"Randy Scouse Git" is a song written by

Micky Dolenz George Michael Dolenz Jr. (born March 8, 1945) is an American actor, musician, TV producer and businessman. He is best known as the drummer and one of three primary vocalists for the pop-rock band the Monkees (1966–1970, and multiple reunions ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

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". 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 ''Till Death Us Do Part'' is a British television sitcom that aired on BBC1 from 1965 to 1975. The show was first broadcast in 1965 as a ''Comedy Playhouse'' pilot, then as seven series between 1966 and 1975. In 1981, ITV continued the sitcom ...

'', which he had watched while in England. The song also appeared on '' The Monkees'' TV series, on their album ''

Headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

,'' and on several "Greatest Hits" albums. Peter Tork said that it was one of his favorite Monkees tracks.

Background

In February 1967,

and Michael Nesmith were in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

threw a party for the Monkees in London. 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 EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

") and to other party attendees such as

Cass Elliot Ellen Naomi Cohen (September 19, 1941 – July 29, 1974), known professionally as Mama Cass and later on as Cass Elliot, was an American singer and voice actress. She was a member of the singing group the Mamas & the Papas. After the group brok ...

of the Mamas & the Papas ("the girl in yellow dress"), and Dolenz's future wife ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' "disc girl" Samantha Juste ("She's a wonderful lady"), ("the being known as Wonder Girl"). 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." The title of song, "Randy Scouse Git", translates to American English as "horny, Liverpudlian jerk", according to Dolenz. The phrase was taken from the 1960s British

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

'', in which it was regularly used by the loud-mouthed main character

Alf Garnett Alfred Edward "Alf" Garnett is a fictional character from the British sitcom '' Till Death Us Do Part'' and its follow-on and spin-off series '' Till Death...'' and ''In Sickness and in Health''. He also appeared in the chat show ''The Thoughts ...

, 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 RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

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". Paul Du Noyer, ''Liverpool – Wondrous Place: From the Cavern to the Capital of Culture'', Random House, 2012, p. 86
/ref> The song is played by all four Monkees with Dolenz on vocals, drums and timpani, Davy Jones on backing vocals,

Mike Nesmith Robert Michael Nesmith or Mike Nesmith, (December 30, 1942 – December 10, 2021) was an American musician, songwriter, and actor. He was best known as a member of the pop rock band the Monkees and co-star of the TV series ''The Monkees'' (1966� ...

on guitar, Peter Tork on piano and organ, and producer

Chip Douglas Douglas Farthing Hatlelid (born August 27, 1942), better known as Chip Douglas, is an American songwriter, musician (bass, guitar and keyboards), and record producer, whose most famous work was during the 1960s. He was the bassist of the Turtle ...

( 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! ''Good Times!'' is the twelfth studio album by American pop rock band the Monkees. Produced mainly by Adam Schlesinger (with some additional bonus tracks produced by Andrew Sandoval), the album was recorded to commemorate the band's 50th anniversa ...

'' ("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: *

: lead vocal, drums, timpani * Peter Tork: organ, piano, backing vocals * Michael Nesmith: electric guitar, backing vocals * Davy Jones: backing vocals, percussion with: *

: bass

Charts

Cover versions

Carter USM Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine (also known as Carter USM or simply Carter) were an English indie rock band formed in 1987 by singer Jim "Jim Bob" Morrison and guitarist Les "Fruitbat" Carter. They made their name with a distinctive style o ...

covered the song as a B-side to the 1990 “Anytime Anyplace Anywhere” single. *

Bad Manners Bad Manners are an English two-tone and ska band led by frontman Buster Bloodvessel. Early appearances included ''Top of the Pops'' and the live film documentary, ''Dance Craze'' (1981). They were at their most popular during the early 1980 ...

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

{{The Monkees 1967 singles 1967 songs Obscenity controversies in music Self-censorship The Monkees songs Till Death Us Do Part Songs written by Micky Dolenz Songs about the Beatles Songs about Liverpool