Guitarist BEGGED Band Not to RECORD "CRAP" Cover Song…Became #1 Hit of the Year!—Professor of Rock

Poll: Who is your favorite BEATLE, MONKEE and STONE?

I don't care what anybody says they should have been already in the Rock and Roll Hall Of fame. There's one left give them that honor.

Michael Nesmith was a sweet soul. I have 2 letters written in 1961 by Mike to my grandmother Analee Huffaker who was his high school music teacher at Thomas Jefferson High School in Dallas Texas. An excerpt from one of the letters was published in a July 1967 Tiger Beat magazine interview where Michael expresses that my grandmother taught him the joy of music. It’s about the most beautiful words you could ever hope to hear from a musician complimenting his music teacher. This quote should be on a plaque in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame because it would be the prettiest thing anyone could read in such a museum. Google up the article and read for yourself.

The Monkees should be in the rock ‘n’ roll Hall of Fame! If Tupac, NWA and other artists from other genres can be inducted, The Monkees damn well should be! When you look at their popularity, not just in the 1960s, but also their resurgence in the 1980s and beyond… There is no reason to exclude them. The idea that they don’t deserve to be in there because they didn’t play their instruments is asinine considering most artists in the 1960s used “the wrecking crew”/session musicians too. We shouldn’t wait until Mickey Dolenz is dead to correct this.

"The Monkees are to the Beatles what Star Trek is to NASA. They are both totally valid in their own contexts." --Micky Dolenz

Pretenders schmetenders. No-one looks down their noses at bands like the Supremes, who didn't play their instruments, didn't write their songs, and were groomed into shape by the Motown machine. How were the Monkees any different? They could sing, they could play, and their outpit included some of the most memorable songs from a decade where song standards were incredibly high. And many of those songs were written by Mike Nesmith. People should give them the credit they're due and stop calling them a "pretend band".

Nesmith was a gifted songwriter who wrote Linda Ronstadt's first hit, "Different Drum."

in the 1990s I used to hang out in a little bar in Studio City called Residuals. On Saturday nights this little "conversation bar" would have a band in. This particular night it was an all-girl blues band. Sheila E sat in for a few songs with them, then the band took a break and some dude with an acoustic guitar got up to do a few songs. It was Peter Tork. No fan fair, no splash, no ego - just some really good songs. I wish I could remember what he played. I do remember he was really good. Fun night for a guy who watched their show in first run back in the day.

You dropped the ball when you mentioned their album Justus. It was the pinnacle of their career. It was an album written, arranged, produced and performed solely by the Monkees. Literally “Just Us”. They proved once and for all that they could do it all. It was a proud accomplishment for the band.

One of my favorite quotes about the band came from Mickey. On a documentary about the Monkees, he captured the feeling he had going in : "We had as much chance to be real rock stars as Leonard Nimoy had to be a real Vulcan."

The Monkees are the epitome of 'fake it until you make it'. Big respect for how hard they worked to become a real band.

What a great thing that Nesmith went into a snit and was kicked out of the studio. The iconic voice and style of Mickey Dolenz was featured on "I'm a Believer." One of the memorable vocalists of the 60s was born.

Fun Fact.. Michael Nesmith's mom Bette was a typist and got tired of having to retype entire pages because of one little Typo and had an idea which was using a flat white paint to correct mistakes and thus she invented Liquid Paper.

I grew up in Hollywood, Ca. and was in Junior High from '66-'68. The Monkees filmed their TV series one block from my school at Columbia Studios. A few of us girls figured this out and so every day after school we stalked out along the chain link fence separating the street from the back lot where the Monkee's studio office was located at the top of some old wooden stairs on the outside of one of the buildings. Every afternoon when they were through filming, all four would climb the stairs and so we would call out to them and they would turn around and wave. There were no security guards at that time and only a few of us girls were there, but as time past the word got out and the crowd got huge and loud, and the Monkees moved on. But for a brief time, it was just a couple of my friends and the Monkees every day after school.

The Monkees are a gem! They had a fun TV show, they could sing, they were cute - how could you not love 'em?

Back in 1986, MTV also re-ran episodes of the Monkees, helping to revive their popularity. I was working as a child photographer, and one of my subjects - a boy of about 9 years old - said to me "Oh, do you know the Monkees? I love the Monkees!" I looked at him, smiled, and said "Yes, Son, I know the Monkees. I wasn't much older than you when I knew the Monkees." This brought a big smile from his mother who was standing next to us. It really made my day.

There's nothing that I don't love about this band. They were a decade before me but I've loved them since I was a little girl. From Mickey's rock voice, Davey's sweet voice, to Peter's quirky Auntie Grizelda. Great music, great TV show. Glad that they got to make their own music, but those early records were lightning and wouldn't have worked without their talent and charisma. Love seeing the Monkees celebrated!!

I loved watching The Monkees! I think their songs were the first ones I could actually sing along with. I'm 66 now. I will always cherish watching their show and singing their songs. RIP Gentlemen, you and Micky Dolenz will never be forgotten. Thank you.

I always preferred Mickey's singing. "Last Train to Clarksville" is a favorite.

I remember being a kid in the 1960s and 1970s. Summer, dad doing something in the garage with tools at his work bench and my siblings and I running thru the sprinkler while the Monkeys played from Dads speakers, my brother pretending to play the drums. The whole family liked the music and we would watch the show with us kids bouncing around the living room during the music sections - attempting to dance but just making our parents laugh themselves sick.