The Monkees: Bubblegum Or Not?

Good Clean Fun
Carl Cafarelli and Gary Pig Gold wonder out loud, The Monkees: Bubblegum Or Not?

Vilified since their very inception (circa 1965 within the television division of Columbia Pictures), yet forever being rediscovered and embraced by new generations of pop fans and/or cable addicts the world over, the Great Debate persists: Were the Monkees nothing but a crude, calculatingly crass hoax foisted upon those least-musically-discriminating within the eight-to-fourteen-year age bracket? Or were the Monkees actually a pretty cool buncha guys whose origins may have been suspect, but whose contributions to popular culture are formidable and wide-ranging indeed not to mention no less worthy than, say, Wham!

Boyce & Hart

Boyce & Hart
by Kim Cooper

Rock star? Feh! What a fifth rate ambition. Okay, say you got yourself an electric guitar, took some time and learned how to play, and now it’s happened. You’re signed to a big label that baby-sits your body in exchange for skimming just 90% off the top

Interview with Toni Wine

Interview with Toni Wine
by Bill Pitzonka

Bill Pitzonka: How did you get involved with the Archies?
Toni Wine: Donnie had asked for me. Donnie [Kirshner] and Jeff [Barry] asked for me to be Betty and Veronica.
BP: How did you link up with Don Kirshner originally?
TW: I was signed as a writer at the age of 14 to Screen Gems by Donnie Kirshner when it was Aldon Music. I was the youngest BMI writer ever signed. And so I