:Randy Scouse Git
{{redirect|Alternate Title|the practice of releasing books and films under a different title in different countries|Alternative title}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Randy Scouse Git
| cover = Randy_Scouse_Git.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = the Monkees
| album = Headquarters
| released = May 22, 1967
| recorded = March 4 and 8, 1967
| studio = RCA Victor Studio C, Hollywood
| venue =
| genre =
- Experimental pop{{cite book|title=33 1/3 Revolutions Per Minute - A Critical Trip Through the Rock LP Era, 1955–1999|first=Mike|last=Segretto|date=2022|chapter= 1967|pages= 142–143|publisher=Backbeat|isbn=9781493064601|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jtNtEAAAQBAJ}}
- vaudeville{{cite book|first= Bob |last= Stanley |year= 2014 |title= Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé|chapter= Bubblegum Is the Naked Truth: The Monkees|publisher= W. W. Norton & Company|location= New York|page= 207}}
| length = 2:40
| label = RCA
| writer = Micky Dolenz
| producer = Douglas Farthing-Hatlelid
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title =
| next_year =
}}
"Randy Scouse Git" is a song written by Micky Dolenz in 1967 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 audiences" and requested that The Monkees supply an alternate title. 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, which he had watched while in England. The song also appeared on The Monkees TV series, on their album Headquarters, and on several "Greatest Hits" albums. Peter Tork said that it was one of his favorite Monkees tracks.
Background
In July 1967, Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith were in London and the Beatles 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") and to other party attendees such as Cass Elliot of the Mamas & the Papas ("the girl in yellow dress"),Life After 50, February, 2015 and Dolenz's future wife Top of the Pops "disc girl" Samantha Juste ("She's a wonderful lady", "the being known as Wonder Girl").Uncut, July 2011{{cite web |date=2021-02-25 |title=Beatles Monthly Book 50 |url=https://archive.org/details/beatles-monthly-50 |work=Archive.org}} 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."{{cite web|url=https://www.monkeeslivealmanac.com/blog/michael-talks-to-melody-maker-in-1997|first=Ian|last=Watson|title=Michael talks to Melody Maker in 1997|date=January 18, 2015|accessdate=November 14, 2022|website=Monkees Live Almanac}}
The song's title, "Randy Scouse Git", translates to American English as "horny, Liverpudlian jerk", according to Dolenz. The phrase was taken from the 1960s British sitcom Till Death Us Do Part, in which it was regularly used by the loud-mouthed main character Alf Garnett, 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 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".[https://books.google.com/books?id=20CfjILnQ9cC&dq=%22alternate+title%22+scouse+git&pg=PA86 Paul Du Noyer, Liverpool – Wondrous Place: From the Cavern to the Capital of Culture, Random House, 2012, p. 86]
The song was performed by all four Monkees, with Dolenz on vocals, drums and timpani, Davy Jones on backing vocals, Mike Nesmith on guitar, Peter Tork on piano and organ, and producer Chip Douglas (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! ("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
Credits adapted from 2022 Rhino "Super Deluxe Edition" box set.{{Cite web |title=Headquarters (Super Deluxe Edition) |last=Sandoval |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Sandoval |others=The Monkees |type=CD box set liner notes |publisher=Rhino Records |id=R2 695257 |date=2022 |url=http://www.monkee45s.net/CDs_USA_RhinoBox/R2695257.html}}
The Monkees
- Micky Dolenz – drums, lead vocals, tympani, woodblock
- Michael Nesmith – electric 12-string guitar
- Peter Tork – backing vocals, organ, piano
- Davy Jones – backing vocals
Additional musician
- Chip Douglas – bass guitar
Technical
- Chip Douglas (as Douglas Farthing Hatlelid) – producer
- Hank Cicalo – engineer
Charts
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Chart (1967)
!Peak |
|---|
| Australia (Go-Set){{Cite web|url=https://gosetcharts.com/1967/19671213.html|title=Go-Set Australian charts - 19 December 1967|website=www.poparchives.com.au}}
| style="text-align:center;"|9 |
| {{Single chart|Austria|14|artist=The Monkees |song=Alternate Title (Randy Scouse Git)}} |
| {{Single chart|Flanders|11|artist=The Monkees |song=Alternate Title (Randy Scouse Git)}} |
| {{Single chart|Wallonia|25|artist=The Monkees |song=Alternate Title (Randy Scouse Git)}} |
| Finland (Soumen Virallinen){{cite book |last=Nyman |first=Jake |title=Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja |publisher=Tammi |year=2005 |isbn=951-31-2503-3 |edition=1st |location=Helsinki |page=210|language=fi}}
|style="text-align:center;"|34 |
| {{Single chart|Germany|11|artist=The Monkees |song=Alternate Title (Randy Scouse Git)|songid=159825 }} |
| {{Single chart|Ireland2|4|artist=The Monkees |song=Alternate Title }} |
| {{Single chart|Dutch100|18|artist=The Monkees |song=Alternate Title (Randy Scouse Git)}} |
| New Zealand (Listener Chart){{cite web|url=http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20listener&qartistid=601#n_view_location|title=The Monkees (search)|publisher=Flavour of New Zealand|access-date=2022-03-22|archive-date=2016-06-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601044124/http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20listener&qartistid=601#n_view_location|url-status=dead}}
| style="text-align:center;"|5 |
| {{Single chart|Norway|2|artist=The Monkees |song=Alternate Title (Randy Scouse Git)}} |
| {{Single chart|UKsinglesbyname|2|artistid=12804|artist=Move }} |