Here they come! The TV Group that became Real.
Equally ahead-of-their-time, of-their-time, and have amazingly stood the test of time.
From the music, to the TV show, the Tours, Reunions, Specials, and the fantastic (underrated) feature film HEAD. Also, their solo careers, associates in-front and behind the camera, etc., here’s a thread to talk about The Monkees.
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The Monkees caught a lot of flack for being a manufactured, wannabe Beatles knock-off, but they created the first music videos. The show won Emmys. And the boys eventually were able to take control of the group from Kirchner and create their own music.
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I’ve always thought this song was amazingly brilliant:
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Many of the shows I remember watching as as a child must have been reruns, because I distinctly remember watching The Monkees a lot even though it was on the air a decade before I was born (ditto The Carol Burnett show, which ended when I was a toddler). So I liked them, then went through the obligatory adolescent “anything fun is stupid” phase, and now I like them again.
Also, Davy Jones is a short king 
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These are fun, and it’s fun to see how Davy and Mickey are already playing off of each other.
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Also want to shout out film editor, Mike Pozen. He worked on over 20 episodes of the show and HEAD, and is pretty much responsible for most of the wild, rapid-fire editing that shows up. All done with what amounts to a knife & tape.
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Love this album, front to back. Well……maybe I skip Cuddly Toy every so often.
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Especially The Door Into Summer, on that, one of my favorite songs they ever did.
Co-written by Chip Douglas & Bill Martin. According to Nez, it’s about Bill’s cat, what he imagined it’s POV might be.
Also, features 2 tracks of drums, one of Micky (the first) & the other famed session drummer “Fast” Eddie Hoh. (Who plays on every other track, except Cuddly Toy, which is Micky solo.)
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Amazing. And I assumed it was just about drugs. But that is much cooler.
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When I was a kid, I used to dream about being a member of The Monkees (this was in the 80s). Every day when the mail came, I hoped that I would get a letter saying “Congrats, Joe, we’re inviting you to join our band!”
I don’t know why they would pick some random kid who hadn’t written them and couldn’t play an instrument to join, but it was still my hope.
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I’m just reminded of the bit in the Single Random Falsehoods thread where somebody suggested they were actual monkeys turned humans and their personalities and backstory was the result of somebody getting carried away.
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Monkees, Beatles, Nilsson, Doors & Turtles revolve around my turntable often. Just love all those sounds.
Also, I’m a big Zappa fan, so knowing there was mutual respect and humor never ceases to make me smile.
This likely was the only instance of the FZ song “Mother People” appearing on US television in the 60’s (or ever, haha!) All thanks to Mike inviting him on as his special guest. (Note they parody some of the moments from Davy & Charlie Smalls guest spot from the episode prior.)
Also, from HEAD (originally scripted to be between Mike & Frank, but the arcs for Mike & Davy in the film were swapped in the middle so Davy could do the dance number.):
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Pleasant Valley Sunday, a near perfect pop song.
Written by Carole King & Gerry Goffin
Produced by Chip Douglas (who came up with the opening guitar hook!)
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Recently posted in the “stuck in my head” thread—love this one.
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You first. 
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Another one by Gerry Goffin, Carole King and Michael Nesmith, one of my favs.
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One of my favorite Monkees songs is a bit out there, but I appreciate how they went for their own slice of psychedelia.
Plus, it’s Davy–the heartthrob on the show–saying “thanks, but no thanks”. Always liked that bit of contradiction.
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Also, I previously expressed my enjoyment of “Riu Chiu” in a different thread.
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