One of my favorite bands from the ’60’s is The Monkees, and I hate it when people say, “They weren’t a real band.”
Granted in the beginning, they really weren’t. They were four guys who auditioned for the TV show and they were thrown together by a TV studio to be, The Monkees. The TV show was hilarious and their first two albums produced two number one hits. On those two albums, only Mike Nesmith played a little guitar and wrote a few songs that appeared on the albums. Mickey Dolenz and Davy Jones sang most of the songs with Nesmith handling lead vocals on the tunes he wrote.
However, when the band started touring, all four of them played their own instruments and sang. This is when they became a real band and it’s is when they demanded control over their music and what songs they would record.
Their third album, Headquarters was released in May of 1967 and all of the music and vocals are played and sung by the four Monkees. Nesmith, Dolenz and Peter Tork all wrote songs that appeared on the album. The producer, Chip Douglas played some bass on the album, but outside of him and a French Horn player, it’s all The Monkees and it’s a great album!
After that, they started utilizing session musicians again, but all four continued to play musical instruments on the songs, particularly Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork.
Yesterday was Mickey Dolenz’s birthday, so in honor of that, I’m putting up links to online articles about The Monkees and a video of their original screen tests for the TV show. And then there’s the MBIP Coming Attractions for next week.
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Sunday Links
The Story Of The Monkees - This is a great article that details the history of The Monkees.
The Monkees’ Tragic Real-Life Story - I had no idea about some of these tragic Monkees happenings in their lives.
11 Things You Might Not Know About The Monkees - Some interesting Monkees factoids here.
Top Ten ‘The Monkees’ TV Episodes - I need to search these out on YouTube!
The Monkees Complete Discography - This is a great discography that not only lists every album, it’s got a clickable link to each LP for credits and reviews of the albums.
The Day The Final Episode Of ‘The Monkees’ Aired - This is a synopsis about the very last episode The Monkees filmed for their TV series. The show aired on March 25, 1968.
The Monkees Tried To Cut Their Strings With ‘Head’ - And their movie “Head” was pretty much the end of the end. After that, Peter Tork quit, then Mike Nesmith and soon it was no more Monkee business until they reunited in the ’80’s.
The Original Monkees Screen Tests - Here’s the original screen tests that got them on the air. There’s silence in the beginning, but the audio kicks in after about a half a minute.
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MBIP Coming Attractions
Monday: A new Middle Eastern restaurant opened up last month on Western Avenue in West Peoria called, Curly Shawarma and I’ve heard and read rave reviews about the place. So I went last night and sampled some of the food and I’ll have photos and my review tomorrow!
Tuesday: We’re up to week number seven and I’m joined by my gumball counting companion, Chad Wallace and we dined at the Country Club BBW on Farmington Road. Tune in and find out what kind of rating their ribs got.
Wednesday: I found a record store within a store last week! It’s called Hudson Vinyl and it’s located in the Two Sisters shop on Knoxville. I went and checked it out and you can see photos of that journey on Wednesday.
Thursday: I have a new Thursday series I’m debuting this week and you can tune in and find out what it is!
Friday: We’ll be enjoying some snacks this Friday from a market I’ve seen many ties, but never been in. Once again, tune in and turn it on!
Saturday: We’ll be looking back at Peoria’s past with yet another Meanwhile, Back In Peoria’s Past post.
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Sunday Comic
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Related Posts: Sunday Links: John Lennon: “More Popular Than Jesus” Anniversary, Saturday Night Live and Good Vibrations By The Beach Boys.