The Monkees

I’ve covered the Beatles in various different blogs, now it’s time to address a VERY similar group, the Monkees.

 My first exposure to them was growing up in the US in the 70s, when I saw the TV show in reruns.  My friend Mike and I were big fans and used to watch it as often as possible.  We watched, in vain, for the episode featuring “I’m Not Your Stepping Stone”, the song which consistently stood out among the others in the “buy our greatest hits album” commercial which played during the show’s breaks.  [I also liked the Sha Na Na variety show – no accounting for tastes when you’re under 10, I guess.  Unfortunately – or perhaps, fortunately – that show is still not on DVD.  Demand?]

 The Band.  The group was Davy Jones (vocals), Mike Nesmith (guitar), Peter Tork (bass) and Micky Dolenz (drums).  Actually, Tork was a better guitar player than Nesmith, and Jones could play drums better than Dolenz, who only learned as the show was beginning – the lineup should have been Jones (drums), Tork (guitar), Nesmith (bass) and Dolenz (vocals).  Initially they didn’t even play their own instruments on the albums, but eventually, after learning them and actually touring, they reached the point of fighting Don Kirshner for the right to play their instruments and write their own music – a campaign which earned them the respect of their peers, if not the general public.  Kirshner was eventually fired and learned his lesson: his next project, The Archies, was 100% animated (Archie & Jughead on strike?  I don’t think so.)

 TV Shows.  Indulging my nostalgia yet again, I decided to watch these, expecting to dislike them as much as an adult as I enjoyed them as a kid.  The reality was somewhere in between.  The plots strike me as silly, but apparently gave the Scooby Doo writers some major inspiration.   Any “live” performances are invariably lip-synced.  Aside from name-brand Vox amplifiers (no Marshalls) the instruments typically look low-budget, with the exception of Nesmith’s 12 string.   Practically every episode has some “chase scene montage” to the tune of one of their songs, plus lots of idiotic slapstick lunacy; other episodes have some sort of dancing scene (Monkees as the band) and a fair amount of babe-age is also evident, though most often Davy Jones is the Romeo.  The shows also feature a fair amount of actors and actresses who were either mainstream at the time or went on to greater fame in the 70s.  Part of the amusement of watching these episodes – as I find watching any TV on DVD from the 60s – is recognizing such later stars early in their careers.  The show premiered in September 1966, and went on for two seasons before everyone decided to pull the plug.

 I seem to recall as a kid my favorite was Micky Dolenz, but as an adult I seem to prefer Mike Nesmith.  Dolenz hams up a bit too much, a bit too cute, whereas Nesmith is more wise-ass, a smart-ass.  In fact, he gives the impression that he doesn’t even take the show itself seriously – which is more points in his favor. Jones, of course, is the straight man and the target of feminine attention (despite the fact that, invariably, his female love interests tower over him), and Tork plays the fool and the victim of practical jokes, etc.  Overall the impression they give is “going along” with something which is ultimately pretty stupid.  After the show they put out “Head” and began focusing on developing a legitimate career and reputation as a recording and live band (no, really).

 Head.  This is the Monkees’ artsy, pretentious full-length movie.  It really doesn’t have much of a plot, so much as – like “HELP!” – a series of situations.  Unlike “HELP!”, “Head” seems to be considerably more psychedelic, as if to say, “we’ve done acid too, see?”  Jack Nicholson, of all people, was involved with it, and you can see brief cameos of Annette Funicello and Frank Zappa (I didn’t catch Teri Garr, but she’s supposed to be in there somewhere).  Victor Mature, looking like a 60s version of Mr. Big from “Sex And the City”, is here too in a bizarre, “Jolly Green Victor Mature” role.  I suppose his agent told him this would help him somehow (similar to his role in “Chasing the Fox” with Peter Sellers).  Entertaining, in a limited fashion, worth watching ONCE but only die-hard Monkees fans need include this in their permanent DVD collection.

 Music.  Although slammed as a ripoff of the Beatles, the Beatles themselves were big fans.  David Bowie’s actual name is David Jones, but he had to go by the name of Bowie (based on Alamo hero and knife inventor Jim Bowie) to avoid confusion with the Monkees vocalist.  In the 80s, some genius put Metallica on the same festival bill as Big Country and Phil Collins; in the 60s, another genius had Jimi Hendrix (!!!) open for the Monkees.  I didn’t feel especially compelled to get the first two albums, which are mostly Boyce & Hart compositions recorded by session musicians, instead focusing on the next few, on which the band exercised far more creative control and began playing their own instruments and composing their own music.  If there was anything truly legitimate and worth listening to, it would be found there.

 Headquarters.  This is their third album. Not bad. It’s certainly NOT Sgt. Pepper, or even close, but it is competently written and performed late 60s pop music, similar in style to Rubber Soul.  Disc 2 is mono with extra tracks (mostly alternate versions) and Disc 1 is the stereo version.  As you might expect, the stereo version is MUCH better than the mono version. 

 Pisces [Dolenz], Aquarius [Tork], Capricorn [Nesmith] & Jones Ltd.  Their fourth album, coming after Headquarters, (also in mono disc/stereo disc + alternate tracks format).  Typical late 60s commercial music, though fairly well done.  Some of it actually reminds me of Jefferson Airplane – Dolenz does a good Grace Slick impression.  This was the first album by any group to have a Moog synthesizer on it, and remarkably, the Monkees outsold both the Beatles and Rolling Stones combined in 1967.  Nothing on here is really psychedelic in the real sense, but it does have more of a flower-power than a British Invasion feel to it.  Even so, the Monkees aren’t the innovators the Beatles were, so much as competently latching onto a popular style of music other bands such as the Beatles were actually developing as original music.

 Eventually the band broke up in the early 70s, reunited in the 80s and 90s, but is currently dead.  Nesmith’s mother invented Liquid Paper, so he was independently wealthy, but his limited participation in the reunions had more to do with his other commitments and was not a principled refusal to join in.  At this point the band members cite each other’s substance abuse and ego problems as the reason the band is no longer a going concern.  A Monkees reunion is not likely in the near future – much to our relief or dismay.

 Pontiac Angle.  As explained by Jim Wangers in his book Glory Days, not only did the Monkees have a heavily customized GTO for the show, aka The Monkeemobile (which I can’t stand) they were also provided with normal GTOs to drive around.  Wangers was upset that the band members didn’t really appreciate the gesture, and used to open the studio gates with the cars’ front bumpers if the studio’s security guard wasn’t around to let them in.  Also, one of them was caught driving his GTO at 120 mph in Los Angeles.  Wangers thought it would be excellent publicity for the car if this made the headlines, but the band’s management succeeded at squelching the story.  Pontiac actually came into the Monkees picture due to marketing tie-in’s with Kellogg’s, who were obviously a blatant sponsor of the show.  Wangers’ overall impression of the Monkees and the whole experience with the show was fairly negative, but he was very impressed with the marketing prowess of the Kellogg’s team.

While I won’t claim that the Monkees are really a top band or their shows were “neat or cool”, they are a substantial piece of late 60s American pop culture, to be endured and enjoyed in small doses by anyone with either extreme patience or heavy nostalgia.