Micky Dolenz Covers R.E.M. Song That Was Partly Inspired By the Monkees: “Shiny Happy People”

Micky Dolenz is releasing a cover of R.E.M.’s “Shiny Happy People,” a song that was itself inspired by the music Dolenz created with the Monkees.

Micky Dolenz and the Monkees once inspired Michael Stipe and R.E.M. to create the song “Shiny Happy People.” The song became a hit for the band when it was released as a single following its appearance on their fantastic 1991 album, Out of Time. This month, the Monkees connection to the song comes full circle as Micky Dolenz of that band releases his version of R.E.M.’s “Shiny Happy People.” The song appears on an EP of R.E.M. covers called Dolenz Sings R.E.M. (2023).

Micky Dolenz reports that one of the inspirations for creating the R.E.M. covers project was to repay the members of R.E.M. for being fans of the Monkees. One might imagine that the singer whose wonderful talents have often not received its due might have found a connection to a song as popular and maligned as “Shiny Happy People” that was also discounted by some as being too poppy for R.E.M. Like the Monkees, though, “Shiny Happy People” had a deeper origin story, with a title inspired by Chinese propaganda posters and written not long after the Tiananmen Square uprising.

For the new recording, Dolenz worked with producer Christian Nesmith, son of his former bandmate Mike Nesmith (who passed away in 2021). Their goal was to re-imagine the R.E.M. tracks on Dolenz Sings R.E.M. Thus, he does not merely provide a note-by-note- cover of the songs. Instead, he brings his own musical background with a psychedelic touch to the songs. Check out his version of “Shiny Happy People.”

Meanwhile, the last-surviving Monkee remains as active as always. He is still touring, and he is releasing a new book, a limited-edition 500-page photo book, I’m Told I Had a Good Time – The Micky Dolenz Archives, Volume One (with Monkees producer Andrew Sandoval).

Dolenz Sings R.E.M. is officially released on November 3, 2023. The other songs on the EP are “Radio Free Europe,” “Man on the Moon,” and “Leaving New York.”

Leave your two cents in the comments.

New Jayhawks Album: “Paging Mr. Proust”

Paging Mr. Proust

News of a new Jayhawks album is always cause for celebration in my house. The band will be releasing Paging Mr. Proust this coming week on April 29, 2016, and from the first single, “Quiet Corners & Empty Spaces,” it sounds like the album will have the harmonies and catchy tunes we are used to hearing from the band.

The Jayhawk’s last album of new material was Mockingbird Time, released in 2011. That album saw Mark Olson rejoining Gary Louris and Tim O’Reagan on the album, but Olson soon departed again. The band has made some great music since it formed with Olson as well as bass player Marc Perlman, so I hate to see Olson’s departure again after an unhappy split.

But the Jayhawks historically have shown that the group can make great music without Olson too, as they did on albums like Rainy Day Music (2003), Smile (2000), and Sound of Lies (1997). So I am hoping the rest of the band pulls it off again.

In addition O Louris, O’Reagan, and Perlman, longtime Jayhawks member Karen Grotberg (vocals and keyboard) also returns on the new album. Below is the first single, “Quiet Corners & Empty Spaces.” Check it out.

Paging Mr. Proust was produced by R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket, the Decemberists). R.E.M.’s Mike Mills contributed vocals to the song “Leaving The Monsters Behind.” Paging Mr. Proust hits stores and the Internet on April 29.

What is your favorite Jayhawks album? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Michael Stipe’s Tribute to David Bowie

    Stipe Bowie

    This week, Michael Stipe appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to pay tribute to the late David Bowie. It was a rare recent public performance by the former lead singer of R.E.M. and a moving way to honor Bowie with a performance of “The Man Who Sold the World.”

    Accompanied only by piano, a bearded Stipe sang a haunting version of Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold The World.” Check it out. [2018 Update: The video of the performance is no longer available, but the video below contains the audio of Stipe’s appearance.]

    Stipe is also taking part in two New York City David Bowie tribute concerts this week. One will be at Carnegie Hall on Thursday, March 31 and the other will be at Radio City Music Hall on Friday, April 1. You may watch a live stream of the April 1 tribute concert at musicofdavidbowie.com with a small donation that goes to the Melodic Caring Project, a non-profit that helps bring streaming music performances to kids in hospitals.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Why the World Won’t End Today

    mayan

    NASA put together a video debunking the theory that the ancient Mayans predicted the world would end this Friday, December 21, 2012. NASA designed the explanation to be viewed on December 22, but just in case, Chimesfreedom is making it available today.

    Don Yeomans, head of NASA’s Near-Earth Object program at the Pasadena, California Jet Propulsion Laboratory explains that the Mayans merely predicted the end of a cycle. But, as R.E.M. showed, “It’s the End of A Cycle” would not be as exciting as talking about the end of the world.

    What did you do to prepare for the end of the world? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Watch One of R.E.M.’s First Shows

    REM 688 Club 1981

    Wuxtry Records
    , where R.E.M.‘s Michael Stipe met record store clerk Peter Buck in Athens, Georgia, is posting videos of early R.E.M. shows. The video below is from an R.E.M. show at The 688 Club opening for Joe “King” Carrasco in February 1981, which is eighteen months before the band released its first collection of songs on vinyl and two years before Murmur was released.

    The video begins in the middle of R.E.M. covering Buddy Holly’s “Rave On” and ends with what later would be the band’s debut single, “Radio Free Europe.” Check it out. [2015 Update: The video from the 688 Club is no longer available, so below is the audio of “Radio Free Europe” from another 1981 show at Fridays’s in Greensboro, North Carolina on March 31, 1981.]

    For more information on this 40-minute set and other videos, check out the Slicing Up Eyeballs website.

    What do you think of the early R.E.M. performance? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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