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***CaptHayfever*** · 06-17-2005, 11:53 AM

I actually didn't answer that question in that essay, so you didn't miss anything.

The answer: Lots of people. (This was actually the custom of the time until the Beatles came along.)

Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart were the show's primary staff songwriters, and they were good at it, if you ignore a handful of pathetic Davy tracks. In fact, Boyce/Hart were extremely supportive of the band's fight for musical control, and the Monkees kept them around after winning that fight. These two did the show's theme, the legendary "Last Train to Clarksville", the outstanding "I Wanna Be Free", and more.

Mike Nesmith wrote at least 2 songs on every album (except Changes and Pool It), and he was easily the best regular writer they had. Papa Nez's musical poetry stands to this day as superb songwriting. Actually, Michael is responsible for some other bands' hits as well, like The Stone Poneys' "Different Drum" and some others.

Gerry Goffin & Carole King also threw in some goodies, like "Porpoise Song" and "As We Go Along" from Head and my favorite song of all time, "Pleasant Valley Sunday".

Micky Dolenz didn't write often, but when he did it was a recipe for success. Micky's pieces were not the structurally sound masterpieces of Nesmith, but more a celebration of chaos reflective of Dolenz's freewheeling comedic style.

Peter Tork's rare contributions were rock gold. His first Monkees composition, "For Pete's Sake," was tapped to be the show's closing theme for the 2nd season, and his 2 songs in Head will blow your head off, especially "Long Title."

Davy Jones should not be let near lined paper. He wrote several songs for the band in their later years, and only one or two was any good. His songs on Justus are slightly better, but I personally think he got a lot of help from the others on those.

Harry Nilsson. Yeah, before the Beatles "discovered" Nilsson, the Monkees were raving about his work, and they did two of his songs, "Cuddly Toy" and "Daddy's Song."

Another interesting contributor who gave the group 2 huge hits was none other than Neil Diamond, who penned "I'm A Believer" and "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You."

Another another interesting contributor was none other than Jack Nicholson. In addition to co-writing Head with Bob Rafelson and the four Monkees, Nicholson also came up with "Ditty Diego" for the soundtrack, a send-up of the original theme song as well as a summary of what to expect from the film.

If you want a full list of songwriters, I can look that up for you in my liner notes.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[ June 18, 2005, 11:17 AM: Message edited by: CaptHayfever ]

06-17-2005, 11:53 AM	#7
*CaptHayfever* Smash Supermod Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: (n) - the place where I am Gender: Posts: 19,595 Thanks: 188 Thanked 856 Times in 539 Posts Points: 112,650.38 Bank: 1,372.71 Total Points: 114,023.09 Donate	I actually didn't answer that question in that essay, so you didn't miss anything. The answer: Lots of people. (This was actually the custom of the time until the Beatles came along.) Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart were the show's primary staff songwriters, and they were good at it, if you ignore a handful of pathetic Davy tracks. In fact, Boyce/Hart were extremely supportive of the band's fight for musical control, and the Monkees kept them around after winning that fight. These two did the show's theme, the legendary "Last Train to Clarksville", the outstanding "I Wanna Be Free", and more. Mike Nesmith wrote at least 2 songs on every album (except Changes and Pool It), and he was easily the best regular writer they had. Papa Nez's musical poetry stands to this day as superb songwriting. Actually, Michael is responsible for some other bands' hits as well, like The Stone Poneys' "Different Drum" and some others. Gerry Goffin & Carole King also threw in some goodies, like "Porpoise Song" and "As We Go Along" from Head and my favorite song of all time, "Pleasant Valley Sunday". Micky Dolenz didn't write often, but when he did it was a recipe for success. Micky's pieces were not the structurally sound masterpieces of Nesmith, but more a celebration of chaos reflective of Dolenz's freewheeling comedic style. Peter Tork's rare contributions were rock gold. His first Monkees composition, "For Pete's Sake," was tapped to be the show's closing theme for the 2nd season, and his 2 songs in Head will blow your head off, especially "Long Title." Davy Jones should not be let near lined paper. He wrote several songs for the band in their later years, and only one or two was any good. His songs on Justus are slightly better, but I personally think he got a lot of help from the others on those. Harry Nilsson. Yeah, before the Beatles "discovered" Nilsson, the Monkees were raving about his work, and they did two of his songs, "Cuddly Toy" and "Daddy's Song." Another interesting contributor who gave the group 2 huge hits was none other than Neil Diamond, who penned "I'm A Believer" and "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You." Another another interesting contributor was none other than Jack Nicholson. In addition to co-writing Head with Bob Rafelson and the four Monkees, Nicholson also came up with "Ditty Diego" for the soundtrack, a send-up of the original theme song as well as a summary of what to expect from the film. If you want a full list of songwriters, I can look that up for you in my liner notes. And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!" [ June 18, 2005, 11:17 AM: Message edited by: CaptHayfever ]