The Monkees: Classic or Dud?

“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

Here's a Spotify recreation of the "all the Monkees you will ever need" 70-song double C90 mixtape I put together around 1990 after Missing Links, Vol. 2 came out.

https://open.spotify.com/user/hideouslump/playlist/7HuOSVKchQ2PsJyaMXqPhn

To give you an idea of how good the Missing Links collections are, there's 11 tracks from Vol. 1* and 3 from Vol. 2**.

TAPE 1, SIDE 1
I Wanna Be Free
I'll Be Back Up On My Feet
Daddy's Song
Last Train To Clarksville
You Told Me
Long Title: Do I Have To Do This All Over Again
Good Clean Fun
Words
Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)
Salesman
Shades Of Gray
The Porpoise Song
Nine Times Blue*
Mary Mary
You Just May Be The One
Through The Looking Glass
Listen To The Band
(Theme From) The Monkees

TAPE 1, SIDE 2
Star Collector
Daily Nightly
St. Matthew**
She
Don't Call On Me
As We Go Along
Forget That Girl
Oklahoma Backroom Dancer
All Of Your Toys*
If You Have The Time*
I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone
Circle Sky
Love Is Only Sleeping
Time And Time Again*
Your Auntie Grizelda
I Can't Get Her Off Of My Mind
I'm A Believer

TAPE 2, SIDE 1
Sunny Girlfriend
Auntie's Municipal Court
Cuddly Toy
Valleri
The Kind Of Girl I Could Love
All The King's Horses**
I Don't Think You Know Me At All*
Pleasant Valley Sunday
My Share Of The Sidewalk*
Lady's Baby*
Laugh
Saturday's Child
Of You*
I Love You Better
Daydream Believer
Sweet Young Thing
War Games*
Gonna Buy Me A Dog

TAPE 2, SIDE 2
Randy Scouse Git
Early Morning Blues & Greens
Take A Giant Step
She Hangs Out
Zor And Zam
Come On In**
Papa Gene's Blues
Someday Man
A Girl I Knew Somewhere
Carlisle Wheeling*
A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You
The Door Into Summer
Tear Drop City
Goin' Down
Party*
Tapioca Tundra
For Pete's Sake

Thanks!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H84WlVbCCdo

this revive has gotten me totally re-obsessed, I need those Missing Link LPs

Love these guys (Monkees) but it's always gotten on my nerves when Mickey slips into that faux "British" enunciation. I know it was a thing but for some reason I have always cringed a little inside.

When does he do that?

"Clarksville", "Randy Scouse Git" to name a couple off the top of my head. Probably just those two but they've always stuck out for me. Haven't listened to them in years so maybe no longer a big deal.

I can't say I've ever noticed any especially British enunciation, I just thought that was his voice! But then, I'm not American, so maybe I wouldn't notice.

Can kinda hear "Lahst train to clahksville".

it's the way he says "again" in that one that does it, i think.

That too, although it seems necessary to get it to rhyme with "train". By the end of the song, his r's sound more distinct.

Maybe, I just thought of him as a singer with very good diction!

Lol

To be fair, the title of the song is "Randy Scouse Git."

Well, yes, he's obviously hamming it up a bit in that song.

can’t believe the monkees singer would be so inauthentic

Didn't Mickey affect a fake British accent in the show sometimes, kind of a military thing?

i'd be kinda shocked if they didn't do like fifty "British" bits --- surely they did a Bond spoof moment at some point, some kidding about the "British Invasion," etc.?

Mickey was the Funny One, so I'm sure he did all sorts of accents.

Also, they were the Prefab Five, the show was I believe modeled after the British new wave. It was kind of in the air.

Maybe, I just thought of him as a singer with very good diction!

― Eggbreak Hotel (Tom D.), Tuesday, January 5, 2021 7:23 AM (fifty-one minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

That would be Nesmith, who I generally love but who has an annoying habit of really hammering home the enunciation at times. Particularly the gerunds. He gets a touch Mark E Smith-ish, as well. 'All the games you are play-ENG-ah'.

Hahaha! Nez 4Ever, though.

Truly this band's admirable diction set a fine example to their many young fans.

Also, they were the Prefab Five, the show was I believe modeled after the British new wave. It was kind of in the air.

― On average, this critic grades 8.3 points lower than other critics (Eric H.), Tuesday, January 5, 2021 9:14 AM (five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Yeah, as I said above it was "a thing".

Now I wanna just listen to all of Nez's songs with an ear out for his proto-M.-Doughty delivery-ah.

Also, I'm sure I've posted this before, but twenty years on I still get the giggles imagining my bookstore assistant manager declaring "They should have called that song 'Listen to the Bad.'"

Sweet young thing-AHHHHH!

xp OK I love that song and that is still lol-worthy

This diction conversation is tugging at a thread I love about this band that I never really considered before

"Zilch" has lovely diction.

Has there ever been a compilation of cover versions of Monkees' songs? This one is atrocious but is good for a laugh...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9IOcxTPqaI

One a y’all posted a monkees Spotify playlist and I’m now officially on board w “them monnkess were better than the Beatles”

hideous lump it was you! Thank u

Yay me! One of my better mixtapes if I say so myself.

(Auto correct changed that to "...my better mistakes...")

I’ve shared it w like 3 ppl already

Historically and presently, I listen to and feel compelled to listen to the Monkees about 10-20x more than I listen to the Beatles. Thank u again to my mom, who passed all of her Monkees LPs on to me and who afaict has never had any time whatsoever for the Fab Four.

I've been compiling a massive 4th of July summer funtime playlist which, after intense tightening and polishing, has like 10-15 Monkees tunes on it and only 2 from the Beatholes ('Everybody's Got Something to Hide...' and 'Come Together').

Beathole Surfers

a/k/a the Beach Boys

Mickey is the last man standing. https://deadline.com/2021/12/michael-nesmith-dead-the-monkees-singer-guitarist-was-78-1234888787/

RIP Mike

Damn. RIP. Obviously brought a ton to this band and really contributed tremendously to the mix of voices and styles on their records. And just as obviously had a huge behind-the-scenes career in music and movies in the decades after. I don't know if Monkees and Repo Man fans overlap that much, but they both owe him a lot.

Damn, they just did their last show a month or so ago.

Oh no, say it ain't so. I love Mike ;_;

R.I.P. :(

By weird coincidence, a Mike-led song ('Sweet Young Thing') is one of the three songs I played while making breakfast this morning (and before hearing the news, natch). Please be careful today, Janet Jackson and members of PiL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLXVz5fms10

Reminds me there's a bit in John French's book when the Beefheart & the Magic Band are recording "Safe As Milk" (I think) at the same time as the Monkees are recording something and Don and Mike Nesmith take to hanging out together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l55KNFiZ7Y

"That's not even Michael Nesmith's real hat!"