The Monkees: Classic or Dud?

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In fact they wrote a lot of their best songs - as has probably been mentioned upthread

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 10:02 (twenty-one years ago)

No, they wrote none of their best songs. Their best songs were the ones that sounded English, with absolutely no R&B nor country elements, and they were all written by outside songwriters.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 10:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Classic, as long as Mickey, not Davey, is singing lead. Davey sings crap.

Only classic as long as Davey sings lead. He was the one who managed to sound English. Mickey sounded like a fucking American country singer. The Monkees - like absolutely everybody else - were at their best when they sounded like The Beatles, like on their debut album.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 10:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Sorry Geir, it's not working today, you're trying too hard

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 10:33 (twenty-one years ago)

No, they wrote none of their best songs. Their best songs were the ones that sounded English, with absolutely no R&B nor country elements, and they were all written by outside songwriters.

geir shouldn't you be looking for a white whale somewhere?

He was the one who managed to sound English.

that, almost creepily coincidentally, is cos he was english

Stephen Stills was a great guitarist, listen to Buffalo Springfield - it wasn't all Neil Young ya know!

i know buffalo springfield well, and i always thought of him as very competent, but lacking taste or focus, too prone to meandering and throwing out boringly weird counterintuition. Not something I'd say of the utterly direct and thrilling guitar lines in 'do i have to do this...'

― debden, Tuesday, 5 April 2005 11:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Actually, you're right, his playing on "Do I Have to Do This..." is probably as good as he ever got - mind you his acoustic playing on "Bluebird" takes some beating

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 11:34 (twenty-one years ago)

yep no argument on that! as far as buffalo springfield goes i think of neil young as having the same flaws but somehow transcending them through his lack of polish, his ramshackle grace

speaking of which, i believe neil young plays (beautifully) on 'as we go along' from 'head'

― debden, Tuesday, 5 April 2005 11:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, sounds like him but, as I remember it, the CD credits about 6 guitarists on that track including, bizarrely enough, Carole King. He's supposed to be on "The Porpoise Song" too.

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 11:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Geir I hope yr either joking VERY well, or convinced the other three Monkees were also trying to sound English

― Schwip Schwap (schwip schwap), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 11:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Mickey sounded like a fucking American country singer. The Monkees - like absolutely everybody else

I imagine Geir means Mike here. Does Geir usually swear? Is this in fact Geir at all?

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 11:43 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, now i remember, haha ry cooder too! (xpost)

i still have this slight cognitive dissonance that the beatles are being characterised as having no r&b or country influences upthread. why i'm letting it worry me i don't know but it just takes sheer myopia and wishful thinking into the realms of performance art

― debden, Tuesday, 5 April 2005 11:46 (twenty-one years ago)

or trolling, of course. sigh, i took the bait cos i love the monkees so much

― debden, Tuesday, 5 April 2005 11:48 (twenty-one years ago)

The Beatles were surely far more R&B influenced that the Monkees ever were!!!!!!!!!!!!

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 11:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm not normally that attentive to production, but I do think the mix (is that the technical term?) is really good on monkees records, with the percussion effects well to the fore and with clear ringing guitars.

― Bob Six (bobbysix), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 11:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Apart from on the 2nd album which is well ropey

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 11:54 (twenty-one years ago)

What about "That Was Then, This is Now"?

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 11:57 (twenty-one years ago)

That was very poor.

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 12:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Production wise you mean? Is that the album with two Ian Hunter songs on it? Or was that "Pool It"? I know it wasn't "Justus" 'cos I actually own that one!

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 12:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, I remember the song being poor. I haven't heared it since so can't comment on the production.

One of these days the kids will see some Monkees TV shows and we'll be watching that intensely. (I have "Head" but I'll spare them that for the moment...)

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 12:27 (twenty-one years ago)

The production on 'Words' I like a lot...and the check out the maracca action on 'Circle Sky'.

― Bob Six (bobbysix), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 12:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Mike Nesmith on the Monkees show = Ross from the Friends show...

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 12:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Wow, let's not get on to the production on "Circle Sky" - like why did Mike bury his vocals on the album version? Monkeebore time. (xpost)

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 12:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Dammit, Mike was my favourite Monkee and I hated Ross even more than i hated everyone else on Friends but... you're right!

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 12:33 (twenty-one years ago)

He was called "Woolhat" on my Monkees colouring book, back in the day...

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 12:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Did you live in Japan or something?

― dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 12:51 (twenty-one years ago)

No, South Shields. I'm sure it was a USA produced thing...

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 12:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Mike wasn't really like Ross. Peter was the dumb one so he was sort of like all three of them (Joey, Chandler, and Ross). (And all three of the women, too.)

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 14:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Though the show version of Peter was cooler, too. (Than all six of them.)

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 14:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Mike's more like Monica really, or Phoebe in her more sentimental moments

― Schwip Schwap (schwip schwap), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 14:47 (twenty-one years ago)

He had a similar dopey/sleepy goofiness on occasion tho, Peter was more wackily goofy

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 14:57 (twenty-one years ago)

... and a kind of slow/sleepy way of talking

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 14:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Micky was Chandler. That much, we can all agree on.

Pete would have to be Phoebe, from the ditziness to the enviro-awareness.

Davy is Rachel: all body, no brains

Mike's the hardest to pinpoint, I guess he combined Ross's intelligensia defensiveness with Monica's pedantry.

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 15:26 (twenty-one years ago)

> Mickey has a morning radio show? which channel?

WCBS in New York, from 6:00 to 10:00. I think AOL streams it online as well.

P.S. Among Stephen Stills' other talents: he played percussion on the Bee Gees' "You Should Be Dancing," I'm told.

P.P.S. Among the great songs the Monkees wrote themselves: "Sweet Young Thing," "Randy Scouse Git," "For Pete's Sake," "... All Over Again," "You and I," "Mommy and Daddy," "Bye Bye Baby Bye Bye," "Good Clean Fun," "Tapioca Tundra," and "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" (to POX).

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 15:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Don't forget Mickey's "Goin' Down"

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 15:33 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm not sure to what extent "Goin' Down" and "You and I" were actually written by Mickey or Davy. BUT Mickey did write "Mommy and Daddy" and Davy did write "War Games", two pretty groovy protest songs! Mike Nesmith never wrote a bad song when he was with the Monkees - and he wrote and recorded plenty, even if most of them weren't released at the time.

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 15:41 (twenty-one years ago)

more like Peter Dork!
mike is the greatest.

― carly (carly), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 15:51 (twenty-one years ago)

xpost

"Goin' Down"'s lyrics were written by Diane Hildebrand, as confirmed by Micky recently (though the music was their reinvention of "Parchment Farm" and Micky's masterful delivery of those tongue-twisting lines deserves loads of credit).

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 15:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh I love Mickey, one of the greatest pop vocalists of all time

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 15:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, his voice sounds like he smokes just enough.

― Curious George (1/6 Scale Model) (Rock Hardy), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 16:17 (twenty-one years ago)

"when love comes knocking at your door" is often in my head for no discernable reason.

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 18:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Guys on the Street Selling Copies of Screenplays Including One for a Film Entitled Twelve Monkees: Classic or Dud?

― Ken L (Ken L), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 18:15 (twenty-one years ago)

xpost
"Goin' Down"'s lyrics were written by Diane Hildebrand, as confirmed by Micky recently (though the music was their reinvention of "Parchment Farm" and Micky's masterful delivery of those tongue-twisting lines deserves loads of credit).

-- Joseph McCombs (jmccomb...) (webmail), April 5th, 2005 4:52 PM. (link)

Ah, right. I remember seeing thison the end of one of the Monkees' shows and thinking "That's surely after the fact" but no it wasa b-side of "A little bit me" if i rem....

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 18:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Search:

"Goin' Down"
"Pleasant Valley Sunday" (still fucking relevant)
"Mary, Mary"

Destroy:
"That Was Then, This Is Now"
The New Monkees

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 18:37 (twenty-one years ago)

I wonder: Was that Peter or Mickey hollering "Go!!" in "Steppin' Stone"? I swear, it sounds just like Funhouse-era Iggy! Classic, no question.

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 19:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Can we set The New Monkees on fire?

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 19:25 (twenty-one years ago)

I mean, assuming we can find the Taco Bell where they now work?

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 19:38 (twenty-one years ago)

I'd rather see the New Monkees on VH1 Bands Reunited. The concept strangely fascinates me, like exponential prefab.

P.S. to Mr. Grout - "Goin' Down" was the B-side to "Daydream Believer." The B-side of "A Little Bit Me" was "The Girl I Knew Somewhere."

And if I ever see a karaoke bar with "Goin' Down," fuck if I'm not gonna try it.

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 20:43 (twenty-one years ago)

ach. I knew that'd happen.

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 21:32 (twenty-one years ago)

there's a guy who does "goin' down" at karaoke here - OWNS IT. i usually do "stepping stone" HARDCORE or "words" if i can snag someone to do the backing.

― j blount (papa la bas), Wednesday, 6 April 2005 00:08 (twenty-one years ago)

I'd sing it with you if I was there, dude.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Wednesday, 6 April 2005 02:22 (twenty-one years ago)

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