The Surprising Survival of a Sixties Pop Phenomena

I have a memory that many people share. Before MTV and pay-per-view concerts, before Vegas specials and Behind The Music, I was staring at the television for a half-hour one night a week and could not be dragged away for love nor punishment. As a young child ( in my case, I'd been on the planet almost seven years) I was fully enthralled with what was then the revolutionary freshness of none other than the Monkees. Yes, those Monkees, as in the " Hey, hey we are the..." variety. Remember? The 1960's TV show and the catchy hits written by Carole King and Neil Diamond? The mid-1980's MTV darlings doing packed stadium tours? There's an undeniable appeal there. Trust me on this if you are a non-believer. At the very least, give a girl a chance to explain.

It was some thirty years or so after the initial primetime run of the show that I was on a highway somewhere between Jacksonville and Atlanta when all my childhood excitement over the group came to fore. My best friend ( and often partner-in-crime), Sherri Nielson and I were in a brand new, fire-engine red Camaro convertible, top down, music blaring, speeding in between shows on what was billed as the Monkees "Final Tour". I had been trying, with no success, to hook up ( in an interview kind of way) with Peter Tork to chronicle this newest chapter in the Monkees journey through time. Even with help of his preternaturally patient manager, Bonnie Verrico, I wasn't having much luck thus far. Actually, I was having none.