ILLUMINATING DRINK: Mark Mikel on The Monkees part one

Friday 21 December 2007

Mark Mikel on The Monkees part one

Mark Mikel loves

Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz, Davey Jones and Mike Nesmith

Mark Mikel is a huge Monkees fan and here are some of his thoughts on the band's albums....
If you're a fan of 1960's pop music then you'll love almost anything by The Monkees. Not only is Micky Dolenz one of rock's all time best singers but the amount of talent poured into those tracks amaze me to this day.The Monkees only made 3 GREAT albums (to me) out of 11- "Headquarters," "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones LTD," and "Head." The rest is a treasure hunt with many riches and undesirables. Lots of their best stuff was never released until the Missing Links Comps on Rhino (late 80s-early 90s).Here's my quick synopsis on their output:

The Monkees - 1966 pop music at it's finest. A hodge podge of producers: Boyce & Hart, Mike Nesmith, Jack Keller. Not ground-breaking but essential for anyone who wants to learn how to write and arrange a good song. Nesmith employs The Wrecking Crew who play on more 60s records than you even want to know (most notably Phil Spector's Wall of Sound and The Beach Boys singles/albums). Album highlights: Saturday's Child, Papa Gene's Blues, Take a Giant Step, Last Train to Clarksville, Sweet Young Thing, Gonna Buy Me a Dog.

More of the Monkees - more of the same as the title implies but adds-in producer Jeff Barry who scores big with "I'm a Believer." Also Neil Sedaka and Carol Bayer produce a decent sleeper on there "When Love Comes Knockin (At Your Door)". This is their biggest selling album but also the one that pissed off Nesmith to high extremes. Rhino recently released the deluxe editions of the first two albums and they give you all the Nez productions that were left off the original releases. It becomes obvious that music supervisor Don Kirshner really dogged him because MN's schtuff was by far the best. Album highlights: She, Mary,Mary, Your Auntie Grizelda, (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone, Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow), Sometime in the Morning, I'm a Believer.
She from More of the Monkees was the first Monkees song I ever heard. I had to beg my dad for it when he was buying a stack of platters for his new Zenith console. He was stocking up on Herb Alpert, Al Hirt, Simon & Garfunkel, The Sound of Music Sountrack...I loved those too. I embarrassed him at the check out counter by pleading like I was pleading for my life. I guess I really was because he relented and my life as I know it began that night. I received the debut Monkees album in September 67 for my birthday from my uncle who was always impressed at my note for note "Your Auntie Grizelda" recital. He was also responsible for getting me PAC&J LTD. The Monkees music changed my life and I've never changed back.

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Welcome to the multicoloured world of The Pillbugs

Official Bio. The origin of The Pillbugs can be traced back to January of 1991. That's when Mark Kelley first called Mark Mikel up and asked him to form a new band. Kelley brought in drummer Dan Chalmers and Mikel brought in vocalist Dave Murnen and a guitarist who would eventually be replaced 4 times until they found the perfect fit with Scott Tabner (a mutual friend of Kelley and Mikel's).
They became The Mark Mikel Hallucination and started performing shows around Toledo. In 1996 after a respectable amount of local recognition and radio airplay, Mikel wanted to create a new identity for the group. "They deserved to be seen as equals and not just my backing band," Mikel said, "I came up with the idea of The Pillbugs and that we'd go WAY deeper into psychedelia. We released our first album on CD in 1998 on our own label (Omniphonic). I believe it was the first debut release to contain a double CD's worth of new and never-before-released music. Until someone proves me wrong - that's what I believe. The point is we wanted to make something people had to notice." This first release took off very slowly but eventually (with the help of the internet) became a somewhat sought after CD.
The second Pillbugs CD "The 3-Dimensional In-Popcycle Dream" (originally another double set) was completed in early 2001. With no real money to put behind it, it sat on the shelf until 2003 until later when they signed with indie label (Proverus). "Proverus had us strip down the album to 1 CD (a brilliant move actually) and then we inserted a 3D Viewmaster reel to make it really crazy," Mikel reveals.
That album was released during the summer of 2003. Proverus helped the group get a lot of notoriety (especially on the web) and also helped to book and manage gigs. 3D sold out of the first run in a matter of 2 months (most of them going to Japan). That was successful enough for Proverus to want a follow-up. The next summer they released their 3rd CD "Happy Birthday" though dark times were looming.
Mark Kelley had been diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer in 1999. By the time "Happy Birthday" was released in August of 2004, Kelley had lost his voice completely and could hardly stand on his own two legs.
Knowing their wasn't much time left, the 5 friends took to recording one last album together. "Buzz for Aldrin" sessions began in Sept. 2004, just as Mark Kelley took another down turn and was admitted to the hospital. Recording continued with The Pillbugs not knowing if Kelley would ever return.
He eventually did return and was able to contribute the bass guitar to most of the album from his wheelchair- with a permanent breathing machine surgically attached to his throat. Then the studio recording equipment broke down and it was in repair for over seven months. "By the time the guy got around to fixing it," adds Mikel, "Mark Kelley was past the point of being able to record with us. It took me a long time to get back into the groove and finish the album."
"But we eventually finished it though the recording sessions seemed jinxed from start to finish."
To provide the right grandeur for the release, The Pillbugs employed renowned California artist Mark Roland* to supply the CD art.
The new Pillbugs double disc set "Buzz for Aldrin" was released by Proverus on June 19, 2007.
The Pillbugs signed with Rainbow Quartz and their first CD with RQ, "Monclovia" was released on Oct. 30, 2007.
Everybody Wants A Way Out their second rainbow Quartz album was released Nov. 10th, 2008.
In March 2011 Mark formed two new combos, The Mark Mikel Band and Dark Ocean Colors with Scott Hunt, with two albums by the latter coming soon on Rainbow Quartz

*Mark Roland is indeed a very talented artist look here for a few more examples of his art
http://www.orycon.org/orycon26/markroland.html

update...and his new website is here
The Art Of Mark Roland
http://www.rolandscapes.com/

Friday 21 December 2007

Mark Mikel on The Monkees part one

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