The Monkees: Classic or Dud?

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed
Not all messages are displayed: show all messages (722 of them)
dr c it wz a byrds thread, i think

fritz you forgot: mike nesmith's mum invented tippex

mark s (mark s), Wednesday, 18 December 2002 22:38 (twenty-one years ago) link

You mean Liquid Paper?

The 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee documentary was a trip.

call mr. lee (call mr. lee), Thursday, 19 December 2002 01:53 (twenty-one years ago) link

The records, of course being manufactured pop, are not particularly immune to filler and otherwise bits of bad taste. But for the most part, I'd say classic. And the film "Head", as well as the accompanying ost, is superb.

And if you haven't heard "Zor and Zam" - from "The Birds The Bees & The Monkees" - do so at once. They do a SPOT-ON imitation of "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane, and Dave (I believe it's him singing it) sounds so much like Grace Slick it's scarey. Shivers are sent to my spine just thinking of it.

Adam Bruneau, Thursday, 19 December 2002 02:52 (twenty-one years ago) link

It's Mickey. The albums they controlled didn't have too much crap on them.

Andrew Thames (Andrew Thames), Thursday, 19 December 2002 04:38 (twenty-one years ago) link

My Top 5:

1) What Am I Doing Hangin' Round?
2) Daydream Believer
3) Sometime in the Morning
4) Love Is Only Sleeping
5) Look Out Here Comes Tomorrow

Joe (Joe), Thursday, 19 December 2002 04:46 (twenty-one years ago) link

The live version of CircleSky = none more punk!

Rayas Blancas, Thursday, 19 December 2002 09:45 (twenty-one years ago) link

other peter songs - "for pete's sake", "do I have to do this all over again". both fantastic.

pulpo, Thursday, 19 December 2002 10:08 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Last Train to Clarkesville has been written & we can only live with our own imperfection" - Robert Forster

Classic of course (apart from "Listen to the Band")

bham, Thursday, 19 December 2002 10:54 (twenty-one years ago) link

And how imperfect they were.

Dr. C (Dr. C), Thursday, 19 December 2002 11:25 (twenty-one years ago) link

They're not bad but I never listen to them. Actually they're pretty much the worst group I'd still say was good - they're kind of like the VU in that they invented everything but it still doesn't make their songs all that great.

Tom (Groke), Thursday, 19 December 2002 12:18 (twenty-one years ago) link

Which song is it from Head that has the lyrics "You say we're manufactured/To that we all agree"? I remember thinking that was much more brutal that "Public Image".

Nicole (Nicole), Thursday, 19 December 2002 13:13 (twenty-one years ago) link

Leave it to a Carter fan to say the Monkees songs are not that great.

Nicole (Nicole), Thursday, 19 December 2002 13:13 (twenty-one years ago) link

The only band I ever listen to on vinyl (mother's old records). One of the all time greats, obviously, why can't all bands be as good as that? Seriously, all manufactured bands should be this good- you get the best band members, best session musicians, best lyricists... and you get something as deific as "Pleasant Valley Sunday". Nowadays... well, we don't.

The TV show was cack, though.

Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Thursday, 19 December 2002 13:17 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Pleasant Valley Sunday" is smarmy.

Tom (Groke), Thursday, 19 December 2002 13:21 (twenty-one years ago) link

"(I'm Not Your) Steeping Stone" is very much overrated, especially in its Proto Punk role- it's just a slightly poppier Garage Rock tune that happened to get covered by The Sex Pistols.

The Monkees are endlessly fun to analyse, but pretty uneven as far as pure listening enjoyment goes fer me. Even the Rhino best of has a few stinkers (I mean, "I Wanna Be Free", wtf?)

Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Thursday, 19 December 2002 17:53 (twenty-one years ago) link

I was in the car with my mother once and the radio had a little interview snippet with them about how "Last Train To Clarksville" was intended as commentary on Vietnam. (They were opposed, I guess.) It was the most political they could be without upsetting the suits. My mother and I listened to the song and tried to figure out how anyone was ever supposed to pick up on that. She said it certainly didn't seem political at the time.

Chris P (Chris P), Thursday, 19 December 2002 23:34 (twenty-one years ago) link

Monkees = good music/great tv
what since has dared?

horace mann, Friday, 20 December 2002 04:38 (twenty-one years ago) link

I've been playing "auntie grizelda" a ton lately...such a fine song. the only monkeys songs I have are on my gf's tapes from when she was a youngster.. . I have to get some.

anyhow, definitely classic. I for one like the tv show, though I've only seen the same 4 episodes over and over again. I approve of Head.

nick ring (nick ring), Friday, 20 December 2002 06:16 (twenty-one years ago) link

Best connection ever: Listen to the Monkees' "Sweet Young Thing" and then Loop's "Heaven's End"

Chris Barrus (xibalba), Friday, 20 December 2002 06:35 (twenty-one years ago) link

i must get head at the video store.

di smith (lucylurex), Friday, 20 December 2002 08:34 (twenty-one years ago) link

Whenever I say that they throw me out...

Prude, Friday, 20 December 2002 08:37 (twenty-one years ago) link

Gonzo from crawlspace gave me head once, it was great!

Andrew Thames (Andrew Thames), Friday, 20 December 2002 08:48 (twenty-one years ago) link

one year passes...
Private joke that which prob Di didn't even get

Mr Mime (Andrew Thames), Tuesday, 20 April 2004 10:31 (nineteen years ago) link

No, she would've actually.

Mr Mime (Andrew Thames), Tuesday, 20 April 2004 10:33 (nineteen years ago) link

Listening to "Birds Bees Monkees" now, "The Poster" is a pretty funny idea, the Beatles did "Mr Kite" so let's do a song about a circus poster too

Mr Mime (Andrew Thames), Tuesday, 20 April 2004 10:50 (nineteen years ago) link

A Monkees thread without a single mention of Neil Diamond?

shookout (shookout), Tuesday, 20 April 2004 16:58 (nineteen years ago) link

classic when rodney bingenheimer sits in with them

ken taylrr (ken taylrr), Tuesday, 20 April 2004 19:58 (nineteen years ago) link

The non-Tork songs from Head are beautiful of course but my aboslute favorite, and I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet, is Randy Scouse Git from Headquarters. I've always thought of it as in the vein of,though superior,to most Kinks songs. Dolenz' lead vocals on the track are furious and fun. The song has a neat structure as well, nice old-timey piano intro and outro, contrasted sharply by the punk rock chorus.

theodore fogelsanger, Tuesday, 20 April 2004 21:44 (nineteen years ago) link

three months pass...
(Way after the fact I know, but Theodore I mentioned "Randy Scouse Git" in the question text!)

VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 13 August 2004 14:39 (nineteen years ago) link

hh my...so you did. well I'm sorry I neglected to notice that but I don't regret going slightly further into the subject of Randy Scouse Git's greatness.

herbert hebert (herbert hebert), Saturday, 14 August 2004 04:04 (nineteen years ago) link

da da da Da! da da da Da!

My teenage years would have somehow been a little less fulfilled without "She" from their second album. Or was it their second hit from their first album?

Never ashamed to wear my Monkees badge here...

jim wentworth (wench), Saturday, 14 August 2004 04:46 (nineteen years ago) link

one month passes...
Girl
I don't wanna fight
I'm a little bit wrong
You're a little bit right
Girl
You know that it's true
It's a little bit me
And it's a little bit you
Too

Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Sunday, 26 September 2004 18:35 (nineteen years ago) link

Also, "Words" is another song with Peter singing in lead capacity (he trades off with Mickey on the verse).

Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Sunday, 26 September 2004 18:37 (nineteen years ago) link

Best Monkees song? "If I ever get to Saginaw" of course. Best damn sentimental countrypopsong ever.

dr do-good, Sunday, 26 September 2004 21:12 (nineteen years ago) link

six months pass...
I'm so glad I'm not alone here! I just got these songs off of iMusic:
For Pete's Sake, Take a Giant Step, She, Papa Gene's Blues, Auntie Grizelda, A lil bit me A lil bit you, Goin' Down...

verdict: CLASSIC!

Bobby Peru (Bobby Peru), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 01:29 (nineteen years ago) link

"For Pete's Sake" is totally on my fantasy cover-band set list. We have a "Favorite Episodes" DVD from Netflix right now and watched a couple last night — CLAHSSIC. EPIC. RACK 'EM.

Curious George (1/6 Scale Model) (Rock Hardy), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 01:35 (nineteen years ago) link

Pretty dang good through the first four albums.

Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 01:55 (nineteen years ago) link

Sold back the discs after Mickey left, but everything up through Head, now that's mighty fine.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 01:57 (nineteen years ago) link

"Porpoise Song"!

Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 03:23 (nineteen years ago) link

The Birds, the Bees, and the Monkees is kind of crap, though.

Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 05:08 (nineteen years ago) link

Some more Pete love: "For Pete's Sake" was more punk than "Steppin' Stone," and "Do I Have to Do This All Over Again" is the best rock song about reincarnation ever.

Some more Davy love: "You And I" called the star game what it was far more accurately than "So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star."

Some more Mike love: "Carlisle Wheeling" is one of only 3 or 4 songs I will always always always know every every single word to.

Some more Micky love: His morning radio show here in NYC is occasionally humorous, at least when he's not being snarky to people asking him Monkees questions.

Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 07:05 (nineteen years ago) link

Mickey has a morning radio show? which channel?

debden, Tuesday, 5 April 2005 07:57 (nineteen years ago) link

and "Do I Have to Do This All Over Again" is the best rock song about reincarnation ever

Fairly easily one of the best things any of the Monkees ever did. That bridge is pretty astonishing.

Eric H. (Eric H.), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 08:23 (nineteen years ago) link

That's Stephen Stills playing guitar on that that is!

Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 09:44 (nineteen years ago) link

Mickey has a morning radio show?

'Sometime In The Morning' perhaps?

Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 09:46 (nineteen years ago) link

is that really stephen stills? wow! sounds way too good for him, not nearly lumpen enough. For some reason (wishful thinking I guess) I imagined Peter played it himself.

debden, Tuesday, 5 April 2005 09:56 (nineteen years ago) link

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

Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 09:57 (nineteen years ago) link

I'd say classic, although the fact that they didn't write their own songs (at least not the good ones) is a hint of dudness.

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 10:01 (nineteen years ago) link

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

Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 5 April 2005 10:02 (nineteen years ago) link

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 (nineteen years ago) link

Furay's Buffalo Springfield buddy Neil sittin' in:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvN6LA0dCQs

Precious, Grace, Hill & Beard LTD. (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 6 April 2022 03:30 (two years ago) link

LOL. Cameron Crowe would never make this mistake!

(But Linklater's a far better filmmaker and the movie's highly entertaining so I'll let it slide.)

birdistheword, Wednesday, 6 April 2022 03:36 (two years ago) link

Ahhh, I really need to scroll up before I post...C. Grisso/McCain caught it.

― birdistheword, Tuesday, April 5, 2022 8:10 PM

I'm glad you did, because now I understand what "the new Linklater" refers to. I also assume that the Cash show episode came after the movie's period, correct?

nickn, Wednesday, 6 April 2022 16:13 (two years ago) link

The core of the film takes place in 1969, so the Cash episode should be correct in terms of the period. (They also make a reference to Tork's departure, with the narrator asking "why is there only three of them?")

It's a really good film, FWIW. On paper, I thought it was going to be Linklater remakes The Wonder Years but that does a huge disservice to what he's done. It's deceptively light, but it really is about pop culture, growing awareness and shared, ephemeral experiences - themes that run through a lot of his best work. It never devolves into self-involved or self-pitying nostalgia.

birdistheword, Wednesday, 6 April 2022 16:27 (two years ago) link

In the YouTube description they say it was filmed in Nashville on May 6th (two days after the Monkees played in Houston, where much of the Linklater film takes place), and aired on July 19th.

The weird thing about the kids wondering why there were only three of them is that the group had already put out its first trio album in February.

Precious, Grace, Hill & Beard LTD. (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 6 April 2022 16:41 (two years ago) link

Although I imagine if one didn't necessarily read the fan mags or go to the concert or buy Instant Replay, one wouldn't know. Isn't it one of the brothers who asks about it?

Precious, Grace, Hill & Beard LTD. (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 6 April 2022 16:50 (two years ago) link

Yeah, it was one of the brothers who probably didn't follow them that closely. It's very possible they just didn't find out that quickly in an analog world, which is one of the film's charms - I forgot how things were like pre-internet and cell phones.

birdistheword, Wednesday, 6 April 2022 16:59 (two years ago) link

Yeah. It's wild to think about how slowly music news traveled stateside back then. Xgau has mentioned how his columns for Esquire had really long leads (like 3-5 months sometimes) before hitting newsstands.

Precious, Grace, Hill & Beard LTD. (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 6 April 2022 17:09 (two years ago) link

LOL. Cameron Crowe would never make this mistake!

In Almost Famous there's a scene set in 1969 where Joni's Blue appears amongst Tommy and Axis: Bold As Love, among others. On the DVD commentary Crowe acknowledges that Blue came out two years later, but deliberately put it in the scene because he loves Joni Mitchell.

(But the version of the Who's "Sparks" that Lester Bangs yanks off a radio station turntable in 1973 wouldn't come out until 1995.)

Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, 6 April 2022 17:18 (two years ago) link

Ah k - well at least Blue was intentional and I can see how it was more important to include something like that, especially if it's a record his sister was handing down to her brother.

birdistheword, Wednesday, 6 April 2022 17:35 (two years ago) link

one month passes...
three months pass...

An unexpected development

Huh, Micky Dolenz, the lone surviving member of The Monkees, has lodged a FOIA lawsuit for FBI records related to the band. pic.twitter.com/MAYhKEwAGQ

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 30, 2022

Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 30 August 2022 15:06 (one year ago) link

I am having problems getting past George Michael Dolenz Jr

castanuts (DJP), Tuesday, 30 August 2022 15:11 (one year ago) link

Somebody told me
The FBI wants
What the FBI needs

Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 30 August 2022 15:27 (one year ago) link

Trying and failing to stop imagining him singing “I Want Your Sex”

The giggles are incapacitating

castanuts (DJP), Tuesday, 30 August 2022 15:29 (one year ago) link

And the wounded skies above
Say it's much, too much, too late
Well, maybe we should all be praying for FOIA

Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 30 August 2022 15:29 (one year ago) link

xpost Someone needs to see Head!

'Quiet, isn't it, George Michael Dolenz?'

Blew my mind the first time, for sure.

Beautiful Bean Footage Fetishist (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 30 August 2022 15:47 (one year ago) link

I will file a FOIA lawsuit
Put your documents with mine
Add me to the docket, poppet
Pencil me in any time
I will file a FOIA lawsuit
I am guilty of no crime
I will be restoring my good name
‘Til the end of
Time

castanuts (DJP), Tuesday, 30 August 2022 15:53 (one year ago) link

Daydream Subpoena

Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 30 August 2022 17:24 (one year ago) link

I Wanna Be Free (From FBI Scrutiny)

What Are The FBI Doing Hangin' Round?

Buckfast At Tiffany's (Tom D.), Tuesday, 30 August 2022 19:08 (one year ago) link

Listen to the Band (Using Covert Surveillance Devices)

Buckfast At Tiffany's (Tom D.), Tuesday, 30 August 2022 19:10 (one year ago) link

Look Out (Here Comes COINTELPRO)

Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 30 August 2022 19:11 (one year ago) link

Habeas Corpus Song

Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 30 August 2022 21:41 (one year ago) link

Gonna Bug Me a Dog

Buckfast At Tiffany's (Tom D.), Tuesday, 30 August 2022 22:23 (one year ago) link

lol

Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 30 August 2022 22:29 (one year ago) link

Ladies FBI Society

Last Train to Quantico

immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Tuesday, 30 August 2022 23:33 (one year ago) link

"Mary, Mary (Why ya buggin?)"

Hongro Hongro Hippies (Myonga Vön Bontee), Wednesday, 31 August 2022 00:52 (one year ago) link


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.