In the 1960s, the Monkees were known for a string of popular radio hits, including “I’m a Believer,” “Last Train to Clarksville” and “Daydream Believer.” But one of their most famous tunes got the punk rock treatment a decade after it was recorded.
“(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone” was released by the Monkees on Nov. 12, 1966, as a B-side to “I’m a Believer.” It reached No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1967.
Written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, the song recorded by Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and Davy Jones had a harder rock edge than some of the band’s earlier bubblegum pop hits. So perhaps that’s why it drew the attention of punk rock legends the Sex Pistols.
In videos dating back to 1976, Sex Pistols singer Johnny Rotten can be seen covering the Monkees classic. The official Sex Pistols website also lists four dates that the Sex Pistols performed the song from June through August 1976 at shows in England.
The legendary punk band finally released their frantic version of the song on the 1979 soundtrack album for the movie The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle. Twenty years later, The Washington Post noted that the Sex Pistols “most convincingly” covered the Monkees hit.
Some of the Monkees bandmates agreed.
Nesmith was once asked about the Sex Pistols performing “Steppin’ Stone” onstage, and he told Blitz magazine, “That’s incredible!!”
In addition, Monkees drummer Tork cited the song’s harder edge in striking contrast to some of the band’s other hits.
“The songs that we got [in the ’60s] were really songs of some vigor and substance,” Tork told Entertainment Weekly in a 2016 interview. “‘(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone’ is not peaches and cream. It comes down hard on the subject, poor girl.”
Tork also weighed in on the Sex Pistols cover, adding, “And the weight of the song is indicated by the fact that the Sex Pistols covered it. Anybody trying to write ’60s songs’ now thinks that you have to write ’59th St. Bridge.’ ‘Feeling groovy!’ Which is an OK song, but has not got a lot of guts. ‘Steppin’ Stone’ has guts.”
Sixty years after its release, ”(I’m Not Your) Steppin Stone” not only remains a Monkees classic but an unlikely Sex Pistols fan favorite too.
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