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From: bagzie73
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  • Wow, That takes me back to saturday morning cocoa and luckycharms. I loved these guys and their crazy shows. Thanks for that.

  • Just appreciate the cool video and song!!! CHILL!

  • This song was written by Carol King and was a comment on the American Suburban lifestyle in the 60's. Carol and her husband at the time wrote this song about where they were living when they moved to New Jersey. At the time of this song being released they were not writing their own material. I have never heard of that spoof of a beatles song comment before.

  • Mike is playing the riff properly but dear old Davey does look like the maraccas, rather than the bass guitar, is his true forte....

    Be that as it may. Fab!!

  • To the gay dude taking about rubbing stuff out. You could have kept that to your gay ass self. Gross

  • was only a little sprog but remember them well

  • Pleasant Valley Sunday was a spoof on the Beatles hit Penny Lane...both of which were comentaries on the plastic lifestyle of the 60's...both songs achieved about the same amount of popularity

  • You know this was a sitcom right? The were fun and spoofing everything during their "era". Fun to watch but not real.

  • I used to rub one out when I watched Davey Jones.

    I'm 61 and a proud gay male.

  • nothing wrong with being gay, i have a gay friend, but if you go around telling people sick and pervy stuff it doesnt mean your proud, i clearly shows you want to be proud but are in fact a little insecure and wouldnt tell any of us if this was face to face. Fuck you old man.

  • What?... no love for Mike?

  • lol

  • WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

  • How many bands/artists fake it today???

  • They inspired alot of young musicians by coming into their homes weekly and daily during reruns eventhough they won't admit it. I CAN'T BELEIVE THEY ARE NOT IN THE ROCK'N'ROLL HALL OF FAME. THE SUPREMES DIDN'T WRITE THEIR OWN SONGS. AND WE KNOW THE BEACH BOYS DIDN'T ALWAYS PLAY THEIR OWN INSTRUMENTS.

  • My favorite Monkees song. :)

  • Is it just me, or does the song on the Hidden Valley Ranch commercials bear a resemblance to "Pleasant Valley Sunday"?

  • They are so Awesome! thanks Laura!

  • Loved These Guys 2

    GR8 share Thanks Laura

  • I always liked some of the Monkees' songs, and this is one of them. Thanks, Laura.

    Kathy

  • The Monkees were great actors. I used to watch them when I was a kid. But the music is just a fake. Peter Tork could not play any instrument at all.

  • actually mike and peter were the only musicians BEFORE the monkees...peter could play the guitar, hes been playin piano since he was nine, he can play the banjo and the ukulele too....just so you know!!!! peter could play many instruments!!!!!!!!

  • HEY! Davy Jones was a GREAT Tamboreen musician.

    Ok, just kidding

  • Man they should be in the rock hall of fame dang it!

  • I didn't know Peter had a tat on his right hand.

  • this is an amazing song

  • Carole King sure knew how to write catchy tunes back then.

  • Lol. In the 60s, this was considered a "good" song. In today's world, it's a BRILLIANT song. Look at it this way, as songwriting devolves, these songs hold up. Monkees will be looked at more and more fondly over time.

  • I love this song, here in Status Smybol land..

  • i love that song i memerized it so that song it that good !!!! i love them

  • i live in a pleasent valley

  • Whether they cam play their instruments or not, this is an excellent song and the boys pull it off beautifully.

  • Funny, Mickey's not quite keeping up with drums... : )

  • do you think anyone could get away with pretending to play the drums like that now?

  • He's supposed to be the lead singer. Lead singers always get to drop their guitar and sing lead, even if they started out playing a crucial riff. Why not drummers?

  • i wish we were in the 60s

  • love this song, timeless:D

  • It was both of them.

  • Carole King wrote this song.

  • It was her husband.

  • i love pleaseant valley sunday .from the monkees

  • i live in a pleasent valley...

  • Wish someone would fix the synch on this. It's way off.

    BTW, The arrangement for this song was actually the Monkees. That famous lick was not originally a part of the song. I think it was Mike who came up with it - so, when you see him playing it in the video, it's pretty much what he did on the video (although there was more than one guitar playing it).

    And Davy does play guitar (it's a bass on this video). He just never did it on the show.

  • atmospheric 1960s so cal . charcoal burning everywhere . no bbqs in 60s uk for me in liverpool

  • Great video, thanks!

    * Why does Peter have Wolfman hands?

    * I have never seen Davy with a guitar before

    * Who wrote this song?

    Thanks

  • not wolfman....monkey!

  • lol fair enough, monkey! I stand corrected!

  • my mom taped EVERY episode, some twice, and ive watched them all as a small boy, i still love them, and remember the words

    long live the monkeys, paul McCartney, and Ringo!!

  • i used to watch this show all the time

  • fantásticos a pesar de todos estos años. eller hur?

  • I wish I could carry Pleasant Valley Sunday into Monday.

  • Another pleasent valley sunday

  • what a cool band

  • Wonderful tune.

  • Mcstroke..loved it

  • haha i love that episode!!!!

  • my mom got me addicted to them.. lol! theyre amazing. =)

  • hi i'm tori i love the monkees-tori

  • mike nesmith = founder and former CEO of MTV!

    his mother invented liquid paper (early white-out) Still one of the most underrated musicians/ songwriters of the twentieth century.

  • This song is about Pleasant Valley Way in West Orange, NJ.  The greatest town in the world (according to most people, but not Carly Simon - who wrote the song.)

  • Think so huh? I went to high school up the hill next town up and I kinda doubt that.

  • this song is the most bitchinist song ever. its the shit

  • great memories! nothing more need be said.

  • Rather obvious that Mike Nesmith is the only one actually playing an instrument.

  • i guess they all didn't play or write their songs for a wile, but then they took control of both.

  • I watched this show as a kid and I love it. The songs have lost none of their charm- they are still great!

  • Monkees --- ahhh, my heart is now very content! I love them and always will! Here's to The Monkees!!!

  • i luv the monkees!! :-)

  • Im far to young to remember the monkees but i think they are one of the great underated bands and Mikey one of the underated vocalists he had a great unique voice and he was funny as hell.

  • I'm a huge Monkees fan. When this song first came out I remember screaming when it would come on the radio cuz I was so excited & yell for my mom to turn up the radio. She'd fuss that she wasn't gonna turn that stuff up load. I was gonna marry all 4 Monkees. Instead I married a guy who likes them too... :)

  • Anyone who thinks that intro guitar is 100% the guitar from the fabs "i want to tell u"?:):) Or is it my sick imagination?:)

  • Chip Douglas came up with the intro, he said he was inspired by the Beatles "I Want To Tell You" he taught it to Mike who loved it, and it was decided that it would be used for this song. Carol King who wrote the song to be played much slower was not pleased with the intro or the change in tempo when she first heard it. I guess after the royalty checks started coming in she changed her mind about it and even started using it when she perform the song in concert.

  • the opening riff is up there with the best of em

  • i agree

  • I would love to hear a heavy metal version of this, or a latin version, a jazz version, and so forth, although I definitely love this version, the original.

  • Geez Micky can you put some effort into faking the drums?

  • Really good times !! An innocent (????) band playing very good song. It's a poem they sing. We love The Monkees in Brasil!

  • And still nothing changes... the message stays the same yet all the sheeple carry on regardless.

  • yep

  • Gretsch Country Gentleman to be exact - top band, top song

  • Who can deny the charisma of Davy Jones? The fashion sense of Mike Nesmith? The chiseled good looks of Peter Tork? Or the balls-to-the-wall talent of Mickey Dolenz?

  • No one.

  • Are you being sarcastic? I can't tell in text

  • Dammit, Dan, stop replying to videos under my name :P

  • I love this song. Great band. Gotta love em.

  • Yes, it's definitely a Gretsch

  • Gretsches ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANX!!!!!!

  • This song reminds me of the area I live in the UK, every Suday people do the same mind numbing routine, I avoid contact with these people at every opportunity, I stick my guitar and play the riff to this monster,

  • haha dad xD

    i know what you mean.

  • Dude...totally agree, but for different reasons...you`ll get there ....it`s way cool to be square......lazy sunday,sun shining,church bells, etc and this song...heaven,

  • My favorite song ever by my favorite band ever!

  • Thats a hell of a riff introducing the song and the song itself is very strong, one of their best.

  • REMINDS ME OF THE THEME FROM FRIENDS!

  • It does me too a little bit. Glad I'm not the only one who thought so.

  • go mike

  • Mike is lead guitar in many of the Monkee songs.  He plays that Rickenbacker like there's no tomorrow! He's awesome!

  • I don't believe that's a Rickenbacker guitar.

  • Would Mike's guitar be a Gretsch, then? I know it's same one that George played with the Beatles

  • Not your average 60' pop song. This is still a pretty mean-spirited slam at middle class complacency. Mike on guitar, Peter on keyboards, Chip Douglas on bass, Eddie Hoe on drums, and Mickey's killer vocal; this is the track that you throw at the Monkee's critics who dismiss them as totally manufactured.

  • Even if the bulk of their material wasn't theirs, they still sounded good. They fought tooth and nail to play on the albums and to write their own material. Mickey Dolenz can still nail the vocals too. Saw another vid from last year where he did Stepping Stone with some band. Top notch. Dolenz also gets props for doing the voice of Arthur on the old Tick cartoon.

  • As far a the Monkeys goes...this is one of the deeper songs that they put out...this song can be redone, and since the tune is simple, it would sound very good. Growing up in a very small town of the same thing day in and day out...things going nowhere...is there is to life? it is time to get the hell out of dodge...just to find that it wasn't bad to begin with compared to the rest of world.

  • I wouldn't describe this song as "Bubblegum pop" it is in fact a damn good pop song.

  • Indeed, one of the best pop songs of all time, my friend! Many other Monkees hits could be considered the same. Ridiculously good quality; pure essence of pop-songery.

  • I remember getting this album when I was a teenager and listening to it over and over with my friends. Awesome stuff.

  • Love this song always loved the Monkees. I saw Mickey with others in concert and he can belt it out! What a voice that man has. Makes me think of very beautiful weekend day.

  • This song reminds me of waking up on a sunny Saturday morning to hear lawn mowers going and smelling freshly cut grass and running to the living room to watch The Monkees. I was about 7 or 8 when the show came on and we girls all loved Davy Jones. This song is still pure magic and can take you instantly back to more innocent times when even TV bands were outstanding.

  • in those times we did not know they where manufactured to tell the truthe i dont care there still great

  • Heard these guys in person in the 80's and I was stunned at the range, power and tone quality of Mickey's voice.

  • Seventeen when this came out. I can remember driving '66 Malibu listening to this the first time and thinking how HEAVY it was.

    Time change....

  • The song was written by Carole King in response to her move out to New Jersey, re: Pleasant Valley Way road, in Essex County, New Jersey...which actually isn't too bad an area. Anyway, I've got to go out and turn the ribs on the BBQ while I freshen up everyone's drink!

  • Correct. I travel on Pleasant Valley Way several times a week. Very expensive real estate. FYI- Carol Kings real name: Carol Klein

  • That's pretty funny. I'm from Jersey and I never put two and two together about Pleasant Valley Way.I think I enjoy the song even more now.

  • I was two months old when this was released. I got into The Monkees when I was a teenager and they would air reruns. I still like to break out The Monkeys every now and then.

    This song is one of my favorites. It has always struck me as rather melancholy.

  • Strange to think that back then even manufactured pop could be subversive - and look at the state we're in now. I particularly love Bill Bailey's piss take Texting Song...

  • One of the more 'unconventional' drum setups on the ol' joo dreamtube. But this song rules.

  • Thanks for the memories. I was 16 and and driving around in my MG midget the first time I heard this song.

  • Too bad it's Monday, fellas.

  • DAMN!! this brings back memories of my childhood. when this came out i was FIVE!!!

  • I wasn't even born yet it reminds me of being little. They aired re-runs and i just loved this show!

  • Five ? I was 3...but I still recall this floating around my "always warm" summers of growing up.

    Was it me or did you feel that the tunes were so much "happier" then ? None of this introspective clap-trap but something that just worked at all levels.

    I think this tune is almost perfect pop but with some top words that only now make sense.

    Aahhh... summer holidays were made for this tune.

  • yes the tunes were better back then!! this is like a time machine. i wish i could go back

    but i know i can't.

  • great song

  • I like the guitar lead in this song so much I learned to play it on my guitar! Sounds a little bit like the guitar lead in Beatles "Paperback Writer" but still like it very much! Thanks for posting!

  • wow peter plays really fast!!!

  • Yeah he does, in a recent interview he said he looked back and never knew he ever did or could play that fast. This is also his favorite song by the band although the live taping of Riu Chiu for an episode is his favorite recording they ever did.

  • I love that thing Mike does with his feet at 0:28 and Micky's drum work at 2:32 He's so cute!

    And this is not bubblegum. It's a veritable three-course meal of food for thought. My favorite Monkees song.

  • man, i still love this tune.

  • my friend lives on pleasent valley road and i went there on sunday! YAYFULLNESS! And it scares me watching Davy try to play the guitar, cause he CANT. BUt i love Davy tho. XDDDDD I need a change of scenery... i said that in a record store once!

  • ______♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥__________♥♥♥♥♥ ♥ _______♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥_______♥♥♥♥♥­ ♥♥♥♥♥ _____♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥____♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ♥♥♥♥♥♥ _____♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥_♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ♥♥♥♥♥♥ _____♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ♥♥♥♥♥ ______ ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ _______♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ _________♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ♥ ____________♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ______________♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ _________________♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ __________________♥♥♥♥♥♥ ___________________♥♥♥♥ ___________________♥♥
  • edward siscoorhands lives here?

  • Micky was so cute and had a great voice.

  • i live on pleasent valley ave. in NY, lol not jk

  • i used to live in a place call "pleasant valley" when this song came out---it was a close knit neighborhood, very nice song

  • Neither Pleasant Valley Sunday, nor Valerie, are classified as bubblegum. The Monkees were a heavily produced group, but these two songs represent their effort to breakout as musicians and show the world what they could do.

  • long live bubblegum pop

  • i think mickey is cute. i grew up watching these with my mom. She liked davy. I am only 21

  • Yours was a very charming posting. I'm considerably older than you but remember watching their show (in re-runs) with my uncle. We had good fun.

  • one of the first songs they learnd to play as a group and mickey became a force with his voice to be known he also song i'm a believer

  • Don't care if it is poppy, cheesey or whatever. LOVED the Monkee's and still get a kick when I hear them and YEAH they are on my MP3 player. Favorite song "What am I doing hangin' round?"

  • What?Does not played?What language is that?

  • Excuse me!

    It's my second language.

  • these guys were not required to know how to play their own instruments when they were first cast. they only had to know how to sing.

  • Classic

  • Who did put the hihat in front of the drum set where Mickey's foot never step on pedal???

  • He had to learn how to play drums once he was cast in the TV show. He switched from guitar and was then taught by a left-handed instructor, that's why his drums are set up like that.

  • Mickey and David does not played instruments but thet are awsome singers.

    I still like their songs.

  • Micky played drums and David on percussion. They were most noted for their voices though and this is just playback during filming of the TV show.

  • Nesmith played guitar on the song and Tork played the keyboards. The drums were played by a studio musician as Dolenz wasn't seasoned enough.

  • Mickey played second guitar here.

  • I love this song but the video cracks me up as its easy to see Micky isn't even trying to look like he's really playing those drums.

  • One of my all-time favorite songs!

    I think this song is timeless...

  • Monkees rock

  • they learned how to play and that was what brought them down no more being controlled by the those who sought to control

  • That's why the same producers created The Archies. They figured that cartoon characters wouldn't rebel. They fell flat later when they wanted musicians to tour as The Archies and nobody would take it on.

  • od, I loved mickey !!!!!

  • davy looks like a foo on that bass haha

  • Stop bagging these guys because they didn't play instruments on the show. The Monkees was a TV show ABOUT a band, not a documentary OF a band. Dr Casey didn't operate on patients, Perry Mason didn't appear in courtrooms, Starship Enterprise didn't go to outer space and only David Cassidy was Shirley Jones's son in the Partridge Family but they weren't really called Partridge! Even The Beatles had an off-stage backing group in A Hard Days Night. Peter & Mike were already musicians and could play.

  • what's with the diss of Goffin/King? They wrote GREAT SONGS!

  • Goffin & King were legends. Carole King's "Tapestry" is the best female solo album of all time.

  • this reminds me of living in bath. thanks for the memories!

  • what a great song makes me long for summer

  • Saudades !

    Beijos a vocês meus caros !

    Genebra

    BRASIL 28.04.2008

  • this song makes me want to skip outside in the bright sun or fly a kite =)

    nice this and daydream believer are my fav monkee songs

    love you mickey!!

  • I love the flipside, Words! Pleasant Valley Sunday 45 rpm version(also TV version) is much better than the album version which is what those idiots under consultants wings on the oldies stations play...She Hangs Out (altenate,non TV/non album version) is great also.

  • Favorite Monkees song! I sing along everytime I hear it on the radio or anywhere!

  • Way before my time..but still a big part of my youth. My one cousin and I were alone in loving the Monkees but still we enjoyed them just the same. Thanks for posting the video!!

  • These guys were only in their late teens to early twenties, already had acting and music performance experience, worked long hours doing the tv show, wrote & recorded songs, learned improv comedy, learned and improved on instruments they already played, sang and harmonized together, toured, answered fan mail, etc. Monkees team was creative not just a 'machine': the Monkees, Bob Rafelson, Burt Schneider(?correct name?), Kirschner, Boyce, Hart, Goffin, King, Diamond, Chip Douglas, and others.

  • I just love Micky's hair, it's so cute!

  • The best band that ever lived that could'nt play an instrument between them.....lol

  • A typical Goffen/King pop song. But The Monkees made it great with their vocals. The song would be just as big a hit today.

  • Dolenz voice was the Monkees! Listen to all the songs. Without him, no Monkees! They live forever & ever...

  • Mickey Dolenz has a wonderful voice! I never really had a favorite as a kid, other than thinking that Davie was a cutie pie! All of them were great musicians though!

  • Their best song of all time.......