Hey Hey They are the Monkees

  I really don't know how critics get their credentials. I was just listening to NPR where a critic and writer of the history of rock 'n roll was reviewing the Monkees 50th. His review was basically listing facts about how the Monkees got the best writers in the industry to write for them and I took away from it that his conclusion was that's why they had such a great sound. I could not believe my ears! He even said that he had no frame of reference toward the Monkees when they originally came out, because he was into the underground sound at that time that had just gotten started. His review showed that he had no frame of reference for the Monkees television show at all.

I have made the statement that we were from the Ed Sullivan generation because we would listen to music that was so different like the acts that Ed Sullivan had on his show, from Beverly Sills to Janis Joplin, from Perry Como to Mick Jagger, not to mention the Beatles, who the TV executives of the time wanted the Monkees to emulate. The television show the Monkees auditioned as many young men as they possibly could and they came up with four young men that seemed to have nothing in common or you might say that they were all from different backgrounds. That, in most cases, might spell disaster for the chemistry with actors on a sitcom. The TV show the Monkees however was not a sitcom, it was not a musical variety show, it was something the likes of American television had never seen before. You might say the television show the Monkees was a gumbo of a mixture of British and American pop culture in a soup base that had some of the best songwriters in the world simmering into an extremely good pop rock band.

  I myself loved the Monkees, their hijinks and off-the-wall acting wasn't meant to be the great American drama and it wasn't. It was entertaining to the kids of that day. The music that was presented by the Monkees to sing was fantastic. It was from the best songwriters around, of that there is no doubt. I however want to make this perfectly clear to everyone, if you would have put this same music in front of a mediocre group of young men who had no talent and didn't care, it would have been horrible. I do not think that you could have any better chemistry for a band as you did with Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, Davy Jones and Mickey Dolenz. I don't care what was going on behind the scenes, I don't care if they didn't like each other, I don't care about the lawsuits, that's not what I'm talking about. What I am talking about is the simple fact that this group of young men came together and became a part of rock 'n roll history. Say what you want to, they were a good part of rock 'n roll history.

  The music that they put out had at least seven number one hits as far as I can remember. You can say what you want to about them having great songwriters which they did, but my contention is if they had not been a good band, they would not have been able to secure one number one hit let alone seven. All of this in just three or four years during and after their TV show. I, for one, believe that there was magic in the chemistry they produced on TV and stage.

Just to give you a for instance, there is a video circulating on YouTube from just a couple of years ago that shows Paul McCartney and his band, walking down the halls to the stage of one of their concerts, singing “Here we come,  walking down the street, we get the funniest looks from everyone we meet, Hey Hey we’re the Monkees…..”. I ask you, what greater tribute to the Monkees could there be than  Paul McCartney knowing one of their songs and singing it with his band for the fun of it.

I would also like to say that the songs they sang are caught in our minds forever. How many of you out there remember all the words to at least one of the Monkees’ songs. I personally know the words to at least three of their songs.

  It just makes me mad when someone thinks they have the right to review a group and still say that they have no point of reference of that group's heyday. This person listened to their music in retrospect today to review it in the context of what they know now. You can never have that appreciation for a piece of art if you never heard it when it came out. I'm telling you right now I love the Monkees television show. I had all of their albums and I also listened to the underground sound of the 60’s. I am part of the Ed Sullivan generation, I listened to almost every kind of music there was from the time I was a child till today and I'm 60 years old and I have never been able to understand how a reviewer can review a concert or review an album and come up with a totally different opinion of that music than those that appreciate it. I also believe that if you look at the modern abstract art and you don't get it you're not the person that should review it.

  He also kind of skipped over reviewing the movie Head that the Monkees put out after their TV show had ended, by saying that there are those that will defend it. I will not defend it, other than to say that looking at it today I see what they were striving for but the Monkees were never a psychedelic band, they're acting in the Monkees show was never part of the drug culture,  it was pop rock culture. I put the blame own it not being a hit, which it wasn't, on the directors and producers, especially the director who had absolutely no clue. Am I saying that I dislike Head, yes I probably am, but it is a part of rock 'n roll history and I'm sure there are people out there that did enjoy it, but I was thoroughly disappointed with that attempt.

  The Monkees shortly thereafter disappeared except for the occasional reunion concerts and the passing of Davy Jones seemed to have put an end to the concerts till here recently. Both Peter Tork and Mickey Dolenz have gotten together again for at least one last Monkees romp and I am happy about it.