I hadn't realized the Monkees had it in them.

They playing was all session cats, like Glen Campbell, Carol King, Hal Blaine, Louie Shelton (who plays the flamenco style lead on Valerie), and so on.
But, the voices you hear are, for the most part, the guys in the band.
Interestingly, Peter could play most of the instruments, but not like those studio players.

... Mickey Dolenz when he was "Circus Boy". That definitely dates me, I know. Back then, the formula was always a boy with no parents, like the kid in Rin tin tin. I always thought it was kind of a creepy premise for a kids' Saturday morning serial. Same with "Fury", and "My Friend Flicka:. "Lassie" was an exception.
Now I feel old.

Last edited Tue Dec 24, 2024, 02:52 AM - Edit history (2)

a lot of kids dramas have their parents gone or in jeopardy in Childrens's literature. I read in anthropology somewhere it art is play with form. Play is learning through imitation. So kids are learning how to be independent with these dramas that, like you, I used to think, as an adult were weirdly common. Never read Harry Potter by the way.

... and enjoyed them. There are a lot of things in them that are little Easter Eggs for adults.
I also subscribe to Scientific American, Archaeology, and Smithsonian. Eclectic tastes.

fantasy or science fiction or magic.

But, may I point out, while listing the shows we watched on Saturday morning, you missed "Sky King" - that was another one where it was an uncle raising his niece and nephew.

... My Friend Flicka was a little cloudier in my septuagenarian memory.

But here's on for ya: What was the name of Sky King's airplane?

But I confess I had to Google to make sure I was remembering it correctly.

... all-knowing Lord Google. We have devices in our pockets that put all the knowledge in human history at our fingertips... but we use it to watch cat videos and argue with strangers. Small wonder we've doomed ourselves to extinction.

It's one of my favorite songs by them. If memory serves, Butch Patrick (The Munsters, Lidsville) costarred in this episode.