Michael Nesmith's Videoranch3D

An interview with Ken Sharp, 1989

In March, Michael Nesmith spent a couple weeks in New York City doing a series of interviews with the media to promote the New York opening of his latest production, “Tapeheads”. Besides promoting “Tapeheads”, Michael is having one of his most visible, high-profile years in a long, long time, with the recent release of a video and album and the impending release of another album and the “Overview” video magazine. Rock radio reporter (and MBF member) Ken Sharp had the opportunity to interview Michael and he shares that interview with us here:

I wrote most of the songs on this album while I was working with The Monkees…not that I was writing for The Monkees, because I’ve never been able to write for anything, but the job for the Monkees was my daily driver. Sadly, I had very little direction from the execs on the show, even less from the crew and writers and the parts of the creative work that fell under my desk were unformed – more precisely to say, uninformed and unclear.

At the time there was little to draw from in pop music – a situation that I was to learn was much more normal than not. The music I was hearing on my own stereo system and the music on my radio was dominated by The Beatles, and others like them. And auspicious beginning for sure, but not too much help for a TV show about a band.

Over time, the definition of a pop song had become mysterious to me. I couldn’t tell what exactly was meant by a pop song. Down at the Monkees operation headquarters – in an effort to contribute – I’d say, “Well, how about this?” and I would play them something like my demo for Different Drum. “Will this work?” and they said, “Oh no, that won’t work, much too twangy” and so early on I was flummoxed. I was stopped and I thought, “Well…” I didn’t really understand twangy as a musical element – perhaps affecting performance more than structure – but as I say, I didn’t really have a handle on a design element of ‘no twang’.

The various music producers said to me on many occasions, “Don’t put any kind of twang in there because twang sounds ignorant to the Upper Northeast, while it might be appealing to the Lower Southeast. Most of our audience are U.S. Northeastern television watchers and they notoriously turn off twang if they hear it.”

This January, Michael Nesmith will play six concerts as a duo with pedal steel guitarist Pete Finney.

The tour is orchestrated around the classic album And the Hits Just Keep On Comin’… whose stripped down instrumentation showcases Nesmith’s compositions, voice, and Red Rhodes’s magic as a pedal steel player.

January’s tour with Pete Finney aims to reignite those essential elements of Nesmith’s music.

1/17/19--Seattle, WA-- Neptune Theatre https://tinyurl.com/ycpqfqwj

1/19/19--Grants Pass, OR-- The Rogue Theater https://tinyurl.com/y9zj8yqa

1/20/19--Sacramento, CA-- Sofia Center For The Arts https://tinyurl.com/yckr7ozf

1/22/19-- West Hollywood, CA-- Troubadour https://tinyurl.com/ycop3hy9

1/24/19-- San Juan Capistrano, CA-- The Coach House https://tinyurl.com/y8ubmc44