46 years ago.
The United States and their breadth of screaming teeny-boppers were not prepared for what would be unleashed upon them.
Head. The psychotropic movie starring The Monkees, who at the time were tripping with the likes of The Beatles and Frank Zappa. Head. The movie difficult to describe by normal standards.
Head. The movie where the bodies of The Monkees die, sing, trip, solve, and die once again.
It certainly fits the space of free love / experimental / turned-on 1960s. However, at that time the majority of The Monkees audience was anything but open.
I discovered it watching TV late one night, because a movie called Head is gonna catch your eye. I had seconds when they showed Psyche-Out. dude. Both have hippie Jack Nicholson. Both should be seen.
But this entry isn't about the movies, it's about the most basic of personality questions, "Who is my favorite band." Asked by friends and Travis, and for the last 18 years, the answer has been The Monkees. And here are the responses I get.
1. They didn't even play their own instruments.
- Ah mon frare, they weren't allowed on the first album, but did on everything else.
2. Didn't that one guys' mom invent White-out?
- yep.
3. Why do you like The Monkees (sarcastic tone implied?)
- don't know, just do.
4. no response, just face confusion.
- lame on you.
Last Tell You Thursday I wrote a story involving music and my tattoo artist. I realized then that psychedelic music has always lived in me, I just didn't know it for the first 14 years of my life. And traditionally, The Monkees aren't considered part of that scene, say like Jefferson Airplane or The 13th Floor Elevators. But they were deeply ingrained and relevant, despite the clean image the record companies wanted. They were eventually given the freedom to make the music they wanted, play & arrange how they saw best, and collaborate with friends like Carol King and Neil Diamond. They rule something fierce.
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In high school, I received an offer from Columbia House: 12 CDs for the price of one. I scanned a paper mailer for the ones I wanted. I have no idea what else I got, but their Greatest Hits album struck me. I remember siting at my desk, sunlight pouring through the window, when I thought "I used to watch their TV show and kinda like that one song, I'll give it a shot."
That was it - I was hooked from the moment the mailer ripped open. Nothing had musically impacted me like that before and I kinda didn't know what to do. I replayed it over and over again, figuring out how to save my allowance to buy another album. I searched thrift store album shelves, hoping for a lucky score. And to this day, I honestly don't know why it fucking spoke everything to me. It just did. I quickly trashed their radio hits for the off-album tunes that helped shape my mind. The Monkees led my path down a phycadelia rabbit hole, up to the 70s, into the gutter of punk, down the street to rap, and a sky full of a bajillion other songs I never realized I was missing. It was like getting a continual fix, one CD or LP at a time.
I urge you if you've never given them a second thought past Daydream Believer, please check out some of my top songs, in both experimental and just awesomely supreme: Porpoise Song, As We Go Along, Goin' Down, and The Mike Nesmith songs.
This is my thing and some of the reasons why I answer why I do. There's others, but they're mine. I just hope everyone gets a moment like that at least once in their life.
It's a beautiful trip, where ever you go.
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