The Monkees have finally released a Christmas album. "Christmas Party" includes a couple of posthumously released tracks with vocals by the late Davy Jones.
However, what we're focusing on is this animated clip for the band's cover of "The Christmas Song". While Mike Nesmith is on lead, son Jonathan, who did the animation, drew his father and Micky Dolenz as they looked in the glory years of the 60's.
2 comments:
I was so thrilled when I heard the guys had finally released a Christmas album!!
I'm surprised they never did one as a group before (perhaps if one was planned in the 60s by TPTB it was derailed by the guys' fight for control of their music and careers). One would think there'd be an album called, "Christmas With The Monkees" or something back in '67. I'm totally getting the CD!!
The video itself is nice (though Mike's voice sounds a lot deeper than usual!), and there are a few Easter eggs of sorts - the tunnel is obviously a nod to the It's a Small World ride at Disneyland, and there are shots of the guys dressed in their outfits from Head and 33 1/3 Revolutions per Monkee. Seeing the guys dressed like elves on an assembly line reminded me of the old working elves display we had at Harrows Pools. Like many pool supply stores, at Christmas time, they'd sell Christmas trees and decorations. At my local Harrows, they also had an awesome display in which animatronic figures would be in "Santa's workshop" working on the toys - you'd see them hammering, sawing and painting as you saw in the video. I really miss stuff like that - as Harrows is now long gone.
I do wish the guys could do a live action video or two from there recent work but I understand why they chose to go with animated ones - it's the only way to keep them looking as they did in their prime and keep Davy's memory alive. Not to mention Mike recently had a heart attack (which necessitated a cancellation of the remaining dates on the tour he was running with Micky), but is successfully recouperating.
There's another animated video out on YouTube, which I'll try to post before Tuesday (Christmas Day).
Post a Comment