December 10th, 2021 at 1:02 PM ^
I saw them in concert in San Diego when I was in 8th grade. Still the only concert I've ever been to. RIP.
December 10th, 2021 at 1:16 PM ^
Was that when The Jimi Hendrix Experience was their opening act?
December 10th, 2021 at 1:35 PM ^
I'm 49 now so I don't have a clear memory of all of it. I just remember that we watched a Padres game and after the game there was a Monkees concert on a stage set up in centerfield. No clue if there was an opening act or not. I wasn't the most observant 8th grader.
December 10th, 2021 at 1:59 PM ^
Hendrix passed in 1970. So no. LOL.
December 10th, 2021 at 2:11 PM ^
They were on Nickelodeon by then.
December 10th, 2021 at 1:18 PM ^
How is that possible? Are you in 10th grade now?
December 10th, 2021 at 1:23 PM ^
Hey, once you see The Monkees, you realize it's an unbeatable experience, so you go out on top.
December 10th, 2021 at 2:26 PM ^
Mike has taken the last train to Clarksville.
December 10th, 2021 at 1:06 PM ^
RIP, Mike...
I watched their TV show a bit, back in the day. They had some good music, tried to be an American answer to the Beatles but never quite got there.
December 10th, 2021 at 1:43 PM ^
Only 1 Monkee still alive
December 10th, 2021 at 1:46 PM ^
"Never quite got there" as an answer to the Beatles? That's quite an understatement.
They were largely a fake band that was unable to play their instruments. In fact, they were created after the Beatles released the movie "Help" and the t.v. studios wanted to cash in.
December 10th, 2021 at 1:56 PM ^
Not entirely true.
Yes, largely a "fake" band especially when the show first started, but each and every one of them had some amount of musical talent especially Mike Nesmith, who was a pretty prolific songwriter. Among so many other songs he penned, here's one good early example:
...the song that pretty much introduced Linda Ronstadt to her adoring fans, myself included.
December 10th, 2021 at 2:52 PM ^
Yeah, rob is dead-on here. I think there's a lot of reductive "meme" like thinking when it comes to music from the period. "Yoko broke up the Beatles" "Monkees were a fake band" etc.
Yes, the Monkees were "created" by producers and didn't form in their garage or meet in grammar school like George John and Paul. But, they also weren't the first band to have had it's members added, removed, changed, or even fully combined by a label, etc. It also didn't exclusively happen in the 50s/60s.
Does anyone still refer to Stone Temple Pilots as a "fake" band created by Atlantic as a response to Nirvana?
Mikey, Peter and Mike (especially Mike) were all accomplished musicians. Yes, they were created for a TV show. But also yes, the show and the Monkees themselves were a huge phenomenon. For a period of about four years they were HUGE. Their first FOUR album releases all charted No. 1 on Billboard in the US, with the fifth topping at No. 3.
Mike in particular was the band's musical north star. While so many of their uber popular songs are popcorn-pop, and massively popular, Mike was pushing them and music in different directions. The marriage of country, folk and rock was a confluence that saw a lot of seminal acts come out of this time. The Monkees, specifically because of Mike, were right there at the forefront.
December 10th, 2021 at 4:08 PM ^
And Davy Jones had performed in the London theater, I believe in ‘Oliver!’ before coming to the US. There was definitely talent behind the band.
December 10th, 2021 at 4:47 PM ^
Fun fact: The cast of "Oliver!" with Davy appeared on the same Ed Sullivan episode that broadcast the Beatles American debut, February 9, 1964.
December 10th, 2021 at 7:28 PM ^
And he was supposedly a better drummer than Mickey. They just wanted him to be the front man because of his looks.
December 10th, 2021 at 5:45 PM ^
JMo--- ??? Could I possibly buy a hyphen to be inserted in your first sentence?
It would make me feel much better.
December 10th, 2021 at 6:20 PM ^
Of course!
Yeah, rob is dead-to-me on here
Ahh much better! :) Also fixed in the original copy. I'm constantly going back and making tiny edits rob. You found my kryptonite; chronic edit syndrome which unfortunately pairs poorly with my stream-of-consciousness posting style.
December 10th, 2021 at 3:12 PM ^
I am going to take a flyer on this one...he wrote "and her name was Joanne and she live in a meadow by a pond"
Also, was Mike Nesmith the Monkee whose mother invented "white-out"?
December 10th, 2021 at 7:00 PM ^
You're correct. Nesmith's song "Joanne" made it up to #21 on the Billboard charts in the fall of 1970. (#1 in New Zealand!)
December 10th, 2021 at 1:07 PM ^
people said he monkeyed around, but he was just too busy singing to put ANYBODY down!
RIP
December 10th, 2021 at 1:09 PM ^
RIP, yet another loss. He was very talented. I will forever associate his name with this cover.
December 10th, 2021 at 1:20 PM ^
The quiet Monkee. Here's Nesmith performing his most famous composition. RIP.
December 10th, 2021 at 1:36 PM ^
And here's one he wrote called "Down the Highway" that got mis-labled on release as "Michigan Blackhawk"
Edit: My mistake, it was actually co-written by Carole King(!) and Toni Stern.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSPkKzvYE48
December 10th, 2021 at 2:22 PM ^
True, but like so many others, he produced it.
December 10th, 2021 at 1:45 PM ^
Cool. But you have to admit Linda Ronstadt knocked it out of the park with her and the Stone Poney's version.
RIP Mike. I wasted many hours as a kid watching the Monkees show when I should have been doing something more productive.
December 10th, 2021 at 3:42 PM ^
Yes, while you were watching the Monkees, I spent all those hours jacking off and am much the better person for it.
December 10th, 2021 at 1:10 PM ^
RIP Mike. I always thought he was cool. Mickey is the only one left.
December 10th, 2021 at 1:27 PM ^
Yes, Mike Nesmith was cool and a creative dude.
As for Mickey, he lived *hard* in the 1970s (and perhaps after that)...regularly partying in L.A. with fellow Hollywood Vampires like Alice Cooper, Harry Nilsson, Keith Moon and a few others.
Amazing Mickey is still around. Not quite Keith Richards-level, but sometimes fate smiles kindly on you.
December 10th, 2021 at 1:11 PM ^
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/monkees-michael-nesmith-dead-1270079/amp/
I remember watching their show on tv as a kid.
December 10th, 2021 at 1:12 PM ^
And damn that sucks. I always used to watch the show with my mom in my young days. RIP
December 10th, 2021 at 1:13 PM ^
Damn. He was my forth favorite Monkee.
RIP.
December 10th, 2021 at 1:25 PM ^
What's wrong with u?
December 10th, 2021 at 2:05 PM ^
Glad he wasn't your fifth favorite!
December 10th, 2021 at 1:19 PM ^
Little known fact: Michael Nesmith was the executive producer of the movie Repo Man.
December 10th, 2021 at 1:31 PM ^
That association jumped out at me in the Rolling Stone article. Hadn't known about it ...
December 10th, 2021 at 1:51 PM ^
Little known fact: Michael Nesmith's mother invented Wite-Out.
The things you learn by coming to MGoBlog every day!
December 10th, 2021 at 1:21 PM ^
RIP Mr. Nesmith ?
Always enjoyed their show when I was a kid ?
December 10th, 2021 at 1:23 PM ^
Mike Nesmith, on the last train to Clarksville.
RIP
December 10th, 2021 at 1:34 PM ^
These days you can't predict how a team will rebound with the portal available to reset. MSU turned the transfer of three offensive players from a struggling rebuild into a major turnaround year. So, returning a starting qb for a program otherwise losing much of its offensive personnel, the primary building block is there for a season of offensive renewal.
The only thing is Michigan will face PSU at home next year during the toughest four-game stretch of next season depending on how it shakes out schedulewise. Right now Michigan is slated to play 8 of its first 9 games at home, concluding with three road games including a finale trip to Columbus.
For now, it looks like an almost certain Saturday night date looms at Kinnick in October to face Iowa which will present the biggest early cross-conference matchup of next season for our Wolverines.
December 10th, 2021 at 1:37 PM ^
This one meant for the Sean Clifford thread?
December 10th, 2021 at 1:51 PM ^
Umm, ok.
Back to Nesmith, I saw some clips recently of shows he and Dolenz did recently and Mike had to sit on a stool and he barely sang. He also got very emotional. You could tell that he wasn't in great shape. I think maybe he knew he didn't have a lot of time left. I'm really surprised that Dolenz is the last one standing considering that he lived life the hardest.
December 10th, 2021 at 3:23 PM ^
I saw a show about 20 years ago at a bar featuring Davie Jones with Mikey Dolenz on drums. I think they were the warm up band for Donovan.
Weird thing, women were throwing their panties on stage, only they weren't sexy thongs, they were granny panties the size of bed sheets.
December 10th, 2021 at 8:05 PM ^
Perhaps Dolenz and Keith Richards found what Ponce De Leon never could.
December 10th, 2021 at 1:37 PM ^
I always liked the Monkey's more than the Beatles.
December 10th, 2021 at 7:29 PM ^
Said no one ever . . . .
December 10th, 2021 at 11:45 PM ^
The Monkees definitely had a better tv series.
December 11th, 2021 at 12:07 AM ^
In 1967 in America The Monkees outsold The Beatles and The Rolling Stones combined.
December 10th, 2021 at 1:41 PM ^
I never took them seriously from a musical standpoint since their early stuff was done with the significant help of uncredited studio musicians, but Nesmith seemed like a good guy.
December 10th, 2021 at 2:47 PM ^
That's true of a lot successful acts/bands. The Monkees took the rap for it because they had a popular TV show.