Monkees – "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" (1966)

The clothes you’re wearing, girl 

They’re causing public scenes

The above lines from today’s featured song weren’t inspired by the dress that actress-singer-model Jane Birkin is wearing in this photo, but they might have been:

Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin

By the way, Jane Birkin is not carrying an example of the handmade and very expensive leather weekend bag that Hermès named for her in that photo.   (My trivia team was shocked when I was able to answer a tricky question about the Birkin bag a few months ago.  They shouldn’t have been.)

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A few years before her death, Bonnie Parker gave a handwritten poem titled “Trail's End” to her mother.  That poem – which became known as “The Story of Bonnie and Clyde” – is the source of the lyrics for Serge Gainsbourg’s 1967 song, “Bonnie and Clyde.” 

Serge Gainbourg – who was one of the most popular and influential French popular music figures of all time – also wrote the infamous “Je t'aime . . . moi non plus.” (That title is usually rendered in English as “I Love You . . . Me Neither.”)  It features very explicit lyrics and ends with the sounds of a woman simulating an orgasm.

Gainsbourg recorded both songs with his then-current girlfriend, Brigitte Bardot.  (The recording engineer reported “heavy petting” by the couple during the recording session.) 

Bardot (who was married at the time to a German businessman) begged Gainsbourg not to release “Je t'aime.”  He later re-recorded it with a new girlfriend, English actress Jane Birkin.  That record was a big hit, although it was banned from the radio in several countries (including Sweden, of all places).

Birkin’s simulation of orgasm on the record was very enthusiastic, and there was a rumor that the couple had been having sex during the recording of the song.  

Gainsbourg denied the rumor, quipping that “it would have been a long-playing record” instead of a single if that had been the case.  (Typical Frenchman.)

Click here to listen to the Gainsbourg-Birkin version of “Je t'aime.”

Click here to watch a video of of Gainsbourg and Bardot singing “Bonnie and Clyde.”  The duo perform the song in a very understated manner, while every so often a guy makes a weird whoop-whoop sound in the background – I have no idea what the hell it means, but the whole thing is très, très cool.

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Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart were a great pop songwriting team.  “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone” is possibly the second-best song they ever wrote.  (“I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonight” – which was a top ten hit in 1968 – is without a doubt their best song.)

Paul Revere and the Raiders recorded “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone” for their fifth studio album, Midnight Ride, which was released in May 1966.

The Monkees recorded the song as the B-side of “I’m a Believer” (which became their second #1 single) later that year.  It did very well for a B-side, peaking at the #20 spot on the Billboard “Hot 100.”

Click here to watch the Monkees pretending to perform “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone.”  Lead singer Mickey Dolenz is the only Monkee who took part in the recording of that song – all the instruments you hear on the record were played by studio musicians.

Click here to buy the record from Amazon.