Monkeemania was coming to a grinding halt,with the television series cancelled,all four members had enough of the touring,demands to record new material,would take it's toll,Peter Tork who gave out his Monkee earnings like candy,often handing his wallet out for friend's to pluck money out of,even bought scumbag Stephen Stills a boat who would later disown the former Monkee when Mick Jagger came to visit his flat. [Below is a screen cap of Lady Pleasure played by the lovely Mireille Machu preparing to plant a kiss on Mike after kissing the other 3 rating their passions with a giggle.]
This was the same singer who began his fame with The Buffalo Springfield that would tell the world to ''Love the one your with'',a great message for Vietnam Vet's wives to hear while their husbands were fighting for our country in Asia. In the summer of 1967,Davy was called by Uncle Sam via the draft card to preform his tour of duty,but because of his height and weight was able to bail out,below Mr. Jones discusses the incident 10 years later on a talk show.Fans at the time protested adamantly with protest signs hailing slogans such as ''Hands off Monkee Davy''. The Doors drummer John Densmore would elude the draft by stating he was a flaming fag as homosexuality was one sure way out.
Peter paid a stealthy sum to buy himself out of his contract,a foolish move that left him bankrupt. It was at this point even mentioning the word Monkee was as uncool as using the term ''groovy'' today,their albums that were once one #1,were now found in cutout bins,by 1969,their albums were no longer being pressed.
Below,the gorgeous Porpoise Song chock full of beautiful lyrics,and almost hypnotic chords that only peaked at # 62 on the Billboard charts when it was released,the song contains lyrics that give reference to Micky's role as Corkey in the series Circus Boy [riding the backs of giraffes and laughs is alright for a while],goes to show what happens when a band gets branded as bubblegum. The song is the band's suicide note,basically saying ''hey man,we tried'',goodbye!
Micky reached a point where he quoted ''I just got so tired of being a Monkee, I didn't give a shit what the people thought anymore. [Below Jack Nicholson with all 4 Monkees talking HEAD,lol]
The idea for Head was evoked while Nicholson and Bob Rafelson were doing acid on Ojai California,things came to a HEAD between The Monkees and Rafelson when the earnings promised never arrived,the film bombed at the box office and for good reason as the trailer gave no reference The Monkees were even in the film teaser leaving ticked off movie goers demanding a refund.The hippies always hated them,and their former 12 year old fans didn't want to see Peter popping a pimple in a men's room,Davy being beat up by boxer Sonny Liston,or all of the boys being kissed on the mouth by the same woman in the films beginning,nor committing suicide by jumping off The Golden Gate Bridge,or a transvestite for that matter,after all,this was not the same family oriented Pre Fab Four seen on tv.Below The Criterion collections promotional poster for the 2012 DVD release remastered in DTS 5.1 surround,problem is you''ll pay a whopping $90.00 as this is sold as a Rafelson film collection,and is not available separate as of yet.
Below,Circle Sky performed live in Australia,after viewing this,no one can accuse the Monkees as just a bubblegum band.The song written by Nez is his willfully enigmatic lyrical style is an anti war song written at the peak of the Tet Offensive,the film clip is quite graphic showing the horrors of war as the song emphatically dictates,the end of the video shows the boys getting torn apart by rabid fans using mannequins in their place.
HEAD was financed by the earnings of album sales and the television series and would finance the films Easy Rider [made the same time HEAD was filmed,Dennis Hopper is seen for a fleeting moment during the diner scene,also the restaurant set used for the fictional New Orleans eatery is seen as a prop for HEAD,Toni Basil who played a whore opposite Karen Black is seen dancing with Davy during The Daddy's song scene] Five Easy Pieces and The King of Marvin Gardens.Below,clip from film with the ultra gorgeous song ''As we go along'' I think is one of the most beautiful ballads ever written.
Jack can be seen briefly in the films diner scene,character actor Timothy Cary is cast perfect as a villain.Above is a beautiful rocker Peter Tork wrote himself with Neil Young on guitar.Below,diner clip from Head,Dennis Hopper can be seen in Easy Rider garb for a split second.
The soundtrack is a masterpiece I reviewed earlier,the film is available on DVD I would not pass up.Below is a concept drawing I did of Micky from the film.The sountrack is available from Rhino on 180 gram vinyl
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