History
*TV Show*
"The Monkees" debuted on NBC on Monday, September 12, 1966 at 7:30pm EST. The show became an instant smash and ended up winning two Emmys for their "Royal Flush" episode in 1967 and was nominated for a third during the show's second season. By the time the second season ended, the guys requested that show's format be changed to a variety-type program the next season. When their idea was shot down by the network, the show, still very popular at the time, came to an end after 58 episodes while Micky, Davy, Mike, & Peter moved on to the big screen. Since the show's initial run, almost every major cable network has aired re-runs of the show including a popular stint on CBS from 1969-1972, which was often used to showcase the band's later recordings. All of the series' 58 episodes are now available on DVD and VHS. The first season was released on DVD in May 2003.
*Songs and Group*
The summer of 1966 was an interesting time for the music world; The Beatles, having grown tired of Beatlemania, performed their last concert on the 29th of August at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California, at the height of their popularity. While there were many amazing bands out at that time, the Rolling Stones, the Kinks and the Beach Boys, to name a few, they didn't have both the individuality of Paul, John, George and Ringo nor did they have the mystique.
Perfect timing to create a phenomenon in the industry. Enter Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider.
Television producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider had formed Raybert Productions, an independent enterprise for experimental film projects. Schneider, son of then president of Columbia Pictures, Abraham Schneider, was the honest, upper management tactician of the duo; Rafelson had the eye for the undiscovered talent. Both had a love for the outrageous and together they were creative dynamos. Inspired by the burgeoning pop phenomena, after presenting the concept of a television show about a struggling pop band to the senior executive of Screen Gems (the television arm of Columbia Pictures), Jackie Cooper, they were granted an advance for the production of the pilot episode.
An advertisement in the Daily Variety for auditions for 4 guys in a struggling pop band solicited 437 applications; Rafelson and Schneider turned away the likes of Steven Stills, Paul Williams and Danny Hutton (later of Three Dog Night) before settling on the four lads who would succeed beyond anyone's wildest dreams. The final choice paired two musicians - Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork - with two budding actors and former child stars - Davy Jones and Mickey Dolenz. On September 12, 1966, the first episode of The Monkees was aired by NBC-TV and, despite low initial ratings, the show quickly became hugely popular. The singles 'Last Train To Clarksville' and 'I'm A Believer' reached Number 1 on the charts in the United States, and a million selling debut album confirmed the band as the latest teenage phenomenon, drawing inevitable comparisons with the Beatles. However, news that the quartet did not play on their records fueled an already simmering internal controversy. Early sessions had been completed by Boyce And Hart, authors of 'Last Train To Clarksville', and their backing band, the Candy Store Prophets, with the Monkees simply overdubbing vocals.
Musical supervision was later handed to Screen Gems executive Don Kirshner, who in turn called in staff songwriters Gerry Goffin and Carole King, Neil Diamond and Jeff Barry to contribute material for the show. This infuriated the Monkees' two musicians, in particular Nesmith, who described the piecemeal More Of The Monkees as 'the worst album in the history of the world'. Sales in excess of five million copies exacerbated tension, but the band won tacit approval from Schneider to complete several tracks under their own devices. An undeterred Kirshner coaxed Jones to sing on the already completed backing track to 'A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You' which was issued, without the band's approval, as their third single. The ensuing altercation saw Kirshner ousted, with the quartet gaining complete artistic freedom. Although not issued as a single in the USA, 'Alternate Title' (aka 'Randy Scouse Git'), Dolenz's ambitious paean to London, reached number 2 in Britain, while two further 1967 singles, 'Pleasant Valley Sunday' and 'Daydream Believer' (composed by John Stewart ), achieved gold record status. "Headquarters", the first Monkees album on which the band played, was a commercial and artistic success, consisting largely of self penned material ranging from country rock to vaudevillian pop. "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd." featured material drawn from associates Michael Murphy, Nilsson and Chip Martin as the unyielding call on the band's talents continued. This creative drain was reflected in the disappointing "The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees" and its accompanying single, 'Valleri'. The track itself had been recorded in 1966, and was only issued when 'pirate' recordings, dubbed offer from the television series, attracted considerable airplay. 'The Monkees are dead!', declared an enraged Nesmith, yet the song sold over a million copies, the band's last such success. The appeal of their series had waned as plots grew increasingly loose, and the final episode was screened on March 25 1968.
The Monkees' golden age ended, appropriately, with the concept carried to its logical extreme, a Bob Rafelson and Jack Nicholson film called "Head" that was essentially about the destruction of the group. Although baffling their one-time teenage audience, it failed to find favor with the underground circuit who still viewed the Monkees as bubble gum. However, "Head" has since been rightly credited for its imagination and innovation. A dispirited Peter Tork left following its release, but although the remaining trio continued without him, their commercial decline was as spectacular as its ascendancy. Nesmith left for a solo career in 1969, and the following year the Monkees' name was dissolved in the wake of Dolenz/Jones recording "Changes". However, in 1975, the latter-day duo joined their erstwhile song writing team in Dolenz, Jones, Boyce And Hart which toured under the banner 'The Great Golden Hits Of The Monkees Show'. The project drew cursory interest, but the band's reputation was bolstered considerably during the 80s, when the independent Rhino Records label reissued the entire Monkees back catalogue and the entire series was prescreened on MTV. Although Nesmith demurred, Dolenz, Jones and Tork embarked on a highly successful, 20th anniversary world tour which generated a live album and a new studio set, Pool It!. The original band's work is now regarded as among the best American pop of its era.
The Monkees for a brief span were a bona fide phenomenon, a brilliant, opportunistic creation that somehow also managed to capture the giddy, innocent sincerity of the mid-'60s. And now, in the year 2001, having embarked on a new tour, it's a pleasure to be able to recognize them as their own men.
Songs and Albums 
TV Show
Members
Links
The Car
Pics
Videos
History
More Pics
