Howard the Duck

^^you guys have such good memories

i watched it a lot as a kid and can't remember anything about it (maybe because I didn't understand English then? or maybe both of you are older than me)

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Malaise is THE dominant human predilection.

Holerbot6000

I'm telling you - that's what happens when you pass 50. I can't remember what I had for breakfast but I can vividly remember everything about the Banana Splits. I was around 5-6 years old when they appeared and definitely the target audience. Imagine loading up on super sugary cereal on a Saturday morning and then watching the crazy, frenetic, borderline hallucinatory Banana Splits or Monkees shows. I think it speaks volumes about my generation. No wonder we did so many drugs.

bob.

thank you for bringing it back to a good subject

seriously that was not only the mornings of my early youth....but also after school till i found drugs!

so tonight i really sat down and listened to both The Banana Splits album and a discography compilation of The Cattanooga Cats and both are seriously underrated....just amazingly groovy rock, simplistic and yet guaranteed to make a smile

it's weird cause i was thinking to myself...."i really started researching and enjoying bubblegum about 10 years ago"....but in fact i was raised on the old cartoons so i think subconsciously these amazing tunes and their....sub text seeped their way into what would later become my musical taste

may also explain why i have a lava lamp in every room

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Howard the Duck

what we had here were reruns

they ran an awful lot of 60s stuff in the 70s

we even had Rainbow and Blue Peter for a while (British children's shows)

and back then, we had Saturday Night Live! when it was still funny

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Malaise is THE dominant human predilection.

Holerbot6000

I will have to read that book. I think the mid-60's to early 70's were the peak time for bubblegum. I have this very romanticized memory of driving around with my family or going to the beach and listening to the AM radio and they would always be playing some sunshiny hit or other. Sugar Sugar, Indian Giver, whatever, and it just kind of turned up the happiness volume on the day. As you say, it's very corny, simple music but to this day, it makes me feel good when I listen to it.

Neapolitan

I heard Mike Nesmith flat out refused to do that song, so Don Kirshner had the song release by The Archies.

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Howard the Duck

what I heard was that the writer got fed-up of writing for an artificial band, and wanted an actually and completely artificial band to do it

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Malaise is THE dominant human predilection.

Neapolitan

I don't think it was the song-writers but Don Kishner who was fed-up with the (artificial) band. I don't know his actual title, he wasn't a writer or a producer, but it was his job to find hit songs for the Monkess. It was Kishner who wanted "an actually and completely artificial band to do it." In Mike Nesmith's eye Don Kishner looked down (and talk down) at them. There was plenty of friction between the two. I think Sugar Sugar was the last straw (that broke the camel's back).

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Howard the Duck

funny thing was when The Monkees actually became a real band, and wrote their own material, they were quite good

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Malaise is THE dominant human predilection.

Screen13

From what I remember, Kirshner was hired by Raybert as a Musical Supervisor - to admit his strengths, he did have a good ear for what sold at that time with a group of excellent songwriters and producers. Also to be fair, Nesmith, being the one with a very small musical track record but with a slight connection to Columbia with a couple of singles on Colpix (as Michael Blessing), had two songs on each of the first two albums, both produced by the Nez himself, all killers ("Sweet Young Thing" being a major favorite). When looking at the facts, it was war between two strong egos (Ego is a great thing when used right). There was a little unique music identity going on, but with the production and promotion of the series, time was VERY tight on the Music end, and when that was told, the Public went into being major critics of the show without knowing all of the facts, but inthe heat of the action, Kirshner and Nesmith were going into war.

In my opinion, when 1967 rolled around, it was obvious that Nesmith understandably wanted more of the action while bringing along Mickey (who dabbled in Music while a Child Actor - Drummer with The Missing Links and also recorded a single), Peter (Ace musician, plays Classical, BIG on the Folk Rock of the era especially of freinds Buffalo Springfield, but no real track record), and even Davy (Musical star, one Pre-Monkees solo album, also on Colpix) along for the ride. I think that in the era when Rock was being more self-contained, plus the wanting to develop The Monkees more on their own to show that they could actually create music on their own identity, especially after the public criticizing them with knee jerk "They're Fake" reactions after Micky told the truth that due to the making of the show that they had little time to focus on their own music (showing that the public hardly read credits re: Nesmiths songs which he also produced), The Nez wanted to show more of his and his fellow Monkees' talents and bring the show into having more of it's own unique identity.

There was a meeting that Nesmith punched a hole in the (I think) wall of a Holiday Inn room where they were having a meeting and shouted "That could have been your face!" (some claim to even add an MF to that outburst) to Kirshner. Obviously, The Man With the Golden Ear was turning more into a bully with the massive recording succes of the Monkees and the liner notes on More of the Monkees which Kirshner thanked his team before even mentioning The Monkees were as they say The Straw that Broke the Camel's Back. Kirshner was dropped from the show.

It must be remembered that the show's creators were the ones who later developed the counterculture hit film Easy Rider, and that Raybert allowed quite a bit of ad libbing and interview segments where they were allowed to be natural. This went into their music and the interesting Second Season of the series.