love is power....
MY MICHAEL NESMITH TRIBUTE
BORN: DECEMBER 30, 1942
BIRTHPLACE: HOUSTON, TEXAS
JUST WHAT DID HAPPEN TO
THAT WOOL HAT, ANYWAY?
The tall,
handsome and somewhat reluctant Monkee was born Robert Michael Nesmith.
The story of Mike's mother
is an interesting one. The story goes that Bette Nesmith
was a notoriously bad typist,
who was also very resourceful. She devised a way to cover up her typos.
Mixing formulas at home, she often employed the young Michael and his friends
to help her. Soon, she invented something that typists around the world
have been ever indebted to her for- Liquid Paper! (or white-out, depending
on where you are from)
Rumor has it that Michael took
up the guitar when a firecracker exploded in his hand and he wanted to
regain the use of it. When he was attending San Antonio College, Mike met
John London and the two formed a duo. Soon after, Michael headed to Las
Angeles where he recorded two singles for Colpix records. He read about
the Monkees from the infamous ad that was placed in variety and got the
part, beating out thousands of others.
HERE HE COMES...
Peter Tork, Michael Nesmith, David Jones
and Micky Dolenz
Mike was the leader, the one
who always seemed to have all the answers. He delieved his lines in a dead-pan,
sarcastic kind of way, and always managed to make us laugh. From the start,
Mike had problems with music supervisor Don Kirshner,
and eventually got Kirshner
fired from the Monkees project. It is rumored that Mike once put his fist
through a wall, and announced to a stunned Kirshner, "That could have been
your head, MF!!" Mike then employed Chip Douglas of the Turtles to become
the producer on the Monkees records. Though the new music the Monkees
were putting out was arguably better stuff, the albums did not do as well commercially.
After the Monkees ended, he formed the First National Band and put out
three albums. Two of his songs, "Joanne," and "Silver Moon," hit the top
ten. After that band split, he pursued a solo career. In 1976, Mike concieved
of the music video. He formed the Pacific Arts company and concentrated
on this new medium. "Rio" became one of the first music videos ever and a
hit for Mike. The very first grammy ever given for a music video went to
Michael for "Elephant Parts." Mike also helped develop MTV, but backed
out of the project early on.
Recently, Michael teamed up
with Dolenz, Jones and Tork to make the first new Monkees album to feature
all four Monkees playing all the instruments since Headquarters. Justus.
Mike also wrote and directed the ABC television special for the Monkees
"Hey, Hey, we're the Monkees, " broadcast in Februaury 1997.
Michael joined Micky, Davy,
and Peter for a tour of Europe in early 1997, but declined to tour the
US that same year, opting instead to stay home and write for a new Monkees
movie.
To read Michael's reply to a misguided critic regarding JUSTUS, and get some insight into the meaning of "Admiral Mike," and other songs from the album, Click HERE.
LINKS
VIDEORANCH
THE
MICHAEL NESMITH HOMEPAGE
TOTAL
CONTROL: THE MICHAEL NESMITH STORY
Fun
fan sites!
NEZGIRL'S
SHRINE OF GROOVINESS
To write to Michael:
Michael Nesmith,
Rt. 1, Box 133,
Santa Fe NM 87501
E-Mail Michael at: nez@videoranch.com
Email me
This page last updated November 7, 1998.