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"(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" is a rock song written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. It was first recorded by the English band the Liverpool Five in early 1966 but remained unreleased before summer of that same year. In the meantime, the American band Paul Revere & the Raiders recorded the song which appeared on their album Midnight Ride, released in May 1966.

The song is simple musically, with a repeating verse chord progression of E major, G major, A major, and C major, and a repeating bridge in cut time of E major, G major, A major, and G major.

Monkees version

"(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone"
US picture sleeve (reverse)
Single by the Monkees
from the album More of the Monkees
A-side	"I'm a Believer"
Released	12 November 1966
Recorded	26 July 1966
Studio	Western, Hollywood
Genre	Garage rock proto-punk psychedelic rock
Length	2:23
Label	Colgems
Songwriter(s)	Tommy Boyce Bobby Hart
Producer(s)	Tommy Boyce Bobby Hart
The Monkees singles chronology
"Last Train to Clarksville" (1966) "I'm a Believer" / "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" (1966) "A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You" (1967)

"(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" is best known as a hit for the Monkees. Released in November 1966, the song became the first Monkees B-side to chart, reaching #20 on the Billboard Hot 100. Musicians featured on the recording are Micky Dolenz (lead vocal), Tommy Boyce (backing vocal), Wayne Erwin and Gerry McGee (rhythm guitar), Louis Shelton (lead guitar), Bobby Hart (Vox Continental organ), Larry Taylor (bass), Billy Lewis (drums) and Henry Lewy (percussion).

The single, stereo album, and mono album versions contain several differences. In the stereo version, the track's title is sung just before the second verse, whereas on the single and mono album versions, this segment is left instrumental. The stereo version has an edit in the fadeout, but the mono album version does not have this edit and therefore has a longer coda. The single also does not have the edit, but it fades out earlier than does the mono album. All Monkees hits compilations through the mid-1980s used the stereo version, and afterward typically used the single version.

The Monkees' version is featured in the "romp" segments of several episodes of the group's television series. It has also been heard in episodes of shows such as The Queen's Gambit and Zoo.

Other versions

The song has been covered by many artists. Among the more notable is Modern Rocketry's version in 1983, which reached number 7 on the U.S. Hot Dance/Disco chart, and PJ & Duncan's version in 1996, which reached number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. A baggy version by The Farm was hugely popular in clubs in 1990 and eventually reached number 58 in the UK. The punk bands the Sex Pistols, State of Alert, the Trashmen, the Queers, and Minor Threat have also recorded versions of the song. It was also covered by Fereydoon Foroughi with Persian lyrics in a song titled "Hoqqe" (حقه), also known as "Mashti Mashalla" or "Mashdi Mashalla".

References

1. ^ Kim Cooper; David Smay (May 2001). Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth: The Dark History of Prepubescent Pop, from the Banana Splits to Britney Spears. Feral House. p. 76. ISBN 9780922915699.
2. Segretto, Mike (2022). "1967". 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Minute - A Critical Trip Through the Rock LP Era, 1955–1999. Backbeat. pp. 141–142. ISBN 9781493064601.
3. Bradley, Larry (November 4, 2014). "The 1960s: The Monkees - "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone". The Alternative Jukebox. Cassell. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-84403-789-6.
4. Whitburn, Joel (1997). Top Pop Singles 1955–1996. Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-122-5.
5. Warwick, Kutner, & Brown, The Complete Book Of The British Charts: Singles and Albums, Omnibus Press 2004, and Xit 86 (2013). ISBN 1-84449-058-0
6. Fereydoon Foroughi. "حقه" (video). YouTube (in Persian). Taraneh Enterprise.

• 1966 songs
• 1966 singles
• 1996 singles
• Songs written by Tommy Boyce
• The Monkees songs
• Paul Revere & the Raiders songs
• Ant & Dec songs
• Song recordings produced by Tommy Boyce
• Song recordings produced by Bobby Hart
• Song recordings produced by Terry Melcher
• Songs written by Bobby Hart
• Protopunk songs
• American garage rock songs