(NOT YOUR) STEPPIN STONE | #AtoZCHALLENGE (S) #MusicalMemories

54 Comments#AtoZChallenge 2017, #MusicalMemories, Memoir, Music, Writing/Blogging

Musical Memories #AtoZChallenge 2017


Welcome everyone, to the#AtoZChallenge Blogging Extravaganza, where hundreds of bloggers publish 26 posts in 30 days, one for each letter of the alphabet, covering a myriad of topics!

“Musical Memories” is my theme. Click HERE to see all posts and HERE to view the A to Z Blog. Please support our efforts by visiting, sharing and commenting. We have all worked long and hard on this project. Have fun and thanks for reading!

(NOT YOUR) STEPPIN' STONE | #AtoZChallenge
Day 19, April 22

(NOT YOUR) STEPPIN' STONE | #AtoZChallenge 2017 (S) Day 19 #MusicalMemories #dogladysden Click To Tweet

The time: Winter 1966/67
The place: Soest, Germany 

We had moved back to Germany from Canada the year before. During the week, living on the base (in Soest), I was just another Canadian “Army Brat”.

Weekends with my grandparents (in Bochum) and other relatives transformed me back into a German girl.

Main sources for music at that time were British Forces Radio, Radio Caroline (A British Pirate Radio station, just like the movie), Radio Luxemburg (broadcasting in 4 languages – English at night), German radio and TV.

Our military store was well-stocked with the popular American and British teen magazines of the day, which kept me up to date. What were these magazines all talking about? The Monkees!

Steppin' Stone | #AtoZChallenge
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A teenybopper‘s dream they were. My friends and I had their posters plastered all over our rooms and we couldn’t wait for the next record! We missed out on the TV show, as it wasn’t airing in Europe at the time. I caught a few episodes some years later and thought they were incredibly silly.

The music, on the other hand, was more sophisticated than you would think. Producers enlisted some well-known songwriters of the day, including Boyce & Hart, Goffin/King and Neil Diamond. One Boyce & Hart song, in particular, caught my attention that winter. (Not Your) Steppin’ Stone talks about users and pretenders:

Who were your teen idols? Do you still like their music as an adult?

Looking forward to your comments!

Debbie

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54 thoughts on “(NOT YOUR) STEPPIN STONE | #AtoZCHALLENGE (S) #MusicalMemories

  1. Such a lovely choice, awesome theme for atoz challenge! I have been going through all the comments Debbie, very enticing

  2. He he, they really moved differently back then. Well, I’m sure, years from now, that’s what our kids are going to say about the ’80s and ’90s, if they’re not already laughing now. That said, the song was good.

    I’m aware of THE MONKEES, but not exactly of their songs. So I probably heard other songs from them that I didn’t know were theirs. Filipinos love to listen to older songs on the radio (my S post incidentally proves that), so I wouldn’t be surprised. I’m great at remembering songs, just not the titles and the artists, to be honest.
    Songs and Short Stories

    1. Melodies always seem more familiar than song titles or lyrics. Yes, we’re going back ‘ancient’ times here. What I love about my generation’s music is that younger people do enjoy it.

  3. I used to actually watch that show, but now I don’t remember a whole lot about it. When I try to think of it, the images seem sped up? Maybe they had scenes like that in the series, or in the intro?

    I’m not sure I idolized many artists, but I am doing one of my A to Z blog themes on some of my favorite and influential (to me) bands!

    1. I was a little young, but do remember those teen idols as well. Elvis, of course, spanned a couple of generations. I liked his movies and some of his songs – especially the ballads. He had a beautiful voice! 🙂

    1. I was shocked and saddened by Davy’s sudden death, too. 🙁 Dirndls are specific to Bavaria and Tyrol, Austria. I’m from Nordrhein Westfalen, so I never had one. Do you have any Birgit? 🙂

  4. DEBBIE ~
    As I told Mary, I am so far behind in my blog commenting that I can actually see my own butt from here! (And NO ONE should have to look at that, not even me!)

    Yep, I was a huge fan of THE MONKEES as a little kid. Davy Jones was my favorite. Still is. I got their debut album for my 8th birthday — it was the first LP I ever owned. I have it now on compact disc and play it on my birthdays. Some good stuffs on there. Too bad it doesn’t include my all-time favorite Monkees song, ‘DAYDREAM BELIEVER’. I really do love that one.

    Yak again soon…

    ~ D-FensDogG
    Check out my new blog @
    [Link:) Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews…

    1. No worries, Stephen. I’ve only just caught up with mine. 🙂 It seems many of us have fond memories of the Monkees. Davy was my favourite as well. (I have a thing for accents.) Have a pleasant (valley) sunday. Daydream Believer, just for you:

  5. Hey hey we’re the Monkees, and people say we monkey around. Silly show, but some timeless tracks. I cut my teeth on KISS and I still like them. I loved ABBA too, and had a crush on Anna and Frida. Occasionally, I still listen to them as well.

    1. The songs were better than most people thought, David. Kiss has some good material too. They must be fun to see live! I was a fan of Gene Simmons’ reality show. What a character he is! 😀 Not big on ABBA, personally, except for their song, ‘Fernando’. That one has a lot of personal significance. Thanks for sharing your favourites with me. I’ll leave you with this. Rock on!

  6. I loved The Monkees, and watched their show when I was younger. The scene with the bed going down the street always made me laugh, and of course my friends and used to do The Monkee walk. My tween idols were Andy Gibb, Shaun Cassidy, and Leif Garrett.

  7. When I was a youngster, and the question was posed, “The Beatles or The Stones?” …
    my response would be, “You mean, The Monkees or The Bee Gees?”

  8. Ah, those teen years. So nostalgic! Fun story about your time in Germany and plastering posters on your walls. I remember the Monkeys well and must have watched their show, even though I wasn’t yet a teenybopper. When I did become a teenybopper, I had Donny Osmond and Micheal Jackson posters up, but I think I only put them up because my friends were doing it and I wanted to be part of the group. I didn’t have any of their records. I liked Carpenters music and other soft rock. Boring! And I liked classical and stuff my parents liked like Henry Mancini, James Last and Neil Diamond. My parents did like the Beatles and had quite a few of their albums so I wasn’t totally deprived musically. I had some Elton John albums and liked those. I am enjoying the musical trip down memory lane with you.

    1. Not boring at all, Cathy! James Last was a fabulous German band leader. Thanks for reminding me about him. I didn’t like The Osmonds or The Jacksons music, even then. Too much ‘schlock pop crap’. (Just my personal taste and opinion. No offence to fans of that genre, I hope!) LOL As a Carpenters fan, you’ll enjoy the ‘Y’ post on Saturday. 🙂 I’ll leave you with this:

    1. I remember Shaun Cassidy and his older brother, David, who was a huge idol for many, because of the Partridge Family TV show. Thanks, Karen. 🙂

  9. Debbie, I wasn’t a teen when the Monkees were popular. I loved their mewsic and the show but then I was younger than you so the silliness was right up my alley. 😀 I had a crush on Davey Jones. In the mid-80s The Monkees were part of a retro tour with other 60s bands like Tom Petty and I had the good fortune to see the act. A fellow co-worker had tickets but couldn’t go so he gave his to me to go with the others from the office. It was a huge blast, too! Thanks for stopping by to see my Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs illustration. Have a super weekend!

    1. Davey was my heartthrob too! 🙂 Such a sad day when he died suddenly at age 67 a few years ago. You saw the Monkees and Tom Petty together? That must have been a great show! Wishing you a good weekend as well.

    1. They made an album without Davey? Sad day in the music world when he died….:( They’re just not ‘The Monkees’ in my mind, without him, but I’ll definitely check it out. Thanks!

  10. The version of “Steppin’ Stone” that I most remember is the one by Paul Revere and the Raiders who did it first. I was a big fan of that group and used to come home from school to watch the TV show Where the Action Is which featured them. The version by the Raiders got a lot of airplay on our local Knoxville, TN radio station. The Monkees picked up on a lot of hits like that I think.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

    1. I was a huge fan of PauL Revere and the Raiders, too, especially lead singer Mark Lindsay. Their posters were competing with The Monkees on my walls. 🙂 At the time, I wasn’t aware they had recorded the same song earlier. Now, I’m thinking I might use both in a BOTB matchup. 🙂

  11. I liked the Monkees. Really. And of course, I loved the show, because I was just the right age it was geared for. And although I thought Peter Tork was really cute, I remained true to my beloved Ringo Starr. Ah, for the days when you could be in love from afar and the only people who might make fun of you were your parents (although mine never did) because all of your girlfriends shared your feelings. Russ told me (on several occasions) when his father paid him to take his younger sisters to see the Osmonds… Need I say more?

    1. Davey was my favourite Monkee, even though he was short. 🙂 I had a thing for accents. Still do! Ringo is a favourite, too. He has a great personality, from all appearances. You couldn’t pay me enough to attend an Osmonds concert! 😛 I guess Russ really needed the money. LOL

  12. Actually the lyrics are pretty good. It was interesting comparing German teenagers to the American teenagers at that time. The Germans looked so stiff when they danced. The American teenagers let it all hang out when dancing. But the German teenagers weren’t into drugs… So I felt more comfortable with them. Besides we had the delicious German beer!

  13. They were the first boy band, weren’t they? The songs are just really fun. I still like pretty much the same type of music as when as I was a teenager, so I’m still listening to bands I listened to back then. Blur and Oasis were the first two bands I really got into – you were supposed to pick one at the time, but I didn’t do that – I did go off Oasis later, though!

    1. I guess they were the first ‘boy band’ since The Beatles and Stones don’t fit that description. 🙂 Oasis was good but Liam and Noel’s infighting ruined it, I think. Although I still enjoy a lot of songs from the 60s, I find my taste in music has gotten more harder-edged over the years.

  14. My favorite teen idol was Greg Evigan of “BJ and the Bear”. I used to daydream about meeting him when on long family drives. ~grin~ Thank you for sharing these memories and for visiting my blog so that I found you!

    1. I remember Greg Evigan and that show. 🙂 He was a good-looking guy, for sure. Thanks for dropping in here, Darla. Love your music theme!

  15. I have to admit, the Monkees were one of my favorites. I can still sing a lot of their songs. I don’t care if they were a “fake” group. But surprisingly, when I think of “favorite music” it is mainly music from my young adulthood, not my teen years.

    1. I focus more on the late 60s, early 70s myself. This was a fun period in music, though. The Monkees inspired the same hysteria as The Beatles. Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork were legit musicians. Davey had a beautiful voice. Loved his accent! 😀

  16. OK. I admit it. I watched their tv show. The music was fun and they were pretty funny. Years later I saw Micky Dolenz play polo – when I used to go to an annual match here.

    1. I’m glad we made a connection over the Monkees, Denise. 🙂 The music is a lot better than some people say. Can’t picture Mickey Dolenz playing polo, but then again, why not?

  17. More British/European bands in my playlist as a teen I think, Western music reached me with a lag of more or less a decade 🙂 growing up in West Africa. Some of my teen idols have remained as adored as ever and will be so no doubt till I conk out (Pink Floyd, Simon n Garfunkel, Wings). Others kind of half-n-half, will tolerate but won’t go out of my way to find them (Boney M, Abba) and some have dropped out of memory altogether, can’t even remember their names now, sadly.

    1. I enjoy Pink Floyd, but they get a little ‘heavy’ after awhile. Have to be in the right mood. Simon & Garfunkel, anytime. 🙂 Wings, not really my taste. I thought Mccartney wrote better songs with Lennon. Abba – nooo! Too ‘pop’ (except ‘Fernando’ which brings back a lot of memories). I remember Boney M. What a hoot! 😀 Thanks for sharing your favourites, Nila.
      Do you know this one? Such fun!