The Monkees HEAD.. The saga and the film!
The Monkees were a so-called manufactured band (with major song writers) that evolved into a real band. Just as they were ending.
From Wikipedia:
Head is a 1968 American satirical musical adventure film written and produced by Jack Nicholson and Bob Rafelson, directed by Rafelson, starring television rock group the Monkees (Davy Jones, Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith) and distributed by Columbia Pictures. A theatrical spin-off of the 1966–68 NBC television show and a swan song (series finale), it started production directly after completion of series production.
During production, one of the working titles for the film was Changes, which was later the name of an album by the Monkees. Another working title was Untitled. A rough cut of the film was previewed for audiences in Los Angeles in the summer of 1968 under the title Movee Untitled.
The film featured Victor Mature as "The Big Victor" and cameo appearances by Nicholson, Teri Garr, Carol Doda, Annette Funicello, Frank Zappa, Sonny Liston, Timothy Carey, Percy Helton and Ray Nitschke. Also appearing on screen in brief non-speaking parts are Dennis Hopper and film choreographer Toni Basil
Hey, Hey We're The Monkees Documentary (Extended Re-edited 2020)
Hippies did not like THE MONKEES. Or I should say, watch it. yet over time I began to run into people who would tell me THE MONKEES introduced them to rock music. I actually saw HEAD in a Atlanta movie theater. There were 7 people in the audience. But we all laughed and enjoyed the film.
Because the film had a sequence featuring the execution of a Vietnamese terrorist in the streets of Saigon, it received a rating that kept their young fans from seeing the film. There was literally no audience for the movie.
Here is the trailer for the movie:
More from Wikipedia:
The plot and peak moments of the film came together at an Ojai, California, resort where the Monkees, Rafelson, and Nicholson brainstormed into a tape recorder, reportedly with the aid of a quantity of marijuana. Jack Nicholson then took the tapes and used them as the basis for his screenplay, which according to Rafelson he structured while under the influence of LSD. When the band learned that they would not be allowed to direct themselves or to receive screenwriting credit, Dolenz, Jones, and Nesmith staged a one-day walkout, leaving Tork the only Monkee on the set the first day. The strike ended after the first day when the studio agreed to a larger percentage share of the film's net for the group, but the incident damaged the Monkees' relationship with Rafelson and Bert Schneider and would effectively end their professional relationship with the producers.
Head was filmed from February 19 to May 17, 1968, at Columbia Pictures/Screen Gems Studios at Sunset & Gower, Hollywood, California and at the Columbia Ranch in Burbank, California, as well as various locations in California and elsewhere:
ribbon cutting ceremony – Gerald Desmond Bridge, Long Beach
WAR chant cheerleader sequence – Pasadena Rose Bowl, Pasadena
factory sequence – Hyperion Sewage
Treatment Plant, Playa Del Rey
war sequence – Bronson Canyon; some sequences at San Francisco
desert sequence – Palm Springs, California
concert sequence – Valley Music Hall, Salt Lake City
Micky's underwater sequence – The Bahamas
The song "Ditty Diego – War Chant" was written by Jack Nicholson and is a parody of the band's original Boyce and Hart written TV theme song; its lyrics illustrate the tone of self-parody evident in parts of the film. The final "We're here to give you..." is interrupted by a gunshot, with footage of the execution of Viet Cong operative (q.v.) Nguyễn Văn Lém, by Brigadier General and then Chief of National Police Nguyễn Ngọc Loan.
Micky Dolenz Talks About Head
"Head" Concert (Salt Lake City, 5/17/68) - The Monkees
The Monkees ~ Head FULL MOVIE:
Today I look back on THE MONKEES with affection, with admiration of their bravery for fighting for their own sound, I like the TV show and I have liked the film since I first saw it. Here are some great trivia facts click the underlined link:
Behind the paywall: 1969 Good Times Sonny & Cher
Good Times is a 1967 American Western musical comedy film directed by William Friedkin in his feature directorial debut, starring Sonny & Cher. The film also co-stars George Sanders, Norman Alden, Larry Duran, Kelly Thordsen, and Lennie Weinrib. The film almost ended Friedkin’s career before he could make THE EXORCIST.
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