"The Real Frank Zappa Book" is a great read. Not an autobiography is the classic sense (Zappa goes out of his way in saying it's not an autobiography) but a series of stories and commentary, a lot of which is obviously autobiographical. In other words, it's not really as detailed as some would prefer, but the light,…

It is really hard to nail down Zappa, but that (1976 or so) seems to be the dividing line where his "social commentary" got a bit too sanctimonious for some. I mean, You Are What You Is has some fun stuff on it, but pieces like "Dumb All Over" had all the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the head. It's no wonder he used…

I forgot that Nic Cage alphabet was an actual thing! I keep thinking of it as a Simon Helberg bit.

Look, our childhood memories survived the Star Wars Special Editions, the Prequels, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and the new Vacation film. We can survive this. And it still might actually be (gasp!) decent! Deep breaths, folks…

I suppose she could've been the alpha in school, but would an alpha really become a thin skinned real estate agent? She must've had some comeuppance senior year.

But he is! No way that can be wr-r-r-r-r…

Tina and Maya's bit was nice and all, but a reverent, mildly funny homage to TV shows that no one under 50 remembers isn't going to take this show anywhere.

I get it. I too listen to The Velvet Underground and Nico and jack off, but when I'm done I'll occasionally eat some corn chips and drink a Yoo Hoo. I'm such a goof.

The fascinating thing about The Monkees is that it started out as a kind of cynical take on A Hard Day's Night (although I believe that Bob Rafelson and co. were attempting some counter-cultural subversion for the US audience and were using an ersatz Beatles as a springboard.), and eventually what was created took on…

Hey! See the sign?

"As We Go Along" is one of my favorite recordings of all time. Such a beautiful tune, with the wonderful multiple guitar lines (one of which was Neil Young)

I've been a Monkee aficionado for quite a long time and I never heard the "Sugar Sugar" story debunked before. Learn something new everyday. It always sounded a bit too pat to me anyway.

It was Till Death Us Do Part and was, as you point out, the basis for All in the Family.

In pop music history, the Monkees were one of the most extensive recording projects of all time. They released 9 albums, but also had a scores of tracks that were never released at the time. They weren't really a band, they were several bands at various stages, with plenty of access to studio time to do almost…

It is very clever in that respect. It's very cheerfully rendered. If you didn't pick up the irony in Mickey's vocals in the first verse, the second verse makes it a bit more explicit:

I fully expected a review of at least the first episode, given that it's more than a just a (mostly likely short lived) cousin to SNL; it's not that much different from SNL is style and tone, apart from a couple of production numbers. Maya is charming and seemingly underutilized here, Short is his usual annoying self,…

Not really, no. Well, a little. Maybe.

They only come come out at night. Or in this case, um, the daytime.

See ya in court, Google! Oh, and bring that evidence with ya; otherwise, I got no case and you'll go scot-free.

Frankly I would've expected better from "Jimmy the Scumbag"