The Monkees
The Monkees were an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. The band consisted of Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork. Spurred by the success of the television show of the same name, the Monkees were one of the most successful bands of the late 1960s. With international hits, four chart-topping albums and three chart-topping songs ("Last Train to Clarksville", "I'm a Believer", and "Daydream Believer"), they sold more than 75 million records worldwide.
This article is about the musical group. For the TV series, see The Monkees (TV series). For their debut album, see The Monkees (album). For their compilation album, see The Monkees: Original Album Series.
The Monkees
Los Angeles, California
- 1966–1970[a]
- 1986–1989
- 1996–1997
- 2001–2002
- 2010–2021
The Monkees were originally a fictional band created for the NBC television sitcom of the same name. Dolenz, Jones, Nesmith and Tork were cast to portray members of a band in the sitcom. Music credited to the Monkees appeared in the sitcom and was released on LPs and singles beginning in 1966, and the sitcom aired from 1966 to 1968. At first, the band members' musical contributions were primarily limited to lead vocals and the occasional composition, with the remaining music provided by professional songwriters and studio musicians. Though this arrangement yielded multiple hit albums and singles, the band members revolted and, after a brief power struggle, gained full control over the recording process in 1967. For two albums, the Monkees mostly performed as a group; however, within a year, each member was pursuing his own interests under the Monkees' name, rendering the Monkees once again a group in name only. With widespread allegations that the band members did not play their own instruments—followed by the cancellation of The Monkees, diminishing success on the charts, and waning popularity overall—band members began to leave the group. The Monkees held a final recording session in 1970 before breaking up.
A revival of interest in the Monkees came in 1986, prompting a 20th anniversary reunion. Over the following 35 years, the Monkees periodically reunited for reunion tours, a major-network television special, and new studio albums. Following Jones's death in 2012 and Tork's death in 2019, Dolenz and Nesmith embarked on a farewell tour in 2021. The tour ended shortly before Nesmith's death at the end of the year.
History[edit]
Conception and casting[edit]
The Monkees were formed in the mid-1960s in Los Angeles.[5]
Aspiring filmmaker Bob Rafelson developed the initial idea for The Monkees in 1962 and tried selling it to Revue, the television division of Universal Pictures, but was unsuccessful.[6] In May 1964, while working at Screen Gems, Rafelson teamed up with Bert Schneider, whose father, Abraham Schneider, headed the Colpix Records and Screen Gems Television units of Columbia Pictures. Rafelson and Schneider ultimately formed Raybert Productions.[7] The Beatles' films A Hard Day's Night and Help! inspired Rafelson and Schneider to revive Rafelson's idea for The Monkees. As "Raybert Productions", they sold the show to Screen Gems Television on April 16, 1965.[8]
Rafelson and Schneider's original idea was to cast an existing New York folk rock group, the Lovin' Spoonful, who were not widely known at the time. After those plans fell through, Rafelson and Schneider focused on Davy Jones. In September 1964, Jones had signed to a long-term contract to appear in TV programs for Screen Gems, to make feature films for Columbia Pictures and to record music for the Colpix label.[9] His involvement with The Monkees was publicly announced on July 14, 1965.[10] Jones had previously starred as the Artful Dodger in the Broadway theater show Oliver!; for his work in Oliver!, he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 1963.[11]
In September 1965, Daily Variety[12] and The Hollywood Reporter[13] ran advertisements to cast the remainder of the band/cast members for the TV show. The advertisements each read as follows:
Awards and achievements[edit]
Grammy Awards[edit]
The Grammy Awards is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. It shares recognition of the music industry as that of the other performance arts: Emmy Awards (television), the Tony Awards (stage performance), and the Academy Awards (motion pictures).
Controversies[edit]
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame[edit]
Various magazines and news outlets, such as Time,[144] NPR,[145] The Christian Science Monitor,[146] Goldmine,[147][148] Yahoo! Music[149] and MSNBC[150] have argued that the Monkees belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1992, Davy Jones told People that he knew the Monkees would never make the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[151] In June 2007, Peter Tork complained to the New York Post that Jann Wenner had "blackballed" the Monkees from being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Tork contended that Wenner held a grudge against the Monkees because the band members did not always write their own songs or play their own instruments during their early years.[146]
