Elephant Parts: Michael in all his solo glory
By Mina Moseley (dmoseley@interhop.net)
Elephant Parts, IMHO, is Michael's greatest work outside of the Monkees.
The video perfectly blends Michael's musical style, with his interesting
sense of humour.
In the first part, Michael parodies his own song "Joanne" changing the
lyrics to:
Her name was Rodan
And she lived in the oceans of Japan
The brilliance of Michael shines through in this first moment and now I
can't watch a Godzilla movie without thinking about Elephant Parts.
Music videos are sprinkled throughout the tape. My personal favourite
has
always been "Cruisin' (Lucy and Ramona and Sunset Sam)"
Personal note: When I was a little kid, I used to have the biggest crush on "the bearded guy who sang Lucy and Ramona"...... Weird, huh?
The comedy shorts are reminiscent of early Saturday Night Live, with
Michael's unique humour thrown in. Rock and Roll Hospital, Neighborhood
Nuclear Superiority, Elvis Drugs, Name that Drug and the Mariachi Song
prove this.
Simply put: Elephant Parts is a great video for anybody, from die-hard
Nezheads to people who have never even heard of Michael Nesmith. It is
totally worth the rent, borrow or buy (thought I suggest buy)
Elephant Parts is available at Videoranch (http://www.videoranch.com)
Mina Moseley, Vice-President
(
geocities.com/televisioncity/set) (
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