The Monks
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{{dablink|This article is about the 1960s rock band called The Monks. For the band of the same name formed in the 1970s by former members of [[Strawbs]], see [[The Monks (punk band)]].}}
{{Infobox Musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->
| Name =The Monks
| Img =
| Img_capt =
| Img_size =
| Landscape =
| Background =group_or_band
| Alias =
| Origin =Germany
| Instrument =
| Voice_type =
| Genre = [[Rock & roll]], [[proto-punk]], [[beat music]], [[garage rock]], [[Avant-pop]], [[freakbeat]], [[experimental rock]]
| Occupation =
| Years_active =1960s, 1999-present
| Label =[[Polydor]]
| Associated_acts =The 5 Torquays, [[Thomas Edward Shaw|Eddie Shaw]], [[Copperhead (band)]]
| URL =[http://www.the-monks.com/ the-monks.com]
| Current_members = Gary Burger, Eddie Shaw, Dave Day, Roger Johnston, Larry Clark
| Past_members =
| Notable_instruments =
}}
The '''Monks''' are a [[rock and roll]] band, primarily active in [[Germany]] in the mid to late [[sixties]]. They reunited in [[1999]] and have continued to play concerts, although no new studio recordings have been made. The Monks stood out from the music of the time, and have developed a [[cult following]] amongst many musicians and music fans.
Artists to have acknowledged the Monks as an influence include [[Henry Rollins]], the [[Beastie Boys]] and [[Jello Biafra]] of the [[Dead Kennedys]], as well as [[The Fall (band)|The Fall]]. The latter covered both "I Hate You" and "Oh, How to Do Now" on their 1990 album ''[[Extricate]]'' (under the titles "Black Monk Theme Part I" and "Black Monk Theme Part II", respectively), as well as the song "Shut Up!" on their 1994 album ''[[Middle Class Revolt]].'' The Fall have also covered "Higgledy-Piggledy" for the Monks tribute CD ''Silver Monk Time''.
== Personnel ==
*'''Gary Burger''': [[Lead guitar]], lead vocalist
*'''Larry Clark''': [[Organ (music)|Organ]], vocalist
*'''Dave Day''': [[Banjo]] (initially [[rhythm guitar]]), vocalist (died January 10, 2008)
*'''Eddie Shaw''': [[Bass guitar]], vocalist
*'''Roger Johnston''': [[Drums]], vocalist (died [[November 8]], [[2004]])
== The Formation of The Monks ==
All the members were American [[G.I.|GI]]s stationed in Germany in the mid-sixties. They began playing together in [[1964]], calling themselves the 5 Torquays. The Torquays differed little from countless other bands of the time: They covered [[Chuck Berry]] songs and played music inspired by the British [[beat group]]s. But the band experimented together musically - Gary Burger said:
"It probably took us a year to get the sound right. We experimented all the time. A lot of the experiments were total failures and some of the songs we worked on were terrible. But the ones we kept felt like they had something special to them. And they became more defined over time."
Upon their discharge from the army the band developed a distinctive musical style, and took up a distinctive name and image to go with it. The transition from their earlier, more conventional and less provocative aesthetic to the abrasive and cutting-edge sound of their "Black Monk Time" period was partly induced by the influence of "a pair of loopy [[existentialist]] visionaries" <ref>The Mojo Collection: The Greatest Albums of All Time. Jim Irvin, ed. Edinburgh: Mojo Books, 2000. p. 58</ref> called Walther Niemann and Karl-H.-Remy.
Remy, Student of university for design in Ulm, and Niemann, Student of Folkwang Arts Academy in Essen, "designed" the "Monks" as "Anti-Beatles": short hair with tonsures, black clothes, ropes around the neck, image of being hard and dangerous.
Remy and Niemann were an instance of the post-War West German avant-garde intelligentsia impacting Anglo-Saxon pop in a manner perhaps comparable to — but more intense than — that of the [[Hamburg]] art scene on the early [[Beatles]].
==The Monks stage garb==
At the beginning of [[1965]], Dave Day and Roger Johnston, on a whim, got their heads shaved into [[monk]]s' [[tonsure]]s. The rest of the band followed their lead, and to complete the image, the band took to wearing a uniform - all black, sometimes in [[cassock]]s, with [[noose]]s worn as [[necktie]]s. Eddie Shaw later claimed in his band autobiography ''Black Monk Time'' that the nooses were symbolic of the metaphorical nooses that all humanity wear. His explanation exhibited a literal translation of [[gallows humor]]. The same attitude seems to be exhibited by the blunt lyrics of the band. Of course the brazen attitude toward sensitive subjects was not well met. They received confused audience reactions at concerts: One attendee attempted to strangle Gary Burger at a show in Hamburg, presumably for perceived [[blasphemy]].
==The group's sound==
The band abandoned common elements of much sixties rock n roll:
* They have very little emphasis on [[melody]], their songs are rhythmic, rather than melodic. The [[rhythm]]s are heavy and repetitive, with the drums supplying a sound often described as 'tribal'.
* Song structures are minimal and repetitive, but do not tend to follow the standard verse-chorus-bridge patterns of a [[pop song]].
* The band's lyrics are [[dadaism|dadaist]] and playful, yet paranoid. They combine [[nursery rhyme]] style lyrics ("higgle-dy piggle-dy") with war commentary ("Why do you kill all those kids over there in [[Vietnam war|Vietnam]]? Mad [[Vietcong]]! My brother died in Vietnam"; "People kill, people will for you/ People run, ain't it fun for you/ People go, to their deaths for you"), surreal interjections ("[[James Bond]], who was he?") and paranoia about girls and love ("I hate you with a passion baby! And you know why I hate you? It's because you make me hate you baby!").
* The vocal delivery is strangled, wailing and frantic, contrasted to deep chanting backing vocals which recall [[Gregorian chant]].
* Gary Burger utilises a great deal of guitar feedback and dissonance (According to Eddie Shaw's ''Black Monk Time'', the group invented the use of [[audio feedback]] for musical purposes. This is open to debate as the Beatles had already recorded and released "I Feel Fine" by November 27, 1964. ''Black Monk Time'' wasn't recorded until November 1965 - one year later. The prevailing opinion is that "I Feel Fine" marks the earliest recorded example of the use of feedback for musical purposes.) It's been claimed by Burger that [[Jimi Hendrix]] caught their act in London and paid special attention to his use of feedback and the newly developed Gibson Fuzzbox along with the Wah-Wah Pedal.
* Dave Day replaced his guitar with a six-string, [[catgut|gut]]-strung [[banjo]] upon which he played guitar chords. This instrument sounds much more metallic, scratchy and wiry than a standard electric guitar.
Many of these musical elements are also found in sixties [[New York]] acts like [[The Fugs]] and [[The Godz (NYC band)|The Godz]] in particular, but also [[The Velvet Underground]]. When the Monks developed their sound, the only one of these bands who had put out any records was the Fugs; it is unclear if the Monks had actually heard the Fugs or developed their sound independently.
Because of these features, the Monks are often referenced as forerunners of the later punk movement. {{Fact|date=February 2007}} Their use of improvisation, noise and motorik rhythms (as well as their geographical location) has also led to them being cited as the godfathers of [[krautrock]].
==After the Monks==
* As of August 2006, lead singer Gary Burger serves as mayor of [[Turtle River, Minnesota]].
* In 2006 play loud! productions<ref name="playloud">[http://www.playloud.org/themonks.html play loud! productions]</ref> completed the documentary film ''monks - the transatlantic feedback'' in conjunction with the release of the album ''[[silver monk time]] - a tribute to the monks''.
* On [[January 10]] [[2008]] Dave Day died of a heart attack.
* Eddie Shaw went on to play in a [[prog rock]] band called Copperhead in the 1970's and went on to become an accomplished fiction writer, who also wrote their autobiography ''[[Black Monk Time]]''.
==Discography==
*''[[Black Monk Time]]'' (1965/1994)
*''[[Five Upstart Americans]]'' (1999)
*''[[Let's Start a Beat - Live From Cavestomp]]'' (2002)
*''[[Five Upstart Americans#Play Loud european Demo Tapes release|Monks - Demo Tapes 1965]]'' <ref name="playloud" />(2007)
===Singles===
*"[[There She Walks]]" / "Boys are Boys" (as The 5 Torquays) (1964)
*"[[Black Monk Time#Complication Single|Complication]]" / "Oh, How To Do Now" (1966)
*"[[I Can't Get Over You]]" / "Cuckoo" (1966)
*"[[Love Can Tame The Wild]]" / "He Went Down To The Sea" (1967)
===Tributes===
*''[[silver monk time]] - a tribute to the monks'' <ref name="playloud" /> (2006)
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Literature==
*Shaw, Eddie & Klemke, Anita ([[1994]]). ''Black Monk Time''. Carson Street Publishing Inc., ISBN 0963337122
==Film==
*[[Lucia Palacios]] & [[Dietmar Post]] (2006). "monks-the transatlantic feedback". play loud! productions
==External links==
*[http://www.the-monks.com/ The Monks Official Website]
*[http://www.playloud.org/themonks.html ''Monks: The Transatlantic Feedback''] official documentary and tribute record site
*{{MusicBrainz artist|id=72bfcd14-0a48-43d9-86cf-e8d0f264fb13|name=The Monks}}
*[http://www.myspace.com/blackmonktime Unofficial Monks MySpace Page]
*[http://www.cultcargo.net/modules/AMS/article.php?storyid=105 Monks article on Cult Cargo]
;Articles
*[http://citypages.com/databank/27/1341/article14629.asp "Living like a Monk: How Minnesota musicians revived '60s rockers the Monks] City Pages, August 16, 2006
*[http://blogs.citypages.com/pscholtes/2004/11/15/ "Death of a Monk"] Complicated Fun, November 4, 2004
*[http://www.playloud.org/pressHollywoodRep.pdf "Forget the chanting, these Monks rocked"] Hollywood Reporter, July 06, 2006
*[http://www.playloud.org/pressSPIEGELonline07.pdf "American GIs, Shaved Heads and Cold War Music History"] Spiegel-International, February 07, 2007
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[[Category:The Monks]]
[[Category:German musical groups]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 1965]]
[[Category:Rock music groups]]
[[Category:1960s music groups]]
[[Category:Pre-punk groups]]
[[Category:Beat groups]]
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