Haha, I didn’t notice that either. 
A marriage of convenience between a man and a woman, which serves as a cover for one or both of the partners being homosexual, particularly in the case in which one or both of them is a public figure or celebrity.
It’s when two people marry to disguise the fact that one or both of them is gay.
Oh and No.
Nobody who wasn’t around at the time can conceive of how radical The Monkees were in 1966. Rock music was entering into another “devil music” period. Shindig and Hullabaloo had been cancelled earlier in the year. Only a few groups appeared on variety shows. Sitcoms incorporated fantasy but not lack of structure.
And nobody ever anywhere showed young people on their own without adult authority figures. (Yes, there was kinda one for about an episode and a half. Poof, gone.)
The Monkees were innocent and cute and harmless and like a bomb. They lived together in a house that made even the Addams Family mansion look like Levittown. They had fun constantly. They played with toys. Yet they earned their own money and succeeded. They mocked the “suits,” the “establishment,” and the “man.” And got away with it. Nobody told them off, or grounded them, or sent them to their rooms.
Then once or twice a show, they romped through music videos. The music was cheesy in the beginning but was sold by the videos. The first two albums spent the entire tv season - 31 straight weeks! - at number one. After a one-week break (to Herb Alpert!) their third album, Headquarters, on which they wrote all the music and played all the instruments, they went back to number one for one week. What happened? Sgt. Pepper’s. For 15 weeks. Yet Headquarters stayed number two for almost that entire stretch. And their fourth album spent five weeks on top at the end of 1967. They had the number one or two album in the country for a full year.
Like everything else in the 60s, by the end of season two the tv show spiraled out of control. Rock purists professed to hate them and all the plastic marketing they stood for. The Byrds put out “So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” about them, even though The Byrds had themselves been replaced by studio musicians for “Mr. Tambourine Man.”
None of it mattered. People who remember love The Monkees. Their tours were incredible fun. The Beatles had reintroduced fun into the grey 60s world before their fame destroyed that. The Monkees brought that fun into living rooms and did so simply because they weren’t “adults.” And despite they’re not being adults. Pure dynamite. You can think about them as the candy before the storm, but they were far more important. They really were the American Beatles in terms of impact. The world changed.
I just learned the sad news, and I haven’t read anything of this thread, not even the OP, but I’m shattered, just shattered by these news. And I’m angry, because the source from where I got it from, spiegel.de, only calls him “the former Monkees singer” and only mentions his other, later achievements only in passing in the last sentence of the article. He was so much more, a pioneer of country rock (even when he was with the Monkees), one of the most clever and witty songwriters of his generation and all in all just a likable guy. I know a solo live recording from some time around the late seventies where he retells some of the crazy hi-jinks he had with fans when he was a Monkee, and it’s hilarious. RIP Mike Nesmith, you done good, as Snowboarder_Bo would say, if he hasn’t already.
Well, this news make me very sad. The world has lost a lovely and talented person.
Rest in Peace Mike. What a gift you were.
That’s a shot of Mike Nesmith and Frank Zappa.Can you tell who is who?
From other threads I know you’re a country music fan. You should check out Michael Nesmith’s work with the First National Band and his solo recordings, you really can’t hear much better country rock. Look out for his congenial pedal steel player Red Rhodes, especially on the ironically titled album “And The Hits Just Keep On Comin’”, where the two, out of cost-reducing matters, are just dueting without a rhythm section. It’s wonderful.
I’ll check Nesmith’s country album out. Thank you
They did a whole interview in those roles. Mike Nesmith & Frank Zappa - The Monkees - YouTube
To break the sadness a bit, here’s a joyous song:
ETA: I’m listening to it right now, on the second Nesmith album I’ve listened to in a row since I heard the news. It’s 1:19 AM where I live, but I will be listening to him the whole night…
There is a fairly compelling case the The Monkees should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, especially given Mike’s pioneering work with country rock and their use of videos long before MTV.
Given that bands like The Dave Clark Five have been in it for years, I’ve always been convinced that the Mike, Micky, Peter and Davy got screwed by Jann.
I’d heard he’d been ill of late but Mike’s passing greatly saddens me.
Thank SO much for that! I never knew that there was in interview, I only knew the pictures. It’s hilarious! I love how “how to play a car” is a shout out to “how to play a bicycle”, Zappa’s first TV appearance ever.
Here’s another cheery song, an instrumental the Buckaroos couldn’t have played better:
You gave me some good tips on country music I should listen to in the past, especially the one for Emmylou Harris’s live album “Last Date”, which I love. If you like Emmylou, Michael Nesmith should be right in your ballpark.
My favorite Monkees cover - Michael Nesmith’s Mary, Mary by the Butterfield Blues Band. Apparently some blues purists were a bit outraged when they found out that this ostensible blues-rock band had covered a “teenybopper” song 
. RIP Mr. Nesmith:
I have no more than I did before
But now I’ve got all that I need
For I love you and I know you love me
As a young teen the Monkees introduced me into fandom. Mike was my favorite. My girlfriends thought that was crazy because he wasn’t the cutest. Even then I knew he was the most talented. So sad to hear this news.
Mike didn’t write this one, but it’s one of the prettiest songs he ever did as a Monkee:
Betcha never heard this:
