THE MONKEES

American television producers for NBC created the Monkees as an antidote for the Beatle-mania that had flooded the nation with records, live concerts, and a very successful film, "Hard Days Night!". The Monkees were designed to star in a free-form comedy that featured the fabricated four trying to rescue themselves from a variety of wacky situations.

After a series of rigorous auditions, the producers examined 500 applicants, and finally decided to cast Mickey Dolenz, Peter Tork, David Jones, and Michael Nesmith. Although all of them had previous musical experience, their initial albums were recorded using studio musicians. The four stars picked up instrumental skills very soon.

The Monkees' first single, "The Last Train to Clarksville" was released before the show first aired in 1966 and became the first of a series of hits, including "Daydream Believer," "Valerie," "Girl". Their albums sold in the millions. The group attained almost instant star status.

The album "More Of The Monkees'" was also a big hit and its single, "I'm A Believer" went to number one in both the US and UK. They were suddenly the latest and biggest teenage phenomenon.

Their first tour featured the famous Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix, who was still unknown, opened for the Monkees. In November of '67 the Monkees released their fourth album, "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn And Jones Ltd." which was a psychedelic masterpiece.

By 1968, the foursome had grown tired of being clean-cut teen idols. On March 25, their final TV episode was screened and the next month their next album, "The Birds, The Bees And The Monkees"was a disappointment as they returned to using more session musicians to record most of the album. The same year, a bizarre Monkees movie, "Head", was released. It flopped at the box office, and the Monkees broke up shortly thereafter.