More than a Monkee: Mike Nesmith

   Okay. So this is a blog about dolls. But every now and then something else comes up that I can't not comment on. In 2019 it was the death of Peter Tork. Today it's the death of his bandmate in The Monkees, Mike Nesmith.

  I was a kid in the 60's, and my sister and I were fans of The Monkees.  I've talked to a lot of Monkees fans over the years, and no matter who their favourite was when they were kids, as adults, an inordinate amount of them like Mike best. I'm not sure why that is. Is it because his character on the show was the most adult and mature of the four? Hard to say. It's a strange but true fact though.

  Robert Michael Nesmith was born in Houston Texas on the 30th of December, 1942. As a young man Mike served in the Airforce. Before The Monkees, Mike started out as a folk singer/songwriter, and landed a publishing deal for his songs. Some of those songs  were recorded by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and, later,  Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys, whose version of Nesmith's  "Different Drum" peaked at number 13 on the Billboard charts. 

  Mike also had a small recording career before the Monkees, mostly under the name Michael Blessing. But one fateful day in 1965 he rode his motorcycle to an audition for The Monkees. He happened to be wearing a wool hat, (What would these days be called a 'beanie', but was then a 'toboggan'.), to keep his hair out of his face while riding the motorcycle. Afterward he probably wished he had taken it off before his audition, because he got stuck having to wear it in character on The Monkees TV show. In fact, early on the character was only referred to as 'Wool Hat'. I love the fact that in the beginning the hat was plain, but after the show had been on for a while, and The Monkees had become known for their double breasted 'flap' shirts, somehow Mike's hat acquired buttons too, and became a double breasted hat.

  Mike, being a songwriter and actual musician, balked at the limitations in The Monkees. Session musicians were brought in to perform on their albums, and Mike had a hard time getting his songs recorded. (Although one of my favourite Monkees songs has always been the Nesmith penned "Sweet Young Thing".)  His frustration grew, and he pushed for The Monkees to be able to play their own instruments and for more of his songs to be used. He had arguments with the Monkees' producer Don Kirschner, and threatened to quit if things weren't changed. The attorney for Screen Gems, the company that held The Monkees contracts, suggested Mike should read his contract, at which point Nesmith famously put his fist through a wall, telling the attorney, "That could have been your face!" 

  Mike tired of The Monkees, and his disinterest shows in the second, and final, season. He seems bored, often delivering his lines sarcastically or ironically. After the show ended the Monkees began to drift off one by one. Peter left first, (Peter was also a real musician.), and then Mike. Mike went on to form his own band, The First National Band. They had a hit with "Joanne" in 1970, which reached number 21.

  In the mid 70's Nesmith founded Pacific Arts, a company that released records and cassettes, and later videos. (Some of the most often played videos in our house when the kids were small were the four tapes that made up the "Dinosaurs!" documentary series from PBS. We were surprised one day to discover that they were produced by Mike's company.) This company did quite well until a dispute with PBS over unpaid royalties put an end to it. (Nesmith won the case and was awarded a large sum of money.) 

  In 1981 Mike released videos for his singles, "Rio", and "Crusin'", and a full length video of music videos and comedy sketches, "Elephant Parts". "Elephant Parts" won the very first Grammy awarded for music video. I don't quite agree, since short films were made to promote songs way back in the 60's, and probably earlier, but Mike's clips are considered the first 'music videos'. Around the same time, Mike developed a show for Nickelodeon called "PopClips", a music program with video clips and hosts. The idea was either sold to, or stolen by, Warner Brothers, depending on what you read, and turned into MTV.  After "Elephant Parts" Nesmith had a short lived TV series called "Mike Nesmith In Television Parts".

  Mike also became a movie producer, (His films included "Time Rider", "Repo Man", and "Tapeheads"), and author, (He wrote several books, including "The Long Sandy Hair of Neftoon Zamora".), and even served on various boards of the American Film Institute. Over the years he continued to make albums, and perform. He released his autobiography, titled "Infinite Tuesday: An Autobiographical Riff",  in 2017. 

  In 2016 The Monkees released the album "Good Times", which reached #14 on the Billboard charts. Not bad for a band that hadn't released an album of original material since 1996. The album was praised by critics and included songs written for the Monkees by famous fans like Andy Partridge of  XTC, Paul Weller of The Jam and The Style Council, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, Noel Gallagher of Oasis, and Rivers Cuomo of Wheezer, as well as a couple of old recordings, which allowed for the appearances of Davy Jones, who had passed away in 2012. and old friend and Monkees songwriter, Harry Nilsson, (Known for "Everybody's Talkin' at Me", "Without You", and the theme from "The Courtship of Eddie's Father".), who passed away in 1994.

Daughter Emma with Mike at one of his solo shows.

  In 2018 Mike's tour with fellow Monkee Mickey Dolenz was interrupted when Mike had to undergo a quadruple bypass. That same year the Monkees album "Christmas Party" was released. It featured new songs written for the band by some of the songwriters from "Good Times", and also mixed in some old recordings, so as to include Davy Jones. The album was less well received than "Good Times", and only reached #66 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, but got to #3 on Billboard's Holiday album chart. My daughter Emma, who has long loved The Monkees has the cover hanging on her wall as part of her Christmas decor.

  Just short of a month ago Mike and Mickey completed what was called The Monkees 'farewell tour'. , Emma attended one of the shows with her boyfriend, who had never seen The Monkees with her. I was really glad they got to go.

   Today Mike passed away of natural causes, at his home. He was almost 79. 

  The Rock and Roll Hall of fame has long spurned The Monkees. They have been shut out. If Abba, strictly a pop group, can be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, why can't The Monkees?! I leave you with the amazing harmonies of The Monkees on the Christmas song "Riu Chiu".

Doll-A-Day 2019 #52: Goodbye Peter Tork

    Today Peter Tork passed away. Peter Tork was best known as a member of The Monkees.

  As you may have read here before, I loved the Monkees as a kid, and Peter was my favourite. I still have my 'Monkees box', the cigar box my sister decorated for me to keep my Monkees stuff in. Sadly, my mom threw away the contents: my bubble gum cards, my pages torn from Tiger Beat and 16 magazines, and my fake autographed picture, which my sister and I had sent away for.
  My sister gave me all her Monkees albums in the late 70's. I introduced Emma to The Monkees TV series when she was little and she didn't care for it much. When I tried again when she was a little older, she got hooked. I passed those albums on to her, along with other albums and 45s, my 1986 concert program and t-shirt, and all the photos I took at the show. Since then Emma has gathered a collection of Monkees records and collectibles.
 

Part of Emma's collection. The Mike and Davy dolls are Mego-like dolls made by Figures Toy Co. The Monkeemobile model is a reproduction one of her friends got her one year.

They became her favourite band, and one of her favourite things overall. She has been to see them many times, in various combinations of members. (She even flew to San Francisco once just to see Mike Nesmith sing with another of her favourites, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie.) We got her a Meet and Greet ticket for her birthday one year, so she got to meet Peter, Davy, and Mickey. Unfortunately, the Meet and Greet came as a surprise to the band, so even though they complied and did the Meet and Greet,a very tired Peter,(who had recently been suffering from cancer),signed, but declined to pose for pictures. 

Emma and Mickey. She has had a couple of other opportunities to meet Mickey, and even interviewed him by phone for her music blog.

Davy isn't wearing a nurse's cap. That's the doorway behind him.

 Emma had them sign her Monkees lunchbox, which is now her prize possession. Later she bought herself a Meet and Greet for a Mike Nesmith concert and got to have him sign her lunchbox too.

Emma, on the right, talking to Mike Nesmith.

When it came time for the picture, Emma's camera battery died and her phone had no charge. She was going to give up, but Mike insisted that one of his people take their photo and email it to Emma.

  It's her top 'things to grab in a fire' object,(Her cat Cowboy isn't an object.)

Emma really needs to get a case to protect that in. (In which to protect that?)

Emma's Monkees Wacky Wobblers bobble heads by Funko,which she has had since she was a teenager, and her Monkeemobile.

  Peter Tork was born Peter Halsten Thorkleson, in on February 13,1942. Although born in Washington,D.C., Peter grew up in Connecticut. Peter started studying piano at the age of nine, and became accomplished on several instruments, including Banjo, piano, guitar, and bass guitar. He eventually moved to Greenwich Village, where he became friends with another musician, Stephen Stills, later of Crosby Still & Nash. When Stephen auditioned for  a new TV show about a pop group he was told his hair and teeth wouldn't do. But, the producers asked, did he know anybody who looked similar to him? Stephen suggested his friend Peter. Peter went along to the auditions, for the show "The Monkees", and the rest is history.

  You can watch the first episode of the series HERE.
  While it's usually told that none of The Monkees were allowed to play on their first couple of albums, Peter actually played some guitar,(although, not lead.) on the first album. On subsequent albums he played banjo, guitar, bass guitar, piano, and harpsichord. Peter also wrote the song, "For Pete's Sake", which viewers of the show might be familiar with as the second season closing theme of the Monkees TV series. You can see the closing credits and hear the song HERE. You can hear the full song in a 'romp' clip from the show HERE.

-

  Although The Monkees broke up,(a little at a time, as members kept leaving,),many years ago, they also kept reuniting. When MTV aired the series in the mid 80's,there was a Monkees resurgence. The band toured and even recorded a new album. Ten years after that they recorded another new album in their 30th anniversary year. Fans bought the albums, but the real gem of their later output was the critically applauded "Good Times", released in 2016. Songs were written for the Monkees for that album by successful modern musicians who had loved The Monkees for years. Contributors included Weezer's Rivers Cuomo, XTC's Andy Partridge, Noel Gallagher of Oasis, Paul Weller of The Jam and Style Council, Death Can for Cutie's Ben Gibbard, and Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger,(who also produced the album). Last year there was a new Monkees Christmas album released, "Christmas Party", which included songs by some of the same contributing songwriters.
  Peter also toured for years with his own band, Shoe Suede Blues. Ten years ago Peter was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer called Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma. Today, he finally passed away from complications of the disease.

  I will see you all tomorrow.

Doll-A-Day 2017 #259:Shrunken Saturday: Finger Ding Dolls Sally Skater, Millie Mod, and Mickey Dolenz

  I'm posting this a little early because Ken and I are celebrating our 28th anniversary by taking a short trip to the country of our first date: Canada. Yeah, we live in Ohio, and we went to Canada for our first date. There's a story there, but I've already told it. If you want to read it please go HERE.  We'll be here and there for a couple of days, so I hope my scheduled posts pop up when they are supposed to. If not, Ill catch up when I get back.
  So today's Shrunken Saturday doll is three. These little people.These are Finger Ding dolls.

 

They were made by Remco.The girls are marked 1969.

The fellow is Mickey Dolenz, of The Monkees.  The Monkees dolls were just called 'Clever Finger Dolls', but they were also made by Remco and are the same design as the Finger Dings.

His copyright says 1970, but the Monkees were pretty much over before then, so I'm confused.

The pink haired girl is Millie Mod.               .

This is what she looked like in her box. Mine is missing her silver skirt and one boot.

The blue haired girl is Sally Ice Skater.

Mine is missing her red ice skates.

They are all about 5" tall.

Mickey is missing his yellow boots.

The gimmick to the Finger Dings is that they can be made to walk and dance. All that's required is your fingers.

Their bodies consist of a stretchy leotard and a legless torso.

The stretchy leotard has elastic that goes around the fingers to help the upper part of the doll stay upright.
 

But Ivy didn't use it...

Ivy's fingers were a bit too big to get all the way to the toes. But these guys are made for kid sized fingers.

The arms are posable.

Mickey has molded and painted sleeves, but the girls are bare armed.

Mickey is not a bad likeness of Mickey Dolenz.

There were two more Monkees Finger Ding dolls.

What? They couldn't do one more Monkee and have them all? Poor Peter! And notice they do actually call them Finger Ding dolls here.

Emma, the major Monkees fan, actually has Mickey and Davey, but Mickey is the only one appearing today.
The girls have cute little pudgy faces.

Well, I guess it's just one face.

The hair is pretty smooth, and they have great cotton candy colours.

 

There were other Finger Dings, besides just the blonde ballerina that is pictured on the packaging for these girls. There were Finger Ding Animals, including Spunky Monkey, Kitty Kangaroo, and Hilda Hen, a series of Flower Kid dolls with the same faces as these girls, and Adventure Boy. Adventure Boy was available as an astronaut, a caped guy with a 'sky mobile', and in a set with a snow mobile. UPDATE: You can see my Adventure Boys HERE.

Yeah, you guessed it: I want Adventure Boy!

"He's almost alive." Well, actually, he is, since your fingers are alive.

When I was a kid, I don't think I was aware of the Finger Dings, but that wasn't a problem. I created my own character with a hand, and the boots from my Big Ears soldier doll. Her name was Judy, and I played 'with' Judy a lot. Proof you don't need expensive toys to have fun. Or maybe it just proves I was a weird kid

I have seen people put the Finger Ding heads on Pure Neemo bodies. They look really cute.

That's it for Shrunken Saturday. See you tomorrow.

Doll-A-Day 2017 #94: Emma's Collection: The Monkees Wacky Wobblers, Figures Toy Co Monkee Man, and the Monkeemobile

 Emma has always loved music. She has a huge record collection...

This is only part of her record collection.

Cd collection...

This is just a few of her CDs.

 ...and lots of musical items around her apartment,including instruments.(Emma played violin for years and has taught herself some piano/keyboard.)

I gave her these miniature instruments in frames.

She even has her own radio show,(Go HERE  to stream it live on Thursday evenings.),runs a music blog,(You can go to it HERE.),and writes for an online music magazine called Rebeat. (You can read Rebeat HERE.) 
  One big part of Emma's collection of collections is The Monkees. For those of you too young to remember them, The Monkees were a 60's band, originally four individuals recruited by producers to star in a TV series. It was during the height of Beatlemania, and the series was meant to be a comical,musical romp in the vein of The Beatles very successful movie,"A Hard Day's Night". Two of the members,Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones, were actors,(Although both had also performed as singers: Dolenz with a band,and Jones in the play "Oliver",as the Artful Dodger,and as a solo recording artist.),and two,Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork, were musicians. During the course of the series, the actors became musicians as well, and the musicians did pretty well as actors too. The band even wrote many of the songs they performed. The TV series won an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series it's first year. The band had quite a few hits,and many of their songs are still being used in movies and tv. (For instance,"I'm a Believer" was used in "Shrek".)
  I originally tried to show Emma the TV series when she was pretty small. I had watched the show when it was originally shown,when I was about 4-5 years old. That's about the age she was when I showed it to her, and she had no interest at all. I tried again a couple of years later,(or more.I should ask Emma.),and she loved it. She has loved the Monkees ever since.
  When she was a kid we got her this set of Monkees bobble heads:

They're Wacky Wobblers by Funko.

She actually has a couple of the blue shirt versions too.
The Monkeemobile was a 'gift' from us too, although she already had one.(Don't ask.)

It's by Ertl. She also has a model of the Monkeemobile, which was a gift from some friends.

It's by MPC.

For Christmas, Fuzzy's girlfriend, Shanna, and I got her these two Monkee Men figures by Figures Toy Co.

Figures Toy Co is the same company that made the Batman Bookworm figure I got for my birthday. (You can see him HERE.) Like the Bookworm, they are 8" tall.

I have to say the Mike is a better likeness than the Davy.

"I don't know about that. I think they made you way too muscley." "Oh yeah? Well they made you too tall!"

 

The back of the package. These figures were released in 2015.
There were three series of Monkees figures by Figures Toy Co.(I think the Micky is the best likeness.)

The Monkee Men series...

...the red shirt series...

...and the tuxedo series.

 But the Monkee Men were her first choice.

As I said in my Bookworm post,these figures use a body like the old Mego figures. They are jointed at the neck,shoulders,elbows,wrists,torso, waist,hips, ankles,and knees.
  She also has a couple of vintage Remco Monkees finger dings dolls. I think they are amongst the things that are still here at home.
She has a vintage Monkees thermos.(It's there on the right,behind a box of some sort.) Her prize possession though, is this Monkees lunchbox. (On the left.)

It isn't an original vintage one or anything. She was a kid when we found it at a Sam Goody. It came with a small puzzle in it. But it's very special.

It's signed by all 4 Monkees. For Emma's 20th birthday we bought her a meet and greet ticket to a Monkees concert. She got to meet all three Monkees who were doing the concert,Micky,Davy, and Peter.

Emma and Davy Jones.Davy is not wearing a nurse/soda jerk hat. That's the doorway behind him.

Emma and Micky Dolenz. I don't know who took the picture for her. Bit wobbly.

Peter was really tired, and the Meet and Greet was set up by the venue without telling them. So, although he was nice and friendly and happily signed her lunchbox,he left without posing for pictures with anybody. He had recently had throat cancer, so cut him some slack.
  A couple of years later Emma bought herself a Meet and Greet ticket to see Mike Nesmith. When Mike signed her lunchbox he said,"You're about to complete the four. Are you excited?" She was very excited.  Unfortunately her camera wouldn't work. She was embarrassed, and prepared to give up, but Mike insisted one of his people take their picture and email it to her later.

Emma and Mike Nesmith.

Since then Emma has attended lots of Monkees concerts, Mike Nesmith concerts, and interviewed Micky Dolenz,(and several other artists),for her music blog. (You can read her Mickey interview HERE.)
  Well, that's it for  Emma's apartment. Tomorrow we're looking at one of my dolls.