Listen to the Song Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo Wrote for the Upcoming Monkees Album
Weezer singer-guitarist Rivers Cuomo penned the upbeat new jam “She Makes Me Laugh” for Good Times!, the upcoming album by '60s favorites the Monkees. Listen to "She Makes Me Laugh" below.
Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne produced Good Times!, which also features songs written by Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard, XTC singer-guitarist Andy Partridge, Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller. It also includes songs written by Neil Diamond and Carole King that date back to the ’60s.
Cuomo told Rolling Stone he’s always had an affinity for the Monkees, who are celebrating their 50th year of recording together. "I'm super stoked to be writing a song for the Monkees," he said. "I've always identified with their musical aesthetic – the chord changes and melodies."
Cuomo also noted that his lifelong appreciation for the Monkees harkens back to his childhood in Pomfret, Connecticut, where he attended the same school (E.O. Smith High School) as Monkees keyboardist-bassist Peter Tork, who grew up nearby.
"I’ve always felt a personal connection to the Monkees because I’m from the same small New England farm town as Peter Tork," Cuomo wrote in the album liner notes. "I used to hear that one of the Monkees went to my high school, which was an amazing fact to me because it was such a small school out in the middle of nowhere. It gave me the feeling that if an E.O. Smith kid made it to the top once, it can happen again. So let that be an inspiration to you E.O. Smith kids now, maybe 30 years into the future you'll be writing a song for a new Weezer album."
It's not the first time Cuomo has penned a song for an unlikely artist. He also wrote Adam Lambert's 2009 hit "Pick U Up," Cee-Lo Green's "Anyway" and even "Stupid Girl" by radio metal outfit Cold.