I remember when I watched my first episode of the Monkees......... in syndication
As did most people. The show only ran for 2 seasons.
A couple of #1 hits
A couple of platinum albums
And real musicians behind them in the recording booth
Long before Milli Vanilla was even a twinkle
Thats what I never got about the Monkees. They were fakes, the show was terrible yet the Monkees impaled the public conscience long past relevancy. Must be a 60s thing I suppose.
British invasion carry over. Davy Jones gave them that sound.
who?
The "sound" was due to Don Kirschner's choice of writers and producers. Jones was an actor in London and on Broadway. Ironically he was on the Ed Sullivan Show with the cast of Oliver, he was the Artful Dodger, the same night the Beatle's were on for their American debut.
When the group was put together Dolenz had the best voice but nobody played drums. Jones was put on drums but due to his height the camera couldn't see him so he was moved to lead singer and Dolenz put on drums.
After the Monkees rebelled against Kirschner's iron fist, Kirschner moved on to create the Archies with more #1 hits. But Kirschners made the Archies an animated group so there woudn't be another rebellion.
60's thing? They were prefab, packaged, and the Spice Girls weren't in the 90's? Most "hit" groups were "managed".
The show was a take off of the Beatles movie "A Hard Day's Night". The Marx Brothers on Rock n Roll. The sound was mostly sing along, catchy bubblegum music that started at least back in the 50's.
IF the Monkees impaled the public conscience long past relevancy what does Reality TV do? Bridezilla and Ice Road truckers only boost the conscience of the walking dead.
I didn't mean impaled the public conscience in a bad way. I guess what I meant to say, I am surprised that the Monkees were able to stake their claim in pop history even though they didn't even sing their own music and it is incredible given how many prepacked fad bands have been crushed by the anvil of history.
Actually I was impressed with "impaled the public conscience". As an lifelong Independent I intend to sneak that phrase into conversation with both my Democrat and Republican friends during this election cycle.
Actually some of The Monkees stuff is their own as noted by dshans. Nesmith was a decent songwriter but The Monkees had to battle for every note or lyric that was theirs.
A little more history.... The Monkees did not exist before the TV show. They were formed for the show, did pretty well. Of course this was waaaaaay before my time.
While the slightly older boys like dshans would play the Beatles to get the chicks . . .
B.S. Tad. You were just like a second grader like me, when the conversation went like this:
"Who do you like more the Beatles or the Monkeys?"
"The Beatles!"
"Yuck. No way, the Monkeys"
"Did you ever see either of them? Girls really like 'em. No way. I don't like either one of 'em."
"Yeah!"
While the slightly older boys like dshans would play the Beatles to get the chicks . . .
Teenyboppers
Trivia question of the night: What did Hendrix do for a living before becoming a professional musician?