Today, a song called "Looking For A Wall" sounds like a Trump campaign anthem, but it is an underrated tune from Smash Mouth from their 2003 album, "Get The Picture?" Smash Mouth rose to fame in the late 90s with their unique retro style rock that incorporated horns and organs, as if they were playing a 60s beach party. The formula landed them an instant hit with "Walkin' On The Sun," which peaked at #2 in 1998. They followed it up by scoring a #27 hit with their cover of "Can't Get Enough Of You Baby" (originally done by The Mysterians). It would be one of many covers the band has done, including "I'm A Believer" (The Monkees), which landed at #25 in 2001. It would be their last chart showing. Before that, the band also scored smash hits with "All Star" and "Then The Morning Comes," which reached #4 and #11, respectively.
Twenty years after their formation, The Monkees were hot again. In the mid-80s, the iconic 60s pop band were receiving a lot of attention and even released a comeback record that put them back on the charts. Some in the biz figured that lightning could strike twice. Following the original premise of The Monkees, they held auditions to form New Monkees to record an album and star in a TV series. The old Monkees were not thrilled about this and even sued for use of their name. Neither the record nor the TV show worked to ignite interest in New Monkees. Which is not to say that the album completely sucked. Although the synth pop sound is terribly dated, there was potential here. One of the more promising cuts was their driving cover of Tom Cochrane's "Boy Inside The Man."
The Monkees were a pop group formed in 1965 whose members were handpicked from youngsters applying to be on a new television show. Led by Davy Jones (who died in 2012), the band would be hugely successful performing covers of songs written by the likes of Neil Diamond ("I'm A Believer," which was #1 for 7 weeks and "A Little Bit Of Me, A Little Bit Of You," which went to #2), Carole King ("Pleasant Valley Sunday," which went to #3 and "Porpoise Song," which went to #62), and John Stewart ("Daydream Believer," which was #1 for 4 weeks). They were ranked as the most successful artist on the charts in 1967. By 1970, however, no one was going ape for The Monkees anymore so they disbanded. The Monkees staged a comeback in 1986 when "That Was Then, This Is Now" hit #20. Their final chart appearance was one year later when "Heart And Soul" stalled at #87. "Randy Scouse Git" goes back to that magical year of 1967 when everything the band touched turned to gold. It was not a chart hit, but one of the edgier pieces this pop band would perform.
