In Defense of The Monkees, Part 1

Note: This is the first part of a two-part post. The second part can be found here.

They were cast as actors for a TV show. They were only supposed to provide vocals and be funny. As they gained more independence, their record sales dropped. They were manufactured; they were phony; they were fake.

All the above are common criticisms of The Monkees that have at least some truth to them. Yet The Monkees are one of my favorite bands, if not my favorite band of all time. Part of it is nostalgia. I got introduced to the TV show when I was in middle school and I loved it. The lines were funny, the characters were likeable, and the music was great.

I had never been interested in music until I found out about The Monkees. I got one of their “Greatest Hits” albums as a gift and I played it nonstop. I usually get tired of music really quickly, but to this day, I still enjoy listening to the songs off of that album.

As I sit here in my hoodie with their logo plastered across the front, I feel the need to write this post about them, because even now I come across people with misconceptions about the group, and I feel as if they’re underappreciated.

So first, what was their story? The idea of The Monkees was conceived in 1964 and became official in 1965, which is also when casting began. An ad was printed calling for “insane folk-rock musicians” to act in a TV show. Eventually, four were chosen: Singer-songwriter Michael Nesmith, former Circus Boy actor Micky Dolenz, Greenwich village musician Peter Tork, and Broadway actor Davy Jones. It should be noted that all four had some kind of musical background and skill.

The show’s pilot was picked up by NBC in 1966. Now, the group not only had a show to prepare for, but they also had music to record. If the producers had let the members play the instruments that were the best fit for each of them, the end result would have been a fairly cohesive unit. Nesmith was experienced on both the guitar and the bass, Tork had many instruments in his arsenal, including the guitar and keyboards, Jones managed to impress when handed drumsticks, and Dolenz’s voice turned heads. Therefore, a lineup of Tork on guitar, Nesmith on bass, Jones on drums, and Dolenz singing lead vocals would have probably worked out quite well.

However, the producers decided they did not want Jones, who stood at 5’3”, hidden behind a drumset. Neither Tork nor Nesmith had any interest in the instrument, so Dolenz was assigned the role. The lineup usually consisted of Tork on bass/keyboards, Nesmith on guitar, Dolenz on drums, and Jones armed with maracas or a tambourine. Dolenz often sang lead on the more “pop” songs, with Jones covering the ballads, and Nesmith handling the folkier tunes. As for Tork, he was the sole lead singer on just one song over the course of the band’s first five albums (that song being Your Auntie Grizelda).

Perhaps due to this mismatch of members and instruments, along with the grueling schedule that came with a new television show and all that followed, the group had trouble progressing musically. So, the producers handed the reins over to successful producer Don Kirshner and songwriting duo Tommy Joyce and Bobby Hart. Kirshner brought in studio musicians to take care of the instrumentals, leaving the group to only record the vocals, which they often had to do separately because the four of them would always horse around when in the studio together.

In August of 1966, “Last Train to Clarksville”, The Monkees’ debut single, was released. The band went on a promotional tour before the show’s debut in September, and in October, they released their eponymous first album. Thus began “Monkeemania.”

The band dealt with a lot of criticism from the media due to their manufactured nature and the fact that at the time, they only provided the vocals for their music. This bothered Nesmith especially, who punched a hole through a wall during a heated discussion with Kirshner. After the release of their second album, Kirshner violated the agreement he had with the label and the band. He was dismissed, and The Monkees were given more musical independence.