FOT Forum
The Best Show on WFMU => Dear Tom => Topic started by: not that clay on April 27, 2011, 02:46:16 PM
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Where to start with The Monkees?
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Conventional wisdom will point you to Pisces Aquarius Capricorn & Jones Ltd., which is a fine choice and probably their most consistent album. I would call Head my personal favorite just because I love The Porpoise Song so, so much.
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Where to start with The Monkees?
I'm gonna be lame and suggest the 2 disc Monkees Anthology. Whatever you do just ignore POOL IT! though I'd bet the cover alone would be enough to keep you far away.
HEAD features a unreleased demo of Peter Tork singing "Can You Dig it?" which is pretty hillarious. The guy wrote a great song, but it was not a great song suited to his vocal abilities.
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You'll have to spend a little, but I absolutely love this box
http://www.amazon.com/Music-Box-Monkees/dp/B000056W0H (http://www.amazon.com/Music-Box-Monkees/dp/B000056W0H)
You can probably find it cheaper than this; I got mine new for like $28. It's worth it if only for the Mike Nesmith songs, plus you get an insight into their Beatley ambitions, some of which work (like the Porpoise Song) and some of which are hilariously wrong.
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Where to start with The Monkees?
The way I entered was through a greatest hits collection to sample the different eras, and to see if there were enough good songs out there to keep pursuing (there are). It may be clean and simple to start at the beginning. Monkees and More of the Monkees have a bunch of good and great songs, and you'll be following their progression. Happy listening.
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The critical consensus is onto something with Pisces, but I have a soft spot for The Birds, The Bees, and The Monkees.
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Speaking of which, I also reccomend the book MONKEE BUSINESS by Eric Lefcowicz. The whole story is quite an interesting one.
Also, one of my favorite exchanges in the history of TV came from the Monkees-
Ben Cartwheel- "You! Water my horse."
Davey- "Me? But I'm not a stable boy."
Ben-"I don't care about your mental condition. Just water the horse."
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I am a big fan of More of the Monkees. "She" is one of my favorite tracks to open an album ever.
Just steel yourself for "The Day We Fall In Love" which takes the Nobel prize for sappiest piece of shit ever.
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Not to funsuck and buzzstomp, but isn't "Cuddly Toy" vastly creepier than Gary Puckett's "Young Girl"?
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Not to funsuck and buzzstomp, but isn't "Cuddly Toy" vastly creepier than Gary Puckett's "Young Girl"?
I don't think so. The narrator for Cuddly Toy is a creep, but he's basically saying "Yeah, I cheated on you, you caught me, but you're just some dumb lovestruck kid and I can find someone new in about five seconds." I'm kind of inferring the "caught cheating" subplot, but I think it's there. In any event, the toy/Christmas present/tell your mother stuff seems to be there to insult the girl for being not as worldy and invoke the "I'd already lost interest in you anyway" feeling, not to (necessarily, at least) claim said cuddly toy is a child.
So, still a scumbag, yeah, but nowhere near as terrifyingly creepy as Puckett, who appears to be literally singing "I can't be trusted around this underage girl, who is to blame because she trapped me into havin' the hots for her with her clothes, makeup and mind control."
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Not to funsuck and buzzstomp, but isn't "Cuddly Toy" vastly creepier than Gary Puckett's "Young Girl"?
I don't think so. The narrator for Cuddly Toy is a creep, but he's basically saying "Yeah, I cheated on you, you caught me, but you're just some dumb lovestruck kid and I can find someone new in about five seconds." I'm kind of inferring the "caught cheating" subplot, but I think it's there. In any event, the toy/Christmas present/tell your mother stuff seems to be there to insult the girl for being not as worldy and invoke the "I'd already lost interest in you anyway" feeling, not to (necessarily, at least) claim said cuddly toy is a child.
So, still a scumbag, yeah, but nowhere near as terrifyingly creepy as Puckett, who appears to be literally singing "I can't be trusted around this underage girl, who is to blame because she trapped me into havin' the hots for her with her clothes, makeup and mind control."
Of course, on the other hand, there's "She Hangs Out"
How old d'you say your sister was? (sister was, sister was)
How old d'you say your sister was? (sister was, sister was)
You know you'd better keep an eye on her (eye on her, eye on her)
Do the ronde ronde ronde do the rond rond
She hangs out
She hangs out
I heard you taught your sister the bugaloo (bugaloo, bugaloo)
I heard you taught your sister the shigaling too
(shigaling
too, shigaling too)
Well, she can teach you a thing or two (a thing or two, thing or two)
Do the ronde ronde ronde do the rond rond
She hangs out
She hangs out
Well, she hangs out, hangs out
every night, every night
You know you best get down here on the double
Before she gets her pretty little self in trouble
She's...so fine...so fine
I say, how old d'you say your sister was? (sister was, sister was)
How old d'you say your sister was? (sister was, sister was)
You know you'd better keep an eye on her (eye on her, eye on her)
Do the ronde ronde ronde do the rond rond
She hangs out
She hangs out
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Mmmm, not convinced. First, I wasn't claiming the creepiness of "Cuddly Toy" lies primarily in the suggestion of pedophilia (although the toy/choo-choo train stuff doesn't exactly discourage the idea) so it might be argued I'm comparing apples to oranges. But look--and believe me, this is the first time in my life I have ever googled "Gary Puckett lyrics"--at least the "Young Girl" singer tells the girl to get herself out of harm's way when he finds out she's underage. The "Cuddly Toy" singer appears to have found/fucked/forgotten her and is now telling her to get over it, she's just a dime-a-dozen slut anyway. Of course there are lots of songs on this theme, but in this case the jolly melody and jocular tone really pin the creepiness meter.
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Mmmm, not convinced. First, I wasn't claiming the creepiness of "Cuddly Toy" lies primarily in the suggestion of pedophilia (although the toy/choo-choo train stuff doesn't exactly discourage the idea) so it might be argued I'm comparing apples to oranges. But look--and believe me, this is the first time in my life I have ever googled "Gary Puckett lyrics"--at least the "Young Girl" singer tells the girl to get herself out of harm's way when he finds out she's underage. The "Cuddly Toy" singer appears to have found/fucked/forgotten her and is now telling her to get over it, she's just a dime-a-dozen slut anyway. Of course there are lots of songs on this theme, but in this case the jolly melody and jocular tone really pin the creepiness meter.
Did the singer feel her, too? Because that would confirm my longtime theory that The Mentors were really The Monkees with black hoods on.
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"This Girl is a Woman Now" is the creepiest of the Puckett triptych.
Do you think Kirby Puckett's creepiness was driven by his insane need to keep up with his older brother?
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"This Girl is a Woman Now" is the creepiest of the Puckett triptych.
Eewww. Googled it. Need shower now.
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"This Girl is a Woman Now" is the creepiest of the Puckett triptych.
Eewww. Googled it. Need shower now.
The single tear is what makes me retch every time I hear the "Creepiest Rocker" bit on my iPod.
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"This Girl is a Woman Now" is the creepiest of the Puckett triptych.
Eewww. Googled it. Need shower now.
The single tear is what makes me retch every time I hear the "Sleaziest Rocker" bit on my iPod.
I'm disappointed in you buffcoat.
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"This Girl is a Woman Now" is the creepiest of the Puckett triptych.
Eewww. Googled it. Need shower now.
The single tear is what makes me retch every time I hear the "Sleaziest Rocker" bit on my iPod.
I'm disappointed in you buffcoat.
Who is "you buffcoat"?
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"This Girl is a Woman Now" is the creepiest of the Puckett triptych.
Eewww. Googled it. Need shower now.
The single tear is what makes me retch every time I hear the "Sleaziest Rocker" bit on my iPod.
I'm disappointed in you buffcoat.
Who is "you buffcoat"?
Like "Thee Headcoats"
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Headquarters ftw. It's got the charm of being the only lp in which the groop plays all the instruments themselves.
Also, Nilsson said Cuddly Toy was about a gang bang. Dirty bird!
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Headquarters ftw. It's got the charm of being the only lp in which the groop plays all the instruments themselves.
Also, Nilsson said Cuddly Toy was about a gang bang. Dirty bird!
It's also got more maracas/tamborine on it than just about any album you'll hear because those were the only instruments Davey could play.
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Definately not the best but I picked up The Monkees Presents album for a buck the other day and I like it a lot. I like the way it showcases each musician. Peter Tork isn't on the album but the Nesmith songs are prime and the Dolenz and Jones tracks stand up. I'm guessing that is the last record to pay attention to though.
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It's even creepier than this Monkees parody
Hey! Hey! We're The Humans (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LubuSAgB5s#)
NOTE: Change repressed to distressed