The show is hard to watch today, but the music -- and the individual personalities -- remain eternal. Many of their hits were penned by great writers of the period, including Carole King, Harry Nilsson and Neil Diamond. And famous musicians of the era, including some members of the Byrds, played with them. While the show was a knockoff of HELP!, and the boys were not allowed to perform on their first two albums, the fact is that in real life, Nesmith and Tork were bona fide musicians and former TV child stars Dolenz and Jones could sing reasonably well. Their music lives on. Other fabricated singers of the era such as Fabian are long forgotten. But not the Monkees.
Review of The Monkees
