# The Monkees? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2009, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkees/487651 "2009-02-27T12:29:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkees/487651/61 "2009-03-01T10:47:39Z")
Mickey Dolenz has very good [genes](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000371/). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkees/487651/62 "2009-03-01T16:17:35Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > In 1986 I read every Monkees related piece of literature I could get my hands on. In the subsequent 23 (my god!) years I’ve read bits more here and there. I know I’ve seen the quote attributed to Dolenz- though I can’t speak to whether the source was accurate or even credible. I’ve read it for sure but can’t say the info is GQ worthy. > > Seems to me I first saw the attribution more recently than my “soak up Monkees info like a sponge” days twenty years ago. Maybe the DVD boxed sets or the _Listen To The Band_ four CD boxed set from Rhino- both of which are at home (posting from work now). > > I’ll try a bit of Googling, but I predict “Pre-fab Four” and “Mickey Dolenz” will result in countless results that don’t address the attribution of the quote one way or another. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find a good source, maybe I’ll just have to edit Wiki to reflect my uncitable memory. My big reason for doubting this claim is _I’m a Believer: My Life of Monkees, Music, and Madness_ by Micky Dolenz and Mark Bego. It doesn’t even contain the words pre-fab four. You’d think that if Dolenz coined the phrase he’d have mentioned it. I did some Googling and found nothing. Even obsessive fan sites like [Monkees Utopia](http://monkeesutopia.tripod.com/id42.html) ask if anyone knows who coined the phrase. Heh. We could ask the all-knowing Cecil. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkees/487651/63 "2009-03-01T20:19:37Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Mickey Dolenz has very good [genes](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000371/). I think it’s more likely that he married someone with great genetics. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkees/487651/64 "2009-03-01T20:20:48Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I remember the “last” episode of their series, [_Hey, Hey, It’s The Monkees_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY8PSXpreRg), which aired in 1997. Actually, that’s the last one that was _aired_. If that episode is to be believed, they’re continuing to churn out new shows. It’s just that none of the rest of them have hit the airwaves. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkees/487651/65 "2009-03-01T22:02:25Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > There was a show in which he sold his soul to the devil to play the harp. That was really him playing. (OK, I’m getting senile, so I will throw out that I may be full of it… :). But I’m pretty sure I’m correct.) I have the DVDs. In the commentary, Tork says he wasn’t playing. They never gave him time to learn the harp, but he thought he could have. Tork did write the piano introduction to “Daydream Believer” and played a kick-ass banjo part on “You Told Me.” ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkees/487651/66 "2009-03-02T09:46:05Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > Slightly off topic but Davy Jones came from my old home town and you could always see him in one of the local pubs.But it was a crap pub so I never bothered. I actually saw him in a bar in the Philadelphia airport a few years back. He seemed quite drunk. I understand this isn’t unusual (he’s been arrested for DWI and had a nasty habit of showing up drunk for interviews for a while, though this was years ago so perhaps he’s changed). I was surprised to learn that they got something like $500 per episode of the show. The tours and record royalties would have been far more than that of course, but it’s hard to believe they got that little for primetime TV even in the mid 1960s (though I think that’s about what Adam West got as well come to think of it, and Max Baer/Jethro in the first couple of seasons of BEVERLY HILLBILLIES). ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkees/487651/67 "2009-03-02T10:39:27Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Heh. We could ask the all-knowing Cecil. The absence of any mention of it in the Dolenz book does make me doubt my now lost source. I sent the question to Cecil. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkees/487651/68 "2009-03-02T16:20:18Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > I think it’s more likely that he married someone with great genetics. Ami’s mother is [Samatha Juste](http://www.geocities.com/mickydolenzandsamantha/index) a professional model. You can see where she got her looks from. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkees/487651/69 "2009-03-06T00:03:53Z")
Not worth it’s own thread, but worth bumping since it was in today’s news and it’s been less than a week since the last post: [Peter Tork has a rare form of cancer](http://idolator.com/5165122/on-peter-tork-celebrity-and-morbid-self+released-press-releases). Prognosis is guardedly optimistic though. (Hard to believe a Monkee is 67.) In googling for it I also found an [interview with Dolenz](http://blogs.tampabay.com/80s/2009/03/still-monkee-in.html)today. His talking about his ‘concert’ reminds me of an older version of Hugh Grant’s character in MUSIC & LYRICS. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkees/487651/70 "2009-03-06T01:43:19Z")
Then there’s [THIS](http://www.geocities.com/Baja/Desert/7445/Monkeys.JPG). ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkees/487651/71 "2009-03-06T08:25:44Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > OTOH, their movie making capabilities [aren’t so great](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063049/). (TCM played it a couple months ago so the horror is fresh in my mind. And I like cheesy 60s movies.) **Head** is one of my favorite movies. It’s psychedilc, has some great music/video moments, and is prolly the greatest “nowhere” plot ever put to celluloid. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkees/487651/72 "2009-03-06T10:16:14Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > **Head** is one of my favorite movies. It’s psychedilc, has some great music/video moments, and is prolly the greatest “nowhere” plot ever put to celluloid. Ditto. **ftg** , I don’t know that you’ll find much support- it’s a pretty highly regarded movie. You’ll find some people who will agree with you that it was bad, but those of us who like it LOVE it- and not just for kitsch or nostalgia. Great movie. “Boys, don’t never, BUT NEVER, make fun of no cripples.” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkees/487651/73 "2009-03-06T19:29:59Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > In googling for it I also found an [interview with Dolenz](http://blogs.tampabay.com/80s/2009/03/still-monkee-in.html)today. His talking about his ‘concert’ reminds me of an older version of Hugh Grant’s character in MUSIC & LYRICS. Yes, his character was based on a real-life phenomenon. I remember seeing the Ramones at a family amusement park in the early 1990s. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkees/487651/74 "2009-03-06T20:04:52Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I was surprised to learn that they got something like $500 per episode of the show. The tours and record royalties would have been far more than that of course, but it’s hard to believe they got that little for primetime TV even in the mid 1960s (though I think that’s about what Adam West got as well come to think of it, and Max Baer/Jethro in the first couple of seasons of BEVERLY HILLBILLIES). They certainly got very little in ASCAP payments. Only Mike Nesmeth wrote songs, so when a radio station played their songs, they got nothing. Neal Diamond and Boyce and Hart made out just fine, though. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkees/487651/75 "2009-03-06T21:26:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Hard to believe a Monkee is 67. Googling around for this thread I was surprised by recent photos of [Michael Nesmith](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2510133760/nm0626452). ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkees/487651/76 "2009-03-06T21:29:20Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Googling around for this thread I was surprised by recent photos of [Michael Nesmith](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2510133760/nm0626452). Yeah, where’s his wool hat? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkees/487651/77 "2009-03-07T17:02:14Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Googling around for this thread I was surprised by recent photos of [Michael Nesmith](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2510133760/nm0626452). He looks like he should be up for confirmation for something. Or else have the power to blow up a building Bruce Willis is trapped in if the ransom isn’t paid. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkees/487651/78 "2009-03-07T20:56:40Z")
Sweeping the independent film circuit this year: Michael Nesmith stars in “[The Jeffrey Jones Story](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm281580032/nm0626452).” Mike, we love you; but don’t ever look at people like that. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkees/487651/79 "2009-03-08T05:11:14Z")
I actually got to watch them shoot a scene of the TV show way back when. My sister was married at the time to an actor who had just finished a guest shot on Bewitched. He took us on a true behind-the-scenes tour of Universal and I got to hug Elizabeth Montgomery and see the Monkees. At age 17, this was beyond cool. ---
**Author:** ![Mame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/858c86/32.png) [@Mame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mame)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkees/487651/80 "2009-03-08T10:24:53Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > Sweeping the independent film circuit this year: Michael Nesmith stars in “[The Jeffrey Jones Story](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm281580032/nm0626452).” > > Mike, we love you; but don’t ever look at people like that. Ah, but when they film the Life of L Ron Hubbard he is a natural for the lead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkees/487651.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-monkees/487651.md?page=5)