It is the summer of 1967 and thousands of young people from all over North America have recently purchased copies of the latest single by The Monkees. Many would have put it on in their bedrooms on their treasured suitcase-style record players. Others may have had access to the family hi-fi, especially if their parents were still at work or otherwise disposed, so they'd put it on in the living room or down in the basement rumpus room. Some are alone, while others are joined by brothers or sisters or even friends from the neighbourhood.
The reaction is mostly positive. Some girls may be disappointed that 'cute one' Davy Jones isn't on lead vocals, others are delighted that Mickey Dolenz is in his rightful place behind the mic — and, anyway, the youthful-looking Brit is clearly there on backing vocals ("Ta ta-ta-ta, ta ta-ta-ta..."). It has a good tune, one that budding musicians hope to sink their teeth into, with some rapid fire drumming and chugging guitars with a nifty little riff that seems tailor made for The Monkees. Also, the song is about where they live! There is a local rock group down the street, that weird guy who never showers and is in my class is their bassist! I don't know if creepy old Mr. Enright across the street is a squire but he does come out to mow his lawn on weekends in his housecoat (while also lingering to check out the girls). Our neighbourhood does smell of charcoal!
Some kids must've known right away but I imagine there were also plenty who didn't realize that The Monkees were taking a giant dump all over the burbs with "Pleasant Valley Sunday". Speaking just for myself, it took me a while to figure it out. Yes, snidely chirping at Mrs Gray with her roses in bloom and Mr Green with his vast collection of TVs didn't clue me in. I scarcely listened to Dolenz in the bridge as he trashes the "creature comfort goals" and how he needs "a change of scenery". Yeah, I wasn't always the most attentive music fan but look who we're talking about here. Did anyone expect The Monkees to be sneering at middle America? (In any case, the Pet Shop Boys' "Suburbia" has always been my song of choice for taking a blowtorch to the idealized world that Kevin Arnold loved so much in The Wonder Years)
For those, like me, who weren't paying close enough attention, "Pleasant Valley Sunday" practically comes across as an American equivalent of The Beatles' "Penny Lane" and The Kinks' "Waterloo Sunset", albeit with even more optimism. The aforementioned 'weekend squire' and the nut with nearly a dozen TV sets are caricatures but no more so than the "fireman with an hourglass" and the "pretty nurse" selling poppies. It sounds like a celebration of white flight! But in actuality, it is closer to The Rolling Stones' "Mother's Little Helper" than anything else: a gripping and sneering indictment on how individuals choose to shackle themselves even while in the delusion that they are free. (Jesus, sorry to get all Adam Curtis there)
Though composed by the successful songwriting team of Gerry Goffin and Carole KIng, "Pleasant Valley Sunday" is perhaps the closest thing we would get to a self-written Monkee number one smash. Coming off a tremendous, if still troubling, first year of being stars of both pop and TV, Mickey Dolenz, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork were keen to take control and fight back. While you might assume that The Monkees of all people were in no place to be critical of the homogeneous burbs, I think that is precisely the point. The key line of "I need a change of scenery" is given extra weight by the way the quartet were treated as pawns by their management and record label — and, indeed, by the way they managed to wrest control from them. The Prefab Four had been able to extricate themselves from their own suburban nightmare and you should consider doing the same!
Finally, it is worth mentioning that this single is also a triumph for the Goffin-King team. They had spent much of the sixties as a married couple penning charming and wonderful songs for their babysitter and other pop types but, like a whole generation of groomed bubblegum stars, they had developed and matured. "Pleasant Valley Sunday" emerged from the couple's move out of New York to the sprawl of New Jersey and how Gerry Goffin hated the experience. Rather than churning out the same old Brill Building-type stuff, they were composing based on their own experiences and thoughts. Some of their finest material came from around this time including "Goin' Back" (a hit for Dusty Springfield but done equally well by The Byrds), "Wasn't Born to Follow" (again recorded by The Byrds; both songs appear on their remarkable 1968 album The Notorious Byrd Brothers), "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" (a hit for Aretha Franklin which King would later "cover" — is it a cover version if it's your own song? — for her hugely popular Tapestry album) and "Porpoise Song" (recorded by a suddenly unpopular Monkees for the soundtrack to their bizarre film Head). Their partnership was entering its last days but this only meant better things to come for King, who we'll be seeing in this space before long.
Score: 8
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