Chuck HinsonTHE MONKEES: What You DIDN'T Know ...
September 21st 2008 08:04
First, a bit of unknown history: Now, you know that the band was almost comprised of Mike, Micky, Stephen Stills and Warren Beatty, right? Or that, instead of Mike, Micky, Peter and Davy, it coulda starred The Lovin' Spoonful instead? (Why didn't they get the job? 'Cause TLS was already an established band!)
Natch, in their first recordings, the boys didn't play their own instruments (Mike took care of that a bit later ... can ya say "fist through an office wall"? ... and won out, starting with their Headquarters LP). Who, then, was the band playing the music? It was a group of studio musicians who called themselves The Candy Store Prophets.
And, while the band introduced the first Moog Synthesizer to rock music (this is important, 'cause it was the granddaddy of every synthesized sound you hear today!), it took Peter Tork to introduce the electric banjo to rock with his intro on You Told Me.
In What Am I Doing Hangin' Round?, the boys had a little help from their friends on the backing vocals -- a band called The Byrds!
In an episode that exploited cross-dressing, Mike dressed as a damsel in distress, eventually rescued by peasant Peter Tork. Married and with a son named Christian, Mike was asked the inevitable question in an interview at the end of the episode: What would Christian think about his dad dressing up like a woman? Before he could answer, Micky ad-libbed, The same thing as a Jew, I suppose! That statement not only drew criticism from the Jewish community and cracked the holy grail of 60s TV censorship -- it also drew the biggest laugh of the entire series!
When The Monkees finally went to their separate cages ... er, ways, Mike (whose mother left him almost 25 million dollars -- she had invented the stuff we call Liquid Paper!) took a page outta the Monkee book and created Pacific Arts Video along with Todd Rundgren (Hello It's Me, Bang The Drum All Day) -- which, eventually, evolved into MTV!
So there ya have it: Four young men who answered a casting call for zany actors for a new TV series. They were pre-fab at first, but, over time, their offerings to rock music -- from Moogs to Three Dog Night, Hendrix to MTV -- became some of the most memorable and effective ever seen in the genre!
WIth that in mind (and because I've been asked by forty readers to do it), I'm gonna sign off with the phrase the Relic's known by. Meanwhile, I'm gonna unpack this new shipment of zzzz's and start to work on 'em as soon as I get off the web! But stay tuned, because yer Uncle Relic's got a lot more for ya comin' up in about 24 or less!
So until then, remember:
Keep your eyes on the skies, your feet on the ground, your heart with the music ...
and I'll see ya on the flip side!
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