"Randy Scouse Git"
Single by The Monkees
from the album Headquarters
ReleasedMay 22, 1967
RecordedMarch 4 and 8, 1967
StudioRCA Victor Studio C, Hollywood
Genre
Length2:40
LabelRCA
Songwriter(s)Micky Dolenz
Producer(s)Douglas Farthing-Hatlelid

"Randy Scouse Git" is a song written by Micky Dolenz in 1967 and recorded by the Monkees. It was the first song written by Dolenz to be commercially released, and it became a number 2 hit in the UK where it was retitled "Alternate Title" after the record company (RCA) complained that the original title was actually somewhat "rude to British audience" and requested that The Monkees supply an alternate title. Dolenz took the song's title from a phrase he had heard spoken on an episode of the British television series Till Death Us Do Part, which he had watched while in England. The song also appeared on The Monkees TV series, on their album Headquarters, and on several "Greatest Hits" albums. Peter Tork said that it was one of his favorite Monkees tracks.

Background

In February 1967, Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith were in London and the Beatles threw a party for the Monkees in London.[3] According to Dolenz, the song was written about this party held at the Speakeasy nightclub. There are references in the song to the Beatles ("the four kings of EMI") and to other party attendees such as Cass Elliot of the Mamas & the Papas ("the girl in yellow dress"),[4] and Dolenz's future wife Top of the Pops "disc girl" Samantha Juste ("She's a wonderful lady", "the being known as Wonder Girl").[5][3] The verses and chorus do not relate to each other, with the verses whimsically describing the party and the chorus consisting of abuse being hurled at the narrator. As Nesmith told Melody Maker in 1997, "The old establishment was going, 'Why don't you cut your hair,' and 'Alternate Title' was a rail against that."[6]

The title of song, "Randy Scouse Git", translates to American English as "horny, Liverpudlian jerk", according to Dolenz.[7] The phrase was taken from the 1960s British sitcom Till Death Us Do Part, in which it was regularly used by the loud-mouthed main character Alf Garnett, played by Cockney actor Warren Mitchell, to insult his Liverpudlian ("Scouse") son-in-law, played by Tony Booth. The show was later adapted into the American sitcom All in the Family, in which the writers replaced the phrase in American scripts with the epithet "Meathead". RCA Records in England told the band that they would not release the song unless it was given an "alternate title". By his own account, Dolenz said "OK, 'Alternate Title' it is".[7]

The song is played by all four Monkees with Dolenz on vocals, drums and timpani, Davy Jones on backing vocals, Mike Nesmith on guitar, Peter Tork on piano and organ, and producer Chip Douglas (The Turtles) on bass guitar.

Dolenz reprises lyrics from the song in "Love's What I Want", a bonus track to the 2016 Monkees album Good Times! ("Why don't you be like me? Why don't you stop and see? Why don't you hate who I hate, kill who I kill, to be free?").

Personnel

The Monkees

Additional musician

Charts

Chart (1967) Peak
position
Australia (Go-Set)[8] 9
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[9] 14
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[10] 11
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[11] 25
Finland (Soumen Virallinen)[12] 34
Germany (Official German Charts)[13] 11
Ireland (IRMA)[14] 4
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[15] 18
New Zealand (Listener Chart)[16] 5
Norway (VG-lista)[17] 2
UK Singles (OCC)[18] 2

Cover versions

  • Carter USM covered the song as a B-side to the 1990 “Anytime Anyplace Anywhere” single.
  • Bad Manners covered the song on their 1997 album Heavy Petting.
  • Dolenz re-recorded the song on his 2012 album, Remember.
  • The Orwells released a version to their fan mailing list on December 25, 2016.

References

  1. ↑ Segretto, Mike (2022). "1967". 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Minute - A Critical Trip Through the Rock LP Era, 1955–1999. Backbeat. pp. 142–143. ISBN 9781493064601.
  2. ↑ Stanley, Bob (2014). "Bubblegum Is the Naked Truth: The Monkees". Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. p. 207.
  3. 1 2 "Single Stories: The Monkees, "Randy Scouse Git"". Rhino. February 7, 2017.
  4. ↑ Life After 50, February, 2015
  5. ↑ Uncut, July 2011
  6. ↑ Watson, Ian (January 18, 2015). "Michael talks to Melody Maker in 1997". Monkees Live Almanac. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
  7. 1 2 Paul Du Noyer, Liverpool – Wondrous Place: From the Cavern to the Capital of Culture, Random House, 2012, p. 86
  8. ↑ "Go-Set Australian charts - 19 December 1967". www.poparchives.com.au.
  9. ↑ "The Monkees – Alternate Title (Randy Scouse Git)" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  10. ↑ "The Monkees – Alternate Title (Randy Scouse Git)" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  11. ↑ "The Monkees – Alternate Title (Randy Scouse Git)" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  12. ↑ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. p. 210. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  13. ↑ "The Monkees – Alternate Title (Randy Scouse Git)" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  14. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Alternate Title". Irish Singles Chart.
  15. ↑ "The Monkees – Alternate Title (Randy Scouse Git)" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  16. ↑ "The Monkees (search)". Flavour of New Zealand. Archived from the original on 2016-06-01. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
  17. ↑ "The Monkees – Alternate Title (Randy Scouse Git)". VG-lista.
  18. ↑ "Move: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
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