in which i admit that something the monkees did sucked

A friend recently sent me a link to a video of the beginning of 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee. I'm glad I watched it, but boy does it suck. Now, I'm a big Monkees fan. Really big. I take a back seat to no one when it comes to Monkee fanhood. Except for people who actually like 33 1/3 RPM. Boy, does it suck.

Just to fill in the unfamiliar, 33 was the Monkees' TV special from September, 1969. Their TV show had been cancelled, their movie, Head, had bombed, and they had done 6 albums (including the soundtrack to Head), and sales were declining. They put together this annoying self-referential special that was meant to satire their existence. Head had gone a long way to not-so-subtly, complain about their manufactured image. Some say (and I use the word "some" as a first-person singular) that Head was heavy-handed with its message. But 33 was a sledgehammer.

Did I mention that it sucked?

Now, the over-the-top delivery of the message would be forgivable if it had been done with humor or if the music was good. But no such luck. Fortunately (or un-, your call), you can see it on Youtube, nicely split into seven digestible pieces. I could try commenting on this mess, but I think it's better let it vomit for itself. So, here it is:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

Part 6:

Part 7: