Althouse: "The two young men came up with the Monkees’ theme music on a walk to the park, and they developed a friendly but savvy relationship with the actors."

September 15, 2025

"The two young men came up with the Monkees’ theme music on a walk to the park, and they developed a friendly but savvy relationship with the actors."

"They realized, for example, that by recording each member of the Monkees singing individually, they could avoid the actors horsing around and trying to impress one another. Musically, Mr. Boyce and Mr. Hart struck a fine balance between several imperatives. Study the Beatles, but don’t imitate them to the point of absurdity; catch the spirit of the ’60s in the use of Indian instruments and lyrics about 'the young generation,' but don’t be too challenging. Some veteran producers became frustrated trying to make the Monkees into a real band and gave up. Mr. Boyce and Mr. Hart persisted. 'To us,' Mr. Hart wrote, 'it was the chance of a lifetime.' Robert Luke Harshman was born on Feb. 18, 1939, in Phoenix. Bobby formed a lifelong relationship with the Hammond B-3 electric organ by playing it in the Pentecostal church his family attended...."

From "Bobby Hart, Who Helped Give the Monkees Their Music, Dies at 86/The hit songwriting duo he and Tommy Boyce formed in the 1960s was best known for the unexpectedly popular tunes of a made-for-TV band" (NYT).

Dolenz, Jones, Boyce, & Hart with (I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone, 1975
byu/NomadSound inMonkees

51 comments:

rehajm said...: I was a bit late but they ran in syndication and their music played on the radio. I have their songs in my playlists. I could never make a distinction. Sha Na Na was at Woodstock, too I argue…; 9/15/25, 10:11 AM
Peachy said...: never a fan.
Beatles. all the way.; 9/15/25, 10:15 AM
Michael Fitzgerald said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/15/25, 10:22 AM
Roger Sweeny said...: The one on the right looks like Soupy Sales.; 9/15/25, 10:28 AM
Maynard said...: It was dorky to like the Monkees in my time, but Boyce and Hart wrote some very good songs for them.; 9/15/25, 10:31 AM
DanTheMan said...: Fun fact: In 1967 The Monkees outsold the Beatles. Not bad for the "prefab four". :); 9/15/25, 10:36 AM
G. Poulin said...: The Monkees may have been bubble gum, but they were the best damn bubble gum on the planet. We loved them in Junior High.; 9/15/25, 10:37 AM
Iman said...: Long live the Archies!; 9/15/25, 10:45 AM
Iman said...: …and teh 1910 Fruitgum Company!; 9/15/25, 10:48 AM
CJinPA said...: Why, Micky, why? I guess it was 1975, and front men were expected to do the androgenous prance. (Next song, "Last Trans to Clarksville"?)

By coincidence, I just watched ed the two of them interviewed by Tom Snyder. (Linked here maybe.)

Fun music, good vocals, I apologize to no one for liking them. (While understanding the real source of the music.); 9/15/25, 10:50 AM
Lazarus said...: In the 70s, before everyone (or anyone?) was gay, we would have called this clip "gay."

There will be a lot more Monkees memorializing when Jack Nicholson and Mickey, the last Monkee, go. Next year, September 12 will mark the show's 60th anniversary. 60 years! Where did the time go? Où sont les singes d'antan?; 9/15/25, 10:50 AM
gilbar said...: i like the Monkees, and wouldn't belittle their team in any way..
BUT; according to Billboard.. WHAT was the BEST song of 1969?
SUGAR SUGAR by The Archies, the BEST GROUP, of ALL TIME; 9/15/25, 10:52 AM
Wilbur said...: Boyce and Hart produced some great records.

It didn't hurt sales numbers that they had their own TV show, when TV was TV. What band had that kind of promotion?

That video - WTF is Mickey doing? He on one bad trip man.; 9/15/25, 10:54 AM
Anthony said...: I've found The Monkees story to be utterly fascinating. I was too young for the initial run, but then later when it was learned that the four actors (save Davy Jones) didn't actually perform for the recordings, it was something of a joke/scandal. "Ha ha, they weren't even a real band and didn't play their own instruments!"

Only later did I learn that, A) They were all at least reasonable musicians in their own right, and B) That it was sort of de rigueur at the time to use studio (session) musicians for recording anyway (cf., the Beach Boys).; 9/15/25, 10:55 AM
Iman said...: Sugar Sugar vs. Yummy Yummy?; 9/15/25, 10:55 AM
Skeptical Voter said...: Proves that a good songwriter, along with a good producer, can turn dross into music platinum records.; 9/15/25, 10:57 AM
Wince said...: Iggy Pop was one of the Monkees?; 9/15/25, 11:00 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Why, Micky, why?"

Micky — Circus Boy — understood the assignment. A comic actor playing a role.

Reminds me of Gilda Radner as Candy Slice.; 9/15/25, 11:11 AM
Ann Althouse said...: And Micky was the best singer of the group. Best singer, funniest actor, and the last one standing.; 9/15/25, 11:12 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Iggy Pop was one of the Monkees?"

Micky:Iggy::Gilda:Patti; 9/15/25, 11:13 AM
FullMoon said...: "Wilbur said...
That video - WTF is Mickey doing? He on one bad trip man."

Mick Jagger impression?; 9/15/25, 11:24 AM
Iman said...: Either that or NY Doll David Johansen doing his best
Steven Tyler doing Mick Jagger?; 9/15/25, 11:28 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Micky in that clip is reinforcing the message that he is a comic actor playing a role. In the 60s, the role was essentially the Beatles in their Hard Days Night phase. This clip shows him in 1976, so he's playing a rock star of that time, which he can do perfectly well. So he is not selling out or betraying his values in any way. He's being exactly what he always was and doing it with far more energy and excellence than the other guys on the stage.; 9/15/25, 11:34 AM
CJinPA said...: Reminds me of Gilda Radner as Candy Slice.

That's what I was hoping. A parody.

Yes, Micky was the longest tenured actor.
Davey a practiced theater singer.
Mike & Peter were the legitimate musicians.

I don't think too many of us ran out to buy their 90s album "Just Us" in which they wrote and performed all the music.
It did produce a fun TV reunion in which they are still living together.; 9/15/25, 11:36 AM
Wilbur said...: AA, I agree with you about Mickey Dolenz. I remember my interest was immediately drawn to him much more than the other three.; 9/15/25, 11:36 AM
Wilbur said...: Meaning back in the 60s; 9/15/25, 11:37 AM
gilbar said...: wait a minute!
what does ANY of this, have to do with Liquid Paper?; 9/15/25, 11:40 AM
Enigma said...: @Lazarus, @Iman, @Althouse: That was indeed comic acting and a parody of (then closeted bisexual) Mick Jagger. Before the 1980s, cross-dressing was often played for laughs and the gay dimension wasn't acknowledged or even considered by many consumers. See "Some Like it Hot."

Quite a few of the fans of Liberace and Elton John didn't consider or accept that they were gay. Elton John married a woman (1984) -- said to be as a way to deflect gay accusations and preserve his career.

Obvious cues of gayness became obvious only after the major and "manly" movie star Rock Hudson's AIDS and gayness became public (1985).; 9/15/25, 11:47 AM
wild chicken said...: They really got a bum rap for not playing their own instruments or being a real band, but most of Hollywood bands were like that and used the Wrecking Crew to play the actual music.

Like the Byrds, the Grassroots, the Beach Boys, the Association and countless forgotten bands. Maybe one guy actually played. It all started to sound the same... Props to the Doors for breaking the cycle.; 9/15/25, 12:02 PM
imTay said...: Michael Nesmith wrote the song “Different Drum” and recorded it. It’s on Spotify and it makes more sense than the Linda Rondstat version.; 9/15/25, 12:24 PM
Saint Croix said...: John Lennon once joked that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus. A couple of years later, in 1967, the Monkees sold more records than the Beatles.

God has a sense of humor.; 9/15/25, 12:29 PM
Marcus Bressler said...: 1. Mickey seemed like Rod Taylor throwing glitter in the air.
2. I was devastated when "Sugar Sugar" was awarded #1 in 69 vs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1969
3. I had not yet entered junior high when the Monkees arrived but we were excited over "Last Train to Clarksville" and what followed. Many of their hits were written by B&H, Neil Diamond, and Carole King.
4. I laugh now at the controversy of them not playing on their own songs given the reverence to The Wrecking Crew now.
5. Personal favs? I Wanna Be Free and Shades of Gray; 9/15/25, 12:39 PM
Levi Starks said...: Like a “safe” version of The Rolling Stones.
Impressive.; 9/15/25, 1:02 PM
Ted said...: Musicians Stephen Stills, Harry Nilsson, Paul Williams, and Danny Hutton (lead singer for Three Dog Night) all auditioned to be cast as one of the Monkees.; 9/15/25, 1:08 PM
Josephbleau said...: Hate to say it but Davy dances better than a Vikings boy cheerleader.; 9/15/25, 1:14 PM
tommyesq said...: I laugh now at the controversy of them not playing on their own songs given the reverence to The Wrecking Crew now.

Hell, nowadays the artist(s) generally don't play instruments - nobody does, it is all computer generated. The singers don't have to sing in tune - it is all autocorrected. They don't even sing live on-stage, to ensure that actually performing music doesn't interfere with their slutty cheerleader dance routines.; 9/15/25, 1:21 PM
donald said...: Stephen had bad teeth! Mike Nesmeth is a monster to me in Americana music.; 9/15/25, 1:50 PM
Enigma said...: Bad teeth? That was an homage to The Beatles too! ;-)

https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/The_Big_Book_of_of_British_Smiles; 9/15/25, 2:16 PM
PM said...: The Monkees was a lame made-up TV band meant to ape the Beatles' movies. Strictly teeenybopper.; 9/15/25, 2:26 PM
Blair said...: Love the 1975 version of Stepping Stone. The Sex Pistols must have seen this, and thought "why not?"
https://youtu.be/ZXd8qnONDIk?si=5tZt3iOD_YnoflzJ; 9/15/25, 2:33 PM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Cosmic Violation.
One may not utter "Circus Boy" without acknowledging the late great Andy Devine.
Let it be known - "Friends stick together with Scotch Brand Cellophane Tape".; 9/15/25, 2:39 PM
BUMBLE BEE said...: I'll have to dig out my cassette of 331/3 revolutions per Monkee.
https://archive.org/details/the-monkees-33/The+Monkees+-+33+1_3_t01.mkv; 9/15/25, 2:45 PM
HeadlessBlogger said...: Mickey & Davy played in Madison around the time of that video. My high school buddy got to chauffeur them from the airport to the east side Holiday Inn. He said they were cracking him up for the entire drive. I believe they headlined at that Holiday Inn on their tour.; 9/15/25, 3:10 PM
Paul said...: None of them took themselves seriously... and that was an asset, not a fault. Today they all think they are ''profound thinkers"...; 9/15/25, 3:28 PM
Quaestor said...: "John Lennon once joked that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus."

This never impressed me in the way it was intended, whether related by an evangelical street preacher or a party poseur desperate for an audience. From the first moment I heard that infamous comment, I was sure it was indicative of one of two conditions: Either Lennon had a jejune notion of Jesus or a jejune notion of popularity.; 9/15/25, 3:44 PM
gilbar said...: .."most of Hollywood bands were like that and used the Wrecking Crew to play the actual music.."

Like the Byrds, the Grassroots, the Beach Boys, the Association and countless forgotten bands. Maybe one guy actually played. It all started to sound the same...

i do volunteer work on the weekends as a tour guide at a local historical site. I mentioned to my coworker that Taco Bell currently is running a "retro" burrito commercial.. Their 'retro' being 2004; which i thought was funny. My coworker missed COMPLETELY what i was trying say, and instead went on a rant, about HOW AWESOME old music from the 60s and 70s was (he's 55, so do the math).

He went On and On (and On (and On)) about HOW UNIQUE each bands songs were back then.
He never mentioned the Wrecking Crew..
I'm Sure he's NEVER hear of them. It's interesting to me, how the world appears to other people.; 9/15/25, 3:50 PM
WhoKnew said...: Althouse said: "And Micky was the best singer of the group. Best singer, funniest actor, and the last one standing." Agreed. In fact a couple of months ago a frined of mine and I got tired of playing 'name an underrated guitar player' and switched to 'underrated singers' and Mickey Dolenz was my first choice. But not in this video although I agree with Althouse's interpretation of it as a comic act. Nesmith was a very good songwriter, Different Drum, Some of Shelly's Blues, Propinquity, and Only Bound are all very good and Highway 99 with Melange is a fun bit of true hippie madness. His downfall was often trying too hard to say something "important" lyrically but even in those songs the melodies are solid. His pedal steel player, Red Rhodes, was a virtuoso. Yes, a lot of pop records were played by studio musicians but for the Byrds, it was only on the first album.; 9/15/25, 4:02 PM
Jim at said...: Used to watch their show after school. That and The Banana Splits. Never considered either to be serious music. Just silly and fun.; 9/15/25, 4:58 PM
Jaq said...: The part of Nesmith's song "Different Drum" that was cut out for the Rondstat version:

"Well, I feel pretty sure that you could find a man
who will take a lot more than I ever could or can
and you'll settle down with with him and I know that you'll be happy.
So good bye, I'm-a-leavin', I see no sense
In cryin' and grievin',
we'll both live a lot longer,
if you live without me."

Never be a hit with that verse! Because, well the woman loses in this story, and the man wins.; 9/15/25, 5:21 PM
Jaq said...: You are right, he was way too earnest with that lyric, he didn't know the importance of not being earnest.; 9/15/25, 5:23 PM
Jaq said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/15/25, 5:26 PM