I love you Peter Tork...
The Monkees, I'm a Believer, Last Train to Clarksville
Why their own entry? My blog my rules. I should have done this with The Beatles; wait until I get to Queen.
The Monkees have long been dismissed as trivial by the die hards of rock music. I say nay! Of course, I am handicapped by the fact I am a second generation listener and consumed the music after the initial impact. Either that, or this is my four year old self digging her heels in to make a case for her favorite band/show since watching reruns on TV50 out of Detroit.
The Monkees were a manufactured band put together for a television show to capitalize on Beatlemania pop rock music. The producers noted the success of the movies A Hard Days Night and Help, and wondered if that would translate to the small screen.
All four members of the Monkees came from a music background. Mike Nesmith was a singer/songwriter who had a minor hit with Different Drum, which was given to Linda Ronstadt's band The Stone Ponys. Peter Tork was part of the fledging folk scene when Stephen Still recommended he audition. Micky Dolenz, a former child actor, was a guitarist and drummer in a college band at UCLA. Davy Jones sang and performed on Broadway.
As artists, all four Monkees bristled against the rigid parameters of the television show, and wanted to do their own music. From the third album on, they did.
The show as actually the antithesis of Beatlemania. Whereas the Beatles movies were essentially about their success and fame, the show was about a struggling band who was always looking for the next gig, dodging their landlord, and of course avoiding all the girls falling in love with Davy. The second season poked fun at their own off-camera success and the critics by turning the formulas against themselves, including dressing in drag, challenging the sensors in The Devil and Mr. Tork, and questioning television itself, turning the populace into zombies in the episode The Great Frodis Caper. Then there were the cameos by Liberace, Frank Zappa, and Tim Buckley. That's a lot of alternative culture for 7:30 on Mondays.
The movie Head was a further dismantling of their image. The first time I saw it when I was a teenager, I didn't get it. Rewatching it as an adult, I thought it was brilliant. There's Frank Zappa again, with a talking cow. Don't wish Nez a happy birthday. Don't piss off Davy. Don't send Pete to Vietnam. And someone please give Micky a Coke.
The songs themselves are amazing, and have endured through several generations. I'm a Believer and Last Train to Clarksville as well as Daydream Believer get plenty of airplay even today. Punk bands love songs like I'm Not Your Stepping Stone. Rappers sample songs like Mary Mary. And Little Steven plays the Monkees on a routine basis on his Underground Garage syndicated show, alongside modern artists like The Dollyrots and Greta Von Fleet. And they had a hit record 50 years after the fact with the album Good Times and the Grammy-nominated Me and Magdelena. Credit for this success goes to the four, as well as Neil Diamond, Goffin and King, and numerous other talented people associated with the band.
What would I add? Words. Pleasant Valley Sunday. Sunny Girlfriend. The Girl That I Knew Somewhere. The Porpoise Song. Circle Sky. I could go on.
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