Were The Monkees really a band?

[Wolf]

I remember Peter Noone saying on some show he hosted on VH1 that "Henry The Eighth" was the first psychedelic song.

 

[pooldude]

I remember Peter Noone saying on some show he hosted on VH1 that "Henry The Eight" was the first psychedelic song.

Yes...& Herman predated Alice Cooper's Guillotine by almost 6 years, as well.

Here's Herman & those crazy Hermits with the original Prototype:

 

[Reverend Rock]

Herman's Hermits had some good records...but the Monkees had quite a few better records, thanks to those session players and songwriters that worked with them.

But hey..."Museum" and "No Milk Today" were really nice...

 

[magnoliasteve]

....second verse, same as the first

 

[Martha Washington]

I've hated the Monkees and loved the Monkees for so long that I have trouble telling which is which sometimes.

none of the kids I knew wanted to listen to Sgt. Pepper or Disraeli Gears or Bookends. they all wanted to listen to "Headquarters" over and over.

The Monkees squeaky clean faces smiled out at me from the covers of glossy magazines and I didn't really know the word "hype" yet but I had a gut feeling about it. I guess I started loving them when my parents (of all things) insisted I sit down and watch the t.v. show. I thought it was delightful. I still do.

People don't seem to rate it nowadays but the t.v. show really was fresh and very fast paced for t.v. at the time. Still, 'Headquarters' grew on me a bit but I just never really ranked the Monkees with what I was listening to . now, to be fair, I had a lot of great stuff to choose from.

My fascination with the Monkees went up a lot when I got to high school and discovered the movie "Head" and it's soundtrack. I still think the prefabs were more promising than accomplished but I became fascinated by the Monkees and really think that they have one of rock and roll's most interesting stories.

the t.v. show that became a band that made a movie seemingly designed to destroy their popularity.
I love that kind of stuff. so, yeah, they were a real band and they were a fake band. they were a real fake band. whatever they were, their music still makes a lot of people REAL happy.

 

[Orion]

I think The Monkees had some great tunes. Weather they were real or fake doesn't concern me. I like the tunes and the musicians they used were outstanding. additionally the songwriting was pretty upbeat. I still listen to them today and we cover some of the tunes in the band as well. They go over well and are a lot of fun to play.

 

[Reverend Rock]

...the t.v. show that became a band that made a movie seemingly designed to destroy their popularity.
I love that kind of stuff. so, yeah, they were a real band and they were a fake band. they were a real fake band. whatever they were, their music still makes a lot of people REAL happy.

That whole thing about Head is incredibly fascinating. Yes, they did in fact want to destroy the image that the public had of them in making that movie...and they pretty much succeeded, actually. But in doing so, they created (with director Jack Nicholson) a media masterpiece, a movie that questions the very nature of reality by blurring the lines between rehearsal and performance, frequently breaking character within scenes, and lots of very trippy psychedelic episodes. It's a fantastic movie.

The album is one of the all-time great psychedelic records, I think. It's like a half-hour of "Revolution 9" with several fine songs mixed into the weirdness.

 

[lifeoriley]

I remember seeing the silly TV show as a kid. I thought they were relate to Gilligan's Island some how....

 

[Zombeels]

I remember Peter Noone saying on some show he hosted on VH1 that "Henry The Eight" was the first psychedelic song.

Henry the 8th is not a psychedelic song.

 

[Reverend Rock]

Henry the 8th is not a psychedelic song.

I suppose it could be if you did some acid while it was playing...