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The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation
A day-by-day look at the years from 1965 to 1970 reveals the remarkably rich story of the Monkees, one of the most successful pop bands of the 1960s. The Monkees’ immensely popular television series began in 1966. It was immediately followed by a remarkable four consecutive Number 1 albums and six Top 10 singles. In the 1980s the Monkees reached an entirely new audience when MTV began re-running the TV show. Their cult status remains solid today as critics reassess their music and new fans discover the show. Follow the band’s short but explosive career in this examination that includes exclusive interviews with each member of the group, details of recording sessions, filming commitments, concert performances, other public appearances, and over 100 photographs and illustrations.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 30, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 24, 2011
Judge me if you must, but I love the Monkees! I love their music, their TV show, and even their what-the-heck inducing movie, Head! (I do draw a line at 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee, though...) Being a Beatle-girl, I used to look upon them with disdain, but that was before I started listening to/watching them. There are a lot of misconceptions floating around about the Monkees that are still sickeningly prevalent. Reading this book could clear them up, of course, but I doubt anyone but a fan would willingly read these pages which are covered in rather small print.
Speaking of which, I cannot imagine the work that must have gone into the making of this book! (Props to Andrew Sandoval!) I admit, it took me a while to get into it, but eventually I became more interested and finished sooner than I originally thought I would.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go stare and drool at my poster of Davy Jones.
(Yes, I really do have a poster of Davy Jones.)
(No, I'm not a crazed fan girl.)
(It was a joke present.)
(...Micky Dolenz is on the flip-side!)
Speaking of which, I cannot imagine the work that must have gone into the making of this book! (Props to Andrew Sandoval!) I admit, it took me a while to get into it, but eventually I became more interested and finished sooner than I originally thought I would.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go stare and drool at my poster of Davy Jones.
(Yes, I really do have a poster of Davy Jones.)
(No, I'm not a crazed fan girl.)
(It was a joke present.)
(...Micky Dolenz is on the flip-side!)
May 12, 2016
This is one of those books for pop music train-spotters (like me). I have similar works about The Beatles, The Stones & The Beachboys. It's a day by day record of what The Monkees (singularly & collectively) did during the band's relatively short life span. While rarely taken seriously while it existed in real time the entity known as The Monkees has left a lasting legacy of sublime pop music. What is most surprising about this book is how bloody hard all 4 members of the group worked over the few years they were contracted to be a band/group/TV sitcom team. It got exhausting just reading about it. In spite of the justifiably journalistic approach it also paints a pretty good portrait of the various personalities that we came to know (and, in my case, love) as Mike, Micky, Davy & Peter. Not for everyone, but other train-spotter's out there ...
November 30, 2013
This book is of amazing scope. I have been a huge Monkees fan since childhood and I was really interested to see how much I would learn from a book of this type.It's an day to day description of the recording of the music and the show itself. It covers tours, important events and just how the music was recorded in great detail. I really enjoyed it--it's not really light reading, but I imagine most fans would find it really interesting--the author obviously had access to an unprecedented amount of information and really made use of it. On top of what I learned about the Monkees (they were hard working mothers for one) was how much work went into the making of a song, let alone a record. Very time consuming and you learn a lot about each member of the band from the description of their taping sessions. Lots of great photos as well and plenty of day to day life information as well. Lovingly in indexed and includes a songography. Definitely a work for fans and those who are interested in the background of making records.
April 19, 2011
People give me grief about my fondness for the Monkees, but I like them anyway. That said, this is a in-depth look at what they were up to in chronological order, so it's perfect for a detail-obsessed nerd like me.
In fact, I'm reading it again right now, and it prompted me to listen to my Monkees CDs again.
In fact, I'm reading it again right now, and it prompted me to listen to my Monkees CDs again.
September 9, 2019
If you know The Monkees well, you likely also know that Sandoval, once of Rhino Records, has been central in keeping the group's fortunes afloat in recent decades. So I was ashamed that I hadn't read this - I really should have years and years ago - and it going out of print and my watching the prices start to climb was my cue to grab one. Literally two days later, Sandoval announced he's working on a revised version to be published in 2020. So perhaps I should have waited another year so as not to go over a lot of the same ground again reading the revised version next year, but it's The Monkees; I've already bought the 1960s albums on three formats and the have had the shows on three as well (oh, the months and months of patiently accumulating the shows off of Nickelodeon, starting and stopping the tape to avoid commercials), and I'll undoubtedly pick this up again next year to see what he's added.
While there is information as you go along (sorry) on a great many participants in the phenomenon, because so much of this is session information, filming, and air dates, you really have to already know The Monkees and The Monkees in pretty exhaustive detail for it all to be engaging and meaningful.
This is richest in information in the first year of the series' production and airing. Once the machine is fully rolling, the focus is largely on the information that can be captured from the making of the recordings; the series' filming and air dates are captured, but it definitely takes a backseat to the session information. For those of us who are equally fans of both outputs, I wish there was more to be known about the filming of the shows, but it's apparent that the series' production doesn't have the same abundance of surviving physical records that the sessions did.
He chose some terrific contemporaneous press excerpts to illustrate a few events; I would have enjoyed seeing more entries including those, but I suppose his choice not to might indicate that the contemporaneous coverage got as repetitious as the more recent version of it does.
What's so great about this is how strongly it gives you a sense of how quickly the fortunes of the group rose and turned. Music was moving *so fast* in this era, and The Monkees certainly felt the effects of that. When reading this day-by-day account, the sense of how much they squeezed in in two years and how then everything went into a sort of free-fall is palpable and heartbreaking. It reinforces the motif of the black box in HEAD - and perhaps the black cover was a conscious choice in that regard - these covers containing in another form this phenomenon none of them have been able to escape. Okay, yes, Thinking Too Hard About The Monkees is one of my favorite hobbies.
While there is information as you go along (sorry) on a great many participants in the phenomenon, because so much of this is session information, filming, and air dates, you really have to already know The Monkees and The Monkees in pretty exhaustive detail for it all to be engaging and meaningful.
This is richest in information in the first year of the series' production and airing. Once the machine is fully rolling, the focus is largely on the information that can be captured from the making of the recordings; the series' filming and air dates are captured, but it definitely takes a backseat to the session information. For those of us who are equally fans of both outputs, I wish there was more to be known about the filming of the shows, but it's apparent that the series' production doesn't have the same abundance of surviving physical records that the sessions did.
He chose some terrific contemporaneous press excerpts to illustrate a few events; I would have enjoyed seeing more entries including those, but I suppose his choice not to might indicate that the contemporaneous coverage got as repetitious as the more recent version of it does.
What's so great about this is how strongly it gives you a sense of how quickly the fortunes of the group rose and turned. Music was moving *so fast* in this era, and The Monkees certainly felt the effects of that. When reading this day-by-day account, the sense of how much they squeezed in in two years and how then everything went into a sort of free-fall is palpable and heartbreaking. It reinforces the motif of the black box in HEAD - and perhaps the black cover was a conscious choice in that regard - these covers containing in another form this phenomenon none of them have been able to escape. Okay, yes, Thinking Too Hard About The Monkees is one of my favorite hobbies.
February 17, 2022
While the day-by-day nature of this book makes the reading experience choppy, and all of the recording details probably numbing to anyone except pure audiophiles, I enjoyed this labor of love from someone who clearly appreciates the phenomenon that was the Monkees. I was one of those kids who was too young to see the original NBC airings of their show, but who discovered them through AM radio and the Saturday morning re-runs.
It is a pretty remarkable story. As I write this, Mike Nesmith has passed away a little over two months ago, and the lone survivor, Micky Dolenz, has just announced a short tour in tribute to his former bandmates. It seems only fitting.
Let's face it; these boys were not and never were intended to be the Beatles. But they did some great songs, made people laugh, and were each incredibly creative in their own ways.
This book is by no means a definitive biography of the group, but its detail is pretty stunning. Although I do wish they had made one more pass-through of the copyreading, because there are numerous typos and misprints.
It is a pretty remarkable story. As I write this, Mike Nesmith has passed away a little over two months ago, and the lone survivor, Micky Dolenz, has just announced a short tour in tribute to his former bandmates. It seems only fitting.
Let's face it; these boys were not and never were intended to be the Beatles. But they did some great songs, made people laugh, and were each incredibly creative in their own ways.
This book is by no means a definitive biography of the group, but its detail is pretty stunning. Although I do wish they had made one more pass-through of the copyreading, because there are numerous typos and misprints.
May 31, 2019
This is a must have for any Monkees fan. It’s a literal day by day account of the group from their formation until post break up in 1970. Recordings, filming, concerts, it’s all here and throughly detailed along with a great song index in the back that tells which albums each version of the song is on or if it’s unreleased. It’s dated 2005 so there have been releases since then that aren’t shown as released in this book but it’s still a vital addition to the bookshelf.
April 15, 2023
If your a fan of The Monkees this is the book you need it goes day by day through there career and it chock full of photos Andrew Sandoval has done an excellent job this book is amazing .if your a Monkees fan this is one book you definitely need in your collection
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Want to read
November 21, 2020Loved all the photos but couldn't get through the text.
July 2, 2022
Extremely boring. It was mainly just a very detailed account of the recording sessions.
September 22, 2016
Written by Andrew Sandoval, who is undoubtedly one of the biggest experts on all things Monkee, "The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation" is not only one of the most informative books on the Pre-Fab Four one is going to find, but, unfortunately, it does tend to be a bit dry and repetitive. There's only so many times you can read, "(Date) Filming starts on (______) Monkees episode." or "(Date) Filming on the # episode, (_______), wrapped up today" before you start to nod off or your eyes start to glaze over. It would have helped if Sandoval could have provided more detailed information about the various episodes beyond when they were filmed, wrapped and the air dates (and re-run dates). Listings of who wrote, directed the eps, who guest-starred, maybe their opinions on the group (guest star Hans Conreid reportedly hated them) would have helped make the episode entries more interesting.
Where the book shines is its entries on the songs. Sandoval provides many great details about the production of the Monkees songs and albums. One has to envy the apparent access he had to the various tapes, the fact he got to hear all these songs we the public will likely never hear. In this, he becomes our proxy to the tunes. (While the TV series was one of the main way we the fans got to know the songs, I suspect the show is not, in some ways, as esssential to the Monkees experience as the songs themselves. That is, I suspect fans tend to lean towards a love of the music moreso than the shows, movie and specials. Thus, in concentrating on the albums and singles, Sandoval is focusing what we're more interested in reading about. Aside from the group members themselves.)
The main concern of this book is the Monkees original run, their 1960s works, from 1966-1970, with several entries dealing with the pre-Monkees life of the four cast members/musicians and the creation of the TV series and band itself. At the end of the book, Sandoval does devote a couple of pages to summarize what happened to Micky, Michael, Davy and Peter from 1971 on, I'd like to see a more detailed, in-depth chronicling of that time period. Even if it might be as dry and repetitive as this book is. Maybe Andrew Sandoval could write a volume 2?
Finally, I do have to mention there are some typos and grammar problems with the book. For instance, Mike Nesmith's son, Christian, his birthday, according to Sandoval, is apparently February 31st. :\ Then there's in the 1970 set of entries, there's reference on one date to an album "(released next month)". Not "(will be released next month)" or "(to be released next month)" or "(that was released the next month)" , just "(released next month)". It's a bit jarring when you realize Sandoval tends to use future tense throughout the work only to have him suddenly use past tense like that.
Still, it's easy to overlook it the flaws of this tome given the wealth of information Andrew Sandoval shares with us. Definitely worth reading if you're a fan of the group.
Where the book shines is its entries on the songs. Sandoval provides many great details about the production of the Monkees songs and albums. One has to envy the apparent access he had to the various tapes, the fact he got to hear all these songs we the public will likely never hear. In this, he becomes our proxy to the tunes. (While the TV series was one of the main way we the fans got to know the songs, I suspect the show is not, in some ways, as esssential to the Monkees experience as the songs themselves. That is, I suspect fans tend to lean towards a love of the music moreso than the shows, movie and specials. Thus, in concentrating on the albums and singles, Sandoval is focusing what we're more interested in reading about. Aside from the group members themselves.)
The main concern of this book is the Monkees original run, their 1960s works, from 1966-1970, with several entries dealing with the pre-Monkees life of the four cast members/musicians and the creation of the TV series and band itself. At the end of the book, Sandoval does devote a couple of pages to summarize what happened to Micky, Michael, Davy and Peter from 1971 on, I'd like to see a more detailed, in-depth chronicling of that time period. Even if it might be as dry and repetitive as this book is. Maybe Andrew Sandoval could write a volume 2?
Finally, I do have to mention there are some typos and grammar problems with the book. For instance, Mike Nesmith's son, Christian, his birthday, according to Sandoval, is apparently February 31st. :\ Then there's in the 1970 set of entries, there's reference on one date to an album "(released next month)". Not "(will be released next month)" or "(to be released next month)" or "(that was released the next month)" , just "(released next month)". It's a bit jarring when you realize Sandoval tends to use future tense throughout the work only to have him suddenly use past tense like that.
Still, it's easy to overlook it the flaws of this tome given the wealth of information Andrew Sandoval shares with us. Definitely worth reading if you're a fan of the group.
October 23, 2011
This gave me a good background for a fab Monkees concert!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews