Friday! Finally!
Here's a #FBF to the first post on this blog (or "online journal," as I called it back in 2008). In true ethno-major style, it was a celebration of the jawbone as an instrument and also, of course, the Monkees (yes! those two things actually are related). A couple notes about this: A) The number of donkey jaw videos on YouTube has increased probably tenfold since then, and I just spent a good 15 minutes watching a bunch of them, and B) 7 years later, I still have the exact same feels for the Monkees.
The fact that this blog was born out of a Monkees obsession means it's only logical that I dedicate at least one Top 5 post to these guys. Here's to my favorite not-so-guilty pleasure, those four long-haired weirdos!
Top 5 Monkees Clothing Accessories
...because the 60s.
1. Micky's "tablecloth" poncho: 
2. Mike's "too cool for school" sunglasses: 
3. Colorful Nehru shirts... 
4. ...and the fact that Mike was the only one who didn't start dressing like a hippie halfway through the series. The closest he got was his somewhat-groovy ties: 
5. Wool hat. Duh. 
Ok, already this is a Mike-dominated post. Sorry never sorry.
Top 5 Anti-Bubblegum Monkees Songs
...As in, after the band started rebelling against the whole bubblegum pop image thing and started writing their own songs (this was mostly Mike and Micky...I'm pretty sure Davy still liked singing songs about teenage girls)...
- Circle Sky. The song is apparently about sights and sounds from the Monkees 1968 tour, but it always makes me think of the movie scene with images from Vietnam. Definitely has a dark vibe to me.
- Daily Nightly. One of the first songs to feature a Moog!
- Tapioca Tundra. Those Nesmith lyrics...also, there's a guitar riff here taken straight from "I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better."
- Listen to the Band. Because let's be real, Mike's voice was made for country music. I also love that this stripped-down live version exists. Davy + tambourine = :)
- Randy Scouse Git. A prime example of "everyone knows we're not playing this live so let's goof around."
Bonus: Ditty Diego - War Chant. Not written by any of the Monkees, but in fact written by Jack Nicholson for the reputation-destroying movie Head.
Top 5 Most Ridiculous Scenes
...In, get this, REVERSE ORDER. (Sadly, as of 2024, almost all of these video links are broken!)
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In which Peter gets stuck in a trap bed and Davy is chased by a giant gorilla
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In which Davy gets captured in Mexico and the other three pretend to be bandits
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And then there's Mijacogeo - The Frodis Caper...the entire episode, really, but here's a sampling.
And that about sums up this week's laugh riot. Special thanks to this website and this YouTube user for making this post possible.