Imaginary Interview: Mike Nesmith

From time to time, ThermionicEmissions interviews interesting people, usually ones who play guitar. Imagine that. So far Justin Currie (Del Amitri) and Jimi Hendrix (Jimi Hendrix) have appeared in these pages. Unfortunately the interviews are all one-way because.... can you see me trying to contact Jimi? Justin? "Hey, man, big fan. Would you do an interview for a blog with several actual readers?" Or "I thought you were dead, man..."

Inspired by a recent interview video on YouTube, I figured Mr. Nesmith (Nez to people who know him. I don't know him.) would be a prime target person of interest for the blog.

• Nez (may I call you Nez?), it's so great to see you after all these years. I'm not sure what it is that's different.. must be the hat. No, wait, we're related (one pair of chrome domes).

• Congrats on that Liquid Paper thing - your mom was a genius.

• Where did the hat come from? Was it after a meeting of the Executive Committee? Did you know that your concessions don't sell the proper shade of green? And no choice of buttons.

• You mentioned you're not a collector, even of guitars. What are/were your favorite guitars over the years? What is your desert island guitar?

• The guitar-centric interviews always talk about guitars, but what about amps? I saw some old footage of you guys, dressed in white. You were playing a 3 pickup SG (LP) through what looked like a combination Marshall and Acoustic(?) speaker setup. Did you enjoy that? Where are you on the tube/solid state argument? What is your desert island amp?

• Some of the Monkees interviews have taken time and experience into view, specifically about the external producers/band as a product years. You put your hand through a wall during a meeting with Don(nie) Kirschner. Can you tell me about that, along with any differences in your thoughts today?

• Joanne is a song that really resonates with me. Can you tell me how it was written - by experience, perhaps? Did your writing methods change during and after the Monkees?

• Aside from the obvious differences, how do your solo work performances compare to Monkees shows? Have you ever been chased by adolescent girls after a solo show?  <-- this is what we call a setup

• I write some mean parodies but can't seem to cross over into serious songs. The parodies go over well but I think it's time to add real songs to the resume. Any advice?

• Did growing up in Texas prepare you for stardom and fame around the globe?   <-- this is also what we call a setup, or a Really Dumb Question.

• Does the quality of groupies change over the years? Do you have any film? Regale us with stories, please. Are the STDs any better or worse these days?

• There were Monkees feuds over the years: how do you view them and what are your thoughts on them now, in light of 50% of the group missing?

• You and Frank Zappa always strike me as being too cool for the room, but not intentionally. You're both bright, but tell me why I get that impression. I know Frank appeared on a show and in your movie, Head.

• How could/should Head have been made differently? Would it include less of Certain Substances in the writing process? Do you ever see Jack Nicholson these days? Speaking of Certain Substances, do you ever see Jimi Hendrix these days?

• Were you ever inspired to stand in front of a wall of Marshalls and pull a Jimi? Did you ever get the Purple Haze riff down after he showed it to you?

• Aside from Jimi and the Beatles, what other rock royalty did you meet? How about Jeff Beck? Would you guys sign my #1 Strat?

• You guys are pretty humble in your talk of the Beatles, but they threw a party for you, partied with you, you saw them record, and you outsold them at one point. Do you have any further comment on that? The four kings of EMI are sitting stately on the floor....

• How could anyone drive the Monkeemobile with that huge intake thingie coming out of the hood? Didn't it obstruct the view (or was that the idea)?

• You were (and are) a serious hero to many kids growing up in many generations. I know you were to me. You don't think highly of yourself as a guitar player, but you were very influential. What do you think about that?

• If you could be a lawnmower, what kind of lawnmower would you be?

Thanks so much, Nez. We'll be looking for you on tour with Mickey and solo.

Remembering Davy and Stuff

The wife and I spent a large part of the past weekend watching the Monkees marathon on Antenna TV.  Antenna TV is the second worst broadcast tv channel available, the first being THIS.  But since Antenna has been running the Monkees, we have been watching.

The schedule was every episode from both seasons then their movie (Head) late Sunday.  I couldn't wait, noting that I had never seen Head.  My wife remarked she had, about four times.  I suggested that I watch and she practice.  This was followed immediately by a large amount of tea coming from her nostrils.  For some reason I usually end up wearing a lot of what she drinks.

Like the Beatles, there will be no reunion.  Mike never really toured with them so even the touring Monkees are done as we know them.

I have vague recollections of watching the Monkees when I was little.  I remember enjoying the show but being bothered that they were lip-synching.  I might have even had a little Monkeemobile but that was quite a while ago.  As reruns came up, I watched.

In addition to Davy, we lost Ronnie Montrose over the weekend.  He was a talented guitarist for whom Sammy Hagar sang at one point.  All this loss has got me to considering the inevitable numerical end of this sequence.  In other words, they're dying off at the old end and we're not replacing them on the young end.  This will eventually leave us with no one.  Seriously, are we going to know, hear, or care when Coldplay dies?

Where is our next Led Zeppelin?  Jimi Hendrix?  Even the Monkees?  Yes, we have mountains of prefabricated product at our disposal and that's what they are: disposable.  This is the inevitable conclusion of record company greed - where everything is product, everything is the same, and the Great Unwashed doesn't know the difference.  Turn on your tv and watch.  Or better yet, turn it off.

Rolling Stone magazine once said Kurt Cobain was the next Hendrix.  This was the precise moment I gave up reading Rolling Stone forever.

We might want to consider bodyguards and live-in physicians for Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and others, in our own self-interest.  Mister Page might not relish someone bursting into his mansion and demanding he undertake a serious health regimen but hey - we're buying his stuff and we need to watch over our investment.  It's purely out of love.

At least we still have the Rolling Stones.
Sort of.