Yesterday I put up a post about hearing The Beatles song, “Strawberry Fields Forever,” for the first time in February of 1967. The only band that were as big as The Beatles in 1967 were The Monkees. They had exploded onto the music scene with a one-two punch of a hit TV show and a string of hit singles and albums. In May of 1967 they put out what I consider to be their best album, Headquarters. It’s truly the only Monkees group effort recorded on an album from the ‘60’s. The band had been slammed for the fact that they didn’t play their own instruments on their records (even though many other bands of the era used session players as well), so they decided to make an album and play almost every instrument themselves. That album was Headquarters and it shot to the top of the charts in May of 1967. It was the number one album until The Beatles knocked it out of that slot with their album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. That kind of started a downhill slide for The Monkees, but for a golden little while, they were the kings of TV and the music charts. So here’s some Monkees links to click on and then there’s the weekly MBIP Coming Attractions as to what you can look foward to this week here on MBIP. And now, here they come...walking down your street...
How the Monkees Declared Their Independence on ‘Headquarters’ - Here’s a story about The Monkees third album, Headquarters, where they decided to show everyone and play almost every note on the album.
11 Things You Might Not Know About 'The Monkees' - I knew and remember when Frank Zappa was on the show, but I never knew that Liberace made a guest appearance!
Michael Nesmith: The Closest The Monkees Ever Got to Cool - This is a great essay on the coolest Monkee of them all: Michael Nesmith.
The Monkees broke the fourth wall of 1960s TV - People forget or never knew how groundbreaking The Monkees TV show was back in the ‘60’s. This article highlights and talks about ten of the best episodes they produced.
11 Amazing Facts About the Monkees - Here’s some interesting factoids about The Monkees including how it came to be that Jimi Hendrix was an opening act for them for a brief period and why the “M” in MTV should stand for “Michael” as in Michael Nesmith.
The Day the Final Episode of ‘The Monkees’ Aired - The last episode was titled, “The Frodis Caper” and it was chock-a-block full of marijuana references, Beatle songs and inside jokes about the TV network that shut the show down after this episode.
Last night I went to Seasons Gastropub in Morton and had a great prime rib dinner, but I also had a pint of bacon. That’s right, a pint of bacon! You have to tune in tomorrow to see this appetizer that’s totally unique to Seasons Gastropub! Tuesday we continue our year-long, A Year In The LIfe Of A Sandwich food tour and we’re up to our 36th week! This sandwich was had at a barbecue place I’ve never been to before and it was really a great stop on the between the bread tour! Wednesday we’re having our second annual TV Dinner at WYZZ/WMBD with Good Day Central Illinois hosts, Lindsey Mills, Clay Gordon, Lauren Rainson and their producer, Taylor Mickleberry will be joining us as well! Thursday I’m going to go on a tour of the Persimmon Lofts, which used to be the Fleming Potter building, where I worked for 13 years! The lofts and apartments are just about ready for renting, so check in to join us on this tour. I don’t know what I’m going to put up here on Friday, but I might be dead by then, so why worry about it now? It’s Sunday, so go enjoy your day of relaxation, I’m going to go get back to work now. It’s what I do! We’ll see you all tomorrow!
Related Posts: Sunday Links: February 12, 2017, February 5, 2017 and January 29, 2017.