TQOTD: Pop Musicians....

[pat]

Going way back to may days as a Trivia Forum Host on AOL (back when they were excited that they broke the 100,000 subscriber barrier), every person I've known who runs trivia games knows this piece of information. Its utter lack of greater significance makes it almost the creme de la creme of stupid trivia.

Michael Nesmith has had a long and varied career (among other things, he was the executive producer for the cult film classic Repo Man), but is best known as one of the Monkees (aka The Pre-Fab Four). But what was Michael Nesmith's mother's claim to fame?



Betty Nesmith created the secretary's friend, Liquid Paper. She later sold the Liquid Paper company for $50 million dollars. Mike eventually inherited half of that, the other half went to finance a "think tank."

Now, aren't you glad you know that?

Comments

Without even looking at your answer

[rmjwell.livejournal.com]

She invented Liquid Paper and made a fortune. According to stuff I've heard, Nesmith used his inherited wealth to fun his early video project, "Elephant Parts." The money also reportedly helped fund in part MTV's early days.

[lysana.livejournal.com]

Going way back to may days as a Trivia Forum Host on AOL (back when they were excited that they broke the 100,000 subscriber barrier)

You and I both go back on AOL about as far, and as forum hosts at that. I was a chat host for the Gay/Lesbian Community Forum.

[calebbullen.livejournal.com]

Jeez o pete! everyone knows that. But that's allright. I just like to be reminded of the great mike nesmith. Fellow texan. Producer of Tapeheads! Singer of one ton tomato (guantanamera)and the only Monkee to have had a hit as a songwriter before joining the fake four.

Re: Without even looking at your answer

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

If indeed part of Betty Nesmith's Liquid Paper money helped finance MTV, then maybe there is larger significance to this factoid after all : D

I heard an interview on a local radio station with Mike Nesmith once, and the announcer said, "You know, I'm sorry, but I just have to ask this...." at which point Nesmith broke in and said "Yes, my mom invented Liquid Paper." He seemed amused by the whole thing.

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

Ah, another person who remembers when AOL was something other than a corporate megalith!

Being a Forum host was fun. I liked writing material, and I had a scorekeeper who kept track of points and dealt with snerts, so it wasn't a bad gig.

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

Don't forget, he *was* the cutest Monkee. And he wrote Linda Ronstadt's first hit record, back when she sang with the Stone Poneys backing her.

Re:

[calebbullen.livejournal.com]

I fear I am unqualified to discern his cuteness. His "playing a car" with Frank Zappa made a mighty influence on me as a young boy though.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

In all honesty, the fact that Mike Nesmith's mom invented Liquid Paper is responsible for what the Monkees was like just pre- and post "Head".

See, Mike, being really wealthy anyway, didn't CARE whether the Monkees were commercial. Peter Tork, being fundamentally an experimental musician, cared a lot more about doing interesting, border-pushing stuff than about commercial success.

Davey Jones (hey, another good TQOD would be, "A popular musician was born with the name 'David Jones'. What did he change it to, because 'David Jones' was already taken by the Monkee?"), being a Broadway and East End musical theater actor, did care about commercial success: being a musician and actor was his job, and he wanted to, you know, have enough money to retire someday. And Mickey Dolenz, a television actor, felt much the same way.

So, much of the musical direction of the Monkees was shaped by this conflict, between two musicians who cared about commercial success, one who was unworldly enough to be more interested in the music, and one with enough money to feel perfectly comfortable telling their label to just go fuck themselves (Mike did things like give singles titles that appeared nowhere in the song, just to make it harder for people to call into radio shows to request them. He named one song "Randy Souse Git", just to screw over the British market).

I really like what came out of that. You've got the basic weirdness and therefore interest of the experimental stuff that Peter wanted to do, the edge of Mike's stuff, all tempered and made listenable by Mickey and Davey's influence.

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

That's a great suggestion for a TQOTD (I know the answer, but am not giving it here, so I can use it later).

I think the story of the Monkees is very interesting... I also think they are underrated as a popular musical phenomenon.

[bdot.livejournal.com]

when are you going to use it? i want to know the answer!