The enduring appeal of The Monkees

Clockwise from top left: Mike Nesmith, Davy Jones, Peter Tork, and Mickey Dolenz

‘Hey hey we’re The Monkees You know we love to please A manufactured image With no philosophies.”

So sang the other prefab four in their baffling, beautiful, self-excoriating movie, Head, which, by its release in the winter of 1968, cemented the end of their brief reign as one of the biggest pop sensations of the decade.

Not that anyone noticed. Owing to dwindling ratings, their TV show was axed in March of that year, just as their latest single, Valleri, marked their final visit to the Top 10. And Head was “promoted” with such a wilfully obscure marketing campaign, featuring no mention of the band, their great art statement never stood a chance. That – save another 18 months of generally ignored activity – appeared to be that for The Monkees. Only two years earlier they had been forged in the white-hot crucible of commerce, soared faster and more brightly than Icarus in love beads, and crashed back to earth with a whimper of indifference.

This has since become a familiar trajectory for manufactured pop acts, of which they weren’t the first, but with which they are synonymous. And yet, of all the boybands who’ve emerged in their wake, none has proved as enduring as The Monkees.

Why? The cynical answer is that none had the good fortune to star in a TV show which, thanks to syndicated repeats, struck a chord with subsequent generations. Furthermore, with the notable exception of Take That, none has enjoyed reunion tours stretching beyond the oldies circuit.

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