[Drumbo]

For those following the informative history of music as told by Publius (and you should), the geniuses of Brill Building should be familiar by now. This song, and in fact many of the Monkees' songs came from that stable of inovative song writers. Penned by Carole King and Gerry Goffin it's a true space oddessy (pun intended).

It incorporates one of the earliest uses of the Moog synthesizer on record layered with the Monkees trademark off-beat Farfissa organ and it's not very remarkable besides that. It was so early in the evolution of Robert Moog's invention that the musicians hardly knew what to make of it, but in the mid-sixties it was cutting edge technology and added the "spacy" sounds such a zany song called for.

The musicians on the track (as they were on most of The Monkees recordings) was the legendary LA Wrecking Crew who provided the backing tracks for scores of hits ranging from Sonny & Cher to Paul Revere and The Raiders and The Beach Boys. The Monkees took scathing criticism for not playing their own instuments on their early recordings when in fact, almost every band on the West Coast used the Wreking Crew as hitmaking gunslingers. Wrecking Crew drummer Hal Blaine jokingly recalls that in the words of Igor Stravinsky, this song went on far too long after the end, but it does pay tribute to the psychedelic middle sections popularized by heavier bands of the day like Steppenwolf. Again Davy is the featured singer here, although Micky Dolenz keeps a running banter and solid double-tracked harmonies.

Star Collector
~ The Monkees ~

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[Publius]

Well, gosh, Drumbo, you're making me blush.

(blush blush)

[Fiji Hill]

This is my favorite Monkees recording. It's far out, groovy, and out of sight--and quite different from most of their repertoire. It is said to be the first popular recording to use the Moog synthesizer.

Daily, Nightly (1967)