Tue, June 9, 1998~
I just finished reading The Monkees Tale, By Eric Lefcowitz, and Monkeemania by Glenn A Baker, for the first time. I shall go Nez on the authors!!! They liberally interjected opinion and represented it as fact!!! And the facts that were there, were frequently incorrect. I wonder what the authors found interesting about the
Monkees, since many pages are littered with negative comments.. >:-| Here are my thoughts on both books:
Monkeemania; The True Story of The Monkees: (True? Baker backer?)
Spelling and grammar errors: Ever heard of Bort Schneider? Or Talua Jones? The pages blatantly abounded with spelling errors in both names and words that could easily have been corrected if an editor was present. Where was the editor? Was he a lobotomy victim? Or did he just plain die? Was there an editor?
Incorrect information: It's sad when I, a Monkee fan of only a year, can identify an overwhelming number errors in a book about the Monkees. Apparently the author didn't abide by the writer's adage: "Know your topic."
Incorrect eppy quotes: The author gives us several quotes that never appeared in eppies (I have the box set, so I know that these quotes weren't from parts N@N or VH1 cut). Then, he glomped a few quotes from two separate scenes together (these scenes, in reality, were about 10 scenes apart) and called them one scene.
Wrong eppy names and descriptions: The pics are from both seasons, as well as one mystery picture that wasn't from any eppy!!!! Now, dig the names of these eppies! "Prince and the Pauper," "Monkee For Mayor," "A La Carte," "The Monkey's Paw" and "Monkees In The Movies." Dig these eppy descriptions! This is
word for word, including titles.
"At the Circus" ~ The Monkees join an unsuccessful circus troupe and leap to stardom.
"Monkees In Texas" ~ During a visit to Mike's Aunt the Monkees become involved in a family feud
"Fairy Tale" ~ Each Monkees acts out his favorite fairy tale in pantomime, with Mike portraying a bad tempered Princess.
Negative opinions served as fact: I got the impression this guy did not like the Monkees' as a musical group, TV show or as individuals. He peppered his book with quotes from say, one Monkee negatively commenting about another. It was like the author-dude was trying to stir up gossip for some Enquirer article
Then there are his go-Nez-inspiring opinions such as this one, in reference to The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees: "The
process was a disaster, however, and the album an abomination..... Pyschedelic stupidity at its worst....." You get the picture.
And, as if this book couldn't get any worse, there is an almost-full-page picture of the hu-HU lady kissing Peter!!!!!! Deadly kookout!!!!
*~ Wait, there's more!!! I have to kook over The Monkees Tale:
More of the above, but a little more subtle.
Dig these examples (more evil opinion): Albums being sabotaged by Mike, Davy's limited vocal abilites, Zor and Zam is an unpardonable sin which was little more than pseudo-Grace Slick ranting, half-baked music, etc. etc.
Contradictory information: All I can do is give you an example. He writes: "In the end, Goffin and King were arguably the most consistently inspired of the Monkees' songwriters." Not two sentences later, he states, "..the band released a two-sided turkey as their next single -- Boyce and Hart's "Clarksville" retread, "Tear Drop City," with Goffin/King's "A Man Without A Dream" Once again, the public virtually ignored the songs, which, for the
Monkees, was probably just as well."
Wrong Information: The aliens in Monkees Watch Their Feet were not from planet Spritz. Try ZLOTNIK, Mr. Author! <------- One of the MANY mistakes.
Reading these two books led to a greater appreciation of The Monkees; A Manufactured Image, a 99.9% reliable source of Monkee info (The only problem I've had with it was regarding who built the Monkeemobeo).
THANKS FOR READING MY RANTING!!!! YOU ALL DESERVE CHERRIES AND GWEN AWARDS!!!!!
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