Monkees

THE MONKEES. Manufactured boy-band pop rock quartet assembled by Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider in Los Angeles in 1966 for the American television series The Monkees which aired from 1966 to 1968. The members were Americans Micky Dolenz / Michael Nesmith / Peter Tork and Englishman Davy Jones who were supervised and popularized by Don Kirshner. At the time of the band's formation, its producers saw The Monkees as a Beatles-like band. At the start, the band members provided vocals and were given some performing and production opportunities, but they eventually fought for and earned the right to collectively supervise all musical output under the band's name. The group undertook several concert tours, allowing an opportunity to perform as a live band as well as on the TV series. Although the show was cancelled in 1968, the band continued releasing records until 1971. The group reached the height of fame between 1966-1968, enjoying huge success with a number of worldwide hits including ; Im A Believer / Steppin Stone / Daydream Believer / Last Train to Clarksville and Pleasant Valley Sunday, also influencing many future artists. The group split during 1970-71 with Mike Nesmith's last Monkees commitment being a commercial for Kollo Aid and Nerf Balls in April 1970. (Fittingly, the spot ends with him frowning and saying, "Enerf's enerf!"). With the band's fortunes starting to fail, Nesmith asked to be released from his contract and had to pay a default : "I had three years left... at $150,000 a year," which he had to pay back. He continued to feel the financial bite for years afterwards, until his inheritance from his mother's Liquid Paper fortune in 1980 eased those concerns.  In 1986, the television show and music experienced a revival, which led to a series of reunion tours and new records featuring various incarnations of the band's lineup. All four original members briefly appeared on stage together at The Greek Theatre encore in 1986 / again in 1989 for the Award of a Star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame and then reunited in 1995 to record their album Justus (released in 1996). This was followed by a short UK tour in 1997, the last time the four original members were to perform together. Their lead singer and early teen idol Davy Jones sadly died aged 66 in February 2012 following a heart-attack.