From: 1801026SO232@sscl.uwo.ca Subject: The Untold History Of Woolhat! Date: Fri, 13 Jan 1995 18:18:43 GMT What follows is the post-monkees career of Woolhat as told in an interview to Headgear Monthly (a lifestyle magazine for hats and earmuffs) :) : Interviewer: Today were talking to Woolhat, formerly of the pop group known as the Monkees. Woolhat, you were the first to leave the group, what promted your departure? WH: The main reason was creative differances. Although the record company allowed the others to play their own instruments , I was forced to stay in my rather limited role. In the end I was feeling just like window dressing. I suppose that would have been OK except Davy got all the girls. Int.: I know that after you left the group you started a solo career that looked like it was going to be quite successful. What stopped it? WH: My first album sold quite well, better even than Mike's Wichita Train Whistle album (editor's note: sorry cheap shot). Unfortunately when I turned down the request to play at Woodstock nobody took me seriously again. Eventually I got into drugs (laundry detergent) and became to hard to work with in the studio. This led to my parting with my record company. Int.: What did you do with yourself after that? WH: I eventually went through rehab and tried to get my life togethor again. I even tried to make a comeback in the mid 1970's by recording an album with the Monkeemobile. Unfortuanately our time, it seemed, had passed. Int.: Have you kept in touch with the rest of the band? WH: It took me a long time to get over my pride and talk to Mike, Micky, Davy and Peter. I felt hurt that I wasn't asked along when the Monkees recorded Pool It and their other comeback material but I had to realize that they were also hurt by my early departure from the band. We have made up since than and now I see all the guys on a regular basis. Things are still a bit strained with Mike but you have to remember that there was always a rivalry between us as to who made who's image. Int.: Do you have any projects planned for the near future? WH: I was hoping that I could get involved with the upcoming thirtieth aniversery celebrations by maybe touring or recording with the guys. All of this is still up in the air while my agent work's out details. I do plan to do The Letterman Show sometime soon and I have a cameo in an upcoming Candian film so my fans will have some chances to see me. Int.: Thank you for coming by. WH: My pleasure Bruce A. Leach "There's narry an animal alive that 1801026SO232@sscl.uwo.ca that can outrun a greased The University Of Western Scotsman" Ontario, London, Can. -------Groundskeeper Willie-------- txdn39a@prodigy.com (Tami Bassler) 1801026SO232@sscl.uwo.ca>writes: >What follows is the post-monkees career of Woolhat as told in >an interview to Headgear Monthly (a lifestyle magazine for >hats and earmuffs) :) : > Interviewer: Today were talking to Woolhat, formerly of >the pop group known as the Monkees. Woolhat, you were the >first to leave the group, what promted your departure? > WH: The main reason was creative differances. Although >the record company allowed the others to play their own >instruments , I was forced to stay in my rather limited role. >In the end I was feeling just like window dressing. I suppose >that would have been OK except Davy got all the girls. Bruce, thank you for reprinting this interview for us. Wool Hat is definitely one of the most fascinating, yet often ignored personalities of the late sixties. I've been doing a little research on him myself lately, and much of what I've learned is shocking, disturbing, and yet somehow a reaffirmation of the underlying strength of the human...uh, make that *hat*...spirit. Here is, as they say, the rest of the story, as I have heard it from very reliable sources (including a short telephone interview with Mr. Hat himself): Mike and Woolie were friends and partners long before The Monkees, but the stress of sudden fame put a strain on their relationship. Woolie felt he should have equal billing; he got none. He was always hurt that Mike didn't fight harder on his behalf, but Mike was an ambitious young man and not about to let a bundle of yarn get in the way of his success. The situation came to a head with the utterance of one simple statement: "Tell the world we're synthetic, because dammit, we are!" Woolie was extremely proud of his 100% virgin wool heritage, and not about to stand for being insulted like that in front of his fans. The ensuing fight was witnessed by many....in a name-calling battle, Woolie said Nesmith was a hot-headed fool with only half a brain; Nesmith countered by telling Woolie he was a headache, a migraine, that he had pulled the wool over his eyes for the last time...at that point, Woolie leapt from Nesmith's head in a fit of anger. Nesmith took a swing at him, missing him by a fraction of an inch, but putting his fist right through a plaster wall. "That could've been your face, motherfucker!" Nesmith yelled at Woolie's retreating form..... Woolie left that day for Canada, never bothering to retrieve his belongings from Nesmith's guest house.....a mistake which would later come back to haunt him. When the movie "Head" was released, there, almost word for word, was a scene from Woolie's unfinished screenplay "Dandruff".....the same screenplay he had left behind at Nesmith's house on that fateful day.... Woolie was helpless....he couldn't afford a good lawyer (by that time having spent all his Monkee earnings on laundry detergent), and with no copyright, he knew he couldn't win a case against Nesmith--it would be one man's word against a wool hat's, and even in the late sixties, hats were not yet considered equals.... So, he did nothing--he stayed in Canada, where a knitted cap could get lost in a crowd. He got deeper and deeper into laundry detergent, and even the harder stuff, like bleach, stain remover, even dry cleaning fluid. He started hanging out in laundromats, taking a tumble in the permanent press cycle with anything wearing a little lace and some elastic. "Hey, hey, didja know, I used to be a Monkee?" he'd tell saggy panties and yellowed bras. "Yeah, right--and I was Marilyn Monroe! Just shut up and spin me, fuzzball!" she'd say. No one believed him. After awhile it was okay. He didn't believe himself anymore. He wandered the streets, motheaten, his skin pilled and faded from too much bleach, his once luxuriant pom-pom now only a few scraggly strands. There can't be a sadder sight than a down-and-out hat trying to Monkee-walk by himself, mumbling the words to a half-forgotten theme song..... It was rumored (but never proven) that at his lowest point, Woolie was involved in several convenience store robberies with his notorious cousin, Blue Ski Cap (who, as we all know, went on to a life of much more serious crime and is today accused of being an accessory in the murders of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman). I prefer not to think of Woolie as robber--yes, he was self destructive, and yes, he was a drug addict, but he was basically a gentle soul and would never harm human or hat..... Gentle.....and tough. We'll probably never know what exactly caused Woolie to finally come to terms with his situation, but, as he reported in his interview, in 1972 he got himself into rehab. And in '74. And '75. Finally, in a radical new treatment, he was weaned off the hard stuff while using a mixture of Woolite and spring water, and has remained clean to this day. One thing Woolie was too modest to report in his interview is that since the early eighties, he has devoted much of his time to helping other celebrity headgear deal with the realities of life after fame. Graduates of his program include Gilligan's sailor hat, Bill Shatner's first rug, and Steve Martin's arrow-through-the-head. All have gone on to lead productive, fulfilling lives, thanks to Woolie.... What are the chances of Nesmith and Woolie reuniting for a tour? According to Woolie, it's all up to Nesmith. Personally, I think that on those cold winter nights in the wilds of New Mexico, Nez misses his warm, fuzzy friend more than he will admit. But these days Nesmith is reportedly working with a new partner, Red Cap, so for now I would guess that a tour is unlikely. But you never know....stranger things have happened.... --tami bassler--