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Hey, Hey, They’re Touring the U.K.: the Monkees
Three of the Less-fab Four, the Monkees, have announced they will be touring in the U.K. to celebrate the group’s 45th anniversary, their first U.K. tour in 12 years.
The Monkees
Created as a sort of bargain basement Beatles, and specifically for a TV series, the Monkees were Davy Jones, Mickey Dolenz, Peter Tork, and Mike Nesmith. Nesmith will not be on board for this tour, as with many of the other reunions.
The tour launches at Liverpool’s Echo Arena May 12. That city was the birthplace of another mop-top rock group, the Beatles, which were in fact the inspiration for the Monkees. The full list of tour dates are:
05/12 – Liverpool, UK @ Echo Arena
05/14 – Manchester, UK @ Apollo
05/15 – Newcastle, UK @ City Hall
05/16 – Glasgow, UK @ Clyde Auditorium
05/19 – London, UK @ Royal Albert Hall
05/20 – Sheffield, UK @ City Hall
05/21 – Birmingham, UK @ NIA
05/23 – Plymouth, UK @ Pavillions
05/24 – Cardiff, UK @ CIA
05/25 – Nottingham, UK @ Royal Centre
The group was assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series “The Monkees,” which ran from 1966 to 1968, The band’s music was initially supervised by producer Don Kirshner.
At first, although the group was able to sing its vocals, it wasn’t able to play musical instruments. This was a source of criticism for the group, but eventually they learned to play, a necessity if they were to tour, which they did.
The Monkees had several top 10 hits in their careers. They were:
1966 “Last Train to Clarksville” #1
1966 “I’m a Believer” #1
1967 “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You” #2
1967 “Pleasant Valley Sunday” #3
1967 “Daydream Believer” #1
1968 “Valleri” #3
According to Wikipedia, the Monkees had the top-charting American single of 1967 (“I’m a Believer”). (Billboard number-one for seven weeks) with “Daydream Believer” tied for third.
Watch “I’m a Believer,” “DayDream Believer” and “The Last Train to Clarksville” below.
