As it happens, my very first music cassette (yes, Virginia, there used to be these things called cassettes) was a Monkees collection from Rhino that I got sometime in middle school. I used to love the TV show which I would watch every day after school.

So, either I’ve come full circle or I’m regressing.

Songs that hold up particularly well (IMO):

“Last Train to Clarksville”
“Papa Gene’s Blues”

“Steppin’ Stone” (later covered by the Sex Pistols!)

“Mary, Mary” (later covered – sort of – by RUN DMC!)

“Goin’ Down”

“What Am I Doin’ Hagnin’ Round?”

“The Girl I Knew Somewhere”

Apparently Mike Nesmith went on to become a kind of icon in the alt-country world. You can definitely hear the seeds of that on the songs he wrote and performed.