Artist of the Week: Michael Nesmith!

[Koga]

Michael Nesmith


Genre: Country-Rock
Years Active: 1965 - present

Discography:
The Wichita Train Whistle Sings (1968)
Magnetic South (1970, w/First National Band)
Loose Salute (1970, w/First National Band)
Nevada Fighter (1971, w/First National Band)
Tantamount to Treason vol. 1 (1972, w/Second National Band)
...And the Hits Just Keep on Comin' (1972)
Pretty Much Your Standard Ranch Stash (1973)
The Prison - A Book with a Soundtrack (1977, w/book)
From a Radio Engine to the Photon Wing (1977)
Infinite Rider on the Big Dogma (1979)
Tropical Campfire's (1992)
The Garden (1994, w/book)
Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann (2000, soundtrack)
Rays (2006)

Music Forum Hall of Fame

• Queen
• The Polyphonic Spree
• Supertramp
• Journey
• Dire Straits
• Dream Theater
• Michael Jackson
• The Alan Parsons Project
• They Might Be Giants
• Billy Joel
• The Police
• Cat Stevens
• Toto
• Nirvana
• Daft Punk
• MC Lars
• Led Zeppelin
• Aphex Twin
• Deep Purple
• Phil Collins
• David Bowie
• Pink Floyd
• Lionel Richie
• U2
• Metallica
• Aaliyah
• Robbie Williams

[Koga]

A suggestion from CaptHayfever. I've heard of him, but I don't think I know any songs.

[CaptHayfever]

Sweet. Kind of in a rush right now; I'll do some commentary later.

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

[CaptHayfever]

Ladies & gentlemen, Papa Nez.

Nesmith is a name a lot of people don't know that influenced a lot of names that people do know.
Mike invented a lot of things; he invented "Different Drum" (Rondstadt used different pronouns than Mike's own version would years later) and "Mary, Mary" (already a hit for Paul Butterfield before the Monkees recorded it, and later a hit for Run-DMC), he invented the Monkees' rebellion; he invented the country-rock style (albeit with a lot of help from rockabilly); he invented the concept of MTV (the original concept, not the present incarnation), and he was the cause of the invention of Grammys for music videos (Elephant Parts--which has excerpts linked in the Videos Forum--got the very first one).
Without Nez, you have no Eagles, Weird Al is a short-lived novelty act, and Milli Vanilli might have gotten away with their hoax.

I only have Wichita Train Whistle and And the Hits, but both are great albums. Plus, I've heard all of Tropical Campfire's (apostrophe intentional), and a lot of the 1st & 2nd National Band stuff. This of course, is before starting on his vast collection of Monkees songs.

As for Koga's statement, the most well-known solo songs of his (aside from different spins on his Monkees material) are probably "Different Drum", "Joanne", and "Rio", the first being addressed earlier and the last being in Elephant Parts (there's a link to the segment in the Videos Forum).

Michael was always the most financially successful ex-Monkee, partly due to songwriting royalties, partly due to being a strong businessman, partly due to his repeated critcal acclaim, partly due to his multimedia endeavors (he's produced several movies and helped establish PBS Home Video; he's written books, etc.)......and partly due to the fact that his mother invented Liquid Paper and left him an utterly gargantuan inheritance.

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

[Koga]

he invented the concept of MTV (the original concept, not the present incarnation)

Can you elaborate on that?

[CaptHayfever]

Elephant Parts was itself sort of a precursor, with the music videos connected through banter and skits. Then after that, Mike created a pair of TV shows, "Television Parts" and "Pop Clips" that were even closer to the old MTV video/VJ/filler bit format. When the channel was finally created, not only was it based on those shows, but Nesmith was actually involved in the development and was paid and adknowledged for his contributions. To this day, almost any hardcore 20th-century music historian recognizes Mike Nesmith as the creator of MTV.

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

[Koga]

I see.

Queen were the first to use videos as a promotional tool, though

[CaptHayfever]

Well...

"Donnie, we could sing 'Happy Birthday' with a beat and sell a million records [...] we are the Monkees and we have that incredible TV exposure."
~Michael Nesmith

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

[Koga]

Rephrase: Queen popularised the use of videos as a promotional tool.

Semi-serious: the Monkees had their own tv-series, but that wasn't the same as videos, right?

[CaptHayfever]

Actually, the song segments were often completely unrelated to the plot of the episode, or at the very least could be shown as self-contained clips; not counting concert footage or Elvis/Beatle movies, they really were the earliest things that could be called music videos.
(Heck, a clip from the show was released as the video for "Daydream Believer" during the first reunion in '85.)

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

[Koga]

I never knew that. But then again, I hardly know anything about the Monkees. I don't think they ever made it in Europe, did they?

[CaptHayfever]

As a matter of fact, for a year or two they were at a worldwide fame level on par with the Beatles & Stones. In '67 they outsold both of those bands combined (of course, they had 3 albums out that year, so it was a bit of an advantage). In fact, "Randy Scouse Git" (aka "Alternate Title") was a bigger hit in Europe than it was here, a feat made especially odd by the fact that it was never a single on either continent.

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

[Koga]

Well, I know they didn't have the same staying power like the Beatles and the Stones; I think only I'm A Believer is part of the public conscious over here.