See The Wanted Ad That Created ‘The Monkees’ 60 Years Ago (Photos)
Sixty years ago, “4 insane boys” answered an ad, not knowing they’d change their lives—and television—forever. The Monkees all began after producers advertised a casting call in The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. The ad, which ran on Sept. 8, 1965, started with “MADNESS!! AUDITIONS. Folk & Rock Musician-Singers for acting roles in a new TV series. Running parts for 4 insane boys, age 17-21.”
The ad wanted “spirited Ben Frank’s types,” referring to a West Hollywood restaurant that became a hangout for musicians like Jim Morrison and Frank Zappa (the latter of whom would make an appearance both on The Monkees series and in their movie, HEAD). The ad also told the applicants to “have courage to work.”
And the four courageous “insane boys” that the show’s producers picked? Davy Jones, Mike Nesmith, Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz, the quartet we’d come to know as The Monkees.
Dolenz, 80, the last surviving Monkees member, shared the original ad on Sept. 8 in honor of its 60th anniversary. “As I had an agent at the time and was already doing guest shots on shows like Peyton Place and Mister Novac, I got a one-on-one interview with the producers,” he wrote.
“I remember clearly that when I arrived, there were two guys, only a bit older than I, sitting there in jeans and T-shirts. I thought they were there for the audition,” said Dolenz. “They were the producers – Bob Rafelson and Burt Schnieder. LOL.”
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The Monkees aired from Sept. 12, 1966, to March 25, 1968. During that time, the band released six albums. After Tork departed the group, the trio put out Instant Replay. Nesmith was the next to go, resulting in Dolenz and Jones fulfilling the record deal on their own with 1970s Changes.
The casting call nature of The Monkees dogged the group’s reputation, with long-standing rumors that they didn’t play their own instruments. Indeed, Dolenz didn’t know how to drum when he first began filming The Monkees, but both Peter Tork and Mike Nesmith knew how to play guitar and bass.
Nesmith famously fought for the band to play their own music and their own songs on their albums. Literally. In 1967, after getting their royalty checks for gold record sales, Nesmith confronted Herb Moelis, lawyer for the show’s musical director, Don Kirshner, and the Colgems Records label. He demanded that the Monkees be allowed to play their own music. Per Den of Geek, Nesmith punched a hole in the wall and assured the lawyer, “that could have been your face.”
Hey, they wanted “insane boys,” and they got them!
Puzzler '80s Comedy Classics
Vol 1, Issue 6
This issue is packed with puzzles and trivia from all your favorite '80s sitcoms.
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