The Monkees

I have enjoyed watching this show for years since I first saw it in syndication on local television back in the late 1970s. From the first time I watched The Monkees I was hooked and have watched the show ever since. Whenever it would be shown over the years I was there to watch it, including the revival in popularity that arose in 1986 when MTV ran a Monkees marathon that exposed their antics to a new generation of fans. The show had a great zaniness that blended a unique mixture of music and comedy, which made the show a delight for me. As a kid I enjoyed the entertaining plots and thought it would be cool to hang around with these 4 guys. I did, though, always look forward to the musical numbers that occurred in each episode.

The music on the show was what really appealed to me and made me a fan in the beginning. Their albums from the 60s still make up part of my music collection. The show was never that popular when it was originally airing on commercial television, but the music really helped push the popularity of the band giving The Monkees a cult-like status similar to The Beatles at the time. I especially like the music of Michael Nesmith. The songs that appeared in the show by Nez were most appealing to me and this carried over to his solo career as well. Another thing that was a great part of the show was the comic timing of Mickey Dolenz. He always cracks me up with his wacky style of voices and improvisation. All four were talented in their own way, but Mickey Dolenz was the funniest to me.

It is still one of my all time favorite shows and has left a lasting impression on me that will stay with me my whole life. One of the more memorable shows was the parody of Faust called The Devil and Peter Tork. It had some seriousness, but that helped the comedy to play. Some episodes played out better than others with the second season being a little more reflective of the 60s culture that was growing popular during that period in America.

Was it a TV show? Was it a rock n' roll group? It was neither, and it was a little of both. Mickey Dolenz equated their becoming a group to Leonard Nimoy becoming a Vulcan. No matter what you believe, we can all agree that The Monkees, although brief in its original run, was about a group that did play, that did perform their own music and the way they did it left an impact on generations both young and old and will do so for years to come.

The Monkees was one of the most unique television shows ever created! The show featured great music and comedy that had people laughing for hours. All four of the guys were extremely talented and no one else could have taken their place. The show should be run more often so that today's generation of kids can enjoy them too.

No-one has ever tried to pretend that 'The Monkees' were anything more than a pop group specifically created for a television show, and to sell bubblegum music to kids. That said, it should also be noted how talented Mike Nesmith, Peter Tork, David Jones, and Micky Dolenz were as comedy performers, far more so than the members of 'Herman's Hermits' and 'The Dave Clark Five', both of whom tried and failed to reach the same audience. The show took its cue from the Beatles' movie 'Help!', with the band constantly running across rooftops, chased by screaming girls, and famous actors hamming it up for all it was worth in cameo roles. John Lennon likened The Monkees to the Marx Brothers, and its not hard to see why. The show caught the mood of the time; it was colourful, daft fun, just what the world needed as the Vietnam war raged. And the songs were good too, particularly 'Last Train To Clarksville'. Such was the show's popularity in Britain that it was being rerun long after the group disbanded.

I was 9 or 10 years old when The Monkees debuted on NBC. I have been a fan ever since. I even saw them in concert during the summer of 1967. I was very peeved at not being able to hear them due to the screaming girls. I thought girls must be the dumbest creatures on earth, but of course I changed my feelings before long. They were still dumb as far as I could tell, but they were cute, too. I saw the Monkees again when three of them (minus Nesmith) reunited in the mid-eighties and late nineties. The Monkees have been unfairly ostracized for decades. "They don't play their own instruments", their critics complained. They were not allowed to play on their first two albums. Don Kirshner, their egomaniacal producer, wanted total control. This ultimately got him fired by the band. He released More of The Monkees without permission from the band. If that weren't bad enough, the album's liner notes were pure Kirshner. Kirshner's egomania is all too apparent. He shamelessly name drops and barely mentions The Monkees at all. Michael Nesmith put his fist through a wall when the band met with Kirshner later. According to Micky Dolenz, Nez snarled, "That coulda been your face, motherf-----!" In any event, that was it for Kirshner as far as The Monkees were concerned. They finally had creative control of the music. For their third album, The Monkees Headquarters, they played on every song with minimal outside accompaniment. They credited the extra 2 or 3 musicians in the liner notes, something other bands (Beatles included) were not so forthcoming about. Micky Dolenz has never gotten the credit he deserves as a great rock vocalist. Just listen to No Time, Randy Scouse Git, Going' Down, Words, Pleasant Valley Sunday, etc. Each Monkey had talent. Micky had a great voice, Mike Nesmith was a good singer and musician, Peter Tork played about a dozen instruments, and Davy Jones was a superb showman and a pretty good singer. About 20 years ago, there was talk of a Monkees TV special. Davy was explaining how it would be set up. "Mike would produce, Micky would direct, and Peter would be in charge of the music." "But what would you do?" Davy was asked. "I would be the star, of course, and get all the girls!" When I see some of the acts who have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (the Sex Pistols?!) there is no doubt The Monkees deserve to be enshrined. They certainly are more deserving than many who are already in.

This is definitely one of the most influential shows in television history. The show was so funny and at times surreal but you could see that the boys had a lot of fun doing the shows even if they didn't like a lot of the music they were forced to do in the early shows. Speaking of the songs, this show was also a great showcase for many of the greatest songwriting talents of the 60's including Goffin and King, Neil Diamond, Boyce and Hart, John Stewart and Harry Nillson.