Artists of the Week: The Monkees!

[Vinny]

Blame it on Hayfever. He made the request.

Discography: The Monkees (1966) | More of the Monkees (1967) | Headquarters (1967) | Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, & Jones, Ltd. (1967) | The Birds, the Bees, & the Monkees (1968) | Head (1968) | Instant Replay (1969, no Peter) | The Monkees Present (1969, no Peter) | Changes (1970, no Peter or Mike) | Pool It! (1986, no Mike) | Justus (1996)

Yes, I know The Mars Volta isn't THAT good, but I've had final exams and a lot of work at school and the like... but it's all over now.

This time it WILL be the artist of the week, as is advertised.

[ June 15, 2005, 07:52 AM: Message edited by: Disraeli Gears ]

[CaptHayfever]

But on the bright side, now I'll stop bugging you about it! [img]smile.gif[/img]

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

[Koga]

I'm afraid I only know this band from shows like The Simpsons and South Park. I like their song "I'm A Believer", though.

But I never really understood what kind of band this is. I heard it's just a bunch of guys picked for their looks, and that they were miming all their records. CH, please enlighten me [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Sean P Kelly]

^ I saw the Behind the Music, so I know MOST of the story.

- The band was created specifically for the TV show (and I think they were created as an American counterpart to the Beatles).
- The only members that actually had a musical background was Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith.
- The Monkees actually sang the songs, but the instruments were played by studio musicians (which really annoyed Peter and Michael)

CH can say the rest.

[CaptHayfever]

- The band was created specifically for the TV show (and I think they were created as an American counterpart to the Beatles).

This is true. The first 2 albums existed solely to promote the show (as their back covers clearly indicate).

- The only members that actually had a musical background was Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith.

This is not so true.

Musical skill was a requirement in the audition process. (In fact, Stephen Stills tried out and almost made the cut.) Heck, if Peter could play drums, he'd be the ultimate one-man band.

Davy was a Broadway veteran, with a Tony award (I think for Pickwick) and at least one other nomination (for Dodger in Oliver!). Just before the Monkees, he did an album that went nowhere. Apparently he became the "world's greatest tambourine player" while in the band, but really, if any of the Monkees was hired just to be the pretty boy, it was Davy Jones.

Micky was one of TV's premiere child actors, starring in Circus Boy way in the back when. In the early 60s he was in a small-time LA band on guitar, and he learned to play professional-level drums in less than a year so the band could perform live shows. Also, Micky Dolenz was the first person ever to use the Moog synthesizer on a mainstream record ("Daily Nightly" from Pisces, Aquarius...), having bought the 3rd Moog ever built.

Peter & Mike had the most extensive musical backgrounds, but Micky & Davy each had something. (But Davy was the worst musician of the 4, hands down.)

- The Monkees actually sang the songs, but the instruments were played by studio musicians (which really annoyed Peter and Michael)

At first, yes.
Their music supervisor, Don "The Golden Ear" Kirshner, flat-out refused to allow the Monkees in the studio to play instruments, despite their many requests. (Since Peter rarely sang, this meant he was almost a nonfactor on their first two albums, appearing in only one song on each).

But as you said, Peter & Mike were bloody ticked off. After Michael Nesmith came close to removing Donnie's head at a gold record presentation after their 2nd album, Kirshner's bosses ordered him to let the band play the music. Which he didn't do. Thus the great Donald Kirshner was fired for the first and only time in his life. After that, the Monkees had 99% control over their music, and the quality showed.

So, no, Koga, these guys were NOT the 60s' Milli Vanilli.

Any other questions? I'll be here all week.

See also:
About the Monkees: http://www.vgf.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ubbcg...062;p=1#000010 (note: this was written almost 3 years ago, and I've gotten some more info since then)
Calling Nesmith the reincarnation of Cummings: http://www.vgf.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ubbcg...062;p=3#000030

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

[ June 17, 2005, 11:58 AM: Message edited by: CaptHayfever ]

[Koga]

I'm just going to ask this question in this topic, rather than checking the other ones: who wrote the music?

[CaptHayfever]

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 ]

[Koga]

So they did write some songs themselves. I really underestimated these guys.

And Jack Nicholson writing a song? That's the first time I heard that.

[CaptHayfever]

Yep. You can even hear him in the studio on one of the album's bonus tracks where they rehearse the song.

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

[Dark Link]

Lets get Pink Floyd or Guns and Roses up there some time soon...hahahah

[Alink - VCR Man. VCR.]

^ I think GnR's been up already..
How about Jefferson Airplane? ;P

I don't really listen to The Monkees, but the songs I've heard by them, I like.

[Nekoscat]

it has been, and who?!

Neko^^

[Alink - VCR Man. VCR.]

^ If you were talking to me...

Jefferson Airplane's a band from the late 60's-early 70's. Then it went off into Jefferson Starship and etc.

If you were asking what GnR is, it's Guns N' Roses.

If you weren't talking to me, disregard.