Monkee mania

I was a kid and it was huge. I remember asking Santa for an electric guitar that Christmas, and noticed my mom and big sister giving each other a nod and a wink. Christmas I got -- a toy electric guitar. I was so pissed off. That wasn't going to work in the garage band I was in!

The Monkees were basically really big for two years and then they faded away. They caught a lot of crap for not being a real band (due to having been assembled for the show) and for not playing their instruments on their records. Both were bum raps. Peter, Paul, and Mary (aka Two Beards and a Blonde) were also put together from a casting call, and nearly all the pop/rock acts of the era had studio musicians on their recordings. But they all pretended to be more 'pure' than the Monkees.

I was also a teenager when MTV started showing re-runs in the mid 80s. It actually seemed remarkably fresh and inventive at the time - my brother and I (and several friends) all became big fans. The gripes about them being "plastic" didn't really matter 20 years later; the songs, whether by Mike or outside songwriters (King & Goffin, Neil Diamond, Harry Nilsson) were for the most part excellent, and the humor was hip and clever. I still like the TV series more than the Beatles films which no doubt inspired it.

[quote] The Monkees were basically really big for two years and then they faded away.

Part of that was the band deliberately burned down the house. After the show was cancelled they did a movie called "Head" attacking themselves and a big fuck you to their fans.

Written by Jack Nicholson with himself, Victor Mature Teri Garr, Carol Doda, Annette Funicello, Frank Zappa, Sonny Liston, Timothy Carey, Percy Helton and Ray Nitschke, Dennis Hopper and film choreographer Toni Basil it's as big a druggie train wreck as you'd expect.

Hey, hey, we are The Monkees

You know we love to please

A manufactured image

With no philosophies. [...] You say we're manufactured.

To that we all agree.

So make your choice and we'll rejoice

in never being free!

Hey, hey, we are The Monkees

We've said it all before

The money's in, we're made of tin

We're here to give you more!

The money's in, we're made of tin

We're here to give you...

I liked and still like the Monkees' early hits--"Daydream Believer," their Neil Diamond covers, etc....I still remember my surprise when they visited with the Beatles and the Beatles liked them--no put-downs!....They started out fake (the instruments were all played by studio musicians) but that soon changed, meaning they "grew up." Meaning they lost their teen appeal, because their music was manufactured to be pop and nothing more (or less). When they started writing their own songs and doing protest, satirical stuff like Carole King's "Pleasant Valley Sunday," they lost their teenybopper audience. (I was a teenybopper.) Davey Jones was cute in that sexless, pixieish way....the blond was kind of cute in his California way. The other two didn't do anything for me.

Their career was basically "Last Train To Clarksville", "I'm A Believer" , "Daydream Believer" and "Valeri". That's it.

So many great songs. I love Stepping Stone and She and Auntie Grizzelda and all those other greatest hits. They certainly earned their place in the pop culture HOF.

I read recently that Mickey and Mike are going on tour together. I’m not sure if that’s awesome or pathetic.

The Monkees were terrific! Great legacy of Pop songs!

r6, I vote for "pathetic," because stupid-arse Nesmith waited until Davy died to go on tour.

When watching reruns in the 80s as a gayling, I used to beat off to Peter Tork in the Tarzan outfit. Otherwise the show was shit.

The brilliant thing about the TV show was The Monkees really had no adult supervision, which seemed earth shattering to the kids.

The Monkees DID have talent. Their records show that. They were given songs written by great pop songwriters of that era: Neil Diamond. Boyce and Hart, Gerry Goffin and Carole King, John Stewart and they made classic hit singles out of them. Of the four Davy Jones was the heart throb, and he was quite a good one with his dreamy brown eyes and full lips, so cute. Mike Nesmith was the most talented musician; I love his version of his song "Different Drum", which became a hit for Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys.

They became dissatisfied with their statue as teen idols and resented the fact that they were making a lot of money for other people without making a lot of it themselves. They rebellion caused them to do a dumb thing; Don Kirshner wanted them to record "Sugar, Sugar" but they refused to do it. DUMB move. The song was then recorded by a group of studio musicians under the name "The Archies", a tv cartoon band. The song became a monster hit. What a shame; Davy Jones would have been the perfect one to sing it. I can imagine him singing in his best teen idol voice "Sugah....aw, hunney, hunney....you are mah candy guuuurl....and ya got me wantin' youuuuu."

Their biggest hit single was I'm A Believer which was #1 for 7 weeks, written by Neil Diamond, and lead vocals by Mickey Dolenz.

They had 6 hit singles that earned them gold records.

The Monkees.

Peter, Michael, Mickey, and Davey.

Cute, cuddly Davy Jones who was the breakout heartthrob of the group - an Englishman.

[quote]Their career was basically "Last Train To Clarksville", "I'm A Believer" , "Daydream Believer" and "Valeri". That's it.

Well, that plus "Pleasant Valley Sunday," "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone," "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You," and "I Wanna Be Free"

And then "That Was Then This Is Now" in the 1980s

"Valeri", their last hit single to go gold.

Other good Monkees tunes: “Mary, Mary,” and “Look out, Here Comes Tomorrow.”

Their reign at the top might have been short, but it was fun and fresh.

Davy Jones with pussy (a beautiful Siamese cat). He was a Capricorn and only 20 years old when the group started.

Signed, sealed, and delivered.

They actually had a lot of cool album tracks, too (which were often heard on the show). Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones was one of the first pop albums to feature a Moog (Micky bought one).

I have a Japanese import 4 cd set of practically every song. Besides the well known tunes they did a lot of cool things. My respect for them grew after listening. Mickey was very talented and Ithink he didn't get a lot of credit.

"Micky," no "e." :-)

Don't underestimate the damage the movie "Head" did to their brand. Completely alienated their fan base and did not win them fans with their desired demographic.

The movie was written by Bob Rafelson and Jack Nicholson. Bizarre how a lot of their dialogue made them sound like they were bitter old queens. I guess that was meant to be edgy.

I remember watching their TV show in original primetime run and then right after in Saturday afternoon reruns in the late 1960s and early '70s. My older brother was a musician and Beatles devotee, and he adored their weird television show antics and humor--must've liked them being comically in the vein of The Beatles' "Help" movie. Even then as a little kid, I didn't get The Monkees' show's weird late '60s abstract and psychedelic humor, "plots," or camerawork. Their was like the 1960s "Batman" TV series, but with bubblegum pop music and musical performers.

Didn't Mike Nesmith's mother invent liquid paper?

Two were working musicians- Michael Nesmith had done his time in the trenches & was horrified at not being able to play on the first album. They appeased him the next year and even cut a couple of his songs. His first solo records are as good as any of the other SoCal country folk albums that came out of the era. Peter Tork could also play, but was happy to be working. The other two had been showbiz kids and onstage since they could walk - they knew better than to complain when they had a hit. And yes R25, Mike's mother did invent liquid paper.

HEAD is a big mess, but as extended middle fingers in cinematic form go, it's delectable. Possibly the most anarchic film that ever left one of the big studios (even more insane than Skidoo!, which is definitely saying something.)

All of the music sequences are a hoot, as well.

Oh man, Skidoo...reportedly the product of Otto Preminger's acid trip. With a Nilsson soundtrack.

I love "Porpoise Song" from Head. I remember renting the VHS as a kid and not knowing what the hell to make of it. It was much more out there than even the craziest parts of the TV show.

I think Micky Dolenz was the best singer among them.

I first saw the show in reruns in the 80s.

My crush on Peter Tork made me realize I was gay. He was so cute, like a puppy dog!

[quote] The other two had been showbiz kids

As a child actor Mickey had his own television series for a couple seasons. On black and white television I expect that would have looked a lot like a Hitler Youth uniform.

Complete film from Youtube...

I went to college in the early 90s and had a friend who was so obsessed with The Monkees she would stay home from classes and listen to their records on their birthdays.

Last time I saw her name, she was writing for a sitcom.

R28, that Porpoise Song looks to me like an inspiration for Melody's Echo Chamber video, I Follow You.

Porpoise Song was featured in the Tom Cruise film "Vanilla Sky"

Grew up watching the TV series, loved the zany trippy vibe (albeit diluted) which was part of the 60s. Had all The Monkees annuals, collected the bubblegum cards. (Batman ditto, a similar enthusiasm.) Great pop singles which still come up fresh as paint. Good times.

They were never "REALLY BIG" like the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. They wouldn't have made it to the Friends or Seinfeld hype even.

Another vote for Peter Tork. So cute. And a good kisser.

[quote]I think Micky Dolenz was the best singer among them.

Peter once said in an interview that if their roles had been selected according to what they could actually do, he would have been the lead guitarist, Mike would have been the bassist, Davy the drummer and Micky the lead singer.

They were a fascinating pop culture phenomena. Nesmith's mom may have invented Liquid Paper, but he essentially invented music videos. The no longer relevant MTV owes a lot to him.

Yes, Nesmith and Dolenz (who both have had fairly successful careers as producers and other behind the scenes work) are touring this year. Tork is doing his own thing. Whoever said Nesmith waited to join the other Monkees on tour until after Jones died is wrong. He joined the others whenever he could, but he had his own career, including being the producer of the cult hit, REPO MAN. He even produced the 90s Monkee album, Just Us.

They were sort of like the Milli Vanilli of the 1960s.

Peter Tork's brother, Nick Thorkelson, was/is a graphic artist and used to frequent a print shop I managed years ago in Cambridge, MA. Nick was a real hottie, much more than Peter.

They had their audiences.

R41 - except Milli Vanilli never sang any of their songs and didn't write any of them either

[quote]They actually had a lot of cool album tracks, too (which were often heard on the show).

I also liked Cuddly Toy (a harry Nilsson song) and Randy Scouse Git (which Mickey wrote)

And BTW, it was Mike Nesmith who wrote one of Linda Ronstadt's early hits, "A Different Drum"

I was 10 or 11 when they burst onto the scene and yes, I was absolutely obsessed with them. Probably due in large part to the weekly TV show. I had all their records. Used to wear a little white leather cap like Davey did. I had a corduroy one too if I remember correctly. I mean, this band was everywhere. They were HUGE. And then they weren’t.

Needless to say, I still love all of their music to this day. It still holds as pure pop perfection. I think they took a bad rap for not being considered “musicians” at the time, when they clearly were.

They should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but probably never will be. I think they're a lot more deserving than than a lot of the acts that have been inducted.

The Beatles had released Revolver just before the TV started. The Monkees came at just the right time.

What the hell R38!? Where's that from and why haven't I rubbed one out to that yet?

I honestly didn't think this thread was going to take off like it did. Thanks everyone for posting here.

I've been watching the show again and for some reason--much like when I was a kid in the 80s--it takes me to a happy place and makes me feel good.

Watching the show with my sister in the summer on MuchMusic here in Canada and looking forward to it everyday. It was like nothing we'd ever seen before and I think it went along way towards us bonding.

I remember how popular they became again in the 80s but wish I had seen the 60s popularity first hand. That must have been something.

I watched the show when it was first aired, when I was about 12. I loved them. They seemed so young, I couldn't believe they were old enough to drive. I had all their albums, and made actual friends on the basis of our Monkee love.

Their song "Goin Down" was featured on Breaking Bad, and got me interested in them again. I had forgotten how good they were, especially MIcky.

[quote]I also liked Cuddly Toy (a harry Nilsson song) and Randy Scouse Git (which Mickey wrote)

Both good songs, r44, but "Cuddly Toy" is creepy if you really listen to the lyrics, but then again, it was written by Nilsson. To r41, they were in no way like Milli Vannili. Dolenz and Nesmith each have very distinctive voices, and produced beautiful harmonies. Listen to them here, in Papa Gene's Blues, another song written by Nesmith.

Watch for Nesmith's wink to the camera at the end.

I vaguely remember watching the original run as a 4 or 5 year old, but became an avid fan when the show ran on Saturday mornings (I think) in the early 70s. My older brother had a poster of either Peter Tork or someone who looked just like him embracing a woman, both of them nude in soft focus. Does anyone remember the picture I'm talking about?

R52 No, but here's a photo of Peter Tork.

Here's a truly charming young Davy Jones as The Artful Dodger in the original Broadway production of Oliver!

He's not on the original cast recording because the show did a long national tour prior to Broadway and the album was recorded during the stop in LA. By the time the show reached New York, the boy on the recording had out outgrown the role and Jones had replaced him.

So glad to see all the fans on this thread. I discovered The Monkees during their MTV comeback in 86/87. That 20th reunion tour was the first concert that I ever went to.

I remember Gary Puckett and the Union Gap were one of the opening acts and he was dating Morgan Fairchild at the time and she was there. I took a picture of her because my dad thought she was a “sharp lady”

The clip above from the Ed Sullivan Show with Davy in Oliver is also the same episode The Beatles made their historic TV debut in the US. I always thought that was a cool bit of trivia.

And here Davy the same year (1963 ) on Merv Griffin's Talent Scouts, singing Where Is Love and Consider Yourself. He's introduced by Merv and his Oliver ! co-star Georgia Brown, who clearly adores him. Quite the little powerhouse showman.

BTW, that episode of the Sullivan show posted above also featured the first appearance of of The Beatles on national US TV, launching Beatlemania in this country.

I've always loved the song Auntie Grizelda. I know it has a lot of haters but it's just something that gets me going when I hear it.

Elder English gays might remember Davy Jones in “Coronation Street” as Ena Sharples grandson !!!

Hey, hey we're the Monkees

Porpoise Song was also used on Mad Men.

That’s not the beloved opening...

Info on the Mike and Micky tour. Nesmith has an off hand comment that Peter Tork has other reasons -that are private-besides other projects as to why he’s not on this tour. Peter did have cancer several years ago. Nesmith wrote some of my favorite Monkee songs: Sweet Young Thing, Papa Gene’s Blues, What Am I Doing Hanging Around and Love Is Only Sleeping.

Micky practically was the lead singer. He got more of the good songs than Davy, IMHO.

Funny this thread came up now...last week I was reading YouTube comments about the original version of "Steppin' Stone" vs the Monkees version. A lot of people dislike the Monkees version apparently but I prefer it, mostly for Dolenz's vocals.

Craptastic

They made an album a couple of years ago with the guy(s) from Fountains of Wayne. It isn’t awful.

As I kept seeing commercials for Lady Bird, the musical refrain used kept bugging me, not in a bad way. I just knew it from somewhere. Finally, it dawned on me - As We Go Along, which I believe was from Head.

Lots of stories involving The Prefab Four.

Yes, Nesbit’s mother invented Whiteout or its precursor. Davey encountered major backlash when it was revealed he was a husband and father. The one I found charming was Mickey taking an autograph book along when they met the Beatles The movie Head did them in, but they certainly weren’t alone in making whacked out movies. Sonny and Cher had Good Times directed by William Friedkin on one coast and Edie in Ciao Manhattan on the other.

I wish I had a time machine so I could go back in time and fuck young Peter Tork.

Peter Tork? Ugh. I thought he was the least attractive of the four. And he seems like an insufferable sort of personality. On talk shows he seems brain fried. I guess he did a lot of drugs.

Micky is my favorite

This song always gave me goosebumps. Micky definitely had the best voice in the group

^ That song was featured in "The Frodis Caper." The final episode of the series and probably the weirdest. Ended with Tim Buckley singing "Song to the Siren."

I first came across theMonkees in the mid 80s when Nicklodeon played the show. I was five or so. I thought the show was silly, the songs great, and Mike so cute!

Around 1996 Nick at Nite had MonkeeMondays where they'd play four or six episode in a row. I loved that. My stepsister called me a dork. Pssh whatever.

I just recently watched Micky's audition tape on YouTube, and it's obvious why he was cast. That guy had charisma. He was super charming. But Mike will always be my fav.

Jeezis, R52, how many maracas did Davy need?

Sorry, I meant R51.

I was a huge fan back in the day. I had a crush on Davy and Mickey. I was 9 in 1967 when they were scheduled to play a concert in Detroit in July. I lived about 150 miles away but the local radio station kept promoting the concert, and I figured out that I could take a Greyhound bus there. I was ready to raid my piggy bank and pay for an older person's fare so they could be my chaperone. My Mom put her foot down and wouldn't let me go even though I begged for days. In the end Detroit was in the middle of riots, protests, etc. and I believe the concert was cancelled or at least rescheduled.

Saw Davy Jones once when he presented some award at Royce Hall at UCLA in the early 1970s. He was pretty short.

Remember a couple years ago when some DLer said he was going to jerk off to a pic of Davy Jones, he did, and then posted the after picture here? Good times!

Are you here, big guy?

Micky Dolenz auditioned for the role of Fonzi in Happy Days.

When Harry Winkler was interviewed about playing, he always mentioned that Dolenz had once been considered for the part. He seem disgusted that that had been the case and they finally came to their senses and hired him, Winkler.

I remember getting into a huge argument with my younger cousin, who loved The Monkees, but didn't get that they were a derivative version of The Beatles.

He was 7. I was 10.

I'll ask again, where the heck is R38 from? That looks like a legitimate kiss.

Obsessed fans know how to merge images as gifs.

R81, if you search Peter Tork on Google it's under Images. I don't know where it's from, who took it, or why they did it. But it's hot. I think they originally wanted Stephen Stills (from Crosby Stills & Nash) for the role in The Monkees but he had a bigger, legitimate career at the time. Stills is the one who referred them to his friend Tork.

They had a similar look.

In the mid 80s, there was a marathon of the show on MTV or Nickelodeon, I can't remember which channel but I stayed up all night to watch all the episodes and thought they were really great. The made a big comeback then with a song called "That was then, this is now" and went on tour, I believe.

As for Stephen Stills, I went to school with his son. I had never heard of him and my friend, Dustin Stills, said his father was a famous singer. I didn't put it together till later.

Anyone old enough to remember Mickey Dolenz in the television series "Circus Boy"?

Yes R86. I am that old. lol

r48, the mages used to create the Nesmith/Tork is from the Lady Pleasure scene from HEAD.

Here's Peter:

...and here's Mike. All of the Monkees were decidedly straight. Sorry, r48

Laughed at the end of video at R56. Davey’s friend sure got him the hell away from Merv’s clutches, asap. I’ve noticed in other video clips from Merv’s show, there was some obvious leering from him when he’d hurry over to thank the bands after they played.

I was hot for Mike Nesmith back in the day as well OP. But time is such a cruel bitch.

Peter Tork on The Rachel Maddow Show

Monkees

More of the Monkees

Those 2 albums were #1 for 31 consecutive weeks.

That’s how huge they were

[quote]But time is such a cruel bitch.

For all of us R91, but he still has those blue eyes and Texas drawl.

It was a fun show and they had hit songs. So I'd say The Monkees were a success.

Though I loved the Beatles, their Saturday morning cartoon series was forgettable.

[quote]I was hot for Mike Nesmith back in the day as well OP. But time is such a cruel bitch.

[quote]For all of us [R91], but he still has those blue eyes and Texas drawl.

I'm with r94. This song, Me & Magdalena" is from the Monkees album GOOD TIMES. It was written by Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie in 2016. Both Michael and Micky's voices are in very fine form. Nesmith is 75. Dolenz 73.

Stills got knocked out of the running very early on, mainly because he was ugly and had really bad teeth.

Tork is a whore. He's notorious for picking up one or more women after every show. One of the craziest places on USENET was alt.music.monkees, 'cause it was full of all these insane bitches fighting over which of them Peter liked best. And in those knock-down drag-out fights, they'd also share some pretty embarrassing personal details about Peter, too. Just goes to show that sleeping with the crazy ones isn't such a good idea - they may be hella fun in the sack, but then they get online and make an ass out of the person they slept with.

The fangirls for the other three were almost civilized compared to the Tork tramps. The Nesmith fanbois were almost as bad as the Tork tramps. They think Nesmith is god and treat him accordingly. Mike shares their opinion of himself.

Davy was a victim of domestic abuse by at least one of his wives. He, Micky, and Peter were all alkies. Once Peter went through rehab and was determined to make it stick, he said he couldn't work with the other two anymore, because they were always drunk and surly, insulting him and trying to get him to drink with them. I dunno if Peter still has his band Shoe Suede Blues.

Given all that, they were all terrific performers. I never got to see them when I was a kid during their original run, but I got to see them with Weird Al as their opening act in the 80s. It was a great show.

Any fans of the bands of that era should check out Ann Moses' website. She was the editor of Tiger Beat magazine back then and met and wrote about most of the groups from back then. She has so many interesting stories to tell about them - including some stuff she couldn't write about them back then, because she was writing for kids.

[quote] They think Nesmith is god and treat him accordingly. Mike shares their opinion of himself.

You might want to read his recent autobiography, Infinite Tuesday (I'm not shilling. Get it from the library). Nesmith is very hard on himself. He always has been (see linked video). I actually think he has low self esteem.

[quote]I dunno if Peter still has his band Shoe Suede Blues.

His work with this band has been given as the reason he isn't with the remaining Monkees on this tour.

Here's a collection of the "one minute short" scenes at the end of the episodes. At 2:00 minutes, Nesmith talks about how he "was a rotten kid" and "a loser". In his autobiography, he talks about how ashamed he is of cheating on his wives and stealing his mom's car to get to California.

R99 in the concert episode in the first season Mike talks about cutting class and putting a chair on the school stage and playing to an empty house and saying to himself, "Some day, some day". And that now that he has all the success he wants he still finds himself saying "Some day, some day." He did seem to have issues with self-esteem.

[quote] Didn't Mike Nesmith's mother invent liquid paper?

She did. And she eventually sold the company to Gillette Corp. for $47.5 million. Mike was her sole heir.

R3, that was just awful.

R99 I read Infinite Tuesday, a well done biography and yes Nesmith is very hard on himself.

Heh heh hard on

R98, I love the reference to Tiger Beat . My sister used to buy that, and 16 Magazine, religiously. It was a constant diet of the Monkees, Donny Osmond, David Cassidy,and Bobby Sherman. I never could figure out their relentless plugging of some guy named Sajid Khan. What the hell was his claim to fame?

r3 's lyrics are from the movie HEAD, r102, a song called Ditty Diego (War Chants). The song that follows it is a live version of another of Nesmith's, Circle sky. It was filmed live in Salt Lake City, and in the fi;m was interspersed with film footage from Vietnam. It included well-known footage of the execution of Captain Nguyễn Văn Lém, who arrested Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Tuan with his family and tried to force him to show them how to drive tanks. Lieutenant Colonel Tuan refused to cooperate, so Lém killed Tuan, his wife, six children and his 80-year-old mother by cutting their throats. Lem was later caught and executed by Brigadier General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan. The execution was captured by AP photographer Eddie Adams and NBC News television cameraman Vo Suu. Adams won a Pulitzer prize for it in 1969.

Wasn't Peter Tork a big pot head back in the day? I think he was arrested for it once or twice or thrice.

Yep, Peter spent four months in Federal prison for possession of hashish.

[quote]Wasn't Peter Tork a big pot head back in the day? I think he was arrested for it once or twice or thrice.

Tork was the biggest pot head, but really, they all were. Their final episode, directed by Dolenz, was called "The Frodis Caper". "Frodis" was Dolenz's code word for marijuana, and the plot centered around a plant-based alien life form that chilled people out with the smoke that it emitted.

I'm serious.

Norman Seeff was a hugely popular photographer at one time; he took photos of everybody it would seem. One of his photos features Davy and Mickey and Peter in some nondescript room; Davy is mooning the camera and Mickey and Peter are laughing in the background. They apparently were quite fun loving lads.

[quote] They apparently were quite fun loving lads.

I'm sure they were, but they rivaled The Who when it came to fighting amongst themselves, though it was mostly Peter and Davy. Peter gave Davy stitches at one point, and Peter can be seen in some of there videos bearing the marks of Davy's ire on his face.

Nesmith, according to himself, all of the other Monkees and Don Kirschner, once got so pissed off at Kirshner that he punch a hole in a wall, looked at Kirschner, and said "That could have been your face".

We invented Post-Its.

We invented Post-Its.

Jesus! "some of *their* videos.

More about their fights...

I used to hate Lent because mid-week church interfered with Shindig, Hullabaloo and the Monkees.

My sister and I were crazy Monkees fans back in the day. I crushed hard on Micky and wrote him a fan letter, which prompted a return letter from his mother! She wrote to me on and off for a few years. We finally got to see our idols when MIcky and Davy toured as Dolenz Jones Boyce and Hart. There was another show from younger days, late 70’s? Called “Kids from C.A.P.E.R.” It was clearly a Monkees ripoff, but the guys were so damn cute.

You got me intrigued by "The Kids From C.A.P.E.R" so I looked it up. Biff Warren was one of them. Really cute. Died too young.

Davy even had a sliver of a solo career. As cheesy as this song is, it's a helluva ear worm. It has that early 70s Carpenters thing going on. Fun fact: I believe someone once posted here that Robert Reed had fucked the music producer with the stripey top.

When the Disney musical Aida was at the end of its run on Broadway, it was Mickey Dolenz who played the part of Zoser.

Mike Nesmith invented music videos with “Elephant Parts “ and was awarded the first Grammy for music video! And he already had all those millions from his mama.

R120 here's an interview with Mike on David Letterman in the early 80s and either Letterman is being facetious or is really stupid about music videos.

R105 - there are two Sajid Khans in show biz. One was a teen idol for a while, who starred in a 1966 movie called "Maya" with Jay North and later a TV series of "Maya" also with Jay North. Sajid was handsome and photogenic in those days (photo below). I had a big crush on him at the time of that TV show. There is one episode where they go skinny dipping together and I almost fainted. Sajid was in most of the teen magzines for a while and he did a few other films but then it seems like he fell into obscurity in India after that. He is now 66.

The other Sajid Khan is a film director in India and is rather fat and unattractive. He is now 47.

[quote] Sajid was handsome and photogenic in those days (photo below). I had a big crush on him at the time of that TV show. There is one episode where they go skinny dipping together and I almost fainted.

You and me both!

Back to the Monkees, as a little 10 year old I used to wonder if the 4 guys ever saw each other naked. Surely there were not four separate bedrooms and bathrooms in their house. Which one had the biggest dick? Oh the hours I spend wishing that I was living with The Monkees

I vote for Peter having the biggest, uh, Peter.

I read Ann Moses's book R98. It was pretty good. She had a lot of good stories. Maurice Gibbs from the Bee Gees broke her heart.

[QUOTE] they'd also share some pretty embarrassing personal details about Peter, too.

Well?

Kate Flannery, of The Office, discusses her relationship with one of “The Chimps”

^^^I'm sure Davy was no prize at times, but Kate is nowhere close to being coy in that article. What was the point of it, and what the hell is on her head, anyway?

Fifty years ago today the final episode of The Monkees aired.

Peter was the sexy one . I loved the opening credits with him naked in a bathtub. They knew he was sexy.

[quote]Fifty years ago today the final episode of The Monkees aired.

OMG! How did I get so OLD!!

Watching this show again I'm surprised at all the gay jokes. When the boys got to a hotel for a gig the owner said, "Oh, the boys in the band" and the episode was the same year the play started off Broadway.

In the Christmas ep while singing Deck The Halls when Davy and Micky get the don we now our gay apparel lyrics they said gay with really camp voices and faces. And while introducing the crew after the episode Davy said one the guys was a poof.

There were jokes about dating guys and being mistaken for women by other men and the boys being flattered.

[quote] while singing Deck The Halls when Davy and Micky get the don we now our gay apparel lyrics they said gay with really camp voices and faces

I seem to recall a "limp wrist" thrown in for good measure.

Finally got to see the fairy tale episode with Mike in drag as a princess.

[quote]Wow! What a groovy looking chick!

Killed me as a kid and still made me laugh today.

I had a crush on Mike. I wanted to wear his touque.

In the Fairy Tale episode when Peter says he wants to marry the princess and she/Mike says she can't and starts to take off the wig, (Peter is "shocked" that it's Mike,) and then Mike says he can't marry Peter because he's already married to Phyllis.

I'm so surprised that in a late 60s kid's show they chose not to go the homophobic route and just said they couldn't get married because Mike was already married to

Weren't they a recording studio product band created to hop on the Beatles bandwagon? No?

That would be Kate "Neely" Flannery, r126.

[quote]Whoever said Nesmith waited to join the other Monkees on tour until after Jones died is wrong. He joined the others whenever he could

As a fan, I would like to believe that could be true, but no.

Nez, Dolenz and Tork put a tour together not long after Davy Jones died. If the four of them had come to terms ten years earlier, they and we all would have been much better for it.

I met Peter Tork while I was in grad school at UCONN (his father was a professor there, although not one of mine). He was extremely intelligent and very gracious, and not at all what I'd expected. He looked exactly the way he did in that TRMS clip above. I was glad I had the chance to talk to him.

Somebody behind the scenes must have been gay because they had Liberace on smashing a piano with a sledgehammer and Rip Torn as a frazzled casino employee.

Just saw the episode with Hans Conried The Monkey's Paw and at the end during the outtakes when the guys are goofing off and he turns to the camera and says, "I hate these fucking kids" with the swear beeped out.

^^^Pic

The young lady in r141 should have shaved her underarms. That is totally out of control even for the 60s.

That Frodis episode was fucked up!

I was a kid and I loved The Monkees. My ex husband looked like a cross between Davy Jones and Jackson Browne (when EX still had hair).

I recall an interview. Band members said they were completely stoned all the time while recording their TV show. They got this game, popular at the time, which consisted of a base unit with four different colored lights. So if a certain Monkee was needed on set, he would come onstage when his "assigned color" flashed.

Teri garr said jack Nicholson was teaching an acting class and everyone who was in the class got a part in Head.

"I lost mine at 13, and I definitely am not ashamed. Loved every minute of it."

You started having sex as a child? With who, a 40 year old neighbor? I wouldn't doubt it a bit.

I have a scan of the premiere show ad. It was September 12, 1966 NBC WEEK! There was a time when the networks premiered all their new shows all in one week. The Monkees was on at 7:30, "Who's putting who on? You'll never know till you see this show! Then at 8:00pm was the second season premiere of "I Dream of Jeannie" . "Bottlemania is back and in color!" Up next at 8:30 with the world premiere of "The Roger Miller Show" with premiere guest Bill Cosby. 9:00 pm The world premiere of "Road West" starring Barry Sullivan and finally 10:00pm the second season premiere of "Run For Your Life" starring Ben Gazzara.

So come on, r147, post that pic!

I bought a stack of old 1960s TV Guides and also some old Billboard magazines at a flea market one time, and if I can ever find them...some of those old advertisements can bring money.

The scan I have is for the NY area. Scroll down to page 36. This site has the whole TV Guide but it's for Central time and the shows are the same but scheduled line up is different.

Davy was the weak link. His talent on the tambourine equaled that of Tracy Partridge, Michelle Phillips and Stevie Nicks. Loved Mike - his song What Am I Doin Hanging Round is great. Early country/rock feel.

Davy was a good singer, had a notable stage career pre-Monkees, and was easily the best actor.

David Letterman's Top Ten one night was announced by Paul Shaffer-- something like Paul's Top Ten Tambourine Artists of All Time.

On the list were Davy Jones, The Monkees; Stevie Nicks, Fleetwood Mac; Veronica, The Archies; Stevie Nicks, solo performer; Tracy, Partridge Family; maybe another Partridge; one of Josie and the Pussycats; some other classic rock figures; and I think one of the Banana Splits.

Favorite forgotten Monkees song: "Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)" by Neil Diamond, with Davy on lead. Lips like strawberry pie.