the stripy background. - Part 2.

So I have been thinking more about this background thing. I mean, it's in a lot of their videos and they are wearing the same clothes (well, maybe a couple of velvet shirt/blanket changes for Micky and Davy.) All of these videos were most likely filmed on the same day. And just like anything else, I must get to the bottom of it!


(Boy, if there were a job that was like "CSI: The 60s", I'd be RICH)

CAPE?! Check.

SPYGLASS?! Check.

GOOGLE?! Check.

Now on with the show!

How ridiculously hard is it to try and find info about this? I know the show was only filmed for two years -- 59 (?) episodes, but COME ON! I mean, there is a Monkees cover band for crap's sake (and I don't understand why you would pay to see a cover band when you can see the real band for nearly free, Sorry, Monkees, but it's kinda true). Cover band = success and should = more info on the web. All I've found out so far is that this was filmed in 1967. I feel foiled!

WAIT! I've got an idea!

Hmm. Okay. Screen grabs of all the videos to compare clothing! It's brilliant!

Daydream Believer

Love is Only Sleeping

No Time

Pleasant Valley Sunday

Randy Scouse Git

She Hangs Out

Okay. Let's Start with Mike.

White shirt. Blue, striped tie, sometimes not. Rust, perhaps brown pants and a blue suit jacket thrown into the mix. I'll go so far as to suggest the suit jacket has white ruffles on the ends of the sleeves.

Micky

Striped turtleneck, rug, grey pants (are they striped?) and then blue velvet/felt/cotton/ whatever top when it's not the rug. Oh wait, then he's wearing a red Monkee shirt.

Davy

Oh Davy. Handsome. And besides the handsome he's also sporting black pants, a red, velvet Monkee top, which gets changed out to the George Harrison / I Am The Walrus top. Then at one point, or rather the Love Is Only Sleeping point, he seems to be wearing Peter's ivory outfit. Why you'd want to wear an outfit that your friend was just sweating in.. I don't know.

And lastly Peter.

Peter is wearing an ivory top with beads, and white pants, then he gets rid of the ivory top (presumably to give to Davy) and puts on a brown puffy shirt complete with brown leather(?) vest. Then he drops the brown puffy shirt for a blue puffy shirt, but keeps the brown vest.

Most of the pictures were stolen from this site The Vincent Van-Gogh-Gogh! Also check out this site which is linked through the above - FashionState.com .

I also found that from 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee that Micky's wearin' that rug - thing, again. Hippie.

But I think it's just Micky digging that thing, rather than it being a clue. Although... Look at Davy's hair. It was likely filmed very close to the filming of these videos.

Which, by the way...

Okay, back to the task at hand. Wait! Look at Pete's sideburns - too long. Scratch all this evidence. So all we've gathered from this is that Micky tooled around in that get-up a lot and the weezer cover looks strikingly similar to that 33 1/3 pic... Interesting....

I don't think I'm any closer to the truth than when I started.

The stripy background.

I EFFIN' LOVE THE MONKEES! (They may have paved the way for your little Jonas Brothers business, so not another word about it, youngins.)

Ah. The Monkees. I have 3 million things I could go on and on about The Monkees, but I, being in the craptastic mood I'm finding myself, I want to fangirl over that stripy background that's in so many viddies. It makes me happy. Like candy.






I think the most hilarious videos come from the day they had the striped background. Off the top of my head, here are some of the videos stolen from the YouTube.




Daydream Believer









Love is Only Sleeping






No Time







She Hangs Out







Randy Scouse Git 







I know there are some that I am forgetting... Anyway, enjoy the Wonka-like goodness. And then go brush your teeth and eat an apple. 


Okay, then enjoy this as some dessert....

The fans.

"The world used us as an excuse to go mad." --  George Harrison
As a Beatle fan, I do understand that I am prone to screaming and ear pulling at every mention of the Fab Four. Perhaps this is why Beatle girls (and occasionally boys) in full on mania are my fave.

It must be because I look at these fools and I think, "Don't they know they look ridiculous?! The Beatles would never pick you. I would never scream like that. Fools." But I so would. I do. I mean, Beatle Rock Band comes out and here's me. 

The Remasters?

Maybe it's that there are crazy people out there. And I relate to them. I embrace them. 

Like the fans from this clip of  The Beatles First US Visit . Beginning at about 4:30, my ladies roll into view

At least the fans in London, those ladies got to hang outside of Paul McCartney's house and get stuff signed. 

Or they went down the block to Abbey Road Studios and hung out there. 

The hard(corps) even got their own nickname. "Apple Scruffs". I would've been one of those ladies. Hear you me. So awesome were they, two of them were invited in to sing on Across The Universe (which John saw as a passive-aggressive attack by Paul to sabotage his song) though that version was never released on a Beatle record. And George Harrison wrote a little song for them. 

And I'm not the only one. Zemeckis made a whole movie about it (and it is HILARIOUS! fyi) 

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

And I just found this. I'm not sure what it is, what it means, but it looks exactly like something I must investigate further.

So my little Beatle Droogs, I am not alone. Don't mock me.