Monkee Business: The Revolutionary Made-For-TV Band
Monkee Business: The Revolutionary Made-For-TV Band
Author Eric Lefcowitz updates his bestselling biography The Monkees Tale with a complete look at the ’60s showbiz icons, The Monkees. Completely rewritten & modified for a 45-year period, four biographies Businessinterweaves Monkee into a compelling story. Lefcowitz chronicles the journey of kaleidoscopic Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork & Michael Nesmith, after each of the four Monkees, together & apart, from 1965 into the present. This story overnight success & Faustian bargain illuminates the tremendous power of the group in the ever-changing production & marketing of television, rock’n'roll & entertainment brands. With hits like I win a Believer & Daydream Believer still loyal fans later generations, t am
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Tags: Band, business, MadeForTV, Monkee, Revolutionary
October 10th, 2011 at 12:31 am
No primate punning here!,
I should state that I’ve been a Monkees fan since the 60s. I used to watch the show in syndication. The family owned both the More of the Monkees and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, and Jones, LTD albums. I remember cutting out a cardboard guitar to play along with the records, and I sang a pretty mean version of “She” — especially the “And now I know just why she keeps me hangin’ round (hangin’ round)/she needs someone to walk on/so her feet don’t touch the ground (don’t touch the ground)/but I love her (love her), need her (need her), want her (want her), yeah (yeah) yeah (yeah) yeah (yeah), SHEEEEEEEE” part! I learned a lot about heartbreak from those songs. Looking back, although my personality and size made me more a Davy Jones showbiz type of guy (and I was quite fond of the Nilsson-penned “Cuddly Toy,” I really wanted to be Michael Nesmith (whose performance of “What Am I Doing Hangin’ Round?” is as good a Leaving-the-girl-in-Mexico-was-indeed-a-mistake song as Sinatra’s “South of the Border”). In short, I always have liked the Monkees and considered them a non-inconsiderable part of my cultural heritage.
Eric Lefcowitz’s book, therefore, is a god-send. It offers not just a history of the band from it inception in 1965 until 2010, but more importantly it places the band/television show(s)/albums/concerts/film into the larger cultural scene. It demonstrates how the Monkees foreshadowed many things (great and small, good and bad) that are central to our world in 2011.
We meet a cast of characters, both the obvious (Mickey Dolenz, Jones, Nesmith, and Peter Tork) and the unexpected (i.e., familiar names not normally thought of in relation to the Prefab Four: creators Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, music mogul Don Kirshner, actor/writer Jack Nicholson, songwriters Boyce, Hart, Neil Diamond, Carole King, Nilsson, et al.). Then add in the friends, fans, and close acquaintances of the band (Stephen Stills, who had auditioned for the band and recommended Peter for it; Jimi Hendrix, who opened for the Monkees at their request!; Van Dyke Parks; the Beatles; David Crosby; Neil Young; Jackson Browne, et cetera…a veritable “Who’s Who” of rock).
Lefcowitz’s style is straightforward, and the book both informative and insightful. We get plenty of the details (the personalities, feuds, and factions) that such a history must offer. More significantly, however, when looking at the larger cultural landscape, the author, while making significant claims about the Monkees’ place, never oversteps, never attempts to make too grand a case about them. Anybody who’s ever written about anything knows how difficult that can be, and Lefcowitz deftly avoids that trap.
In short, if you’re a Monkees fan, you love this book. If you’re interested in the pop culture of the late-60′s or interested in rock history, you’ll love this book. If you’ve never “gotten” the Monkees (or think they were no more than a cynical money-making fabrication of some corporate suits), you’ll learn much from this book. If you ever wondered the background of the creative team behind Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces and how the Monkees’ film Head fits into it, take a look. And, if you ever wondered how Mike Nesmith managed to be at Abbey Road studios while the Beatles were recording “A Day in the Life,” well, here’s your book!
Hey, hey, we’re ALL Monkees.
[...]
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|October 10th, 2011 at 12:57 am
The Monkees mean Business baby,
I recently ordered the new Monkees book, ‘Monkee Business’ by Eric Lefcowitz. As a Monkees fan, once I caught whim of this new book, it was all I could do to wait for it to be released. Once I heard from Facebook that you could order it online from here, I jumped the gun and ran, credit card in hand, to my laptop to order it. It was a wonderful birthday gift to myself.
I own the book before the one, ‘The Monkees Tale’. I read through that book in a day as well as ‘Monkee Business’. And I loved it. There were a few misguided things, as Micky’s tale as to why he wasn’t drafted. It wasn’t because of a childhood illness, but because he was to skinny and just a couple of other things, but otherwise, the book, much different than its ancestors, is a stunning tale. It tells of all the emotional turmoil the guys went through, throughout the sixties, as well as during their past reunion tours.
There are times in the book where you feel you are standing in the crowd among the thousands of fangirls. Then, there are times, you want to put your fist in the wall as Mike did during that meet with the villianous Donny Kirshner and last, times you feel as if you want to cry, as I did, when talking about the end of the Monkees special, 33 1/3 while the live version of Listen to the Band is played.
The book is much more currently updated down to Davy’s marriage, the false tale behind the abusive releationship and to his drunken mishap on stage in which he challenged the audiance to a fight. He talks about Micky’s marriage, Mike’s VideoRanch webside and world(which is ALWAYS entertaining. Stop by when you can!) and briefly of Peter’s advice column.
There are many other fun facts(such as the Plaster Caster story), little brief chats about the Monkees and their drug indulgences(personally my favorite is the story about Micky and his ‘children’)and many memoriable quotes that will have you stiffling giggles as your younger brother gives you odd looks.
The only other problem I saw, were the lack of pictures. Many of the pictures used in the book were ones used previously in others. it would have been nice to see some previously unreleased photos, if at all possible. The book did include a picture of each Monkee now, as well as bits and pieces of recent interviews. Being a paperback chapter book, I imagine it would have been a bit tough.(although I think if it had been formatted like Micky’s unauthorized bio it may have worked a bit better)
The book also talks about one of my favorite subjects. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum. This is a subject I argue with constantly and have been planning a protest for. The Monkees may have their doubts, but fans are still out there. Plenty of them. Many who seek another tour as well. Someday, hopefully, perhaps the ‘dashing’ Jann Wenner will finally understand the Monkees became an actual rock group and one of the best yet. And no one has been able to mimic them.(I’m looking at you Big Time Rush folks)
All in all, I’d say this book is worth it in the end though. I throughly enjoyed reading it and plan on reading it at LEAST five more times. Its updated, very informal, and while most the pictures are the same, there are a few new ones fans may enjoy, not to mention plenty of humor and quotes. I give this book a 4 out of 5.
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