Top 5 Monkees Songs That Should Have Been Hits

The Monkees may have started their music careers as a television show band. However, the prefab four quickly morphed into one of the most beloved groups of musicians of the 1960s. Micky Dolenz, Mike Nesmith, Peter Tork, and Davy Jones broke records and became radio mainstays during that decade. However, some of their best songs never made the Billboard top 10. Here are 5 Monkees songs that should have been hits.

1. ‘Porpoise Song’ (1968)

In the late 1960s, The Monkees were on a downturn. Their eponymous television show ended. Peter Tork was exiting the band.

However, one bright song crafted for the band appeared in their feature film Head. Written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin, “Porpoise Song” is a beloved tune that occurs at the beginning and end of the motion picture.

Micky Dolenz provides the vocals, which are distorted by echoing effect. The song captures the psychedelic vibe of mid-1960s rock music, but it only reached number 68 on the charts.

Goffin produced the song in late February 1968. The track includes chimes, tubular bells, and aquatic sound effects. “Without a doubt, this is the most elaborate production ever for a Monkees recording,” said Carole King in a Facebook post.

2. ‘Randy Scouse Git’ (1967)

This Micky Dolenz-penned song took its title from a phrase the musician and actor heard said on the British television series Till Death Us Do Part. This sitcom would later be translated into the Norman Lear-produced All in the Family for American audiences.

The song appeared on The Monkees TV series in the episode “The Picture Frame” and on their third album Headquarters. Its lyrics are a stream of observations pieced together by Dolenz during the group’s visit to England.

Subsequently, some lyrics referenced The Beatles as the “Four Kings of EMI.” The “girl in a yellow dress” was Mama Cass Elliot, and the “wonderful lady” was Dolenz’s girlfriend, Samantha Juste.

Mike Nesmith once said of the song to Melody Maker, per The Monkees Live Almanac, “The old establishment was going, ‘Why don’t you cut your hair,’ and “Alternate Title” was a rail against that.”

However, “Randy Scouse Git” was a smash across the pond, landing at the number 2 spot with a new name, “Alternate Title.” This was due to the slang term being considered offensive on the radio. But it never found a sweet spot in America. Today, it remains wildly popular with Monkees fans.

3. ‘Papa Gene’s Blues’ (1966)

“Papa Gene’s Blues” appeared on The Monkees’ first self-titled album. In his book “Infinite Tuesday: An Autobiographical Riff” Nesmith said he was allowed to write two songs for the band’s first LP.

“I recorded some music for the show, ‘Papa Gene’s Blues’ and ‘The Kind of Girl I Could Love,’” Nesmith said. “I was told they’d up them in the show and on the record,” Nesmith wrote.

“Grateful and happy I was. But, I was also wary and disconcerted. I heard the songs in my head differently from the way the session guys played them. I had no idea how to convey my musical ideas to them. The arrangements drifted into what the session guys intuitively knew,” he concluded.

However, the two-minute love song would have a significant gaffe upon the release of the episode “Monkees in a Ghost Town.” In fact, in early pressings of the album and the credits of the television series The Monkees, the song is erroneously listed as “Papa Jean’s Blues.” 

In any event, Nesmith sang lead on the track, with Dolenz providing backing vocals. However, the song was never released as a single. Overall it didn’t get a chance to make a dent on the Billboard charts.

4. ‘For Pete’s Sake’ (1967)

For The Monkees’ third album Headquarters, Peter Tork penned a tune with Joey Richards that embraced the freewheeling culture of the 1960s. However, the song was so beloved it was used for the end credits of the second season of The Monkees television series.

“For Pete’s Sake” was the first time Tork received a songwriting credit on a Monkees album. He provided cool guitar licks on the tune, highlighted by Nesmith’s organ playing. It used call-and-response vocals from Dolenz, Tork, and Jones.

The song was not released as a single. However, it had a lot of airplay from Monkees fans, who pushed the LP it was on to the top of the Billboard charts.

Headquarters peaked at number one in June 1967. But it took The Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band bumped it out of the top spot.

5. ‘You Just May Be the One’ (1966)

“You Just May be the One” is Mike Nesmith at his country rock best. The tune on The Monkees’ first LP may be short, but it’s packed with a blend of Nesmith’s original lyrics that speak of love, relationships, and commitment.

Captured in just two takes, the results are pop perfection. Furthermore, the song dates back to Nesmith’s days as a folk artist performing at the Troubadour club in West Hollywood.

Monkees producer Chip Douglas said [per Album Liner Notes] that he first saw Nesmith doing this particular song and said he was “really impressed” with it.” I remember those harmonies. Bill Chadwick was hitting that high A note (on the bridge).  ‘I thought, Wow, that sounds neat.'”

He continued, “So when the song came up for suggestion to put on the album, I said, ‘Yeah, that’s great.  Can we do that same harmony like you guys used to do it?’”

Nesmith replied, per Douglas, “Sure, Micky will do it.’” The result is a fan-favorite Nesmith song never placed on the Billboard charts.

Do you have a favorite Monkees song that never became a hit on the charts? Let us know in the comments section below.