The Monkees: Classic or Dud?

Would anyone vote for any Monkees song post-1968? I don't know that material and have not been very curious.

Last hit was "D.W. Washburn," no?

Then Head and "Porpoise Song" right after that, but the best I've heard about the subsequent records is "adequate".

I like "Tear Drop City" released in '69, but recorded in '66. Boyce and Hart kinda rewriting "Last Train to Clarksville."

Who will run this POLL?

I don't know the albums post-68, but I also like "Tear Drop City," as well as "Good Clean Fun" and "Listen the Band" - both solid Nesmith songs that I got to know through the two-disc version of the Then & Now comp.

Also, just a reminder that we still have an 'order and timing' thread for ballot polls. Things have really cooled down on that front for various reasons, and it doesn't seem like we're still assuming a new poll idea needs to wait its turn behind all past ones. But it would probably be good, if someone wants to do Monkees, to check in just to make sure it's not stepping on the toes of someone else who was just about to roll out a poll they've been waiting ages to do. ILM Ballot Polls for 2020 and beyond -- the ordering, timing, "I would have voted if I'd known about it," etc

Oh, and everyone should hear "Shorty Blackwell" if you haven't; Mickey's attempt to write another "A Day in the Life."

Sorry, wasn't pushing for a POLL immediately, am aware there is a backlog etc.

Yes, there's no hurry.

Just suggesting support for one, is all.

"If I Ever Get To Saginaw" is a really great Monkees deep cut, from the Instant Replay expanded issue. Sung by Nez (but written by someone else I think), it's kind of a heart-rending tale of wayward youth and its consequences. If not a Teenage Symphony To God, surely a Teenage After-School Special To God.

fwiw I didn't intend to chide anybody about proposing a poll! just wanted to shout-out the order-and-timing thread really. the process (such as it is) has settled out by consensus into something way chiller than it was five years ago.

You’re not the only cuddly toy to ever enjoy cutting in line.

I think each and every song on Head gets a slot on my ballot. (There are only six songs on the album.)

I was re-shelving some records and turns out I have the Nesmith album--no recollection of where or when I got it, or what it sounds like.

recently enjoyed his contributions to the commentary track for Repo Man, def worth a listen there

His Facebook posts are pretty enjoyable.

...And The Hits... is a neat album. The lineup--just Nesmith on guitar (and barely audible keyboards) and Red Rhodes on steel--is something I'm surprised other Roots/Americana artists haven't run with, but I guess you need an instrumental wiz like Rhodes on board to really make it work.

As a moderate fan of this group, I was wondering which vaguely comparable (pop, singles-oriented) acts from the late 60s I would judge "equal to or weaker than the Monkees":

EQUAL TO THE MONKEES:
Buffalo Springfield?
Hollies
Left Banke
Mamas and the Papas
Turtles

WEAKER THAN THE MONKEES:
Lovin' Spoonful
Move
Rascals
Troggs

DON'T KNOW THEM WELL ENOUGH:
Association
Box Tops
Four Seasons (a little too early to compare?)
Tommy James

Zombies, fer shure

I am kind of a moderate fan of this group as well, albeit with a couple of ins, which is kind of why I would like a poll - no pressure! - as an excuse for a deeper dive.

The one band from that list I would unhesitatingly put ahead of them would be the Buffalo Springfield. I wouldn't call them a singles band, though--one big hit, nothing else inside the Top 40.

If we're evaluating the Monkees as a "singles band" they might blow everybody on that list out of the water. They just have so many carefully-crafted gems by so many great professional songwriters. OTOH they'd fall beneath most or all of the Motown heavy-hitters.

Old Lunch: I'd say Odessey and Oracle puts the Zombies ahead, there's no single Monkees album as consistent as that.

Clemenza: that's certainly a fair take, Buffalo Springfield were definitely highly ambitious. I find all their records spotty (never heard the box set), and Richie Furay is a null to me.

Doctor Casino: By "singles band" I didn't mean I was evaluating only their singles, I mean I was avoiding comparing them to e.g. Quicksilver Messenger Service or Country Joe and the Fish (who are both a lot weaker than the Monkees). A lot of Monkees singles are more irritating than catchy to me.

I like all of those bands, apart from the Hollies, who I've never paid any attention to.

The Troggs are lower tier though, much as they have some real bangers.

The Monkees, by their very nature, are much more eclectic than any of the bands on the list - I mean, you're talking about an entity that contained both Davy Jones and Michael Nesmith. The Turtles are probably the closest to the Monkees, I'd say.

I like all of these bands too, but rank them all below the best of the era. To me, the Hollies are not well-represented by their compilations, it wasn't until I heard albums like Butterfly that I understood the appeal of Graham Nash.
The Move are also pretty eclectic, despite having only one songwriter, but at some point that shades into wondering if they know what they actually want to do.

@ Halfway - fair enough! I also don't know a lot of those bands as well as I know the Monkees, so off the top of my head I think I could name 3-4 singles by the Association, of which I like 1-2.

I went through the list of top 60s acts on Acclaimed Music to jog my memory for this list.

Paul Revere & the Raiders are a pretty good comp for the Monkees.

Stylistic yeah, and they even did some of the same songs. One, at least. But did they put out as much material?

yah there are at least six full-lengths!

I was misinformed!

My vote would definitely go to the Monkees' run of singles, but the Raiders had at least three I love: "Just Like Me," "What's It Gonna Be," and "Tighter." (Not that big on "Hungry.") They seem really similar in terms the way they were marketed (and treated by whatever rock press existed) as novelties, and by the jangly power-pop of their best songs. I'm blanking out on the song they shared.

The Sex Pistols did it too. The Raiders did it first, but The Monkees had the hit.

"Stepping Stone," right.

Raiders had a much lengthier career, from early 60s to well into the 70s, many hit singles and albums, and a TV show, yet I don’t think they’re remembered/loved in the same way as The Monkees.

Don't know them very well, had them pegged as "garage rock" (more than the Troggs, who had several ballad hits).

I only know the hits: "Kicks," "Just Like Me," and then "Indian Reservation" and "Arizona," probably forgetting a few others.

"Steppin' Out" is great too!

scott seward LOVES the Raiders/Paul Revere/Mark Lindsey, I'm sure there are good posts by him abt them somewhere

Also worth emphasizing that the Monkees (and Nesmith solo, too, for that matter) feature some all time Wrecking Crew playing. Peak Wrecking Crew could be Nesmith's "The Wichita Train Whistle Sings" album.

Whoever came up with the guitar lick of "Pleasant Valley Sunday," man ... that's on par with "Paperback Writer" (which it's probably referencing).

It's not Louie Shelton?

Hm. Seems like it might be Mike Nesmith himself.

Never heard Paul Revere & the Raiders but I think that's something I share with the entire population of the UK.

Paul Revere & The Raiders are great! Worth exploring imo

“Let Me” is a great rocker from later in their career, 1969. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIL7YT9asO0

Somebody mentioned The Wrecking Crew but an interesting thing, to me anyway, is that during the Kirshner era lots of tracks were also recorded in NYC with Brill Building musicians/streetteam