My Favourite Michael Nesmith Songs

There are those artists we love from our earliest days, so early that we might not even recall where we first encountered them. The Monkees number among those artists for me. I might have seen the TV show in its first run on NBC, although I don't remember it. My much older sister owned The Monkees' albums and they were frequently played on the radio, so I am certain I must have heard their songs while very young. One thing of which I am certain is that I watched the reruns of The Monkees faithfully when CBS started showing the series in 1969. At six years old something about both the show and the band just clicked for me. I have to think much of it was that it was sheer escapism of the sort young boys enjoy. The Monkees faced everything from gangsters to modern day pirates to the Devil himself. While The Monkees was an escapist TV show, to a small degree it had an underlying message. Quite simply, each week it showed that four down-and-out young men could come out on top against whatever was thrown against them. Fora young boy or, really, anyone of any age, that can be an important message to hear.

While I love all four Monkees, from the beginning Michael Nesmith was my favourite. Mike was the intellectual of the group, possessed with very dry wit and a keen mind. It was Mike who most often got The Monkees out of any jams they were in, who came up with any solutions to problems they might face. As a relatively intelligent lad whose humour was ea bit left of centre even then, I identified with Mike, even if I might not possess his leadership skills (I still don't).

Of course, The Monkees was more than a sitcom. Each week it featured at least one song performed by the band, and some of those songs were written by the band members themselves. Indeed, Michael Nesmith was a songwriter before the TV show even debuted. He had written and recorded his own singles before the debut of The Monkees. His song "Mary, Mary" (later covered by The Monkees) was recorded by The Paul Butterfield Band in 1966, and his song "Different Drum" was recorded by The Greenbriar Boys that year. Michael Nesmith's songs for The Monkees number among my favourites of the band, and I love a number of his solo songs as well. In tribute to the great Michael Nesmith, I thought I would post some of my favourite songs he wrote. These aren't all of my favourites, by any means. Since I can't decide which ones I like best, I decided to present them in chronological order.



"Sweet Young Thing" was co-written by Michael Nesmith, Gerry Goffin, and Carole King, but it is identifiably a Michael Nesmith song. Indeed, it sounds a lot like his other early work. It is my second favourite Monkees song, after "She" (which was composed by Boyce and Hart).


Angry at Don Kirshner for releasing the album without The Monkees' input or even knowledge, Michael Nesmith once called the band's second album, More of The Monkees, "the worst album in the history of the world." That having been said, for all its shortcomings, More of The Monkees does include some of the band's best songs, including "She," Michael Nesmith's own "Mary, Mary," "(I'm Not Your) Steppin'' Stone," and "I'm a Believer." Among those songs is "The Kind of Girl I Could Love." It has always numbered among my favourite songs by Michael Nesmith.


Headquarters was historic as the first Monkees album recorded without substantial use of session musicians. "You Just May Be The One" had been recorded earlier for the television show, but for the album The Monkees recorded a new version. What is more, it is the one song on Headquarters on which all four Monkees play the same instruments that they are shown playing on the show (Mike on guitar, Peter on bass, Micky on drums, and Davy on tambourine). While I love both versions, I do prefer the album version of "You Just May Be the One" to the TV version. It has always been one of my favourite Monkees songs, although for a time I couldn't listen to it without breaking down in tears as I identify it with someone who is no longer with us.


"Daily Nightly" was inspired by the Sunset Strip curfew riots, and the media's misinformation regarding them. The Monkees had earlier discussed the Sunset Strip curfew riots at the end of the episode "Find The Monkees," even going so far as to point out that the word "riots" was inaccurate. Along with "Star Collector" (also from the album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, & Jones Ltd.), "Daily Nightly" was the first song on which a Moog synthesizer was used.


As mentioned earlier, Michael Nesmith's song "Different Drum" was first recorded by The Greenbriar Boys. It was included on their album Better Late Than Never! in 1966. Michael Nesmith had offered "Different Drum" to The Monkees, but it was one of a number of Michael Nesmith's songs that was rejected by music supervisor Don Kirshner. The Stone Poneys then recorded their own version of their song and relased it as a single. It went to no. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. For me this is yet more evidence that Don Krishner was not the music expert he thought he was...



"Tapioca Tundra" appeared on the album The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees and it was also the B-side of the second single from the album, "Valleri." It did particularly well as a B-side, actually going to no. 34 on the Billboard Hot 100.


"Circle Sky" is perhaps best known for its inclusion in The Monkees' movie Head. The movie features a live performance of the song filmed at the Valley Auditorium in Salt Lake City on May 17 1968. Sadly, the movie Head bombed at the box office. Its soundtrack album became the first Monkees album not to reach the top ten on the Billboard album chart, going only to no. 45. A new version would later be recorded for The Monkees' 1996 album Justus.


"Rio" was a single from Michael Nesmith's 1977 album From a Radio Engine to the Photon Wing. At the time music videos were hardly unknown. Musical short films have existed nearly as long as talking motion pictures have. In the Forties Soundies were made for the Panoram visual jukebox and in the late Fifties and Sixties there were musical shorts made for the Scopitone, Cinebox, and Color-Sonics visual jukeboxes. Of course, in the Sixties promotional films were made for artists from The Beatles to The Monkees' songwriters Boyce & Hart. That having been said, the music video for "Rio" was historic. In 1977 many American artists did not bother with music videos. What is more, conceptual videos were just coming into their own at the time. "Rio" would then have an impact. Indeed, while the video was shot in 1977, it looks like something that could have come from the Eighties.



"Cruisin'" was the last single Michael Nesmith would release as a solo artist. It was from his 1979 album  Infinite Rider on the Big Dogma. A music video was shot for Michael Nesmith's 1981 collection of comedy skits and music videos Elephant Parts. Elephant Parts also included the music video for "Rio," as well as music videos for "Magic," "Light," and "Tonight." Elephant Parts won the first Grammy for Music Video. As to Sunset Sam in the "Cruisin'" video that is Steve Strong, not a young Hulk Hogan as often reported.