Mike Nesmith's solo albums.  They are ace.

[Lt Plonker]

Sorry if you see a reply Lieutenant and presume someone has joined in your discussion, I'm sure people will, I am just not that people.

All I want to say is.

The Monkeys were the first band I ever saw live.


Sorry.

Same here! I saw them on their 1996 or 97 reunion tour at Wembley Arena! Unfortunately I can't remember much except they played Randy Scouse Git, which is one of my favourites.

I'm very fond of all of Mickey Dolenz's performances - the way he gets through those lyrics in Goin' Down is extraordinary.  I remember first hearing Randy Scouse Git and was so taken in by the lyrics (which made no sense at the time) and the inevitable breakdown at the end. And his hair in the video was something to marvel at, too.

Thanks for the recommendation Ciaran, I'll have to check out Head at some point. Never seen it.

[Huzzie]

Sorry if you see a reply Lieutenant and presume someone has joined in your discussion, I'm sure people will, I am just not that people.

All I want to say is.

The Monkeys were the first band I ever saw live.


Sorry.

Same here! I saw them on their 1996 or 97 reunion tour

That's just made me feel suddenly so old! I saw them in the late 80's.

[micanio]

And Pleasant Valley Sunday is my favourite single.  A shoe-in for the 1000 singles thread at some point.

Absolutley agree there. I love Listen to The Band as well.

[jennifer]

I love The Monkees. 'She' is one of the most excellently bitter break up songs ever.

If anyone knows where I can find the chords to Goin' Down, which was the B-side to daydream believer and is on the Definitive Collection, I'd be eternally grateful. I can't even find a songbook that isn't out of print

[Egyptian Feast]

"Head" is an extraordinary rite-of-passage type film, which is essential viewing during one's teens. It's hilarious and baffling and contains much of their best recordings. I might have to stick it on when I get home, now. First saw it when I was about 15. My favourite bit is "As We Go Along". Completely gorgeous that song.

Nicely put. I taped it off Channel 4 during a late night series of rock films sometime in the early 90s and watched it an endless amount of times, pretty much until the tape wore out. It simply gets better and better with each viewing. I haven't seen it since I bought the DVD and now you've reminded me, another viewing is surely necessary.

My favourite bit is the scene in the cafe with the sarcastic tranny waitress. The dialogue is priceless: "Well, if it isn't God's gift to the eight year olds!" or "Can I have a glass of the cold gravy with the hair in it?"

The soundtrack album is fantastic also, though the version of 'Circle Sky' is much inferior to the film version (which at least is available as a bonus track).

[GetTheeBehindMeStan]

The Monkees are brill - used to be a highlight of my Saturday afternoons.

Also one of the few bands to have had a hit single named after a comedy catchphrase. Go on, name it someone :)

[Egyptian Feast]

'Randy Scouse Git'! Do I get a prize?

[GetTheeBehindMeStan]

No prizes, I'm afraid. But you were very quick.

[Toad in the Hole]

I reckon my favourite Monkees single, apart from the obvious ones, is the vastly underrated 'Mary, Mary'.  A joyous bouncy slab of 2-minute ish pop with great harmonies and some catchy guitar licks.

[Huzzie]

And Pleasant Valley Sunday is my favourite single.  A shoe-in for the 1000 singles thread at some point.

Absolutley agree there. I love Listen to The Band as well.

Yeah! My favorite Monkeys track!


One of my best memories of all time was being in Edinburgh on Hogmanay.

Me and 5 close friends and many thousands of strangers were all on High Street as the clock rolled closer to midnight.

I started singing Daydream Believer, just to myself at first. Then one of my mates joined me so thanks to confidence in company we both started singing a little louder. It wasn't long before me and all my friends were singing this at a reasonable volume.

The amazing thing was the ripple effect as it went through the crowd.

I promise you, it wasn't long until thousands of people were singing this beautiful song in absolute peace and utter joy!


And I started it!

That is easily one of the highlights of my life! I have never felt such a part of something big and important before or since. For just that few minutes I actually felt love for my fellow man. Please don't dismiss that has hippy rubbish, I would probably agree with you if I heard someone say that but the thing is I barely have any emotion except contempt for my neighbour and mankind.


EDIT: An apology to everyone for calling them "Monkeys" throughout this thread.

[Sadness]

Agree with everything so far (Of course) but Ciaran, I'd say you'll kick yourself that you didn't know me a while back my friend because back in 2002 I put on a gig for Jason Falkner (His 3rd gig of 3 that I've put on for him over the years in Dublin) in The Sugar Club.

I decided to get a bit of a theme going for the gig so I dug out my VHS copy of "HEAD" and advertised it as a night of pure-pop inc.......JASON FALKNER - PUGWASH and a very rare screening of THE MONKEES POP-ART CULT CLASSIC "HEAD"!!

The amount of people who've come up to me (Even recently in Whelans after the Robyn Hitchcock gig) who've said that night changed their view of The Monkees forever is phenomenal and I'm a little proud of that night.

Something different to the norm eh?

By the way I've always loved "The Door into summer" and "You Told Me". Pure genius but only a couple out of MANY.

[Huzzie]

If anyone knows where I can find the chords to Goin' Down, which was the B-side to daydream believer and is on the Definitive Collection, I'd be eternally grateful. I can't even find a songbook that isn't out of print

How's this Ms/Mr Toft?

Goin' Down

Intro: E7 (or E9, whichever you feel like playing)
Verses: E7-A-C-E7
Break & Latter verses: E7-Dbm-repeat ad nauseam

I dunno the song so I dunno if that is right. That was written up by Bill Shinn.

EDIT: Mary, do you think you could possibly send me this track to huzzie at gmail dot com , please? I understand you might only have it on 7inch but if you have a digital copy, I would really like to hear it. Thanks.

[Ciarán2]

Agree with everything so far (Of course) but Ciaran, I'd say you'll kick yourself that you didn't know me a while back my friend because back in 2002 I put on a gig for Jason Falkner (His 3rd gig of 3 that I've put on for him over the years in Dublin) in The Sugar Club.

I decided to get a bit of a theme going for the gig so I dug out my VHS copy of "HEAD" and advertised it as a night of pure-pop inc.......JASON FALKNER - PUGWASH and a very rare screening of THE MONKEES POP-ART CULT CLASSIC "HEAD"!!

The amount of people who've come up to me (Even recently in Whelans after the Robyn Hitchcock gig) who've said that night changed their view of The Monkees forever is phenomenal and I'm a little proud of that night.

Well how do you know I wasn't there, eh? Eh? Eh???

(I wasn't there actually).

But yes that was a good idea. Do it again, I say!

[Derek Trucks]

A friend of mine had a Japanese vinyl copy of Head which contained a lyric sheet with all the bits in between the songs, if you didn't know the album it would confuse the hell out of you to see "Don't never, but never, make fun of no cripples" on there.

Aside from all the usual suspects my favourite tunes are 'She', 'For Pete's Sake' and 'As We Go Along'.  And I've just found out my local library has all of Season 1 on DVD (big smug grin).

[jennifer]

If anyone knows where I can find the chords to Goin' Down, which was the B-side to daydream believer and is on the Definitive Collection, I'd be eternally grateful. I can't even find a songbook that isn't out of print

How's this Ms/Mr Toft?

Goin' Down

Intro: E7 (or E9, whichever you feel like playing)
Verses: E7-A-C-E7
Break & Latter verses: E7-Dbm-repeat ad nauseam

I dunno the song so I dunno if that is right. That was written up by Bill Shinn.

EDIT: Mary, do you think you could possibly send me this track to huzzie at gmail dot com , please? I understand you might only have it on 7inch but if you have a digital copy, I would really like to hear it. Thanks.

Oh ,thanks! I'll give it a try. i do have it, not on me now, but at home, I'll send it to you later. x

[Lt Plonker]

Hogmanay Story

That's one of the best stories I can recall reading on CaB! :D

EDIT: An apology to everyone for calling them "Monkeys" throughout this thread.

Go to the back of the queue. Oh, and while you're there, I found this on YouTube!

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Sorry to bump this, but I was searching to see if there was an existing Monkees thread, and lo and behold...

So good to see so much Monkee love on here. Personally, not only do I think they were responsible for some of the best music from the 60s, but I'd confidently place them in my top ten greatest bands of all time. There's just something so magical about their music. For me, songs like "The Door Into Summer", "Love Is Only Sleeping" and the Godlike "Pleasant Valley Sunday" are absolute pop perfection.

Considering the way in which they came into being, it really is quite remarkable that not only did they quickly become a "real" band, but ended up recording so much incredible music in such a short space of time. Yes, they had some of the best American songwriting talent at their disposal, but they also had the maverick genius of Mike Nesmith, who must count as one of the most underrated songwriters ever.

Just take a gander at some of the songs he penned for The Monkees: "Nine Times Blue", "The Girl I Knew Somewhere", "You Just May Be The One", "While I Cry", "Circle Sky", "Tapioca Tundra" - all of these are as good as anything written by Lennon/McCartney. And then there is his solo stuff of course: again, songs like "Some Of Shelly's Blues", "Silver Moon", "I've Just Begun To Care", and "Two Different Roads" are pretty much as good as country rock can get. There's an oddball, iconoclastic edge to his songwriting which is really appealing. And the cat sure could sing.

Speaking of which, Micky Dolenz possesses one of the all-time-great pop voices. He could sing sweet and pure on ballads like "Sometime In The Morning" and the quite staggeringly beautiful "As We Go Along", but was equally at home on punky rockers like "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone" or "All Of Your Toys", or blue-eyed soul showdowns like "Goin' Down." The guy had real talent.

Anyway, sorry to ramble, but I just adore them kerrazy Monkees. Incidentally, I've just compiled a CD for a friend whose not that familiar with them. This look like a suitably representative selection?

Last Train To Clarksville
I'm A Believer
I'm Not Your Stepping Stone
Sometime In The Morning
Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)
A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You
All Of Your Toys
The Girl I Knew Somewhere
You Just May Be The One
Forget That Girl
Shades Of Grey
Randy Scouse Git
For Pete's Sake
Pleasant Valley Sunday
The Door Into Summer
Love Is Only Sleeping
Star Collector
Daydream Believer
What Am I Doing Hanging 'Round?
Goin' Down
Tapioca Tundra
Circle Sky (live version)
As We Go Along
Do I Have To Do This All Over Again
While I Cry
Listen To The Band
The Porpoise Song 

EDIT: Ermm, I'd actually forgotten that I started a Monkees thread in September of last year, although initially that was morel about the TV show and Head, rather than the music. Anyway, here it is:

http://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=12040.0

Would anyone like to merge these? Probably make things easier.

[Sadness]

Hey Ballard.....I've dug out all my Monkees box-sets to play "Door into Summer", one of my very very favourites, outstanding pop of immense beauty and innocence!! Now try some "Tapioca Tundra" for afters.....

[Sadness]

Jesus Christ Ballard....."The Girl that I knew somewhere".....Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh just pop fucking beauty, I love the Monkees SO MUCH!!

[Derek Trucks]

This look like a suitably representative selection?

That's a pretty good line-up, but no She?  I'd also find room for Daily Nightly, and you've got to have the theme.  Pretty awesome otherwise though.

EDIT:  I'm a broken record, going on about She only half a dozen posts up.

[Jemble Fred]

Playing Randy Scouse Git on the ukulele is great therapy.

[boxofslice]

Its worth checking out some of Mike Nesmiths solo works such as Magnetic South, Loose Salute and And The Hits Just Keep On Comin'. Sorely overlooked but in my opinion equal to Gram Parsons.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Hey Ballard.....I've dug out all my Monkees box-sets to play "Door into Summer", one of my very very favourites, outstanding pop of immense beauty and innocence!! Now try some "Tapioca Tundra" for afters.....

Excellent. Glad that I inspired you to wallow in some Nesmith. If that's not too horrific a concept.

Jesus Christ Ballard....."The Girl that I knew somewhere".....Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh just pop fucking beauty, I love the Monkees SO MUCH!!

That song is absolute pop perfection. Nesmith's backing vocals are superb, and Tork's nimble-fingered harpsichord solo - well, it's just sublime, isn't it?

That's a pretty good line-up, but no She?  I'd also find room for Daily Nightly, and you've got to have the theme.  Pretty awesome otherwise though.

To be honest, I've never been that big a fan of "She". It's a good wee song, but definitely not one of my faves. But yes, you're right, I might replace Do I Have To... with Daily Nightly. She better bloody enjoy this CD, or it's curtains for us.

Other underrated Monkees songs: "Zor and Zam", a rather disturbing song which sounds like Jefferson Airplane, but better. And Dolenz's "Mommy and Daddy", especially the version with the unexpurgated "angry" lyrics. Dolenz didn't write much, but what he did was always pretty damn strange.