Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Hey, hey, we're the ...

Monkees.
Damn, I loved me some Monkees when I was a kid.

I've done a little bit of reading on my dear, old pals the Monkees and they have a very interesting history.

Did you know that the Monkees:
  1. Had the top-selling American single of 1967 ("I'm a Believer").
  2. First rock band to extensively use the Moog Synthesizer on a pop album.
  3. First rock band to extensively use the pedal steel guitar on a pop album.
  4. One of the first pioneers of country-rock music.
  5. Outsold The Beatles and Elvis Presley combined in 1967.
  6. Hold the record for most #1 albums in one year. Four of their albums (The Monkees, More of the Monkees, Headquarters, and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.) hit #1 in 1967.
  7. First TV sitcom to make political and social comments defending the youth of America.
  8. First use of solarisation in a major motion picture.
  9. First television series to show teenagers living on their own.
  10. First rock band to use a multimedia live concert show.
  11. Gave the Jimi Hendrix Experience their first US concert appearances.
  12. First "manufactured" rock band (The Pre-Fab Four).
  13. First American band to play in Thailand.
  14. First rock band to win two Emmy awards.
  15. First male leads in a television series to have long hair.
  16. The Monkees reunion tour was the largest grossing tour of 1986.
  17. Re-charting various albums simultaneously during 1986 is an accomplishment shared only with The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin.
  18. Last music artist to win the MTV Friday Night Video Fights by defeating Bon Jovi 51% to 49%.
  19. First marriage of television and music industry.
  20. Introduced Tim Buckley to a national audience, via his appearance in the series finale, "The Frodis Caper."
Lookit number 11. The Monkees and Hendrix? Who'da thunk it?

When I was in grad school I watched the Monkees movie "Head"for the first time. It's really the antithesis of the television series and the epitome of '60s psychedelia.
I recently rented it from Netflix and watched it with Margaret. Initially she was freaked out by the psychdelic nature, but finally said, "I don't understand this movie, so I'm just going to listen to the songs and lookit the pretty colors."

We also had this conversation:
Margaret: Is Davy Jones handsome?
Me: Some people think he is.
Mar: Do you think he is?
Me: I did when I was your age.
Mar: OK then.

Indeed, OK then.

1 comment:

sitsonchair said...

Great blog! *sings* Hey, hey! We're the monkeys!!!