Monkey Business (Wyncote) 1967

History often repeats itself, and we seldom learn from it. But enough about the election.

You can fool some of the people some of the time. That's not only a famous quote by Abraham Lincoln or Bob Dylan, it's also one of the prime rules of commercialism. So when in early 1964 when it became obvious that three out of every four records sold were by those Mops (in some stores it was four out of four...probably even five out of four in other stores), a dozen or so record executives of tiny budget labels (what is a budget label? A label with a tight budget, that's what) all hit upon the same idea...They couldn't release Beatles records, of course...but what if they threw together some soundalike (and we use that term very loosely) album and issued it in a cover that doesn't make it too clear that it's not the real deal? Just think of all the naive kids who would snatch it up and not know until they got home they got conned? Or their parents who can't tell the difference anyway? Why, they could sell thousands of those, and with the profits, well, they could buy some new potted plants for the office.

And so came a whole mess of faux-Beatles albums like The Beetle Beat, Beatle Rama, Beat - The Merseyside Sound and plenty others, all featuring one or two covers of usually "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You," all sounding like they rehearsed the song as many as two times and the second one was taped, and filled up with supposedly Mersey-ish sounding original songs, often sung with hideous fake British accents that make Dick Van Dyke's character in *Dick Van Dyke* sound authentic.

And how much did they sound like The Beatles? That didn't matter...by the time the buyer figured it out, the money had been spent. (which is a roundabout answer for not very much).

And so it was that Wyncote Records offered the world Beatlemania In The U.S.A. Among its contents was a hilarious version of "She Loves You" made by musicians who clearly forgot how the real version ended and made something up on the spot (including an out of nowhere "Let me tell you now.") Another highlight (again, that's using the term loosely) was the original "Hey Quiet Down There," a song about a young man trying to get a smooch from his date while a nearby neighbor can't get to sleep because of this guy's pleading.

Fast forward to 1967. Now it's The Monkees who have proven to be the latest sales phenomenon. So...Wyncote steps up to bat with...Monkey Business, a ten song album with an equally deceptive cover based somewhat on the artwork for More Of The Monkees.

But there's one difference between this album and those 1964 albums of bogus Beatles: This album is actually pretty good.

At first glance, between the cover photo of a monkey dressed in mod gear and playing a guitar, and the songtitles, many simply humorous alterations of actual Monkees titles, one would be forgiven for instantly deducing it's all a piss-take with "funny" songs that probably weren't all that funny. But in fact, the album houses some very well-written garage and pop tunes.

Two Monkees covers lead off Monkey Business. First comes a rather gentle take on "I'm A Believer," based on acoustic guitar, electric piano, bass, and a drummer who seems to prefer tapping his skins to banging them. Even the vocals sound somewhat whispered. It's as if the musicians recorded in a room in a residential area and didn't want to disturb sleeping neighbors.

"Last Train To Clarksville" sounds almost as restrained, though the drummer has learned to hit the skins a little harder. Lyrically, their train derails at least once when the singer anticipates "forty flavored kisses." All in all these two covers bring to mind the old Hit label, where bands like The Jalopy Five would regularly rush out "soundalike" versions of current hits...usually sounding like little rehearsing took place.

The originals begin with "Sunday's Kid." The lyrics rewrite several nursery rhymes, but the music does not mimic "Saturday's Child." Instead it's a keyboard dominated (most of this album has the electric piano leading the way) track that sounds a little like the not-yet-released "She Hangs Out." Some fuzz lead guitar falls in.

Despite its title, "Papa's Blue Jeans" does not take on "Papa Jean's Blues." Instead, after a "She"-like intro, the song takes a 1-4-5 while the singer tells us about a scene his father has caused by wearing his tight trousers.

"Sally Sally" actually does sound like it was modeled after "Mary Mary." This track brings the debut of the pseudo-Nesmith on lead vocals...and he's actually pretty close. The singer addresses his girl who speaks of her man like he's perfect: "Sally Sally, it's only me."

Side Two begins with an excellent soft-pop number, "Watch Out." Based loosely on "Hold On Girl" it sounds like Peter and Gordon's "A Summer Song" played at a faster tempo. Very pleasant listening. The only complaint is that the tempo seems to slow down as the song progresses.

"Sit Tight Girl" is pleasant and hilarious at the same time. Also sounding like "Hold On Girl" but with a mix of "A Little Bit Me" (if that had even been released yet), this song presents some exaggerated Davy-like vocals: "Sit tight girl, wait for the things that are coming," he sings in the nasal Scouse of Davy's early vocal performances. It cracks me up every time. However, the song itself is enjoyable enough on its own.

"Just A Little Too Early" brings to mind "Sometime In The Morning," until the chorus when it suddenly turns into "Come A Little Bit Closer" (but hey, that was a Boyce-Hart song, so it fits, right?). A very nice song, though its title is an actual description of the song's conclusion, as it could have used a bridge or break.

"No Survivors" sounds, yet again, like "Hold On Girl." Actually it sounds like "Watch Out" from earlier on the side. Either way, this would have fit snuggly on *More Of The Monkees.*

The album ends with a ragged bluesy rocker called "I Realize." The faux-Nez returns to vocalize on this one. Musically, it remarkably anticipates a yet-to-be recorded Monkees song, "Going Down," but with harmonica instead of brass. Lyrically it's a little hard to make out what pseudo-Nez is babbling about.

So ends this faux-Monkees collection. It's well worth looking for, and does not belittle The Monkees at all.

As for Wyncote, well, only a few short months later, they decided to do it again! To be continued!

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