TOPPOP: Mothers Finest - Mickey's Monkey

Artist: Mothers Finest
Title: Mickey's Monkey
Broadcast date: 1-6-1978
TV program: TopPop
Video rights: AVRO
www.avro.tv gives you easy access to unique footage. .
TopPop was the first regular dedicated pop music TV show in the Dutch language area. Dutch broadcaster AVRO aired the programme weekly, from 1970 to 1988. Presenter Ad Visser hosted the show for its first fifteen years.
World famous music artists performed on TopPop: ABBA, 10CC, Bee Gees, The Jacksons, David Bowie, Earth & Fire, Boney M, Smokie, KC & The Sunshine Band, Chick, Donna Summer, Rod Stewart, and many many more.
Watch our great music videos ❯ goo.gl/1mU5Ns
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More info on Wikipedia ❯ goo.gl/RO1s74
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PLEASE NOTE:
All copyrights for all videos on this official TopPop KZbin channel are cleared and belong to Dutch public broadcaster AVROTROS. Please contact [e-mail] for copyright-inquiries or [e-mail] for licensing.

[@tatersinger]

Saw them in concert in Tampa, FL promoting "Another Mother Further." It was my first concert ever. They set the bar high for me in regards to what a LIVE concert should be. I measured all other concerts after that to "How does this artist compare to MF Live?" Needless to say, not many come close to that "bar." THE ABSOLUTE BEST LIVE BAND EVER.

[@myplan8166]

You are not lying. One of the best live bands ever.

[@pamjarrett-s9s]

The greatest funk rock band ever! Another Mother Further is in my top 20 albums of all time! Could even be in my top 10! Just saw them a few months ago in 2022, and have tickets coming up soon in 2023.

[@edofcoke]

I saw the Another Mother Further in Chattanooga. I was in 10th grade, if I remember correctly. Absolutely stunning show!

[@Chet_Brinkley]

I saw them LIVE in Honolulu in 1970 and the only other performers I can put on their level that same year was the Ike and Tina Turner Review, blew me away and made a man outta me !!!! 😮

[@danamathews5712]

Have loved this band since 1977 when I saw them in concert, we just saw them at the HickoryNewton NC speedway for Rockfest 2 and after all these years still AWESOME, still one if my favorite rock/funk bands. True legends of talent . I’ve seen them in several cities and always attend when they’re within 3 hours .

[@angiebieze942]

I'm from Atlanta and they were sooooo popular. Radio played all the time. Love them. They never got the recognition they deserve. Bummer.

[@jeffreyshirley9559]

One of the best bands back in the day. Saw them at Murphee Stadium in Gadsden, Alabama. Great Show

[@ToniMcGuire-m7k]

These guys were my jam back in the day! I’m old now and they are still my jam! ❤❤❤❤❤

[@Chet_Brinkley]

Better than they've ever been since I first saw them live in Honolulu in 1970. The Stones keep rollin and y'all should keep being the Finest !!

[@DontLetTheOldManIn]

One of my all time favorite bands. I am still amazed that they did not become nationally famous.

[@PeekaPeep]

I KNOW! At least they became internationally famous, which in many ways is even better in the long run. Bein' famous here in the States can be short-lived anyway, heh...

[@BigBlackRod]

America loves to hear White folks do Black folks's music; the reverse, not so much...

[@romantic340]

They were very popular in Europe, i enjoyed them back in the 70s and still do.

[@cbradiochannel.19-whiskyalfa]

Not international? I've seen them twice in the Netherlands. And once in Germany. Large halls and all sold out !!

[@Jpeg13759]

@@PeekaPeep I heard them LIVE in a small club in Germany...So they had some international Fame....

[@keeganstewart3916]

Saw them at the Champagne Jam in '78 or "79 in Alabama with Blackfoot, Molly Hatchet, ARS and a few other southern bands. Hands down greatest concert ever. Wore out several 8 tracks back in the day.

[@JohnDavis-ss4dw]

I seen them in the late seventies..One of the best bands to come out of Atlanta Georgia!

[@swisschocolatecake4547]

Are they any relate to jimmy Hendrix?

[@0107huju]

What a Funk-Rockband-I think,the best ever...

[@ladonnahale282]

The Original Funk N Roll band!

[@vickieglover7126]

I still rock by them❤

[@dougharville8151]

I still have the original vinyl, Another Mother Further!

[@timniesz5004]

Me also and One Mother to another, Secret Service, etc

[@russellworkman8858]

I do as well!!!

[@paulrevere2928]

Me too!

[@mcdermottlaw]

Saw these guys in 1978 in Washington DC with Humble Pie, Angel and some other bands of the time. They blew me away..... awesome band

[@russellworkman8858]

I saw them at Winthrop University in 1978. Awesome!! Hung out with a couple of them the next night at Green's Pool Hall!!!!

[@karenl.davies1681]

I remember those days well. In late '77 - early '78 they did the "Rock & Roll Stampede Tour". My ears rang for weeks after. LOL! At least I recovered from that. By far MF was the best act next to Pie (Poison was on the bill as well but didn't complete the tour).

[@doug1314]

@@russellworkman8858 I was there, everyone was standing in the seats because it was like a movie theater....

[@joanjett8814]

The best memories of my life came from this band

[@MosesMoMF]

Aaaww, thank you!

[@davidmccall4776]

Saw them in Myrtle Beach in 72/73 but can't remember the name of the venue, but I do remember that they put on a great high energy show, and I've loved them ever since. ☮✌

[@thumbsaloft]

One of the absolute best bands ever!

[@celaine1970]

Saw this awesome band open for AC/DC in October 1979, Knoxville TN! They blew the roof off the place!🔥Great music and memories!❤

[@leemuncy]

Mo is vastly underrated as a guitarist.

[@rickgriffin1069]

ONE OF THE MOST UNDERATED BAND'S EVER.. FANTASTIC JAMZZZZZZ!!!!!!

[@wingstales4329]

One of the best riffs of Jimmy Page

[@PeekaPeep]

Yup, too bad he wasted it on a heavily-plagiarized cover of a 1930s blues song ("Sleepy" John Estes' Drop Down Mama, lyrics are virtually the same too O_O!!!). If the band had just kept the original song title as is instead of re-naming it Custard Pie to avoid paying royalties to the original artist's estate, they would've been totally in the clear (and maybe MF doesn't do that version of Mickey's Monkey with that famous Page riff, either).

[@jerryattwooll4864]

Their Iron Age album is one of the greatest metal, full stop (not just Funk metal) albums of all time. It's just it wasn't heard by more people, but it made Kerrang magazine's top 100 metal albums a few years back.

[@angelamcfadyen9025]

I followed MF for years, from Asheville, Waynesville, Atlanta, SC, & last saw them at Ziggy's in Winston-Salem.........Awesome BAND

[@doug1314]

i would go see these guys when close to Charlotte. No one wanted to go on after them because they would burn it down. I know because when they got thru with their set you were soaking wet and worn out. Get it get it, don't quit it. Rock it don't stop it.

[@moJosouthpaw]

Who listened to this on 8 track? I did!

[@EricJohn2008]

Vinyl, 8-track, cassette, CD! Great!

[@davidmccall4776]

​If they had been on 78 rpm acetates, I would have listened....being very careful not to break them!

[@leighgarrett285]

THEY ROCK!!!! I haven't heard them in so long, I had this album & until today I had forgotten about them :-(, LOL, this was one of my favorite albums when I was a "young" teenager, that I'm older I appreciate even more how incredibly talented they are, I also never have seen them perform (they were poplular right before MTV, so the only time you really saw bands like this was in person (Concert) or on the Midnight Special, which may have stopped airing by 1978. They're exceptional musicians (voices, instruments, and top notch performers)! WOW, I bet seeing them in concernt would be on your top 5 list of favorites!

[@tatersinger]

Leigh, I got to meet Joyce Kennedy after their concert in 77', and she was just as sweet and gracious as could be. I was 14, and my mom was secretary to the concert promoter. Their energy and athleticism onstage, while singing spot-on was SOLID.

[@RobertBrookshire-xr5iu]

I'm a white mill in tampa, florida sixty one years old, and I still love mothers fineness

[@stephenoneill245]

Saw them first in an hours-long recording of a festival (with 3-4 other bands) on German TV called "Rockpalast" somewhen in the 2nd half of the 70s. They blew everybody else off stage. I was gobsmacked. So was the rest of my band, because we talked about nothing else after. Mickey's Monkey was the first number to be rehearsed. Some thought it was "Custard Pie" by Zep, but this is better.

[@hellbillydraq2922]

I had the album and loved it! Got to see them live 3 time's and they kicked ASS!🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥✋🤐

[@carolgoshaw290]

This band was a Beast!! Best ever!! Live shows were F*cking off the hook!!!

[@richardthurmond7103]

Snuck into Ga Tech's grant field to see them and I was hooked. So underrated as a Rock band

[@toodabutt70]

They were bad ass!

[@alanduke9391]

WAYYYYYY Underappreciated. Ground breakers! They brought the soul/funk out of of white boys!!!

[@richardbrowning9953]

Fantastic Band the guitar riff sounds like the riff on Led Zeppelin's custard pie 🎶🎸

[@AeroDude73]

That’s cuz it is. lol. I noticed it right away.

[@PeekaPeep]

Best hard rock/R&B "mashup" EVER! Truth be told, Led Zeppelin's Custard Pie riff/chorus was way better served on this classic HDH cover (at least the Mickey's Monkey lyrics are ORIGINAL by comparison:::wink:::wink:::). Combining the two was such a bold and ingenious move, not even Led Zep's management could take 'em to court over it without explaining IN FULL why their own Custard Pie song was a blatantly plagiarized cover of blues artist "Sleepy" John Estes' Drop Down Mama from the 1930s:::heavily-suppressed laughter:::little bit of "poetic justice" on MF's part, glad they didn't make any apologies about it back then or even now... >;-)

[@justarepublicandog2505]

I was blessed to see them in Greenville SC in 78 or 79?, with Nantucket and Molly Hatchet. Nantucket sucked, Molly Hatchet rocked! Mothers Finest blew the doors off Greenville Memorial Auditorium!! One of the very few bands that actually sounds better live than recorded. That’s a fact! Love you Baby Jean!

[@MRTTMT]

Sure it wasn't 79 ? Mother's Finest,Molly Hatchet and AC DC.

[@justarepublicandog2505]

@@MRTTMT no! It was 78, 79 or possibly 80 and it was no doubt mother’s finest, Nantucket and Molly Hatchet! Greenville memorial auditorium!

[@alanwatson3367]

Was probably there my brother played for Nantucket

[@elbashir64aljurjani4]

Awesome band !!!!!

[@willlinesSausagefingers]

If you're gonna use a Led Zep riff might aswell make a great song and Mothers Finest Rock....;-) Loved this tune for years.....;-)

[@willlinesSausagefingers]

My brother had the album this song was on and it was awsome...;-) Justin Brown

[@hunterqrose2583]

Little known fact but this is a cover of a Smokey Robinson and the Miracles song. This song first came out in 1963.

[@Hobodeluxe960]

yeah but this is just those lyrics laid on top of Page's "Custard Pie" riffs. The funny part is that Led Zeppelin had made their marks stealing black people's music for a lot of their hits (see the history of copyright suits) that MF pretty much dared them to sue them over this one. And they never did. Because their arguments they'd made in those previous lawsuits would be used against them.

[@andyinwales]

@@Hobodeluxe960 or, as Moses Mo has explained, they paid Led Zep royalties.

[@iainelliot5984]

They were making fun Of led zep who were known to rip off riffs from other bands... It was a joke lo0l

[@brucereeves6713]

You kids don't even know what you missed here. Amazing live band. Probably, the world wasn't ready for them as they didn't fit neatly into any particular box. And thank goodness they didn't! You want heavy, check out the Iron Age album!

[@jeroenvanderwoude4481]

Naar ze kijken is teveel gevraagd. Met mijn ogen dicht is het waanzinnig goed!!

[@templeknighthehabba8426]

cannot understand you but I agree, they kickass

[@jsmith4719]

I worked with MF on several occasions at a concert hall and some of my fav memories of that place revolve around them.

[@chrispatterson217]

One of the best around the south early 80s. Great group.

[@impossiblewindows4367]

Got a craving for custard pie all of a sudden...

[@sonyapopken9999]

Saw them for the 1st time in 1981. Last time I saw them July 2022. Will see them again!

[@ChillGilMusic]

Over most people's head, which makes um GREAT.

[@dawnfuller8495]

rocked wit them on the beach...panama city beach fl...was some 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@darrenmcmillan9378]

First concert I ever saw. I was 14. 1980

[@ernestbutler1307]

I had the opportunity to see MOTHERS FINEST Perform in New Orleans with INSTANT FUNK at a venue call The Warehouse along The Mississippi River.And I'd never heard of them I have this thing of working my way down to the Front of Stage and that night I was in for A Big Surprise...The other Two Acts had performed and Out Comes M.F. I don't know how the did it but of All the Live Concerts I've ever been to They were by far The Loudest Band I've ever witnessed playing hard-core Rock&Roll..They were Different They Were Great and Man Were they Loud I mean Extra Loud...Really Enjoyed Their Performance.Love&Peace luv ya byo eJ ❤

[@smartguy8505]

Saw them before they were ever famous. Great Ogeechie Raft Race in Georgia.

[@msmusiknut]

Saw them in concert twice in the 70’s, big fan!!

[@kevinwashingtonsr.703]

Lock Haven College..1977 Bald Eagles..1979 Conference Champions.Joe Wash😎

[@bryanslowinki5967]

Good God I love this band !!!

[@kennethcapps-344]

Saw them at least three times in the 80s. They would blow away the headliners!!!

[@keithorrell9269]

Damn dude that brings packed so many good memories my very first concert ever my brother and his girlfriend took me to was Mother's Finest and kiss damn

[@lisagalloway979]

Doesn't get much better!!!

[@timniesz5004]

Yeahhh !! Voll Gänsehaut :)

[@brittlyle3523]

My boy Jimi Day left school at Tuskegee Institute in '76 transferred to Morehouse and started dating the girl in this band.

[@kingsealthai]

yeeha - awesome !! ! ! ! ! !

[@greggdhemann]

Saw them at New York New York nightclub in Augusta in 1981, I believe. They raised the roof!

[@misterdoe]

The way my mother used to have a conniption anytime she heard a Motown remake that didn't closely follow the original, I can't help wondering how she would have reacted (or how she did react) if she ever heard this. 😂

[@billymcmurtrysr6927]

GET IT, GET IT, ROCK IT, DON'T STOP IT.

[@LucindaRhiannon]

I hear some Custard Pie. Love it regardless!

[@GeoZeppelin1979]

drop down baby.....

[@bookooc5605]

They will be at the GA theater 12/10/21 in Athens...go see them!

[@stevebickley6524]

Ladies and gentlemen fom funkrock georgia!

[@dariowestern]

RIP Lamont Dozier who originally co wrote this song.

[@I-Libertine]

There used to be a music store in ATL that had a cupful of used bass strings they tried to sell us hard core Wizzard fans. (He used to have his bass maintained there ...)

[@stevegarnett2883]

This band way understand

[@BerryFlowermountain]

te gek

[@Jpeg13759]

Just found out, this lovely Song is based on Led Zeppelin´s album "Physical Graffiti" from 1975...First Song... :-)))

[@christophergraham7194]

I'd sure like a piece of your Custard Pie!

[@mikebon8352]

Weird multiculti rock... Glad those dayz are gone...!!!!

[@VixNoelopan]

This apparently is a mixture of Holland-Dozier-Holland lyrics and Led Zeppelin's Custard Pie (kzbin.info/www/bejne/jIezZJpnYryklZI), isn't it? Even the key is the same.

[@vitus33]

Ummm, Custard Pie anyone?

[@ladonnahale282]

Led Zep ripped off Smokey Robinson. That's how Music works.

[@VixNoelopan]

@@ladonnahale282 LZ may be, and indeed were, accused of several copyleft infringements. But even with some close and intense listening, I didn't recognize any similarities between LZ's Custard Pie and the Miracles' Mickey's Monkey original, not even subtle ones. Btw, Smokey Robinson didn't write this song. It's a HDH tune.

[@MrWlbblw]

All I can hear is Zep's "Custard Pie" ... they musta been fans...

[@truettgarner4505]

Saw them at Charley Goodnights and the SWITCH...Mo is a blast to party with!

[@wcacphd5836]

Cópia descarada da musica do LED ZEPPELIN "Custard Pie" do album PHYSICAL GRAFFITI. Mas ficou ótima!

[@williamlove3087]

All I can say is Smokey Rules!

[@paulrevere2928]

Who knew this song was originally written and recorded by Smokey Robinson?

[@I-Libertine]

Somehow....I hear this song and I hear SC Shag music somewhere...anyone else?

[@1stSaintsFan]

The Song SLy Stone should have wrote.

[@1982Dawg]

Ironic that one of the BEST bands live is lip synching (badly) to the album version in this video

[@andyussery8495]

Too bad this is dubbed. Joyce's mouth is nowhere near the mic when she unleashes her howl!

[@anthonymcnamee6297]

Sound a bit like Montrose

[@Hillsidelanscapemanagement]

Funny that they stole the guitar riff from Jimmy Page (custard pie) since he stole it from an older blues player whose name I forget

[@niteowlsully2266]

sounds like led zeppelin who came first?

[@cclip46]

Physical Graffiti was released before this record..but yes, these guys rocked it.

[@PeekaPeep]

Riff/chorus originally comes from Led Zeppelin's Custard Pie off their 1975 'Physical Graffiti' album, but get this: the Custard Pie song itself was flat-out STOLEN from blues artist "Sleepy" John Estes' 1930s tune Drop Down Mama (same lyrics, same vocal delivery). That's why Led Zeppelin NEVER bothered taking MF to court over it since, lol. I could see the MF members giving Page due credit for the main riff at least, but it wouldn't mean a damn thing if Led Zeppelin's management didn't return the favor and give the Estes estate FULL CREDIT for that Drop Down Mama song they ran with under that infamous Custard Pie title for as long as they did. >:-p

[@wangbar1]

Led Zeppelin stole this shit for Custard Pie

[@roland8578]

Die ideale Kombination... Schwarze Musik trifft auf weiße Musik... Funk trifft Rock.... Besser geht es nicht.👍 Geh mir mit Metal und Hip Hop....👎

[@cliffgresham3234]

Great song...terrible performance. Lip sync..no guitar cords.

[@johnvanhal2450]

Nearly all performances in this show were lip synced. Simply because we wanted to hear the original studio cut.

[@johnnywomack548]

TOTAL ripoff of Led Zeppelin's "Custard Pie", but fuck it. Great tune!

[@TheMinster1960]

Nope. Mickey's Monkey was a single for The Miracles back in 1963 and was written by the Holland/Dozier writing team. The Mother's Finest guitarist is basically riffing on the keyboard part from the original. I wouldn't be surprised if Jimmy Page heard the single and morphed it into Custard Pie using the same approach. Hence the similarities. Hey, borrowing is the sincerest form of flattery.

[@trilbymabry4351]

TRULY one of the best bands ever!!!