33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee

33.3 Revolutions Per Monkey was the last project by The Monkees in their original incarnation, a television special intended as the first of a series. Here the plot line is a bizarre self-satire on the group's "pre-fab" formation as told by a maniacal overlord billed as Charles Darwin. The special certainly suffers from its overdose of self-aware psychedelia and its savage self-mockery, but its basic plot is hardly obsolete - fans of the feature film Josie & The Pussycats should recognize The Monkees' plot line quite quickly.

The special features a number of musical pieces, and among the highlights are Micky Dolenz and Julie Driscoll's soulful rendition of "I'm A Believer" (when the two harmonize their voices blend so well it becomes hard to decifier which one belongs to which singer), Mike Nesmith's bifurcated country-rocker "Naked Persimmons," the group's faux-1956 TV special with reallife 50s legends such as Fats Domino and Jerry Lee Lewis, and Peter Tork's instrumental on electric organ "Bach's Toccata In D."

Some have attacked the use of 1950s rock legends as second fiddle to Monkees, a grossly unfair attack as The Monkees show a genuine respect for the '50s rock genre in the special that was largely lost in the psychedelia and self-important breast-beating about '60s rock through the latter portion of the decade. That The Monkees have remained as fresh and engaging today as the '50s rock legends who appeared on the special speaks volumes about how wrong-headed Monkey-bashing was and is.

The strengths and weaknesses of the special converge in the group's final 1960s performance as a quartet, Mike Nesmith's country-rock classic "Listen To The Band." The number begins with just The Monkees, with numerous young people entering the area to dance. But other musicians enter in as well and the song degenerates into an ill-advised mishmash; Brian Auger and Julie Driscoll's intervention ruins the piece almost single-handedly. Thus does the old cliché of too many cooks prove itself in what should have been a showcase for The Monkees but instead became a major disappointment that nonetheless was no total loss.

I saw "33-1/3 Revolutions Per Monkees" (IMDb's spell-check won't let me use the singular of "Monkees") when it was aired in Britain on BBC1 in May 1969, six weeks after it was aired Stateside. The Beeb transmitted this show in black and white, so I was surprised later on to learn that it was shot in colour.

Along with "Head", this was one of the Monkees' two efforts to prove they deserved to be taken seriously as musicians. The opening scene is excellent, with each of the four men trapped in a giant test tube and interrogated by a disembodied voice. One by one, each man attempts to assert his individual identity ... only to be zapped, assigned a number, and left speaking in a zombie-like voice. This is all done rapidly, with rhythmic dialogue spoken to a steady pulsing beat. I wish the entire special had been as imaginative as this. The opening scene is clearly the Monkees' response to the charge that they were 'manufactured'.

Later, we get some preening hipster with a cod cut-glass accent who introduces himself as Charles Darwin. (Geddit? ... Darwin? Monkees?) He makes dire comments like: 'And the fittest shall survive.'

There is one fairly interesting sequence in which each Monkees-member performs a solo number. 'Darwin' tells us (while shifting his accent to sham Viennese) that these four numbers represent four psychiatric disorders: fixation, withdrawal, schizophrenia, regression. First comes Mickey Dolenz, doing a weird Warholised number. Second comes Peter Tork, the dullest Monkees-man, doing the most boring number: a shameless George Harrison imitation. Mike Nesmith does a novelty song as himself and a rhinestone cowboy in split-screen, which apparently is meant to symbolise schizophrenia.

By a long chalk, the best is the 'regression' number, performed by Davy Jones, who was definitely the most talented of the Monkees. This is a very weird number. Dressed as a little boy in a Buster Brown suit, Jones wanders through an over-sized nursery and sings along to a tinkly music-box tune. In the nursery he meets women dressed as little girls from children's stories (Red Riding Hood, Alice in Wonderland, Goldilocks, Raggedy Anne, etc) and he dances with them whilst he sings. If any other adult male performer had done this number, it would have seemed dangerously paedophilic, but Jones is artless (in the favourable sense of the term) and he manages to make this sequence seem genuinely innocent. The women are all virtuoso dancers, pirouetting expertly and doing hitch-kicks in petticoats: very delightful, but killing the illusion that they're actually little girls. I was impressed ... but only with this sequence and with the opening number.

The rest of this TV special was rather dire. I've not seen it since its original UK airdate. I'm glad I saw it, but I don't want to see it again. Well, maybe the number with Davy and all those petticoat girls.

A side comment for David Bowie fans: it's well-known that Bowie's real name was David Jones, and that he changed it so as to avoid confusion with another performer named Davy Jones. Bowie fans in America usually assume that the "Davy Jones" in this story was the Monkees' vocalist. Wrong! Despite his Mancunian origins (and his stint as a child actor on 'Coronation Street'), Davy Jones of the Monkees was never well-known in Britain. The performer who prompted Bowie's name change was a completely different Davy Jones: a Jamaican calypso singer who was very popular in England in the early 1960s.

I Love the original series and the feature film Head remains one of the greatest cinematic delights to me.

But this TV special...is as I say flawed...

The show seems shot on tape and the many effects look horrible at times.

Plot wise it is similar to Head - Take the Monkees image and rip it up.

Sadly it gets rather heavy handed and certainly not a good move (the 3 specials originally planned ended here) while the music is actually rather good (Not commercially released due to lost tapes) things like 'Wind Up Man' are actually insulting to the people who loved the group...

One thing quickly here - who remembers Brian Auger and the Trinity compared to the pre-fab 4.

So summing up, it depends on your thoughts on the Monkees, It's not always the best watch (The dance routine has aged badly) and you may feel they are biting the hand that fed them too hard (drawing blood) but there's enough here to make it interesting but not essential.

The sole musical special by The Monkees was shot right after their movie "Head." This special was a very strange effort. The producer, Jack Good, was known in Britain for his musical programs.

However, it is unclear as to his familiarity with The Monkees, or American audiences. This special had a script, and it was used to deconstruct The Monkees as television superstars, and present them as musical superstars.

It begins with Brian Auger, of The Trinity, portraying a Wizard who will take four young men "off the street" and make them superstars through brainwashing. Then, he will use them to brainwash the world.

With the aid of special effect, Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, Michael Nesmith, and Davy Jones appear. Then, they are encased in tubes and the brainwashing begins. To escape this, each "floats away" to their own personal world.

Micky Dolenz performs a blues version of "I'm a Believer" in a duet with Julie Driscoll. Peter Tork sings "Prithee" in a blissful, gauzy setting. Michael Nesmith performs "Naked Persimmon" in a duet with himself, and Davy Jones performs "Goldilocks Sometimes" in a dance number on an over-sized stage representing the room of a child.

Next, The Monkees perform "Wind Up Man" dressed as toy soldiers complete with key. Next, the Monkees are dressed as apes in performance of "I Go Ape."

Once the group has been brainwashed, they are introduced as 1950s rockers and perform with the likes of Fats Domino, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Buddy Miles Express, and The Clara Ward Singers.

Finally, Brian Auger stops the whole affair, introduces himself and Julie Driscoll, and then plot ends.

Davy performs "String for my Kite." Peter performs a piece on keyboards. Micky and Mike join them and begin performing "Listen to the Band." Then, all the guests join them in a jam, with dancers added to the mix.

Throughout the show, there are other performances. The Trinity performs "Come on Up." Paul Arnold and The Moon Express perform a dance number depicting evolution. There is one great scene with Brian Auger playing a small piano on top of a baby grand that Jerry Lee Lewis is playing, which is on top of a grand piano being play by Little Richard, which is all on top of another grand being played by Fats Domino.

One of the biggest problems is that the music was recorded, but the vocals presented "live." Therefor, many of the vocals are lost. Another disappointment is that the numbers have a live performance feel, but are not allowed to resolve. The plot gets in the way of the music.

There are a lot of visual effects, and to move the action along, the plot, though overly ambitious, is interesting for a musical special to skip a more traditional presentation.

Like so many things in the history of The Monkees, this was a great "could have been, should have been." here, for the first time they are regarded as musical performers, in company with greats and cutting edge current stars. Plus, there were problems with the production that forced changes in the recording (shot on videotape) venue.

But, again with The Monkees, it is a testament to their creativity of the moment. Many have regarded the series and the movie "Head" as a statement of the times when they were made. More than just pop-culture, but statements on society. "33 1/3 Monkees per Revolution" does the same thing with emphasis on music. While the classic rock and roll performers survived the changes in the 1960s, their popularity did wane. And Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll and The Trinity never achieved the popularity having national exposure might have helped. But, The Monkees welcomed them in this special as equals, and the courtesy seemed to be reciprocated. But, over the thirty-five years, it still seems that The Monkees is the group that people remember the most. And, like their albums, it is the music that supports the special. Too bad there was never an album made of these performances.

Ironic that the special culminates with "Listen to the Band." This performance is unique for several reasons. One being that it is for the special that is centered around music, something that The Monkees were criticized for in their career. Second, it is the last time that all four members of the group played together as an original band.

This is a unique experience. It is worthy of viewing, if nothing more than the nostalgia. It is unlike anything I have ever seen before or since. Too bad that producers haven't tried grand experiments like this since.

"33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkey" was intended to be only the first of three TV specials for NBC following the cancellation of the TV series, filmed Nov 23-27 1968, for broadcast Apr 14 1969 (pre-empting an episode of LAUGH-IN). The result was so discouraging that no further specials appeared, the group reduced to a trio by Dec 30 1968, as Peter Tork bought out his contract and bid farewell to his three years of Monkees mayhem. Sunk singlehandedly by producer/writer Jack Good, previously seen as an actor in the episode "Monkees Mind Their Manor," who should have allowed the four to carry this videotaped fiasco themselves; instead, it becomes a psychedelic freakout like "Head," minus the charm, The Monkees reduced to supporting players in their own special. Best known for the British OH BOY!, plus America's SHINDIG, Good slapped together a disastrous script focusing on newcomers Brian Auger and Julie Driscoll, British imports little known elsewhere, with at least a warm tribute to 50s rockers Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, and Fats Domino. Only at the beginning and the end are The Monkees well served, a crushing disappointment with so many unnecessary extras cluttering things up. The plot rehashes the group's manufactured image yet again, this time in insulting fashion, as if any four guys could have been hired and enjoyed the same kind of success. The songs were all produced by Bones Howe, famous for his work with The 5th Dimension, except for three produced by Michael Nesmith himself. Micky duets with Julie Driscoll on a slow, blues-based rendition of Neil Diamond's "I'm a Believer"; Peter sings Michael Martin Murphey's "I Prithee (Do Not Ask for Love)," a slower, sitar-based version than the one recorded July 25 1966 by Nesmith (with Micky's lead vocal, available on MISSING LINKS 2); Nesmith duets with himself on his own "Naked Persimmon," a schizophrenic masterpiece depicting Monkey Mike battling with alter ego Papa Nes, the Cosmic Cowboy, making sharp jabs at former Colgems president Don Kirshner ('the Devil incarnate'); Davy dances to "Goldie Locks Sometime," a fairytale pastiche adding Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, and Alice in Wonderland. This track was composed by Bill Dorsey, who also wrote the very brief "Darwin" (sung by all four Monkees), the slightly longer "String for My Kite" (Davy), and "Wind Up Man," depicting all four as mechanical singers laughing at the brainwashed audience. The group embarrass themselves in costume for "I Go Ape" (sung by Micky), a cover of the 1958 hit from Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, then the guest stars gather for the 50s salute: Micky sings Danny and the Juniors' 1958 smash "At the Hop" (composed by Artie Singer, John Medora, and David White); Davy and Peter take turns with The Diamonds' 1957 hit "Little Darlin'" (composed by Maurice Williams); all four share vocals on "Shake a Tail Feather" (composed by Otha Hayes, Verlie Rice, and Andre Williams), originally a 1963 recording for The Five Du-Tones, more recently a hit from James and Bobby Purify. It's certainly a grand sight to see Brian Auger, Jerry Lee Lewis ("Whole Lotta Shaking' Going' On," "Down the Line"), and Little Richard ("Tutti Frutti," "Long Tall Sally"), all atop Fats Domino ("I'm Ready," "Blue Monday"). More extras take up space before the truly bittersweet finale: as Davy's "String for My Kite" fades, Peter comes in and sits at the clavinet, doing an amazing solo performance of Bach's "Solfeggietto," followed by Nesmith and Dolenz, on guitar and drums, beginning the only group performance of Nesmith's "Listen to the Band," issued as the group's tenth single Apr 26 (12 days after this telecast). The 45 was recorded in Nashville June 1 1968, with Nesmith on electric guitar, but no other Monkees present; this take is slower, but features all four for the last time during the 60s (unfortunately, at the three minute mark, more extras arrive, and the whole thing just collapses into cacophonous chaos). The closing credits feature the rip off "California Here It Comes" (from the 1921 standard by Al Jolson, Buddy De Sylva, and Joseph Meyer), the final vocal for Peter Tork (the four would first reunite on two occasions during the 1986 revival). By the time this was broadcast, the group (now a trio) had already issued their seventh LP Feb 15, INSTANT REPLAY, followed by THE MONKEES PRESENT Oct 11, then (minus Nesmith) the June 1970 release of CHANGES.