tonsure (n.): 1 : the Roman Catholic or Eastern rite of admission to the clerical state by the clipping or shaving of a portion of the head; 2 : the shaven crown or patch worn by monks and other clerics

In the early 1960s, five American G.I.s stationed in Germany decided to stay in country when their tours ended. They formed a band and by 1965, they had evolved into The Monks, an aggressive, minimalist, avant-garde rock outfit. They were known as the anti-Beatles in the German clubs, at a time when the Fabs’ stint in Hamburg was still fresh in the minds of showgoers. Their lives were immersed in the band to the point where they shaved their heads and wore frocks, sometimes with hangman’s nooses as a political accessory. Their only album, Black Monk Time, opens with the lyrics:

Alright, my name’s Gary.
Let’s go, it’s beat time, it’s hop time, it’s monk time now!
You know we don’t like the army.
What army?
Who cares what army?
Why do you kill all those kids over there in Vietnam?
Mad Viet Cong.
My brother died in Vietnam!
James Bond, who was he?
Stop it, stop it, I don’t like it!

They never compromised, which is, in large part, why they never really made a splash back home: they flatly refused to make a more accessible follow-up that a mid-sixties record label would be willing to market.

I don’t know how much footage of The Monks exists, but I was recently led to a clip of them playing two songs on German television. It’s worth noting that this is a perfect example of YouTube saving some of the treasures of the 20th century from the scrapheap of history to which they would otherwise be consigned. Feast your eyes and ears on the wonder that is The Monks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB4KhCG-kHM.