Today’s classic song of the day with a lady’s name in the title is “Joanne” by Michael Nesmith and the First National Band. Released as a single in July of 1970, this was Nesmith’s first and only solo Top Forty hit, peaking at #21 on the Billboard Hot 100, #17 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #6 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart.
“Joanne” was written and sung by Mr. Nesmith. You probably know him best as one of the four Monkees, that pre-fabricated group that had more than a slew of hits in the ’60s. Nesmith was also a successful songwriter on his own, previously penning “Different Drum,” a big hit for Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys.
Post-Monkees, Nez struck out on his own with his First National Band, which helped to pioneer the country-rock genre. (“Joanne” definitely has a country-rock vibe.) He also got into producing and helped to develop the concept of the music video, which eventually led to the rise of MTV. He founded Pacific Arts, a multimedia company that distributed music and, later, videos in a variety of formats. Nesmith also got into movies, producing the films Repo Man, Tapeheads, and Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann. He also found time in there somewhere to write a couple of novels.
As a solo artist, “Joanne” was the big hit for Nez, but he had a couple of minor hits that got airplay in the late ’70s, namely “Rio” (1977) and “Cruisin'” (AKA “Lucy and Ramona and Sunset Sam,” 1979). Those two tunes were accompanied by some of the first music videos in the industry.
Even though he tried to leave his pop music past behind, Michael Nesmith reunited with fellow Monkees Davy Jones, Peter Tork, and Mickey Dolenz on more than a few occasions. In fact, Nesmith just got off a final reunion tour with Mickey Dolenz when he passed away from heart failure on December 10, 2021. He was 78 years old and had led a very good life.
And here’s your daily bonus video of the day, an affectionate parody of “Joanne” called “Rodan.” (“Her name was Rodan/And she lived in the ocean off Japan.”) This is from Nesmith’s pioneering 1981 video special, Elephant Parts. The whole thing is as funny as you’d expect and, in addition to a ton of hilarious skits, includes those early videos for “Rio” and “Cruisin’.” If you haven’t yet seen Elephant Parts in its entirety, you can click here to watch it on YouTube. It was definitely ahead of its time.
