The Monkees

by **Ram1** » Tue Jul 02, 2002 5:09 pm

Laugh at me if you will, but I've ALWAYS loved The Monkees. I remember when I was little, I used to lip-sync, pretending I was in The Monkees almost more than I did The Beatles. The t.v. show was addicting, the tunes were totally infectious and outta site, and they were funny as s**t. Does anybody else feel the same? Or am I just totally setting myself up to be laughed at? By the way, has anybody ever seen the movie "Head"? What a strange trip that film is! The soundtrack is awesome. (They wrote the songs themselves.) Total 60's psychedelia. I wish The Monkees had more opportunities to write their own material, because they were really great at it. Especially Mike Nesmith. Their song 'Porpoise Song' from the "Head" soundtrack is awesome. *Sigh* Wish they got the recognition they deserve.

by **dsnito** » Tue Jul 02, 2002 6:01 pm

Monkees!!! Yeah... I remmember of them... the TV series are funny(I was 9 or 10), I saw some of those again on MTV recently and their songs... well, are OK to me!! The media said that they were the US reply to the brit Beatles, but c'mon, I think was a desproportional comparison 'cos Monkees was created to enjoy mid - 60's teenyboopers,and even though they reached the top of the charts and sold millions of records.
But they did cool songs like "Last Train To Clarksville", "I'm a Believer", two songs that always come to my mind when the Monkees is mentioned. And "Head" is one of the most weird psychedelic movie that I saw, but I liked it. Nesmith is the only member that's an artist that have some creative vein I think... I don't know the late stuffs about Monkees but I heard that they tried to joining(execpt Nesmith, that's a big lack to the group)recently, but they had a fight and broked up again.

Peace.

Edited by - dsnito on 07/02/2002 18:10:43

Edited by - dsnito on 07/03/2002 09:18:54

by **Ram1** » Tue Jul 02, 2002 6:34 pm

Cool, dsnito. Glad you feel the same. 'Head' is definitely one crazy movie. Kinda like their Magical Mystery Tour. Jack Nicholson actually directed it, and I think wrote much of it. It may have been his first directorial film. It was a TOTAL departure from the tv series. Fans were shocked to see The Monkees jumping off that bridge, "comitting suicide" in the first few minutes of the movie. Yes, Mike Nesmith is a great musician. But so is Peter Tork. They were the two that became frustrated the most because they couldn't play their own songs in the beginning. Peter finally got fed up and left the group.

by **mr. kite** » Wed Jul 03, 2002 4:24 am

I just got a copy of the cd "The Definitive Monkees", a some sort of Anthology. Well, I enjoyed it in the same manner that I enjoyed The Zombees. "Im a Believer" just got revived in our country and enjoying great sales.

by **dsnito** » Wed Jul 03, 2002 9:38 am

Ram- yeah, you´re right, the film was kinda Monkees' "Mystery Tour" indeed, but I even think that´s more consisting script in "nonsense" situations than MMT, Nicholson and Bob Rafelson really did a good job on the film. I also was wondering Victor Mature's appearence on the film. The scene of Micky Dolenz blowing up the Coke machine is anthologycal, don´t you think?? And Peter Tork I think is just OK as a bass player.

Peace.

by **Liam OSM** » Wed Jul 03, 2002 9:40 am

I've never got into the Monkees, myself. Just never bothered. I don't hate 'em, I'm just indifferent.

The difference between genius and insanity is merely the difference between success and failure.

by **Ram1** » Wed Jul 03, 2002 10:50 am

Dsnito, yeah "Head", (even though it was a spaced-out film), had much more of a "storyline" (if you can call it that), than MMT. I quite enjoyed the cameos in the film such as Victor Mature. And especially Frank Zappa walking his talking cow!!

by **Chris Speers** » Sat Jul 06, 2002 4:17 pm

I liked the Monkees when i was younger too, Ram. Recently, i watched the TV show again and i must tell you i was shocked at how awful it was. Then, i put it in the context of other TV shows of that period including Green Acres, Bev Hill Billys and Gilligan's island and i realized that all TV back then was crap. I mean - how funny is it that Vietname was raging, free love, and Dope, and you turn on the TV at night and you got Gomer Pyle and the Glen Campbell good-time country hour on....Jesus Christ! The only decent shows back then were Twilight Zone and freakin' Star Trek! Amazing

by **Ram1** » Sat Jul 06, 2002 6:53 pm

Good point, Chris. Ya know, I've thought the same thing actually. There were hippies roaming the streets, The Beatles were blowing people's minds with revolutionary music, and our boys over in the jungle were getting killed over a senseless war, and you turn on the tv and see Mr. Ed with his big freakin' teeth munching on an apple in Wilbur's face. The only shows I can think of that reflected the time were maybe 'Laugh In', Smother's Brothers, and Hugh Hefner's 'Playboy Hour' or whatever it was called.

Edited by - Ram1 on 07/06/2002 18:53:48

by **Ram1** » Sat Jul 06, 2002 6:56 pm

'Playboy After Dark' right?

It still amazes and puzzles me that they allowed that show to air back then. I know it wasn't all about sex and they had bands like The Grateful Dead and stuff. But still, even though they were radical times, the television industry was still basically in the stone age, and would cancel shows they deemed "objectionable" at the drop of a hat. I think a show like that even NOWADAYS would have a very tough time getting aired on broadcast television. Cable, sure. Easily. But primetime ABC? I doubt it. I don't know what strings Hef had to pull to get that one aired.

Edited by - Ram1 on 07/06/2002 19:00:05

The Monkees

The Monkees

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