#monkees creations

[earlymorningbluesandgreens]

had a dream this happened

[levon]

it is about to get crazy real

[andhaveapleasanttomorrow]

if you could scientifically engineer a new boy band what do you think theyd be like. what traits would they have

you've successfully baited me into writing over a thousand words on a topic I don't know very much about

as far as scientific engineering goes I don't need much aside from a willingness to let me puppet them around and make them dance. it's better if they're not engineered, I think, for the concept I've been tossing around in my head. I've been thinking about a few different things in tandem, one of them being some recent attempts to create a "western kpop[1] group," which haven't really been crazy successful, and wondering what it would take for something like that to work. for one thing, the only western kpop groups I know of have been girl groups, and at the risk of overgeneralizing I don't think the idea would work as well for a boy group, mainly because there are less male kpop fans and therefore less guys who would be eager to undergo that kind of training/lifestyle or have dreams of becoming that kind of "idol." I've also seen people say that a north american "mindset" isn't conducive to the idol lifestyle as it exists in korea because of cultural differences but I don't know how much I'd agree with that. I do think that rather than trying to get them to be precision-built silicon dolls like modern kpop idols it would make more sense to counter that and have them be more "real" and perhaps a little "rebellious," but like, not in any actually potentially subversive or offensive way. so I guess it would help if they had that feeling.[2] I think that would also make them more appealing to the general public, which is where kpop falls short. the language barrier doesn't help.[3]

another thing I've been thinking about is how important the accessibility (or perceived accessibility) of a star's personal life is now, in american pop. this is a big part of why taylor swift is so huge and I think another snagging point for kpop. people feel that it is very important that stars have "authenticity" and things like this, and like to do things like compare their lyrics to things that happened to the star, and so on. so for my perfect boy band there would have to be a sense that they were heavily involved in the creation of their songs somehow. (to be fair, I don't think this is unheard of in kpop.)[4] a third thing I've been thinking about is this idea of the "fictional real boy band" (the monkees, the jonas brothers, big time rush.[7]) I've been thinking about it because I don't really understand it. the first two at least were genuine stars, and big time rush wasn't like, globally renowned, but, you know, they did okay. where I get stuck is in understanding why people liked them, it doesn't seem like it should work; the contract between the pop star and the audience already has a fiction/reality dissonance that both parties just sort of have to accept, but starring in a television show with fictionalized versions of yourselves seems to be turning that upside down and violating it somehow. but people liked them.[8] the jonas brothers managed to make something of a real comeback, at least for a little bit, although I'm sure that was 90% fueled by nostalgia.[9]

anyway the fact that there's a precedent makes it odd to me that no one has attempted to modernize it with social media. I mean, obviously pop stars use social media, kpop idols do livestreams and tiktoks and things like that, there is a connection to the fans in that way, one direction even had their video diaries when they were teens, I'm more thinking of like an "influencer house" type of situation. this is where I think it becomes a bit unethical. I think as it is there's another little contract, where the audience understands that celebrities make certain kinds of posts online as promotional work and most of what they're saying isn't actually "coming from the heart," and celebrities know the audience knows. there's probably two ways to curveball this; lean way into it and turn it into an "I-know-you-know-I-know" thing, or obfuscate it entirely and pretend it doesn't exist.[10] the latter is really hard to accomplish and I'd really like to see it done successfully. the drive to call people nepo babies or industry plants is really strong these days, but so is the drive to feel like you know a celebrity on a personal level, so there's a bit of a tightrope situation here. basically my idea is to put the monkees on tiktok. but I don't want the audience to know they're watching the monkees, I want them to think it's real. also yaoibaiting is mandatory (also not unusual in kpop). imagine you follow a group of roommates online because they make funny posts about each other, but they're also incredibly famous, and they make music together, the lyrics of which can easily be interpreted to be about each other, like fleetwood mac. I want to create parasocial bonds that could topple empires. not for money I just want to see it happen

there are a lot of gaps in my knowledge because I don't know anything about the music industry and I'm also not entirely sure why kpop (or anything) "works," in a societal sense, or why exactly american pop has been so heavy with soloists for so many years when that wasn't the case before. I also don't even really listen to pop music, I mostly read what other people say about it because I find the social aspect of it more interesting. I like thinking about it so I'm going to continue thinking about it

[1] here used to refer to the specific management/training/production model of the idol industry in korea rather than a catchall for "korean pop" [2] I don't know how exactly that would be executed, I'm bad at predicting what people will clock as "cool" or "phony" because I have my own axis of how I perceive that kind of thing. [3] I do have a theory that part of the reason western kpop hasn't been panning out so well is that kpop fans are largely koreaboos and even if the idols are managed by korean companies they won't go as hard for them if they're not korean because they lose that sheen of the "culture," and because they don't get to call them unnie. if you don't create a group that's mainly geared towards kpop fans (because, I think, the american general public doesn't have an appetite for that kind of group anymore), you don't have that problem [4] I've also been thinking about 5 seconds of summer, and how they were, I think, the last really big actual band boy band, who like played their instruments and shit. don't talk to me about waterparks and twenty one pilots and fall out boy [5] and whatnot because that's not what I'm talking about and besides waterparks is overrated. I've never listened to their music but I can tell they're overrated. my point is my boys wouldn't need to play instruments, and anyway if they did then how could they do their little dance moves?[6] [5] they're all too old to be boy bands. [6] granted… I do think the general public would be more responsive to a real band-type-band than a pop group right now, but I don't have any real reasoning behind this [7] hannah montana's not a boy band but I suppose she also did this, the difference being that the actual star is "miley cyrus," not "hannah montana." [8] obviously there's something to be said that the target audience for most of these were like, 8 year olds, who don't have a very good grasp on the reality/fiction thing anyway, which is probably why I can't understand it [9] nostalgia is, of course, the only thing running the cultural engine these days, which is why I'm even thinking about this in the first place- it's weird to me that with the "y2k" thing being very popular there are no really big mainstream american pop groups like there were then [10] you could also just violate it and not filter the pop star at all, but that's less of a curveball and more of a foundational destruction, and would fall apart very quickly

[minty-playhouse]

Minty Playhouse™️ is filmed in front of a live studio audience

Yo, the name's Minty! I'm a very queer Brazilian living in the Netherlands!

I like music, games, shipping, movies, writing fic, doodling, rambling about dumb stuff, animals, nature, cute things and messed up topics.

While this blog isn't overtly NSFW, I reblog raunchy posts/jokes and sometimes my tags aren't christian. Also some suggestive/kinky images and some nudity might pop up here and there (tagged proper of course). Basically, some viewer discretion is advised!

This blog has no real theme I just reblog and talk about what I like, but I try to tag stuff to the best of my ability to keep things organized for my sake.

Everyone is welcome in my blog, I don't care about your race/orientation/gender/nationality/age/fandoms/ships... I mean, I care about your fandoms and ships is they intersect with mine but that's a different topic heh

Also, I don't care about fandom wank in any way shape or form. I used to eons ago but it was far too exhausting. And if you try to start any type of "discourse" with me I'll ignore you. I wish to create a safe, positive space in my blog where not only I can talk about anything fandom related, but also give room and freedom to my followers to share their thoughts with me without judgement. Fiction has no limits or boundaries (except for your imagination and your own personal preferences).

Kink shaming and cringe culture are DEAD!!! Do whatever the fuck you want!

Xtra Links:

Art Sideblog: Where I post my artsy creations! Updates are very sparse though, sadly. I'm a slow artist.

Who + Monkees NSFW Sideblog: Where I post my spicy Who and Monkees content! Drabbles, fic ideas, simping, occasional doodles...

The Forbidden Zone: A sideblog where I put posts and the occasional thought that's a bit too spicy (or gory!) for my main blog!

AO3!!!

Anyways, have some cool and memey images I think are nice under the read more!

[harrisonarchive]

undefined

From Peter Tork’s banjo contribution to the Wonderwall Music soundtrack (featured only in the movie, not on the album). The photo in this video is from that session.

The creation of Wonderwall Music, a series marking the 55th anniversary of the recording sessions - part 5:

“George was working on the musical score he wrote for the movie, “Wonder Wall.” When Peter arrived at the studio George asked him if he would play five-string banjo on one of the cuts. Peter was more than delighted and after a time they put down some beautiful sounds. Peter mentioned to George that he’d like to see the ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ film so George made arrangements for Peter to have a private screening at the hotel. Peter really flipped for the Beatles’ fantasy film and watched it through several times. One time he even took color slides while it was being projected on the screen.” - Monkee Spectacular, May 1968

“I remember [Peter Tork] from The Monkees played banjo on a session. Peter was so nervous that his hands were shaking.” - Colin Manley, Beatles Gear (2001)

“I remember George asking me, ‘Why don’t you come back and play banjo on this session [for ‘Wonderwall Music’] I’m producing in December?’” - Peter Tork, Medium, August 3, 2010

Peter Tork: “George invited me to play banjo on Wonderwall. He was working on the soundtrack for Wonderwall, and he invited me to come and play, and I did. You can’t hear it on the album, you can’t hear it on the album, but apparently — and I never have seen the movie.” Q: “But it’s in the film.” PT: “It’s in the film.” Q: “Yeah.” PT: “I think it was Paul’s banjo. Paul had a five-string banjo, which he had strung backwards of course, being left-handed. But it was alright with him if I restrung it. So… and British five-string banjos are different from American. The fifth string, instead of having a tuning peg right in the middle of the neck, it hits a tunnel and the string goes through a tunnel to a fifth string peg at the regular peg head. Very interesting, very weird. But it was okay. Got some music in, that’s all that mattered.” - Breakfast With The Beatles, June 16, 2013

“‘[George] invited me to his house. He played the sitar and said: ‘I’m working on a soundtrack album, I’d love to have you play a little banjo.’” Tork had traveled without his instrument, so Harrison borrowed McCartney’s five-string banjo for the session — ‘which Paul couldn’t play — at least conventionally, because the folk five-string banjo can’t be restrung in reverse order for left-handers, it must be custom made. I played for 45 minutes, George said, “Thanks very much,” and we went our separate ways.’ 
Tork’s breezy contribution didn’t make the record, but it can be heard 15 minutes into the film, after Collins is chided by his mother for spying through the wall. ‘And I did not get paid,’ he laughs. ‘George said: “We’ll figure that out later.” He knew that the honor itself was payment enough!’” - The Guardian, March 23, 2017

“[George] was as kind and as gentle a man as you could imagine.” - Peter Tork, Liverpool Echo, November 28, 2011 (x)

More on two July 1967 meetings between George and Peter here and here.

[torufukuda]

Today's Illustration! This time it’s Jimi Hendrix. I first heard Jimi Hendrix when I was an adult, and was surprised at how much louder the guitar was than the vocals. And he is not a good singer. Also, Jimi’s hands were very big. The weird phrase in the solo of “Purple Haze” where he suddenly mixes one octave higher is due to his big hands. Mitch Mitchell, the drummer for his band EXPEIENCE, has an overwhelming number of hands. He is famous for his history of failing to audition for the Monkees. Bassist Noel Redding used to be a guitarist with no bass experience; perhaps that is the consideration behind the low bass sound in EXPEIENCE’s music.

If you have any requests for illustrations or character creation, please contact us at the e-mail address below. Please feel free to contact us. drawingwonder@gmail.com

今回はJimi Hendrix。ジミヘンだ。僕が初めてジミヘンを聴いたのは成人になってからでボーカルよりもギターの音量がデカいことにまず驚いた。しかも歌が下手だ。またジミはやたら手が大きかった。ハイポジションでもネックを鷲掴みできるほど。Purple Hazeのソロで突然オクターブひとつ上を混ぜてくる変なフレーズはこの手のデカさのせいだ。彼のバンドEXPEIENCEのドラマー、ミッチ・ミッチェルは手数の多さが圧倒的。モンキーズのオーディションに落ちた経歴が有名。ベースのノエル・レディングは元はギタリストでベースの経験がなかった。EXPEIENCEの楽曲でベースの音が小さいのはそういう配慮かもしれない。

イラストやキャラクター制作のご依頼は下記メールアドレスまでどうぞお気軽にお問い合わせください。 drawingwonder@gmail.com

[unclewarwick]

introducing Yzyck Fournier and his friends, starting with this drawing i just finished today!

Cat Something is a very nervous and generally silent person. He was 'created' by Dr. Gones when she removed his brain from his original body and put it into the body he now inhabits. He does not like being near her. His memories of life before the procedure are scant; "Cat-something" was his response when asked for his name. Dr. Nibha Gones (pronounced 'Jones') is a mad scientist who likes to find the strangest and often most unethical ways to create new life. She likes to think she is the most reasonable person in her circle, but such a thing does not really exist. She is more reserved and disconnected from everyone. Yzyck Fournier (first name pronounced 'Isaac') is a Frankenstein-cum-Geppetto type who performs gender-affirming surgeries. He views Dr. Gones as his enemy, but they have also been friends for a very long time. Yzyck's friends (not including Dr. Gones) live with him in a big laboratory. He refers to many of his friends as his 'creations'.

Yaag Kralaaga is the most recent of Yzyck's creations. It's not quite dead and not quite alive. He is very clingy to Yzyck and sometimes only speaks one word at a time. It likes to meet new people, but new people do not like to meet it. Yaag can tend to have an aggressive demeanour. Accordion Doll is an animated accordion doll that Yzyck made. It does not have a name and mostly slinks around the lab aimlessly, not capable of much else. Magret is one of Yzyck's very old friends. He speaks through the gramophone horn and likes to wear a large variety of dresses. He was the subject of Yzyck's first experiment, which failed and resulted in Magret losing his head. His body was preserved for a long time until Yzyck felt he was skilled enough to bring his friend back.

there's not really a set storyline with this group, it's mostly just a way to have fun and draw whatever ridiculous ideas i get. the rest of the art in this post is from newest to oldest.

2024-07-17 -- dr. gones is invited to yzyck's place.

2024-07-15 and 2024-06-02 -- comic i struggled to colour in bc Tired, and some life advice from a man with varied and fantastical experience! both of these are the first time i properly drew a character (dr. gones, magret) while having the concept for them a very long time beforehand.

2024-04-20 -- an 'animation' using audio from conan o'brien's appearance on hot ones, with other original characters (Mick and Christian) that you can see more of in the #attic dweller tag.

2024-02-27 -- mick brought christian to be observed by yzyck, who observes more than mick hoped.

both 2023-12-28 -- a newspaper clipping and a very normal vlog.

2023-12-17 -- poster about how the ongoing pandemic is a workers' rights issue.

2023-11-12 and 2023-11-13 -- yaag in the "flirty" and "very flirty" sims 4 emotion poses as part of a not-abandoned-but-on-hold WIP where i'm trying to draw characters in each emotion pose from the game.

2023-10-23 -- one of my favourite drawings of my fellas! poses based off a photo of the monkees. it was hard to interpret whose body parts belonged to who since they were wearing matching outfits in the photo.

2023-09-04 -- mick asks if yzyck can take a look at this beast being kept in his attic. he is scared of everything. yaag is there too.

2023-07-13 -- animated gif of yzyck showing off his incredible skills. one of the first times i felt i "properly" drew him.

2023-06-22 -- ariel needs legs meme redraw with mick and yzyck.

2023-06-22 -- yzyck talks about his favourite thing to eat for breakfast.

2023-04-30 -- my first (kinda) full drawing of yaag. i am simply not good at planning out reference sheets, so i was unable to draw its head actually attached to its body..

all 2022-04-13 -- some loose early drawings of yzyck and magret.

2022-03-02 -- first drawing of yzyck - the words were a note to myself to remember the name and details of a new character i wanted to make.

2021-08-08 -- a demonstration of how the accordion doll can move. i'd forgotten to draw the pattern on the bellows.

2021-07-04 -- this all started with the accordion doll, which was a concept a friend had. at the time i drew this, i began to think about who would have created it.

[surrealisticduvet]

just posting my review of the long sandy hair of neftoon zamora here as well. spoiler alert i liked it ^_^ if it reads as pretentious it's because the spirit of media journalism possesses me when I hop on goodreads. truly the worst website for opinions.

"All was quiet in the village... They had no way of understanding this type of sacrifice - no context, no point of reference - so they stood there, mute, perplexed. They knew only that Neftoon Zamora was gone and with her the wolves." "I knew at this instant why I had come to this place... All of the events since I had left Doc's focused on this one moment between me and Armando. I knew I must protect Welach from him at all cost, knew Armando and Welach were mortal enemies, that one would not survive in the presence of the other." "Was I making sense? Was I being vague? Was I just stupid? He didn't know. Armando could hear the words, but he couldn't hear the spirit. We both sailed off the cliff."

I have to apologize to Nez's spirit for bringing this up once again (he can run but he can't hide!) but if you have seen the legendary Monkees flop film Head, this book may feel eerily familiar. Jumping off the cliff, doing what you can to put an end to evil even if it changes nothing in the long run – that's here. But LSH goes further, explaining to us why we must run at the wolves, why we must jump. And here we understand that it is to protect not just ourselves and our own integrity, but to protect what we believe is beautiful and pure.

It is not always the thing that loves us back – Neftoon Zamora was not entirely understood or welcomed by the people she cared about, and Nez knew that he did not entirely fit into the way of life in Welach. But they knew that what they left behind, despite imperfections, was worth protecting, at the cost of life; or in its more practical, non-mythological equivalent, at the expense of being seen as a fool, a failure, a poor businessman. Here too does this resonate with the author's own life, a career full of "the greatest music you've never heard" and other lucrative chart-smashers. Even for moments of professional genius (mirrored in the character Nez with the creation of MTV) the compensation and recognition has been humble enough as to warrant defensiveness.

But Nez (and I use this name now loosely, to describe either author or character) never created for the masses – his work was intrinsically inspired and dedicated to those who thought and felt like him, those villagers of the world who would listen and watch and understand and maybe pick up the reed or brush and try for themselves. And just as it is explained at the end, the loss of the first spark does not diminish the flame. That which Neffie brought would stay with Nez forever, just as this strange and arguably poorly-rated book from 1998 can reach and comfort us today. To be a total hipster about it – those who get it, get it, and those who don't get it don't need to stick around.

I know that this book contains a host of other subconscious psychological complexities but that is the one that stuck out most to me as meaningful and worth writing down. From a sentimental Monkees-fan standpoint, I also loved the approach that "searching for Santa Claus" is not a derisive statement, but rather one that suggests you should be looking for the truth behind the legend. The beauty of Santa Claus (the beauty of the Neftoon Zamora tape - and dare I say the beauty of The Monkees) was not that he is real (or that they were a real band, oppressed by the glowing eye of television) but that he is your parents setting up the magic of Christmas for you in the middle of the night (and that they were a band made for TV, that became a real force through the power of friendship and music and what-have-you.) Not to say that Nez intended to get this point across while writing, but it's a nice sentiment all the same.

Anyways - and here is a bit of the review that does not include spoilers - I always knew that I would say I liked this book, just because I wanted to feel special and connected with this man whose life resonates with me. I am stubborn and sort of pretentious that way. But having listened to it (I really recommend listening straight from the source - it's special to hear things exactly as he intended, and without the ability to skip ahead a few words on accident and spoil something exciting) I can now say genuinely that I DID like this book and I DID understand it and even if I had no context within the author's own background I would have found it fun, charming, full of endearingly lame bravado, and in some ways (not all - lol) touchingly ahead of its time. There are much, much worse books you could go out and spend time reading :)

[justcallmecel]

July 6th, 2024

Today's Dog: The Gaucho Sheepdog! Also known as the Brazilian Collie, these dogs are most commonly used as livestock guardians particularly in Southern Brazil. Modern Guacho Sheepdogs probably come from older indigenous herders and some European collies and working dogs. When they aren't guarding, they're quite friendly and sweet! Guacho Sheepdogs are only really shown in Brazil, they aren't accepted as an individual breed or bred commonly elsewhere.

Today's Monkee: Rio from From a Radio Engine to the Photon Wing (1977)! While Rio didn't chart well in the US, it was in the top 10 in Australia and New Zealand. Rio's music video kind of indirectly led to the creation of MTV and the modern version of Nickelodeon. Mike wrote and produced this track for his eighth studio album.

[world-cinema-research]

Head (1968) essay

Directed by Bob Rafelson and Jack Nicholson

Written by Jacob Christopher

Roger Ebert:

"The Monkees themselves are a harmless lot, little pop-idol puppies who can't sing, can't dance, can't talk, don't need to. The movie fits them into a plot somehow reminiscent of "A Hard Day's Night" and then forgets them. They themselves admit, at the film's beginning, that they're a "manufactured image," and the film tries to dismantle and discredit the image."

This quote from Roger Ebert really shows how this movie presents The Monkees. There is not much rhyme or reason to how the film gets from one point to another. Throughout the movie they bounce from musical sets to antiwar commentary, to surreal humor.

One interesting thing about this movie is that the critical reception of the film was horrible upon release but more recently has become mostly positive. One of the older reviews goes as follows.

"Rafelson's first feature, made when Monkee mania had all but died, Head proved too experimental for the diminishing weenybop audience which had lapped up the ingenious TV series. It flopped dismally in the US, and only achieved belated release here."

The film was certainly based off of "A Hard Day's Night" and shares many similarities. The most obvious similarity is that both were movies made in order to capitalize on the success of a band. They are also similar in that they don't take themselves too seriously. Both films are Mockumentaries, employing a style that blurs the lines between fiction and reality, offering a look behind the scenes of these band members. The Humor in these movies is also very similar, often poking fun at their own image as a band. Also, both films had a soundtrack created by the band, and both soundtracks are from an album of the same name as their films.

The soundtrack of the movie is the album from the Monkees that goes by the same name "HEAD". The film also features several notable cameos, including Frank Zappa, Annette Funicello, and boxer Sonny Liston.

The film was also important historically. At the time of the creation of the film, the Vietnam war was ongoing, and celebrity culture was a big deal. Both of these topics are covered in the movie. The topic of war is covered in several scenes of the movie. There is a very clear antiwar agenda being covered throughout the movie that was very prevalent in America at the time. The topic of celebrity culture was one of the main themes in the movie. At the beginning of the movie, they state "Hey, Hey, we are The Monkees, to that we all agree. A manufactured image with no philosophies." This quotation is drawing attention to the fact that the band was essentially created to be marketed and did as they were told. This was a very common thing at the time due to celebrity culture and was something that they were trying to draw attention to with this movie. This was part of the reason why the movie jumped around with seemingly no rhyme or reason, to draw attention to the fact that they didn't have a coherent identity.

There is no room for argument in stating that this was most certainly an unconventional film. This film heavily pushed the boundaries of the film industry. This is one of the main reasons why it was received so poorly upon release. However, this is also the reason why it became such a classic afterwards. The film was full of awkward transitions, parts that had no plot, and jokes that wouldn't hit with most audiences. All in all, the film was strange and opaque, like a dream. The style of this film is one that I have never seen before.

In conclusion, Head is a groundbreaking film that challenged and reflected the cultural landscape of the 1960s. It shows the band, the Monkees, in a broken-down form, blending antiwar commentary, surreal humor, and musical sets. Although the initial reception of the movie was poor, over time it gained notoriety and is now known as a cult classic. The film critiques celebrity culture and the Vietnam war, pushing against social norms of the time. The film HEAD remains a testament to artistic experimentation and captivates audiences to this day.

[thislovintime]

Peter Tork in Montreal, May 26, 1982; photographed for The Gazette.

“‘There are two kinds of pain,’ [Tork] was saying yesterday, as he dipped down into the sometimes-murky well of his own experience. ‘One is the pain of growing up. The other is the pain of refusing to do so. ‘To my mind, the first is better because although it’s infinitely more difficult to deal with, at least it changes. It,’ and he paused for the longest of moments, ‘somehow gets better.' […] [H]is somehow has meant cleaning up his act, giving up the old standbys of drinking and drugging. For another, it has also meant learning to overcome the fear that life straight would somehow turn him into a pallid clone, his days marked by the slow tick of agonizing sameness. Which took not a little amount of courage and a lot of will. ‘Looking back now, I realize I was compulsive,’ he says. ‘And that comes from the lie that you have to do everything yourself. Making it. And you can’t make it without the support system of other people. I think this whole business we’re into now about glorifying the individual is a temporary historical aberration. That you can’t ask for help, that there is no sense of community. ‘Anyway, at the end of the long road, the chemistry backfired,’ he recalled. ‘It was like being totally aphasic. Conversations which, when I started with drugs, seemed intelligent, articular and enlightening, at the end became disjointed. ‘On the road, I would reward myself for not getting blitzed before a performance by getting blitzed after it. I’d make promises to myself at home and then the minute I got back on the road, the controls came off and I was right back where I started from. When you’re in that condition, issues of will become very fuzzy.’ The solution slowly became less so. ‘I realized I had a choice,’ he said. ‘Either a dull life or no life at all. Amazingly, life straight and sober has turned out to be a delight. Now I’m blitzed on natch.’ [...] ‘Part of me was in the middle of the Monkee thing,’ Tork recalls, ‘and part of me was outside it, isolated from it. The Monkees’ records were for teenyboppers and the instrumentations were deliberately non-threatening. Everybody said the Monkees were a plastic pop group, I guess because we became known through television. But nobody said anything about the creation that was the Mary Tyler Moore or I Love Lucy shows. No TV shows were judged by that standard.’ When it was all over, he went out on his own and, during the 1970s, tried a variety of things which never seemed to work out. Television didn’t want him, publishers were indifferent about a book on the Monkees and he was battling the alcohol and the drugs. Today, that war is over and Tork is hoping to devote all his energies once again to his music. ‘I guess I look for things with a little bounce,’ he says. ‘A lot of what passes for pop music today has no grace. Yes, that’s the word. Like sledge-hammer rock. Or heavy metal music. My ears are softer and I guess I look for tone quality much more. But high-energy jump-rock I do like.’ The future, for what it’s worth, seems to have its own special promise and Tork is beginning to believe much is still possible. This time on the track, at least, he intends on being master of his own controls. ‘I used to ask myself, “Why me?” before,’ he says. ‘Now I’m saying, “What the hell, why not?”’” - article by John Fitzgerald, The Gazette, May 27, 1982 (x)

[earlymorningbluesandgreens]

[singeratlarge]

CELEBRATING DAVID BOWIE WEEK + SONG OF THE WEEK: “Space Oddity.” The original Bowie track reached me deeply when I was a kid, amping my escapism into sci-fi books, Star Trek TV reruns, and “God questions.” Years passed and I became a singer on my own, and I added Bowie songs to my solo set. Here’s my cover of “Space Oddity,” Mellotron, Stylophone, and all: 

https://johnnyjblairsingeratlarge.bandcamp.com/track/space-oddity-album-version   

I was blessed to work with “a galaxy” of talented personnel: 

Uma Robin Mackey: harmony vocals & “Lt. Uhura countdown”

Robert Powell: Ebow & pedal steel guitar

Prairie Prince: drums

Chris von Sneidern: electronic percussion & mixing

Me: bass, guitars, Mellotron, percussion, piano, Stylophone, vibraphone, lead & harmony vocals

 

This week marks an opportunity to look at David Bowie’s influence and innovations (born Jan. 8th; passed Jan. 10th) as a singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. Many have assumed that Bowie’s “Space Oddity” is a dystopian story of futility and failure. I beg to differ. The indicators in Bowie’s music point to his spiritual quest, a pursuit of God’s heart in the cosmos, inner and outer, and the Major Tom storyline has an open ending—there’s no conclusion that Tom died! Instead (later in Bowie’s catalogue) he reprised Tom (in “Ashes to Ashes” and “Hallo! Spaceboy”) as a conflicted man, “…Strung out on heaven’s high, making an all-time low,” with Tom seeking redemption from his own foibles while expressing awe at the vast potential of creation!

 

#DavidBowie #SpaceOddity #MajorTom #StarTrek #Mellotron #Stylophone #Monkees #PrairiePrince #ToddRundgren #XTC #MikeGarson #BowieCelebration #BowieAlumni #UmaRobinMackey #RobertMatthewPowell #ChrisvonSneidern #johnnyjblair #singeratlarge #TheTubes #tapevaultstudio #hydestreetstudio #sanfrancisco #God #cosmos #sciencefiction #pianist #psychedelic

[weepingguitar1968]

A - ABBA, Aerosmith

B - Beatles, Beach Boys, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, Black Sabbath, Bon Jovi

C - Creation

D - Doors, Depeche Mode

E - Eurythmics

F - Faces

G - Guns N Roses

H - Herman's Hermits, Hanoi Rocks

I - Iron Maiden

J - Jackson 5/Jacksons, Jimi Hendrix Experience

K - Kinks

L - Led Zeppelin

M - Monkees, Metallica, Megadeth, Mötley Crüe

N - Nirvana

O - Oasis, Offspring

P - Pink Floyd

Q - Queen

R - Rolling Stones, Red Hot Chilli Peppers

S - Sex Pistols

T - Traveling Wilburys, Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers

U - U2

V - Van Halen, Velvet Revolver

W - Who, Willie And The Poor Boys

Y - Yes

Z - ZZ Top

[minty-playhouse]

Wondering if I should shift my monkees+who nsfw blog into a general nsfw/suggestive blog

Sometimes I want to reblog things that are a little spicier and more sexually charged and it feels weird in the middle of the cute cat vids and the memes hah and also talk about other nsfw stuff that doesn't involve Monkees+Who ideas/creations.

[mickgaydolenz]

I just realized something really funny while driving home from work this morning.

Everyone on this site acknowledges Gwen like she’s not just Mike wearing a costume. Like we just call her “her” and say she’s a girl boss and move on.

gwen is so powerful that her creation was just a metaphorical birth; she is beyond mike nesmith of the monkees, i can’t even acknowledge that she has anything to do with him tbh. in conclusion princess gwen is her own fully formed entity -a god, if you will 👑 ✨ 💅