Rant #2,249: A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You

Looking down the list of stories that Yahoo wants you to read on its home page today, I really wasn't taken with any of them.

The Megyn Kelly debacle continues. She said on her show the other day that it was OK for people in costume to paint their faces, and that includes people in blackface and people in whiteface.

Of course, the OK she gave to black face stirred up the PC crowd, who related blackface to the Jim Crow days and the discrimination against blacks. They aren't wrong this time around, but taken within the context of whiteface, blueface, greeenface and whatever face you decide to paint yourself, it appears that the quote was a bit taken out of context, but even after an apology, she was canned, and is now suing NBC.

I also saw that singer/forever troubled soul Sinead O'Connor has converted to Islam. This woman was at the height of her game nearly 30 years ago with her hit Prince cover "Nothing Compares 2 U," but since that time, has suffered from severe mental illness issues, has seen her career crash to the ground, and I dare say that her latest move might just sink her further into the abyss.

And as far as those bombs I talked about yesterday, there is some thought that they are actually being sent by a Democratic supporter to breed sympathy for the party, and thus, votes in the upcoming elections. There is too much scalawag to totally dismiss this notion, but if it turns out to be true, well, who knows? Just stop it, already.

So what am I going to talk about on the last day of the week? I am going to go after something out of left field, something you might know about, something you might not know about, and its importance in the history of rock and roll is left up to you.

In early 1967, there was no hotter pop/rock act on the planet than the Monkees. Say what you want to about them, but not only were they having hit records all over the place during this period, but they had a weekly, NBC network show to sell their songs. Heck, even the Beatles didn't have that.

Their music supervisor was Don Kirshner, who basically chose the music, chose the musicians he wanted to play on the music--usually not the Monkees themselves, and more about that later--and really ruled over the put-together act as a true svengali.

Well, the long and short of it was that the Monkees were so popular that they outgrew their creator, and at this point in time, decided in a classic fit of biting the hand that feeds you that they wanted to call all the musical shots. They wanted to choose the music, choose the musicians playing on these songs--them, and whoever else they wanted--and basically, wanted to rule their own destinies.

Kirshner wouldn't hear of it, and in March 1967, with a full revolt in order--during a legendary argument between Michael Nesmith and Kirshner, Nesmith put his fist through a wall and said, "This could have been your head!"--he tried to rush release a single in America, with "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" on the A side and "She Hangs Out" on the B side.

The release was immediately pulled in the U.S., but in other places, and in this case, Canada, this single did come out.

Kirshner also put out the LP "More of the Monkees" without the knowledge of the act, pouring gas on an already raging fire.

Kirshner was fired, the Monkees went on to rule their own musical destinies from hereon in, and were somewhat successful in doing so.

Kirshner went on to create the Archies, where he didn't have to endure such backtalk and sass, and well, the rest is history.

The "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" single did come out in the U.S., but with the Monkees' own turn as a full band on the B side in Nesmith's "The Girl I Knew Somewhere," and it hit No. 3 on the American chart. It holds some special significance for me, personally, because it is the first record I ever bought with my own money, and yes, not only is the image above that very singe, it still plays quite well more than 50 years later.

But that Canadian single of Kirshner's did get through, and it reached No. 1 on that country's singles chart.

The only reason that I even mention this is that at long last, I finally have the Canadian single as part of my own collection.

Yes, I caved into eBay to get it, but get it I did, at a pretty good price, too, one that didn't set my bank accounts ablaze.

Every time I had seen the single offered--which wasn't too often--it was priced at a ridiculous rate, and there was no way that I was going to buy it.

But I finally found it priced reasonably, and it is now firmly in my collection.

I know that this is not an earth shattering event for anyone but me, but it is just another piece of my Monkees bucket list that I have checked off.

I still need an original, 1968 copy of "The Birds, the Bees and the Monkees" in mono, probably their rarest American recording, but I know that someday I will find it, whether sooner or later.

But at least I now have this recording in my collection, so onward and upward!

Now, isn't that more interesting than talking about bombs and Megyn Kelly and Sinead O'Connor?

Well, no, you don't have to answer that.

I will be busy on Monday, so I will see you again on Tuesday. Have a good weekend, and hold down the fort for me while I take Monday off from this column.

Speak to you again then.