"The Kind of Girl I Could Love"

Last month I figured out the bass part for "The Kind of Girl I Could Love."  I notated it, but then I sort of forgot about it.  I finally got around to scanning it last night.  As always, there's the disclaimer that I might have something wrong:

Like I mentioned last month, I don't think the bass plays in the first measure of the bridge.  The notes I have there in parentheses are extrapolated from two measures that appear later in the bridge.

"Monkees a la Mode"

A couple weeks ago, I watched "Monkees a la Mode" just for the sake of watching that episode.  Coincidentally, it happened to be an episode I was looking for.  I'd previously noticed that Davy does something similar to what Ringo does in the Beatles' Help!

At ~13:50, Davy is shown trying to feed a stuffed animal of a giraffe, repeatedly offering it what looks to be a piece of bread:

When he's unsuccessful, he smacks the giraffe onto the floor:

During the "Ticket to Ride" sequence of Help! (at ~40:01), Ringo is shown holding a small figure sculpted out of snow.  It pokes him on the chest, and he pokes it on the nose:

After a few exchanges, he punches it:

I'm sure this isn't the most interesting or important comparison between the Beatles movies and The Monkees, but since I finally found this specific episode, I thought I'd make a note of it.

"Goin' Down"

I'd forgotten about this until yester-day, but when I listened to the first disc of the deluxe edition of Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. earlier this month (6 Nov.), I noticed that many of the "Goin' down"s in "Goin' Down" are sung to descending phrases, musically illustrating that "down."  I'm not going to go through each instance of that phrase in the song, but most of the "Goin' down"s in the first half are sung to the phrase G G E.

"Daddy's Song"

When I watched Head earlier this month, I noticed that in the second verse of "Daddy's Song," the "away" at the end of the line "And the pain would go away" is sung with a melisma (C C C D C B).  To some degree, this gives a musical sense of the pain's dissipating; it's no longer focused on a single pitch.

When I listened to the soundtrack recently (the 22nd), I noticed that this same melisma (slightly different when repeated) also has significance in two other verses.

In the third verse, "sighs" in the line "That he brought out all his sighs" is sung to the phrase C C D C B, indicating the multitude of "all" via the numerous notes.  In the alternate version (with Mike Nesmith's vocal), the line is different: "That he brought out all his toys."  Here, "toys" is sung with a slightly different articulation; I think it's just C D B.  In any case, the multitude of "all" is still illustrated through the numerous notes.

In the last verse in the soundtrack version (but not in the film version, where Davy Jones sings a cappella and with a different melody), "by" in the line "Let the sadness pass him by" is also sung to the phrase C C D C B, giving a sense of movement (although the "pass[ing]... by" is metaphorical).

While drafting this post yester-day, I also noticed a new thing:  "When I grew up" in the line "When I grew up to be a man" in the first verse is sung to an ascending phrase (C D E E), giving something of a musical sense of that growing up.

"Circle Sky"

I watched Head on 6 November (the fiftieth anniversary of its premiere) and noticed a couple small things about some of the songs, but I waited to write about them until I listened to the soundtrack as part of my project of listening to all of the Monkees albums I have.  That way, if I found more things to write about in the same songs, I could just write a single post.

I'm a bit unsure of my accuracy, but I think one of the lines in "Circle Sky" is "Here I stand, heavy man."  When I watched Head, I noticed that the "heavy man" part of the line descends (E C# B A), almost as if the melody itself bends under the weight.  "Heavy" is even sung with a melisma (E C# B), which emphasizes this descent.

"All of Your Toys"

When I wrote about "All of Your Toys" yester-day, I ended up learning a couple parts.  I got the chords for the verses and the bridges, the piano in the bridge (which I believe is all the piano there is in the song), and the bass in the bridge.

For my recording, I used the second bridge as a template because I'd previously learned parts for the sections that follow.  Last November, I learned the single harpsichord chord (E major) and the bass part for the instrumental section, and last September, I figured out the following phrase in the bass part (which also occurs at the beginning of the song).

 

"All of Your Toys"

Yester-day I listened to the second disc of the deluxe edition of Headquarters, and this morning I realized a small thing about "All of Your Toys," which is included as a bonus track.

Near the end, "toys" is sung with a number of different melismas, all of which illustrate the multitude of "all of."  In Micky's lead vocal, the "toys" at ~2:37 is sung to the notes F C; starting at that same point, but with long, drawn out notes, "toys" in the backing vocals is sung to the notes F E.  In the backing vocals in the section after that (where Peter is particularly evident), "toys" is repeatedly sung to the notes F Eb Db.

"The Kind of Girl I Could Love"

When I listened to the second disc of the deluxe edition of More of the Monkees a couple days ago, the bass part in the bridge of "The Kind of Girl I Could Love" sounded easy to figure out.  It was a bit more difficult than I expected, but this evening I figured out all of the bass part.  In doing so, I discovered a couple interesting features about the bass part in the bridge:

I should note that I don't think the bass plays at all for the first measure.  I extrapolated those notes based on the first two measures of the second line.

The lyrics here are:

You do something to my soul
That no one's ever done
If you're looking for to love
Then let me be the one

The bass part musically represents two ideas in these lyrics.

The song is in A major, but there are two accidentals (F natural and Bb), which represent the foreignness of "something... that no one's ever done."

After the line "Then let me be the one," the bass repeats a single pitch (an E), representing that idea of singularity.

"I'll Be Back up on My Feet"

Yester-day I listened to the second disc of the deluxe edition of More of the Monkees, and I noticed a couple small things about "I'll Be Back up on My Feet" (the first recorded version, which is included as a bonus track).

There's quite a musical leap at the end of the line "Maybe I will meet a girl who'll try to keep me down" in the second verse.  "Try to keep me" ascends (C# C# D E), but then there's a drop of almost an octave for "down," sung to an F#.  This descent musically represents the "keep[ing]... down" in the lyric.

The other thing I noticed is that the "go" in the last "When I find my boots, I know I gotta go" is sung with a melisma (D A F#), musically giving a sense of that movement.

"Pleasant Valley Sunday"

I have an-other project with the same format as this one but focused on the Beatles.  A couple days ago, I figured out some of the piano in "I Want to Tell You," so - just for fun - I started playing the guitar phrase, which I'd figured out in January.  Yester-day morning, I discovered that the guitar phrase in "Pleasant Valley Sunday" is very similar to the guitar phrase in "I Want to Tell You."  Both are in A major, employ glissandi, alternate between an open A string and notes on the D string, and use only six pitches: A, D, E, F#, G, and A an octave higher.

In both songs, there are sections where these phrases are repeated over and over again, but here's a single instance of each (give or take a few notes) in tablature (I use tildes [~] to indicate glissandi):

"I Want to Tell You"

D|-7~5---2---5-0---4-0---|
A|-----0---0-----0-----0-|

"Pleasant Valley Sunday"

D|---7---5~4-0---2---0-4~5-0---|
A|-0---0-------0---0---------0-|

While they're obviously different, they use something of the same musical vocabulary.

According to Mark Lewisohn's The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, "I Want to Tell You" was released on Revolver in August 1966 [on the 5th in the U.K. and on the 8th in the U.S.], and according to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, "Pleasant Valley Sunday" was recorded in June 1967 [the 10th, 11th, 13th, and "possibly other dates in June"], so it's certainly possible that the guitar phrase in "I Want to Tell You" influenced the guitar phrase in "Pleasant Valley Sunday."

Head

According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, fifty years ago to-day (6 November 1968), the Monkees' film Head premiered at the Columbia Pictures studio in New York City.

"Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)"

Yester-day (after long neglecting my project of listening to all of the Monkees' albums I have), I listened to More of the Monkees and noticed a small feature in "Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)."  "Sorrow" in the line "I see all kinds of sorrow" is sung with a melisma (D C C).  Because it's sung with an extra syllable, there's a musical sense of the multitude of "all kinds of."

Head Soundtrack

According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, the Monkees' sixth album - the soundtrack to Head (Colgems COSO-5008) - was released fifty years ago this month (November 1968).  The U.K. release (RCA 8050) was in "late 1969."

Side One:

1. "Opening Ceremony"
2. "Porpoise Song (Theme from 'Head')"
3. "Ditty Diego - War Chant"
4. "Circle Sky"
5. "Supplicio"
6. "Can You Dig It"
7. "Gravy"

Side Two:

1. "Superstitious"
2. "As We Go Along"
3. "Dandruff"
4. "Daddy's Song"
5. "Poll"
6. "Long Title: Do I Have to Do This All over Again"
7. "Swami - Plus Strings (Ken Thorne), Etc."

"Good Clean Fun"

I recently read the entry for 18 October 1969 in Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, in which he writes about the chart performance of "Good Clean Fun."  I've never been too interested in chart numbers, but it got me thinking about the song again.

Back in August, I realized that "I look down" descends (C# A E), musically giving a sense of that "down."  Yester-day, I realized that there's more to it than that.

In the first two lines of the bridge, the singer/speaker looks down at his watch, and the watch looks back at him:

And this plane gets closer ev'ry minute I look down
To a watch that keeps lookin' back at me

This reciprocal looking is also illustrated in the music.  As noted above, "I look down" descends, and - complementing that - "back at me" ascends (A C C#).

"Porpoise Song" b/w "As We Go Along"

According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, "Porpoise Song" b/w "As We Go Along" - the Monkees' eighth single (Colgems 1031) - was released in the U.S. fifty years ago this month (October 1968).

"Saturday's Child"

Yester-day I figured out a handful of parts for songs on The Monkees, including a couple guitar phrases and the chords for "Saturday's Child" (although I think I might have learned one of the guitar phrases a few years ago).  I think I now know at least a little bit of each song on the album, but I'm hesitant to make that claim because 1) what I know of "Papa Gene's Blues" is just a simplified version of the opening guitar phrase and 2) I can't find the notation I wrote for the bass part in "Sweet Young Thing."  When I went looking for it, I found the first minute or so of the bass part for "Saturday's Child," which I had forgotten I'd figured out.  My audio example stops just before the bridge.

When I listened to The Monkees recently, one of the things I noticed is that many of the tracks have multiple guitar parts, so I'm not sure I've divided mine up accurately.  I think there are at least three in "Saturday's Child," of which I have two (the third echoes some phrases from the vocal, but I haven't tried figuring that out yet).  I played single notes in the right-panned guitar phrase, but I think they might actually be double-stops.  For what it's worth, the left-panned guitar phrase is in drop D tuning.

There's a bit of static in my recording that I couldn't seem to get rid of, and the rapid strumming doesn't seem to be in sync all the time, but this is enough to give an idea of the parts I know.

"I Wanna Be Free"

This morning I finally got around to listening to the second disc of the deluxe edition of The Monkees, and I noticed a small thing about "I Wanna Be Free."

"By" in the line "I wanna be free like the bluebirds flying by me" is sung with a melisma (B G), musically giving a sense of movement.

When I referenced the song in order to write this post, I also noticed that "things" in the line "Doing all those things" is sung with a melisma (D B), musically giving a sense of the number of "all those things."

Almost by accident, I figured out the chords (what chords are implied, at least), and in playing them over a few times, I noticed a third thing:  at the end of the line "Without any strings to tie me down," the chord progression moves to an F major (coinciding with "down").  The song is in G major, so this F major chord is a bit out of place (G major has F# notes), but musically it illustrates the freedom that the speaker/singer yearns for.

"This Just Doesn't Seem to Be My Day"

I follow Your Daily Dose of the Monkees on Instagram, and in recognition of the 52nd anniversary of the first episode's broadcast, there were some clips of the show.  I was catching up on things this morning, and while watching this one, I realized something else about "This Just Doesn't Seem to Be My Day."

The "stayed" in "Wish she would have stayed" in the backing vocals in the bridge is sung with a melisma (E D C#).  Because the word's drawn out, there's something of a sense of its meaning.

"Last Train to Clarksville"

A couple days ago, I figured out a few more parts for "Last Train to Clarksville" (the wordless vocal melody and chords in the bridge) and noticed something: the line "I'm feelin' low" descends (A G F E), musically reflecting that "low."

"Gonna Buy Me a Dog"

An-other small thing I noticed when I listened to The Monkees yester-day is in "Gonna Buy Me a Dog."  The "so" in the line "She used to keep me so contented" is sung with a melisma (E D), which emphasizes that adverb and gives a sense of the degree of contentedness.

"This Just Doesn't Seem to Be My Day"

Because to-day's the 52nd anniversary of the premier of The Monkees television show, I started listening to all of the Monkees albums I have (although I'm not going to set a schedule for listening to them).  When I listened to The Monkees this morning, I noticed a small thing about "This Just Doesn't Seem to Be My Day."

"Wakin' up" in the lines "'Stead of wakin' up to find / A nightmare of a different kind" is sung to an ascending phrase (B C# E).  To some degree, this ascent musically illustrates the "wakin' up."  It could be a literal portrayal of the "up" or merely the impression of getting up out of bed.

"Pleasant Valley Sunday"

Last Sunday, I was thinking about "Pleasant Valley Sunday," and I realized that the lines "Mothers complain about how hard life is / And the kids just don't understand" contain a grammatical ambiguity.  I'd always thought these two lines were linkt and that the mothers complained about two things: 1) how hard life is and 2) that the kids don't understand.  On Sunday, I realized that these could be two distinct statements: the mothers complain only about how hard life is, and - as a separate comment - the kids don't understand.

"Good Clean Fun"

Yester-day I figured out most of the chords for "Good Clean Fun," and I noticed a small feature:  in the bridge, "I look down" descends (C# A E), musically giving a sense of that "down."

"I'll Be True to You"

Yester-day I figured out the chords for "I'll Be True to You," and I remembered a couple things I noticed about the song back in September 2015:  the internal rhyme in the line "My heart is sure you're the girl I've waited for" illustrates the singer/speaker's certainty, and the repetition of the title line (along with its own emphatic "yes, I will") assures the listener of the singer/speaker's commitment.

"Here Come the Monkees"

Earlier this month I watched the Beatles' Help!, and (although I forgot about it until a few days ago) I noticed something that may have been borrowed in "Here Come the Monkees," the pilot episode of The Monkees.

In Help! the Beatles are introduced via a film in which they perform the title song.  Clang, upset that Ringo is in possession of the ring that's integral to his cult's sacrifices, throws darts at the Beatles' images on the screen:

In "Here Come the Monkees," Mike also throws darts at a picture of the Beatles.  Ringo seems to be his target too:

Taken by itself and within the fictional context of the show, Mike's throwing darts at the Beatles illustrates the Monkees' frustration that the Beatles are so much more popular than they are.  If the reference is recognized, however, this seems to illustrate how significant of an influence the Beatles were to the creators of the show, who copy even this self-deprecating element of Help!  Or perhaps this similarity is just coincidental.

"D.W. Washburn" b/w "It's Nice to Be with You"

According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, "D.W. Washburn" b/w "It's Nice to Be with You" - the Monkees' seventh single (Colgems 1023) - was released in the U.S. fifty years ago this month (June 1968).  Sandoval gives a specific day (21 June) for the U.K. release (RCA 1706).

"She Makes Me Laugh"

Yester-day I listened to Good Times! again and decided to start including it in this project (I'd intentionally been avoiding writing about it for a while because I just wanted to enjoy listening to it).  I have a couple little things to write about, but I think I might wait on those for a while to see if I can find anything more substantial.

I did notice something significant about "She Makes Me Laugh," specifically this recurring guitar phrase:

(I notated it an octave higher than it's played, and that second F# is a bent note.)

This guitar phrase is extremely similar to the recurring guitar phrases in the Beatles' "It Won't Be Long."  Those phrases vary a bit, but here's the one from around 0:24:

(Again, I notated this an octave higher than it's played, and I think that that G natural note is also bent.)

The rhythms match exactly, and while the melodies aren't the same, they are extremely similar.

"Circle Sky"

This morning I listened to Justus, and I noticed a small thing about "Circle Sky."  The line "Hamilton, smiling down" descends (G E E | E C# B A), musically representing that "down."  This articulation is also present in the live version included as a bonus track on the Head soundtrack.  The studio version on the Head soundtrack is fairly similar, but I think there's an extra D note, so: G D E E | E C# B A.

A couple months ago, I read the entry for 9 December 1967 in Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation where Mike Nesmith says, "'Hamilton smiling down,' one of the lyric lines in ["Circle Sky"], refers to the name on the music stand that I was sitting in front of."  I was surprised to discover shortly after reading this that my music stand also has "Hamilton" on it.  Because it's reflective, it was a bit difficult to get a good picture of it:

Apparently, this is the Hamilton KB400N.  I'm not sure if this is the specific type of music stand that Nesmith had, but I think it's pretty close.

"(Theme from) The Monkees"

Early this morning I was thinking about "(Theme from) The Monkees" and realized something about the shape of the melody for the chorus (except for the chorus before the instrumental section, which is a bit different).  The melody in each phrase is fairly conjunct (I think the biggest interval is a major third), and most of the phrases ascend, but at the end of the line "To put anybody down," there's a falling fourth (D to A), so that "down" is represented musically.

The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees

According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, the Monkees' fifth album - The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees (Colgems COM-109 [mono], COS-109 [stereo]) - was released fifty years ago this month (April 1968).  The U.K. release (RCA 7948) followed on 5 July.

Side One:

1. "Dream World"
2. "Auntie's Municipal Court"
3. "We Were Made for Each Other"
4. "Tapioca Tundra"
5. "Daydream believer"
6. "Writing Wrongs"

Side Two:

1. "I'll Be Back up on My Feet"
2. "The Poster"
3. "P.O. Box 9847"
4. "Magnolia Simms"
5. "Valleri"
6. "Zor and Zam"

"Mijacogeo (The Frodis Caper)"

According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, "Mijacogeo (The Frodis Caper)" - the fifty-eighth and last episode of The Monkees series (and the twenty-sixth of the second season) - was broadcast fifty years ago to-day (25 March 1968).  It was written by Micky Dolenz, Dave Evans, and Jon Anderson, directed by Micky Dolenz, and featured the songs "Zor and Zam" and "Song of the Siren" (performed by Tim Buckley).  Sandoval describes the plot as: "The group battle with the evil Wizard Glick (Rip Taylor) who plans to take over the world through the hypnotic spell of television."

"Zilch"

This morning I watched Oklahoma! for the first time.  I think I may have read somewhere that this is the source of the line "Never mind the furthermore, the plea is self-defense" in "Zilch" (and also "No Time"), but now that I've actually seen the movie, I know the context from which the line is taken.

Near the end of the movie there's an improvised trial (something of a formality that the characters want to rush through), and as one character explains his actions ("And furthermore..."), he's interrupted by the judge, who says, "Never mind the 'furthermore,' the plea is self-defense."  Because I hadn't seen the movie and didn't know the context, I didn't know that the "furthermore" in this quote is itself a quote.

"Monkees Blow Their Minds"

According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, "Monkees Blow Their Minds" - the fifty-seventh episode of The Monkees series (and the twenty-fifth of the second season) - was broadcast fifty years ago to-day (11 March 1968).  It was written by Peter Meyerson, directed by David Winters, and featured the songs "Valleri," "Gonna Buy Me a Dog" (instrumental mix), and "Daily Nightly."  Sandoval describes the plot as: "Peter is suffering from writers' block and seeks help from a manipulative mentalist."

"Some Like It Lukewarm"

According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, "Some Like It Lukewarm" - the fifty-sixth episode of The Monkees series (and the twenty-fourth of the second season) - was broadcast fifty years ago to-day (4 March 1968).  It was written by Joel Kane and Stanley Z. Cherry, directed by James Frawley, and featured the songs "The Door into Summer" and "She Hangs Out."  Sandoval describes the plot as: "When the group enters a mixed-gender 'rockathon' Davy learns that band contests can be a drag."

To demonstrate the recent HD restoration of the footage, this full episode is on the Monkees' YouTube channel:

"Monkees Mind Their Manor"

According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, "Monkees Mind Their Manor" - the fifty-fifth episode of The Monkees series (and the twenty-third of the second season) - was broadcast fifty years ago to-day (26 February 1968).  It was written by Coslough Johnson, directed by Peter H. Thorkelson (Peter Tork), and featured the song "Star Collector"  Sandoval describes the plot as: "The group travel to England to sort out Davy's inheritance of Sir Malcolm Kibee's estate."

"The Monkees in Paris"

According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, "The Monkees in Paris" - the fifty-fourth episode of The Monkees series (and the twenty-second of the second season) - was broadcast fifty years ago to-day (19 February 1968).  It was written and directed by Robert Rafelson, and featured the songs "Love Is Only Sleeping," "Don't Call on Me," "Star Collector," and "Goin' Down."  Sandoval describes the plot as: "The group, bored with the grind of their television show, flee to Paris for some freeform frolics."

"Monkees Race Again"

According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, "Monkees Race Again" - the fifty-third episode of The Monkees series (and the twenty-first of the second season) - was broadcast fifty years ago to-day (12 February 1968).  It was written by Dave Evans, Elias Davis, and David Pollack, directed by James Frawley, and featured the song "What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round?"  Sandoval describes the plot as: "The group come to the rescue of a friend whose race car is the victim of sabotage."

"The Devil & Peter Tork"

According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, "The Devil & Peter Tork" - the fifty-second episode of The Monkees series (and the twentieth of the second season) - was broadcast fifty years ago to-day (5 February 1968).  It was written by Gerald Gardner, Dee Caruso, and Robert Kaufman, directed by James Frawley, and featured the songs "Salesman" and "No Time."  Sandoval describes the plot as: "Peter sells his soul to the Devil (Monte Landis) during a lesson in music and morality."

"Valleri" b/w "Tapioca Tundra"

According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, "Valleri" b/w "Tapioca Tundra" - the Monkees' sixth single (Colgems 1019) - was released in the U.S. fifty years ago this month (February 1968).  Sandoval lists two different dates for the U.K. release.  In the same box that details the U.S. release, he notes that the U.K. single (RCA 1673) was released in April, but later in the chronology, he says it was released on 22 March.

"The Monkees' Paw"

According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, "The Monkees' Paw" - the fifty-first episode of The Monkees series (and the nineteenth of the second season) - was broadcast fifty years ago to-day (29 January 1968).  It was written by Coslough Johnson, directed by James Frawley, and featured the songs "Words" and "Goin' Down."  Sandoval describes the plot as: "Micky buys a mystical monkey's paw from a malicious magician."

"Monstrous Monkee Mash"

According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, "Monstrous Monkee Mash" - the fiftieth episode of The Monkees series (and the eighteenth of the second season) - was broadcast fifty years ago to-day (22 January 1968).  It was written by Neil Burstyn and David Panich, directed by James Frawley, and featured the song "Goin' Down."  Sandoval describes the plot as: "When Davy falls for a mysterious woman, The Monkees enter a spooky scene with Dracula, a Wolfman, and the Mummy."

"Monkees Watch Their Feet"

According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, "Monkees Watch Their Feet" - the forty-ninth episode of The Monkees series (and the seventeenth of the second season) - was broadcast fifty years ago to-day (15 January 1968).  It was written by Coslough Johnson, directed by Alex Singer, and featured the song "Star Collector."  Sandoval describes the plot as: "Smothers Brothers star Pat Paulsen narrates this bizarre tale of alien abduction."

"Fairy Tale"

According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, "Fairy Tale" - the forty-eighth episode of The Monkees series (and the sixteenth of the second season) - was broadcast fifty years ago to-day (8 January 1968).  It was written by Peter Meyerson, directed by James Frawley, and featured the song "Daily Nightly."  Sandoval describes the plot as: "The group put their own twist on a classic fairy tale."

"The Picture Frame" and "Hitting the High Seas"

A couple days ago, I was thinking about "The Picture Frame," and I realized that one of the jokes is reused in "Hitting the High Seas."  In "The Picture Frame," after the Monkees unwittingly rob a bank, they return to the studio and run into Peter, who explains his absence, saying, "I went to stage one at two o'clock instead of stage two at one."  This same reversal of numbers is in "Hitting the High Seas."  After Reynolds hires Micky, Peter, and Davy to be sailors, he tells them, "Six in the mornin', pier three," after which Davy incorrectly repeats, "Three o'clock, pier six."  Probably not coincidentally, both episodes were written by Jack Winter.