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The History The Monkees were a four-person band who appeared in an American television series of the same name, which ran on NBC from 1966 to 1968. The Monkees were formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California and disbanded in 1970. At their peak they were one of the most popular musical acts of their time.Several reunions of the original lineup have taken place. The first reunion lasted from 1986 to 1989, and a second regrouping took place between 1996 - 1997. The Monkees last worked together for a brief period in 2001. Beyond television During the filming of the second season, the band soon became tired of scripts and storylines they deemed as monotonous and stale. Various members of the band proposed switching the format of the series to become more like a variety show, with musical guests and performances. This desire was seen in certain second season episodes with guest stars like musician Frank Zappa, as well as musicians Tim Buckley and Charlie Smalls (composer of The Wiz), who both performed on the show. NBC wasn't interested, and the group subsequently showed little desire to continue for a third season. After the television show was cancelled, Rafelson directed the four Monkees in a feature film, Head, executive-produced by Schneider and co-written and co-produced by Rafelson with a then relatively unknown actor named Jack Nicholson. The film, created and edited in a stream of consciousness style, featured cameo appearances by movie star Victor Mature and musician Frank Zappa. It was filmed in Screen Gems Studios and on location in California, Utah and The Bahamas from February 11 to May 21, 1968 and premiered in New York City on November 6 of that year. It was not a commercial success. This was in part because Head, being an antithesis of The Monkees TV show, comprehensively demolished the group's carefully-groomed public image, as evidenced by the stanzas from Rafelson and Nicholson's "Ditty-Diego" (recited at the start of the film by The Monkees), which ruthlessly parodies Boyce and Hart's "Monkees Theme." But over the intervening years Head has developed a cult following for its innovative style and anarchic humor, and the soundtrack album (long out of print but now available in an expanded CD version) is counted among their best recordings. Members of The Monkees, Nesmith in particular, cite Head as one of the crowning achievements of the band. From TV to stage Critics of The Monkees complained that they were a made-for-TV knockoff of The Beatles (although John Lennon was a fan of the show), and that The Monkees were a group chosen by a casting director. The massive success of the series and its spin-off records had created intense pressure to mount a touring version of the group by late 1966. Against the initial wishes of the producers, Dolenz, Jones, Nesmith and Tork went out on the road. The results were far better than anyone had a right to expect, and wherever they went they were greeted by scenes of fan hysteria not seen since The Beatles. This gave the four stars increased confidence in their battle for creative control over the music used in the series. The Monkees had complained that the producers would not allow them to play their own instruments on their records. This campaign eventually forced the series' musical coordinator Don Kirshner to let them have more participation in the recording process (against his strong objections), which included Nesmith producing his own songs and band members making some instrumental contributions. Led by Nesmith, the band eventually rebelled against Kirshner, who was later fired, and beginning with their third album, Headquarters, the four Monkees did play most of the parts on the rest of their record albums. However, it should be noted that from time to time the band would again employ the top session musicians of the day on later records to assist them in the recording process. Kirshner was reported to have been incensed by the group's rebellion and swore never to repeat his mistake. This experience led directly to his later ventures The Archies and Josie and The Pussycats, which were animated series — the "stars" existed only on an animation cel and obviously could not demand creative control over the records issued under their name. When the group toured Britain in 1967 there was a major controversy over the revelation that the group did not play on their own records, and the news made the front pages of several UK and international music papers, with the group derisively dubbed "The Pre-Fab Four". Nevertheless, they were warmly welcomed by many top British stars including The Beatles, who knew the group included some skilled musicians and sympathised with their wish to have more control over their music. Many Monkees fans now feel that the controversy unfairly targeted The Monkees and conveniently ignored the fact that a number of the leading British and American groups habitually used session players on their recordings, and that this practice had always (until then) passed without comment. However, The Beatles had led a wave of groups who played their own instruments and wrote their own songs, and The Monkees paled by comparison. Supporters and critics of the group agree that the producers and Kirshner had the good taste to use some of the best songwriters of the period, including Neil Diamond, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, Gerry Goffin and Carole King, Harry Nilsson and Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, as well as using top-ranking Los Angeles session musicians on the records. The Monkees had several international hits — which are still heard on pop and oldies stations — including "I'm a Believer", "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone", "Daydream Believer", "Last Train to Clarksville" — and even a number of social criticism songs, the best known of which is probably "Pleasant Valley Sunday". The Monkees also deserve credit for helping bring America's attention to the Jimi Hendrix Experience, who they took on as an opening act during their 1967 concert tour, even though Hendrix quit after only a few shows. Reports circulated at the time that he had been removed from the tour after complaints from the conservative women's group Daughters of the American Revolution. This was later proved false and it has since been revealed that the story was concocted for publicity purposes by the late Australian journalist and music writer Lillian Roxon, who had been accompanying the tour with her friend, the Australian singer Lynne Randell, who was one of the supporting acts and who was romantically involved with Jones at the time. The End of The Monkees Six albums were produced with the original lineup (four of which went to Number 1 on the Billboard chart), which was supplemented by a series of successful world concert tours. But tensions within the group were increasing, and Tork quit shortly after the band's Far East tour in late 1968, but not before completing work on their 1969 NBC television special, 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee. Three more albums would follow while Tork (in December 1968) and then Nesmith (in March 1970) left the group, leaving only Dolenz and Jones to record as The Monkees. Eventually, Jones too departed, leaving Dolenz as the sole remaining recording Monkee, and so marked the end of the first phase of The Monkees' recording career. At the same time, The Monkees TV series enjoyed a resurgence on Saturday Afternoon television for four seasons on CBS (September 1969 - September 1972) and on ABC (September 1972 - August 1973), after which its 58 episodes were sold to local markets for syndication in September 1975. Revival Brushed off by critics during their heyday as manufactured and lacking talent, The Monkees experienced a critical re-hab in 1986. A Monkees TV show marathon on the video music channel MTV re-launched the group, sparking worldwide interest by both original fans and their children, who flocked to see The Monkees in sold-out shows. Nesmith was forced to sit out most of these reunion projects because of prior commitments to his bustling Pacific Arts video production company. Spurred on by massive MTV promotion, the reunited trio quickly became one of the hottest acts of 1986, with their original albums selling in the millions and a new greatest hits collection reaching platinum status. To show his support, Nesmith appeared onstage with Dolenz, Jones and Tork twice, both times in Los Angeles, in 1986 and 1989. He also appeared with the band in a 1986 Christmas medley music video for MTV and took part in a dedication ceremony at the Hollywood Walk of Fame, where The Monkees received a star in 1989. The sudden revival of The Monkees in 1986 helped move the first Monkees single since 1970, "That Was Then, This Is Now", into the American Top 20. A new album by the touring trio, Pool It!, quickly followed and met with moderate success. From 1986 to 1989, The Monkees would conduct major concert tours in the United States, Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom and Europe. In the 1990s, The Monkees continued to create new musical material, eventually recording an album which all four members performed and produced; this became Justus in 1996. The trio of Dolenz, Jones and Tork reunited again for a successful 30th anniversary tour of American amphitheaters in 1996, while Nesmith joined them onstage in Los Angeles to promote the new songs from Justus. For the first time since the initial reunion in 1986, Nesmith returned to the concert stage full-time for a tour of the United Kingdom in 1997, and two sold-out concerts at Wembley Arena in London highlighted the success of the band in the 1990s. The full quartet also appeared in an ABC television special (written and directed by Nesmith) in 1997, spoofing the original series that had made them famous. However, once the revival craze died down, so did Michael Nesmith's interest in the group, and the Monkees disbanded once again. In fact, Davy Jones has gone on record to say another reunion of The Monkees as a complete unit "will never happen again." The remaining three Monkees (Dolenz, Jones and Tork) tour sporadically, most recently in 2001. Impact of The Monkees The Monkees, selected specifically to appeal to the youth market with their manufactured personae and carefully produced singles, can be seen as the original precursor to the modern proliferation of studio and corporation-created bands, or the modern boy band. However, The Monkees differ from typical modern boy bands in several respects. The Monkees did not perform the tightly harmonized ballads or synchronized dance routines boy bands are noted for today. The group was shown playing musical instruments on the show, or actually played instruments during live shows, unlike boy bands. The Monkees also frequently contributed their own songwriting efforts on their albums. Most notably, the critical appeal of the band has only increased since their original inception, while it remains unproven that modern day boy bands will experience the longevity that the Monkees have enjoyed. The Monkees found unlikely fans among musicians of the punk rock period of the mid-1970s. Many of these punk performers had grown up on TV reruns of the series, and in keeping with the prevailing anti-industry, anti-Establishment trend of their music, they adopted The Monkees as symbols of rebellion against the mainstream music industry, citing the group's insistence on breaking out of their manufactured TV image and proving that they could write and perform as a real band. The Sex Pistols went as far as recording a version of The Monkees' "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone." Modern day bands continue to cover their work, with the alternative rock group Smashmouth most recently having a hit with "I'm a Believer" in 2001. Millions of people still listen to their music and it seems likely that Monkees singles will remain a staple on pop-rock and oldies stations for decades to come. In fact, their legacy has been further strengthened by Rhino Entertainment's acquisition of The Monkees' franchise from Columbia Pictures in the early 1990s, with remastered editions of both the original television series and their music library having now surfaced in stores on DVD and compact disc collections. Source: wikipedia.org BACK |
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