Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Ah, the different things are different argument.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

No Justins, No Peace

Donald Trump, welcome to your everything, everywhere, all at once.

He imagines himself as The Big Bad, Who Is Universally Feared… instead of The Big Jagoff, Who Is Universally Mocked.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Cole, when it comes to calico cats, restraint is overrated.

Please don’t feed the bears.

Never forget that he train is barreling down on Trump, even as he dances on the tracks.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

So many bastards, so little time.

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

“They not like us!” (that’s for sure!)

Glad to see john eastman going through some things.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

You are here: Home / Music / Sunday Morning Open Thread: Boxing Day

Sunday Morning Open Thread: Boxing Day

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An inflatable Santa Claus loomed four stories over a Christmas tree lot, waving in the breeze and catching Jesse Rieser’s attention as he drove through Phoenix in 2009.

The decoration was absurd, Rieser said later, but joyous in its own way…

Inspired, he set out the next year to document Christmas’s contradictions — its sincerity and creativity on one hand, and its awkwardness and bleakness on the other. Rieser traveled to 18 states over the next decade, from Oregon to Florida, and ended in New York City to capture images that were visually distinct from those of less populated areas.

After researching each region, Rieser knocked on the doors of houses with decorations he wanted to photograph. Often, he said, people were eager to discuss their flamboyant displays. Many of them told him that they staged the elaborate scenes to tap into nostalgia for their childhoods, while some said they were trying to bring joy to other families — a particularly poignant goal during the isolating coronavirus pandemic.

“A lot of these homes become the sort of de facto community centers for the neighborhood,” Rieser said. “The kids want to come, so the parents come. It sort of brings people together in this kind of adorable side effect of this mass consumption.”…

“There’s joy in the void of the unexpected,” he said. “It’s sort of like they’re controlling the narrative for those five weeks of the year when … other times, people feel like they may not have the autonomy or control over their life.”

Reader Interactions

107Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    Success! #NASAWebb’s first mid-course correction burn helped fine-tune Webb’s trajectory toward its orbit around the second Lagrange point, a million miles (1.5 million km) from Earth:

    Are we there yet?

  3. 3.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Happy Boxing Day (and St Stephen’s Day) to all!

    Glad to have an open thread to note this morning’s passing of a great man and a good man: South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He was 90.

    In the 1990s, possibly into the early 2000s, he held several teaching residencies at Emory University. I had the wonderful experience of attending some of his public lectures, and met him once at a reception. We talked for only a couple of minutes, but during that brief time he made me think I was the single most significant person in his life. He had the kindest eyes I’ve ever seen, warm and twinkly and loving.

    May he Rest in Power.

  5. 5.

    Spanky

    There will be no ritual hunting of the wren this or any other St. Stephens Day. Those Carolina Wrens here are little clowns and bring us much joy.

  8. 8.

    Suzanne

    @SiubhanDuinne: I got to see him speak at a conference (USGBC) some years back. I remember he said to the crowd, “You’re crazy, and I love you.” Huge cheers.

    Rest in power, indeed.

  9. 9.

    NotMax

    Totally went unconscious before was going to start futzing with holiday dinner in the kitchen, the nap lasting for hours and hours. Awakened post-midnight.

    So instead nibbled on some snacks (also taste tested a bottle of wine bought for the occasion) and, in the spirit of streaming services, have declared today to be Christmas+.

    ;)

  23. 23.

    Bex

    @SiubhanDuinne: I have a friend who met Abp Tutu once and they talked about her upcoming ordination.  She met him again a few years later and he remembered her name and asked her about the ordination and wanted to know how everything was going.  She could not believe he remembered her.

  24. 24.

    Feathers

    Yuzuru Hanyu won the Japanese national championship, attempting a quadruple axel, which was landed two footed. What’s less obvious in a first watch is how few crossovers* he’s doing. Not a Fanyu, but it is something to see.
    Yuzuru Hanyu Free Skate

    *Crossovers are the backwards stroking steps to build speed for jumps and spins. Many skaters fill their whole routine with this basic move.

  25. 25.

    PST

    @NotMax: Today turned out to be Christmas for us too. My wife had to work yesterday, then we had guests for dinner, which required much cooking, and finally we all sat around talking and drinking until she couldn’t keep her eyes open. So we unwrapped presents this morning. Old people are more patient than toddlers and dogs.

  28. 28.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    Our 73-year old neighbor who’s been here since ’84 (when this now mostly gentrified hood was definitely not that way, she’s Hispanic) who we rake leaves, do gardening and generally help out (her husband, who as AA, died about 5 years ago and her only child lives back in Waldorf MD, ugh), gave us six tamales from a place that’s renown in Denver for them. We had em on xmas eve.

    It’s heartwarming because the previous owners of this place, two whiter-than-white millennials with loads of money and ‘tude, never gave her the time of day. She’s something of a recluse until you get to know her.

    A walk down to Broadway on a warm xmas day yesterday afternoon resulted in talking to another elderly Hispanic lady who’s sitting in the midst of gentrification, tell us about her two dogs as we walked by and talked to em. Then a probable homeless gentlemen who was gesticulating to cars as they drove past Benedict Fountain Park, turned and said “Merry Xmas” and we cheerfully returned the greeting (my wife grew up spending a lot of time along East Colfax and at 60, is still at home among the “colorful denizens”.

    In ten years, these people will be gone because of age and the tide of demographic change and un-managed, hyper development/gentrification that we’re seeing. As white people who moved back, we’re painfully aware that we’re a part of that problem. All we know to do is keep alive the history of the neighborhood and make sure we’re a nice and kind to the people that have been here, family-wise, since the 50s.

  32. 32.

    Baud

    @Bex: 

    She could not believe he remembered her.

    This is my Achilles heal. I can’t remember people I met earlier that evening at the same party.

  33. 33.

    Geminid

    I thought that the Infrastructure bill had some good environmental initiatives, and I ran into another one in a Washington Post article titled “After decades, some of the U.S.’s most toxic sites will be cleaned up,” Dec. 19, 2021

    The article focuses on the White Chemical site in Newark, New Jersey. Clean up operations began in the 1990’s after regulators shut the fire retardants manufacturer down (seven years after it moved from Bayonne). The efforts lagged after the “Superfund” became depleted. However,

    “The new bipartisan infrastructure bill reestablishes fees on the sale of more than 40 chemicals often found in fuels, plastics and other products…”

     

    The 49 sites receiving money from the infrastructure bill…

          “…include a neighborhood in Florida with soil contaminated from treating telephone poles, a former copper mine in Maine, and an old steel manufacturer in New Jersey where parts of the Golden Gate Bridge were manufactured.”

  36. 36.

    Kathleen

    I’m visiting my daughter in Tampa and for some reason she had Fox News on (she is not a Fox fan) but I just saw one of the best political interviews I’ve ever seen. Senator Ben Cardin’s (Maryland) responses were pitch perfect representation of the Democratic Party and its values. The Fox news host (don’t know who it is) was respectful and asked excellent questions based on real issues and effect Democratic legislation would have on citizens vs playing the smirking “both sides gotcha Dems in Disarray’ I’ve seen on broadcast and cable media, particularly so called “liberal” media. Both interviewer and interviewee were outstanding. Cardin’s performance was a master class.

    Who would thought Fox News would do a better job of giving the Democratic point of view an impartial platform?

  37. 37.

    Baud

    @Kathleen:

    They’ve always tried to make a distinction between their “news” programming and their “opinion” shows.

    Doubt they’d air that interview when most people are watching.

  39. 39.

    John S.

    I’m just outside of Seattle and it’s snowing. It’s a lovely sight for a Floridian like me.

    The differences between Florida and Washington are glaring, besides the weather. While mask mandates go back into effect here, back home in Florida no such thing will happen as Deathsantis continues sucking up to the MAGAts.

    And that’s why I’m here in Washington to begin with. We’re looking to get the fuck out of Florida once and for all.

  41. 41.

    Baud

    @Kathleen:

    @Spanky:

    The other problem is that good interviews with Dems who aren’t political celebrities don’t tend to go viral.  And then many people just assume that Dems aren’t making the case they should be making.

  43. 43.

    Another Scott

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: Thanks for the snapshot.

    Neighborhoods change.  Sensible localities guide that change for the better for the locality as a whole; others just let money decide.

    My MIL moved to DC in 1941 just before the war.  She lived in a boarding house on P Street with a bunch of her friends from the tiny town they left in Minnesota.  That building on P Street is still there, but it’s fancy apartments or condos now. I have no idea what people do for low-cost housing in DC now (probably have lots of roommates).

    DCist.com – DC had largest percentage drop in population in 2021.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  44. 44.

    Another Scott

    Meanwhile, the latest example of why one should always, always follow the money… Post-Gazette.com:

    PG Special Report: With shadowy money, Ukraine oligarch became Cleveland’s biggest landlord

    Feds: power broker laundered millions in skyscrapers, luxury hotel

    MICHAEL SALLAH AND ASHLEY MURRAY
    Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    DEC 26, 2021 6:00 AM

    For Ukraine oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, the Westin hotel in Cleveland that he owns with partners became the center of the most powerful Republican gathering in the nation during the 2016 convention.

    Then-candidate Donald Trump set up his headquarters in the downtown luxury hotel. His family members and top advisers stayed in the penthouse presidential suite.

    In the lobby that showcases modern, eclectic art, the future president met with a crush of reporters the morning after he delivered his acceptance speech at the convention, gushing over the local hospitality.

    “The lobby of the Westin Hotel is a palace for insiders,” wrote the Washington Post.

    […]

    via

    One of many ways Ukrainian corruption matters to the United States. https://t.co/OhXZWr12aH pic.twitter.com/vemdmqagFc

    — emptywheel (@emptywheel) December 26, 2021

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  45. 45.

    Kathleen

    @Baud: That’s an excellent point. And it’s sad because I can’t tell you how uplifting Senator Cardin was. He was positive about Manchin’s support and the passage of BBB.

    Another interesting point to me was that like Biden he’s been in the Senate a long time and like Biden he talked about how important it was to him to have at least some Republican support. I know it’s popular to dismiss the “bipartisan” position as a relic of old Boomer Democrats who are out of touch with the current political landscape. But I think for “old school” senators like Cardin and (formerly) Biden it’s a concept that’s integral to their value systems and it’s part of the satisfaction they get as politicians. We forget that these people “go to work” every day and like all workers they gravitate to behaviors, e.g., opportunities to build teams and collaborate, that give them personal satisfaction on the job.

  46. 46.

    dmsilev

    This was probably inevitable:

    Oregon father of four who told President Biden ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ on Christmas Eve call said he meant it in jest

    A Central Point father of four who wished President Joe Biden and the first lady a wonderful Christmas and added “Let’s go, Brandon,” at the end of a live streamed Santa tracker call told The Oregonian/OregonLive that he didn’t intend his parting message to be vulgar.
    “At the end of the day, I have nothing against Mr. Biden, but I am frustrated because I think he can be doing a better job,” said Jared Schmeck, 35, who works for an electric company and was previously a Medford police officer for six years until he resigned in July 2018. “I mean no disrespect to him.”

    Soon afterward, Schmeck’s wife on Instagram posted, “My husband may or may not have just told joe and jill Biden ‘let’s go Brandon’ on the phone,’ “ punctuated by two crying emojis. Schmeck also posted a video of their conversation with Biden and the First Lady on his YouTube channel, writing, “We talked to President Joe Biden on Christmas Eve! #letsgobrandon”

    “And now I am being attacked for utilizing my freedom of speech,” Schmeck said, adding that he’s been receiving some vague but threatening phone calls since the Santa tracker call.

  47. 47.

    Stevie Avebury

    There was a home in my neighborhood that for many years put up a huge display every Christmas. It was just the kind of stuff you would buy at Sears or the hardware store back in the day. A lot of moled plastic, light up Santa and snowman figures. A LOT! And a lot of lights. But tons of people came by every year to look and it felt like a special holiday tradition. Sadly the old couple moved into assisted living. There’s some nice neighborhood displays. Some of them with a lot of the inflatable decorations. One seems to grow every year and I wonder if it will turn into something like the old couple had.

  48. 48.

    Baud

    @dmsilev:

    “And now I am being attacked for utilizing my freedom of speech,” Schmeck said, adding that he’s been receiving some vague but threatening phone calls since the Santa tracker call

     
    “People are utilizing their freedom of speech to attack me for utilizing my freedom of speech!”

    “My euphemism for “Fuck Joe Biden” was in no way an expression of disrespect!”

  49. 49.

    Kathleen

    @Baud: “Who amongst us hasn’t told a sitting President to go f**k himself in jest after he wishes our children a Merry Christmas?”

  51. 51.

    delk

    @dmsilev: I’m not a trumper but my family has donated $1000’s to him.
    Dude has been doxed all over the internet. Kathy Griffin sends her love.

  53. 53.

    dmsilev

    @Baud: ‘I was only joking’ is code for ‘I don’t want to accept responsibility for the thing I said’. See also ‘locker room talk’ in regards to a certain pussy-grabbing former President.

  55. 55.

    Another Scott

    @dmsilev: They buried the lede, of course.

    Last sentence of the story:

    He went on to say he “stood 100% behind what I did and what I said.”

    That’s all one needs to know.

    Grr…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  63. 63.

    coin operated

    @dmsilev:

    Lives in Central Point, OR which is near the southern border with Cali.  For those unfamiliar, the I-5 corridor between Portland and Eugene is the liberal part of Oregon…the rest of the state is as redneck as Arkansas.  I call bullshit on his ‘not a Trumper’ claim.

  64. 64.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @MagdaInBlack: I think that’s a good question. It’s related to why did they invade the capitol and post pictures of themselves doing it, as if no one would object. I think they manage to hear only people who agree with them. So they’re shocked when no one else is amused.

  65. 65.

    Another Scott

    @Gin & Tonic: A very good day.  Especially if VVP is unhappy.

    I assume you’ve seen this?

    Russia announced Saturday that more than 10,000 troops had finished month-long drills near Ukraine, amid Western accusations that Moscow was plotting an invasion of its ex-Soviet neighbour.

    The defence ministry said in a statement that the drills for Southern Military District forces had taken place in a host of southern regions including Rostov, Krasnodar and Crimea, which Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014.

    But the drills also took place further afield, including in Stavropol, Astrakhan, North Caucasus republics and even in Russia’s Caucasus ally Armenia.

    The defence ministry said the troops were returning to their permanent bases and that stand-by units would be readied for the New Year’s holidays.

    […]

    Tensions reached a boiling point on Wednesday when President Vladimir Putin said Russia would take “appropriate retaliatory” military steps in response to what he called the West’s “aggressive stance”.

    But he lowered the volume the next day, saying he had seen a “positive” reaction from the United States to Russia’s security proposals and said talks would take place next month.

    A senior US official has said Washington was “ready to engage in diplomacy as soon as early January”, both bilaterally and through “multiple channels”.

    On Saturday, a German government official said Moscow and Berlin had agreed to a meeting in “early January”.

    German leader Olaf Scholz and Putin in a phone call Thursday agreed to the meeting between the chancellor’s diplomatic adviser, Jens Ploetner, and the Kremlin’s pointman on relations with Ukraine, Dmitry Kozak.

    […]

    If true, maybe it’s a step in the right direction. We’ll see.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  68. 68.

    Another Scott

    DeLong takes Summers to task on inflation, and has an important reminder:

    […]

    There are also the “rubber, meet road” issues: the principal of prioritizing full employment and full recovery first, and rearranging the financial deck chairs later, would suggest that our current inflation is exactly what we want to see. Indeed, it is what we need to see in our economy, in which wages and prices are sticky downward to a considerable extent.

    And then there are the deeper “secular stagnation” issues: when you keep hitting the zero-lower-bound on interest rates, either your inflation target is too low or your fiscal todd policy is too tight—probably both.

    Plus: the bond market does not see the Federal Reserve as in any sense being on the wrong path.

    But in my mind the overwhelming consideration is what it has been since 2008: risk asymmetry. If the Fed errs in the direction of excessive easing, it does have the power to repair the situation through tightening. If the Fed errs is in the direction of excessive tightening, it is then powerless when it recognizes its mistake.

    Failing to realize how much this risk asymmetry ought to shape policy is a mistake that people keep making, and making, and making—from my perspective, at least.

    (Emphasis added.)

    This being an almost top 10,000 political blog, readers can easily see parallels beyond Fed policy…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  70. 70.

    debbie

    @Baud:

    Actually, I did that to Nixon when he came to the Statehouse during the 1970 Congressional races. Not one of my brighter moves; my school uniform gave me away and I ended up with a double detention.

  73. 73.

    Aziz, light!

    @coin operated: In southern Oregon, Central Point is adjacent to trump-loving Medford. The nearby college town of Ashland is a safe refuge for liberals as long as they don’t make waves.

  75. 75.

    Kathleen

    @phdesmond: You’re welcome! Going Places was the last album Trio recorded with original member Dave Guard. Nick Reynolds and Bob Shane were at the height of their discontent with him and he with them. I think it’s one of the best albums they ever recorded IMHO. Shane does “It Was A Very Good Year”, and his recording prompted Frank Sinatra to record it. They also have a heartfelt recording of Pastures of Plenty, Woody Guthrie’s classic about migrant workers:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCuGX7rqB5c&ab_channel=CompVid101

  76. 76.

    Baud

    @debbie:

    Would you have flipped him off if he was sharing a Christmas conversation with your kids and others?

    I don’t think anyone would have cared in this case but for the context.

  77. 77.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Kathleen:

    Have been searching the Googles since you commented, but so far haven’t found any videos of Sen Cardin’s appearance in Fox. If you or anyone has a link, I’d love to watch that interview. I like what I’ve seen of him over the years.

  78. 78.

    Another Scott

    @debbie: Lots of smart people worked under him earlier in their careers, but only a few seem to understand that the misunderstandings and incorrect lessons learned from the mid-70s through the early 80s have been counterproductive for decades.  DeLong still gives him excessive deference, but at least he pushes back.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  79. 79.

    Kathleen

    @SiubhanDuinne:  Yes! I was searching for a clip also and like you I was unsuccessful. I’m going to keep hunting for it because he was a perfect example of “the messaging” that Dems supposedly haven’t mastered.

  80. 80.

    Kay

    @dmsilev:

    Nasty, mean spirited and (especially) attention-seeking. The Right’s role models for men are all assholes. They’re raising a whole generation of Kyle Rittenhouses and Madison Cawthorns.

    Extra points for his whining about the reaction to his self promotion. They all want to be online celebrities but they want none of the negative attention that comes with it. That isn’t how “attention seeking” works.

  81. 81.

    debbie

    @Baud:

    I’m not relating to that guy at all. We both misbehaved and had to face consequences, but I didn’t protest or make excuses.

    This guy reminds me of the Howard Stern listeners who used to get onto the air on other programs and shout “Bababoey!” This guy just wasn’t smart enough to make sure he would stay anonymous.

  83. 83.

    Kay

    @dmsilev:

    “Pay attention to me! These Christmas phone calls as ABOUT ME!” The call of the Right wing male.

    Yuck. I’d be ashamed if I had raised him.  There’s never enough attention, never enough deference to them – and when they get what they’re after- their 15 minutes of fame-  they immediately start bleating about how unfair it is that everyone doesn’t love them and some people criticize them and how the mean people are attacking them!  Poorly raised six year olds in adult bodies.

  85. 85.

    Ancient Atheist

    @Baud: Likely a part of Central Point, Oregon who wants Jackson County, Oregon to succeed from Oregon and join Idaho as part of that state. Retired and/or washed out “white” police or military sorts are all over Southern Oregon claiming truly unique rights. They are not against brown or black citizens… they just believe that Idaho should have a sea port and ocean view property. They are all armed, irrationally loud and prone to violence. I have a really old DD-214 on the shelf… I watch their actions with considerable concern.

     

    @dmsilev:

  86. 86.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Another Scott: Sure, meet with the US, meet with Germany, why not? It’s not as if Ukraine is an independent nation with its own polity, its own interests and the ability to express them.

    Pisses me right the fuck off.

  87. 87.

    Ancient Atheist

    @Baud: Likely a part of Central Point, Oregon who wants Jackson County, Oregon to succeed from Oregon and join Idaho as part of that state. Retired and/or washed out “white” police or military sorts are all over Southern Oregon claiming truly unique rights. They are not against brown or black citizens… they just believe that Idaho should have a sea port and ocean view property. They are all armed, irrationally loud and prone to violence. I have a really old DD-214 on the shelf… I watch their actions with considerable concern.

  89. 89.

    Kay

    @MagdaInBlack:

    At least own it afterwards, you coward.  The whining always, always follows the attention-seeking stunt.

    He wanted attention. He’s got it. Now everyone knows what a petulant, ungenerous person he is.

    Nothing grosser than an attention seeking adult at a event intended for children.

  91. 91.

    Kay

    @MagdaInBlack:

    “I hope you guys have a wonderful Christmas as well,” Schmeck responded, and added, “Merry Christmas and Let’s Go Brandon!”

    Then dad said “fuck you!” to the nice people on the phone and both parents immediately went to post the “fuck you” on their respective social media pages.

    A cherished family Christmas memory for the Schmeck children.

  92. 92.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I think he’s lying about calling every year, which is just perfect. He can’t even own the smallest part of it.

    Another Right wing victim.

  95. 95.

    Suzanne

    @dmsilev:

    And now I am being attacked for utilizing my freedom of speech,” Schmeck said 

    Good LORD.
    What will it take to get it through some people’s thick fucking heads that 1) you can say what you want AND 2) other people can think you’re an asshole based on what you said AND 3) both 1 and 2 are valid expressions of free speech?!

  96. 96.

    Another Scott

    @WaterGirl: Yup.  (roughly) You’re 7?  That’s kinda old to believe this stuff, isn’t it?

    :-/

    NDeGT seems to have that gene too…

    “Grinch” discovered in its native habitat, Twitter. https://t.co/vjvp95CHa9

    — DPRK News Service (@DPRK_News) December 24, 2021

    DPRK air defenses regularly vaporize low altitude incursions irrespective of airspeed, ECM or stealth construction.

    Just sayin'. https://t.co/SMyPdGgaHb

    — DPRK News Service (@DPRK_News) December 26, 2021

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  99. 99.

    laura

    I have made a donation to the Human Fund in your honor. The Human Fund – money for people. You can thank me in the replies.\\

  100. 100.

    Frank Wilhoit

    Re the Monkees clip: in my view, they must be judged by the standards of amateurs, and on that scale, this is a solid B or B+ .  One of them — I can’t tell which — has pitch problems.  The diction is good; that is what is hardest for most amateurs.  The voices do not blend, but for this style, that is a feature rather than a bug; it contributes to the authenticity of the sound.  The tempo is cautious, which is a sign of underpreparation.  But I will take my life in my hands and doubt whether the Beatles could have done this.

  103. 103.

    Miss Bianca

    @Frank Wilhoit: Oh, phooey. You’re seriously going to *grade* this as a performance piece? Good *day* to you, sir!

    Knowing what the Monkees’ rehearsal/recording schedule likely was like, they probably had *no* time to prep it. And it was probably their idea to begin with, which would have meant they had even less than no time to prep it. With those givens, I find their performance of this little piece no less than luminous (or whatever the aural equivalent of “luminous” would be.)

  104. 104.

    StringOnAStick

    @Frank Wilhoit: Its my favourite Christmas song and I rarely hear it in any year.  Considering the constraints and time pressure the guys in the Monkees were under, it’s a good effort.

    As a kid I loved that prefab band and TV show, then became an arrogant teen about it and had somehow come to believe they did none of their music and lip synched everything.  I was happy to read this was incorrect and I really enjoyed the Rolling Stone interview with the surviving members that was linked to here when Michael Nesmith passed recently. It left me with a lot more respect for all of them and their work.  Finding out that Nesmith wrote Linda Ronstadt’s breakout hit and gave it to her was very sweet.

  107. 107.

    Geminid

    @Miss Bianca: When I read about Michael Nesmith I learned about how much the band was controlled by management. Once when Nesmith came up with what he thought was a good song, he was told “Nah, that’s not a Monkees song” (The producers relied on established songwriters for material). So Nesmith passed the song on to Linda Ronstadt, and she made “Different Drum” her first hit.

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