Back in 1966 the TV & pop worlds were shaken by the
arrival of the Monkees, a post-Beatles, pre-boy band sensation who took
the charts by storm, selling millions of records off the back of their
hugely successful TV series.
The
songs - I'm A Believer, Last Train To Clarksville, Daydream Believer
and many more - were instant pop classics and the Monkees - Mike
Nesmith, Mickey Dolenz, Peter Tork and Davy Jones - were instant pop
stars.
Except that they weren't. They were
actors playing a part, pretending to be a band, miming on screen and
singing over other people's music. But like Pinocchio, they wanted to be
real and the puppets turned, wrestling control of their records from
the hands of the TV moguls and striking out on their own, a path that
led them to the Sgt Pepper recording sessions, to Jimi Hendrix, to avant
garde film-making and to a completely unique type of stardom.
Now,
50 years later, the Monkees are back with a big hit album full of songs
written for them by the likes of Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher & Andy
Partridge of XTC, alongside Neil Diamond & Harry Nilsson.
In
this two part series, the Monkees tell their own story with new,
exclusive interviews with the 3 surviving band members, alongside their
friends, family and associates.
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