Monkees.Net is 20! Happy Birthday

Monkees.Net was born November 10 1994 so this is our 20th birthday! Thanks so much for all of the fans support and we will have a special contest this month as well as some additional articles!

The Monkees have always been important to my life, i loved their shows on saturday morning TV, their greatest hits album was the first rock album i owned and Michael Nesmith’s second solo album was the first album i ever purchased. I think they brought a fun element to rock music and that has stuck with me my entire life leading me to enjoy those who add some humor to the mix.

Early in 1992, the Internet was getting a lot of buzz while i had already been online for years with Compuserve, and so as a computer programmer i had to get out there and see what was happening. I re-discovered the Monkees fans hanging out on IRC chat and USENET (alt.music.monkees) and proceeded to see what i could add to the mix. I then created a monkees mailing list and began to help in scheduling monkees parties online at scheduled times in the chat. In 1994 when the old menu systems of the internet began to give way to the new form of HTML web pages, i built the first Monkees web site and listed it on Yahoo and it was popular immediately because of the ability to share photos, recordings and a few videos.

The high point of my involvement in this project was undoubtedly when Michael Nesmith invited me to his office in California to show him how this internet thing worked, and having him follow up that meeting by beginning to write a novel on the web – page by page – for all of the fans to watch. He really jumps into things with both feet and eventually he published the novel as “The Long Sandy Hair of Neftoon Zamora”.

It has been 20 years and the Monkees still are in my music rotation bringing happy memories of Monkee weddings between fans, great friends and humorous romps like the true story of what happened to mikes wool hat. The Monkees were early stars of the Internet and it has some of the most amazingly dedicated fans of any musical organization i have seen.

Brad and Jackie

Full Press Release:

NY – Monday, November 10 is the ten year anniversary of Brad Waddell’s Monkees.net site – the preferred site to go for all things Monkee-related.

Says Waddell, “Early in 1992, the Internet was getting a lot of buzz and so as a computer programmer I had to get out there and see what was happening. I re-discovered the Monkees fans from around the world hanging out on IRC chat and USENET (alt.music.monkees) and proceeded to see what I could add to the mix. I created a Monkees mailing list and began to help in scheduling Monkees parties online at scheduled times in the chat.”

“In 1994 when the old menu systems of the Internet began to give way to the new form of HTML web pages, I built the first Monkees-web site and listed it on Yahoo and it was popular immediately because of the ability to share photos, recordings and a few videos.”

Waddell says he’s met fans from all over the world and feels flattered that his site has become something of a common ground.

He’s even interfaced, not only with the members of the band, but also various resources the band has worked with. Says Micky Dolenz-publicist David Salidor, “Brad’s done an amazing job of keeping current; cherishing the history of the group and their music. Theirs is a totally unique story and their fans, young and old, have a perfect resource to go too.”

Says Waddell, “The high point of my involvement in this site was undoubtedly when Michael Nesmith invited me to his office in California to show him how this Internet thing worked, and having him follow up that meeting by beginning to write a novel on the web – page by page – for all of the fans to watch. He really jumps into things with both feet and eventually he published the novel as ‘The Long Sandy Hair of Neftoon Zamora’.”

Waddell’s plans for his site next week is to print several essays from some of the key-Monkee-resources, including authors Eric Lefkowitz (Monkee Business) and Mark Bego, who co-authored Dolenz’s 2004 book I’m A Believer.

Waddell says that the biggest joy and accomplishment is having met each of the band members and having them embrace his efforts. “It has been 20 years and the Monkees still are in my music rotation bringing happy memories of Monkee weddings between fans, great friends
and humorous romps like the true story of what happened to Mike’s wool hat,” says Waddell.

Adds Micky Dolenz, “Congratulations for hanging in there with us through the years; your support has not gone unnoticed nor unappreciated!”

Continues Brad, “The Monkees were early stars of the Internet and Monkee.Net continues to have around 5000 visits per day, which is not surprising as it has some of the most amazingly dedicated worldwide fan groups of any musical organization I have seen.”