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Mike Nesmith

“The Smart One” or “The One With The Hat”

Born: December 30, 1942
Birthplace: Dallas, TX
Height: 6' 1"
Parents: W.A. and Bette Nesmith
Siblings: None
Marriages: 2: Phyllis, Kathryn
Current Marital Status: Single
Children: 4, Christian 1/31/65, Jonathan 2/4/68, Jason 8/7/68, Jessica, 9/10/70

Michael Nesmith was already an accomplished songwriter before he joined the Monkees. He wrote and recorded under the pseudonym Michael Blessing. He wrote the Stone Pony’s hit “Different Drum” (with Linda Ronstadt on vocals). Mike joined the Monkees thinking he had been hired as a musician who could act rather than an actor who could play an instrument. He was more than a little upset when he was told the Monkees would not be playing on their first album. It wasn’t really a reflection on their musical prowess. It was simply that the production schedule was so tight, there was no time for the boys to be in the studio. They would shoot the series during the day, then race to the studio to lay down the vocal tracks at night.

Post-Monkees, Nez went on to record solo albums and move into the world of television and video as well. He’s been credited with creating the concept behind MTV, won the first ever grammy award for video with "Elephant Parts", created the TV sequel "Television Parts", has run a video company, has produced movies such as "Tape Heads" and "Timerider", and still performs live in solo concert shows on occasion. He was not available when the reunions of the 80's took place, although he appeared with the group on occasion, and got together with them for the “Justus” album.

Biographies for: | Micky | Peter | Davy | Mike