Different Drum

I''m really looking forward to reading the Michael Nesmith autobiography I've just ordered - Infinite Tuesday. Whilst I think all four Monkees are fascinating individuals, there's something about the one they call Nez that I can't quite put my finger on. And no, it's not his trademark wooly hat, though I will be hugely disappointed if I find his titfer hasn't been granted its own chapter.

As part of a research project I'm currently carrying out - putting the case for his 1972 album And the Hits Just Keep on Comin' being one of the greatest recordings of the 20th Century - it will, I'm sure, prove invaluable. In 1972 you won't be surprised to learn that I was still watching the Monkees syndicated TV reruns on our newly acquired Radio Rentals telly; I had no idea that Nesmith had already left the band, ditched the hat, grown a beard and single handedly invented Alt. Country. All I knew back in 1972 was that Last Train to Clarksville was a song I knew I would love for the rest of my life* and that I really wanted my dad to trade in his J reg. Hillman Hunter for a Monkeemobile**.

* I have
** He didn't

Michael Nesmith: Different Drum/Harmony Constant - 1972

Tork Talk

I was deeply saddened when I heard about the recent passing of Peter Tork. Not since the news of Strummer, and Bowie I guess, has the death of a rocker affected me in quite the way this Monkee's demise has.

It was while I was replying to another blogger about this I said that the iconic Monkees logo is a bit like a security blanket; wrap yourself in it and only good things happen. I'm hoping he's only nipped out to look for Davy Jones - maybe they'll both come back together in a little while with a crazy story, or two.

This brief Q&A comes from The Monkees 1968 Annual: I picked it up in a charity shop ages ago. So, Peter Halsten Thorkelson, in your own words...

She Makes Me Laugh

It may well be fifty years since The Monkees first topped the Billboard 100 with Last Train to Clarksville and I'm a Believer, but the three remaining 'boys' - Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork - have just released their latest single. Written by Rivers Cuomo from Weezer, She Makes Me Laugh comes complete with all the usual Monkee matching accessories: you know - jangly guitars, catchy choruses and that feeling that you've heard it before somewhere. I like it. A lot.

My last pop star in an airport, wearing a topper, without his entourage

The final photograph in the series (3/3)

Davy Jones

Nashville International Airport, 1967

Marching no more

The passing of a Monkee will never grab the headlines in quite the same way as the demise of a Beatle; John and George put world news on hold when they bowed out. Macca, when his time comes, will probably dominate every front page, TV station and website for days on end. But Davy Jones, whilst not quite an 'And finally', barely came above England's woeful display against Holland in the headline stakes.

And for all the 'Prefab 4' nonsense, his appearances on Coronation Street and starring in Oliver, nobody who said he'd caught The Last Train To Clarksville mentioned the fact that he once covered a Wreckless Eric song. And a bloody good one at that:

Not even the best drummer in The Monkees

Pete, Mickey, Davy and...Ringo

Hey, hey, we're (not) The Beatles

Boy bands. Don't you just love them? Who do you reckon was the first? The fact that such an accolade is often bandied around when talking about The Monkees is to totally rewrite history. It also airbrushes barbershop, doo-wop and harmony groups from pop's rich tapestry: The Ink Spots, anyone? But, in as much as they predated The Osmonds and The Jackson 5, Messrs. Dolenz, Nesmith, Tork and Jones were certainly among the first guests to arrive at the party.

Back in 1966 the moguls at Screen Gems decided to manufacture a group to rival The Beatles. And, as befits such a manoeuvre, it was all done very tongue in cheek; giving four unknown actors (that's right, actors not musicians) a 'zany' script, hiring in some professional songwriters (and a house band) and then pump out the resulting mix on prime-time coast to coast television - and seeing what happens.

And what happened was a massive TV show, numerous Top Ten hits including three Billboard No.1s (I'm A Believer, Last Train To Clarksville and Daydream Believer), an iconic logo that still makes me smile and (though it would take many years) a grudging acceptance by the public that at least half (if not three quarters) of the band did prove themselves as bona fide musos. Sorry Davy, you should have stuck with Coronation Street.

But were they ever a serious threat to Beatlemania? No, of course not, don't be silly. Have they left a lasting legacy? Well, yes they have actually; whether it be the rich seam of catchy singles, the critically acclaimed Headquarters album or Head, their cinematic wig out with Jack Nicholson, The Monkees place in rock and roll history is assured. Oh, and don't forget Robert Wyatt's blinding cover of I'm A Believer.

During their heyday comparisons with our own moptops were rife. But in as much as a Skoda and an Aston Martin both have four wheels and an engine, there the similarity ends. However, as the photographs of Micky Dolenz, Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork testify, they did get to meet their Liverpudlian counterparts though it's doubtful they joined forces in any songwriting circles. If they had, maybe they would have beaten Go Home Productions to this: