Monkee business held a two-year reign

In September 1965, both Variety and the Hollywood Reporter ran an attentiongrabbing advertisement: “Madness! Auditions.

Folk and Roll Musicians — Singers for acting roles in new TV series. Running parts for four insane boys, age 17 – 21.”

From the 437 hopeful applicants, coveted roles were assigned to Mike Nesmith, 22; Peter Tork, 23; Mickey Dolenz, 20; and Davy Jones, 19.

The Monkees were created to ride the slipstream of Beatlemania and were hired to mimic the Beatles’ zany antics in “A Hard Day’s Night,” their 1964 semi-documentary debut flick. “The Monkees”’ TV plotline involved a struggling rock quartet in search of their big break.

A well-received TV pilot was filmed in late 1965, and in early 1966 NBC-TV picked up “The Monkees” as a weekly prime time series. The four young men then embarked on a grueling schedule of improv classes, band rehearsals and filming. Early on, the Monkee members were limited to vocal work, with only professional session musicians providing the instrumental music.

“The Monkees” half-hour show hit big when it debuted in September 1966. Tunesmiths Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart wrote the band’s first 45 (a No. 1 winner). “Last Train to Clarksville” featured a chord structure, jangly guitar lines and vocal harmonies lifted directly from the Beatles’ “Paperback Writer.”

The Boyce-Hart team would eventually create three more winning singles. Other professional songwriters (including Neil Diamond and Carole King) were rushed in to keep the hits flowing. The Monkees’ eponymous debut album also skyrocketed to the top of the Billboard charts.

The Pre-Fab Four (as sneering cynics often labeled them) were off and running.

By that December, growing pressure led the Monkees to begin touring, with each member hurrying to master his instrument well enough to perform onstage. No problem, as it turned out, since, akin to the Beatles’ shows, much of the music played was lost to the eardrum-piercing screams that tsunamied in nightly from the vast teenybopper audiences.

Making music was better than faking music, and the Monkee men worked hard