SATURDAY MORNINGS WITH THE MONKEES

As a young kid some of my Saturday mornings consisted of watching The Monkees on TV, along with The Double Deckers and The Jackson Five cartoon.

Decades later and I can now ask the question, were The Monkees part of the same operation as The Beatles but aimed at children?

I am not casting aspersions over The Monkees. Their fun-loving antics were very cheezy at times. But they also produced some very memorable songs.

When I first went to university a small group of us jokingly discussed creating a Monkees appreciation society. In the end we didn't, but when Last Train to Clarksville or I'm A Believer was played at the many clubs we went to we sang along and boogied (drunk, of course).

The death of Davy Jones is very sad, and curious. Apparently he was vegetarian and kept himself fit. But how many aged and young children will die today because of hunger and/or dehydration due to the sick global economy sucking the life out of us all in a global eugenics program?

Another curiosity is that I have been thinking about The Monkees over the last few days for no apparent reason.

Here is my favourite song by The Monkees, Pleasant Valley Sunday, about "status symbol land...where the kids don't understand". Sound familiar? I know The Monkees didn't write it but their version is very catchy.

Pleasant Valley Sunday (by Goffin & King)

The local rock group down the street
Is trying hard to learn their song
Seranade the weekend squire, who just came out to mow his lawn

Another pleasant valley sunday
Charcoal burning everywhere
Rows of houses that are all the same
And no one seems to care

See mrs. gray she's proud today because her roses are in bloom
Mr. green he's so serene, he's got a t.v. in every room

Another pleasant valley sunday
Here in status symbol land
Mothers complain about how hard life is
And the kids just don't understand

Creature comfort goals
They only numb my soul and make it hard for me to see
My thoughts all seem to stray, to places far away
I need a change of scenery

Ta ta ta...

Another pleasant valley sunday
Charcoal burning everywhere
Another pleasant valley sunday
Here in status symbol land

Another pleasant valley sunday...