a loose monkee

Michael Nesmith was the guitarist in the other fab four - the first manufactured band. Many nick-named The Monkees - The Pre-Fab Four. Michael is a very talented singer/songwriter and a funny guy. I wasn't a fan of the television show but later grew to appreciate the music they eventually really made together. It wasn't until they started making it big that Nesmith proved to the powers that be that The Monkees could make their own music and did just that!

My brother in-law, Randall Dan Noojin (aka: Carl), and I used to rent his comedy videos back in the eighties. Back in the eighties, Michael Nesmith made some comedies that were released straight to video. One of the most memorable is the Rodanne - a spoof of his own hit song Joanne. Dan and I by the way were the first Beavis & Butthead (nothing to brag about mind you). We'd sit through out the night watching USA's Nightflight - that is until we just couldn't stay awake.

It was Michael Bynum that introduced me to Nesmith's post-monkee work. That's right, Micahel Nesmith had a career after The Monkees - a good one at that! For a while Nesmith went country and is considered on of the pioneers of what is country-rock. Heck, the guy should've been wearing a coon-skin cap instead of that old toboggan.

Michael Nesmith by the way was the guy that came up with the concept for MTV. He's been called the stepfather of MTV. He originally worked up an idea and produced a thirty minute pilot forcalled Nickelodeon called Pop Clips which was never produced. The concept was later sold to Time/Warner and repackaged as MTV (Music Television). MTV was fun to watch when it first aired - but quickly went downhill by the mid-eighties. Go Google Michael Nesmith - he's still out there swinging baby!

P.S. Did you know that Michael Nesmith's mom, Bette Nesmith Grahm, was the inventor of Liquid Paper (1956). Greatness runs in the family.

sail away

Randy Newman has been around for a quite some time now. His first record release was back in 1968. Sail Away is probably the first song that I ever heard of his. It was featured in the Norman Lear movie COLD TURKEY. Newman has done countless movie scores since. He's one of the best there is. I guess it's in his blood - he's related to three other great Hollywood film-score composers on his mom's side of the family. Randy had three uncles by the name of Alfred Newman, Lionel Newman and Emil Newman. You'll find those names familiar if you watch a lot of Turner Classic Movies.

Don't think you've ever heard any of Randy Newman's work before? You have. You have if you've watched Three Amigos, Toy Story, and Cars. He's featured in almost all of the Pixar animations. He wrote and sings the theme to MONK (tv). Randy is everywhere man!

My favorite albums of Randy Newmans are SAIL AWAY and LITTLE CRIMINALS.

what - me worry?

Mad Magazine was one of my favorite reads as a kid. The humor was off beat and sharp. The illustration work was always magnificent. My favorite part of this demented publication were the movie parodies. I also enjoyed the little cartoon humor drawn within the margins. You always got your money's worth with Mad. The guys that put this together were funny and definitely not lazy. Al Jaffe's fold-in at the back of the magazines were also something to look forward to. I remember purchasing some Mad's in the mid-70's and found some of their old comic book reprints as inserts. Mad started out as a comic book and changed to magazine format sometime in the mid-fifties. The brand of humor was later echoed in such comedies as Saturday Night Live and Madtv.

wayfaring stranger

Baby-boomers didn't just listen to rock and roll. We grew up listening to the likes of the late great Tennessee Ernie Ford. I loved this man sense of humor and his wonderfully rich voice.