They Were Certainly Monkeying Around

they were certainly monkeying around

It is kinda insane how wild the Monkees are when you look into it. They were hired for a TV show but started an internal revolution where they kicked out their music supervisor to have control of their own music. They made a movie deconstructing their image and Hollywood in general. Their music spanned several genres including some very experimental stuff that would influence later music. They met and befriended the Beatles. They wrote and/or directed some of their episodes. One of them is the son of the woman who invented liquid paper (white-out) and then he would go on to basically invent MTV before he sold the concept to those who made MTV. They have some of the first music videos. They fucked. One of them even was known for his orgies. They sometimes hated each other but still loved each other as brothers. There is an FBI file on them allegedly spreading communist and anti-american propaganda at their concerts. They had a song that had to have its lyrics changed because it was too intensely political, even alluding to JFK’s assassination not being done by Lee Harvey Oswald in 1969. Their TV show was revolutionary in structure and content. Disney stars and boy bands would not exist without them. They had Jimi Hendrix open for them. One of them was a member of the Hollywood vampires. And that isn’t even all.

And yet most people don’t take them seriously.