Petition for The Monkees to be Elected into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

[mickeymouseclubfan]

Hi everyone,

As a fan of TV's "The Monkees" growing up, I'm quite surprised that the group HAS NOT been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

That being said, if I personally were inducting them into the Rock Hall, here's how my speech would go:

"The year is 1965. Lyndon B. Johnson is U.S. President; The British Invasion is ruling America; and 30-something aged producers Bob Rafelson & Bert Schneider conceived a unique situation comedy pilot called The Monkees.

The Monkees was a hit TV show about an out-of-work rock group who supported themselves by taking various odd jobs; in September 1965, nearly 500 young adult men auditioned for The Monkees, several of them going on to greater fame such as Danny Hutton, Steve Stills, Harry Nilsson, and Paul Williams. Of those 500 auditionees, 4 were hired--a 22-year-old tall, lanky Texan named Mike Nesmith, who'd earlier had a hit record as the songwriter for the Buffy Sainte-Marie hit Until It's Time For You To Go; a 21-year-old folksinger named Peter Thorkelson, soon rechristened Peter Tork; a 20-year-old former child actor named Micky Dolenz, who already a TV show, Circus Boy, under his belt that lasted 2 seasons; and a 19-year-old jockey named Davy Jones, who died in 2012 at age 66 and is sorely missed tonight.

Davy Jones, according to the E! True Hollywood Story episode focusing on The Monkees, NEVER auditioned for the show. At Mike's audition, the producers were both playing chess with coke bottles, and Mike soon joined in, earning his role on the show; Micky, at his audition, performed a rendition of Johnny B. Goode; Peter, meanwhile, was, despite his ability to play a number of instruments, was the least talented actor/singer of the cast.

Mike once stated in an interview that before Don Kirshner was hired as Music Supervisor, The Monkees recorded over 100 tracks, ALL of which they really DID play their own instruments on; however, due to time constraints, Kirshner decided that the quartet WOULD NOT play the instruments, supplying only the vocals on each track, with studio musicians playing the instruments.

In August 1966, Last Train to Clarksville was released as the group's first single, eventually reaching the top of the record charts; a month later, September 12, 1966, The Monkees TV series debuted on NBC, earning millions of viewers each week--mainly teenage girls.

In January 1967, Mike Nesmith stated in an interview that The Monkees was being passed off as something they weren't--a band. Soon afterwards, Don Kirshner was fired from Columbia/Screen Gems and The Monkees recorded their 3rd album, Monkees Headquarters, where they played and sang EVERY note; the album was #1 on the album charts its 1st week, only to be replaced the next week by The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper Album.

Despite that, however, The Monkees recorded a 4th album, where they went back to supplying vocals only; in a short amount of time, The Monkees succeeded on both television AND record charts; however, in February 1968, during filming of the movie Head, NBC canceled The Monkees, with its series finale airing on March 25, 1968.

After Head's box office disaster that November, Mike, Peter, Micky and Davy faded into oblivion--until February 22, 1986, when MTV began airing reruns of the show with a Pleasant Valley Sunday marathon; that Fall, reruns began airing weekdays on Nickelodeon, earning The Monkees a new legion of fans.

During their original 2 years, The Monkees earned 11--that's right--11 Top 40 Hits, 3 of which made it to #1 on the record charts.

In the ensuing years, a slew of reunion tours occurred, as well as 2 reunion albums--Pool It in 1987 and JustUs in 1996, the latter of which turned out to be their last album as a quartet, but boy what a way to go out as such, with the group not only playing their own instruments but also writing their music.

On February 29, 2012, a dark cloud shone on The Monkees as 66-year-old Davy Jones died of a Massive Heart Attack; as I heard the news, like Micky, I thought it was a sick joke.

Davy was a devout vegetarian who NEVER ate Meat and ALWAYS exercised EVERY DAY; in addition to being a trained athlete, he also was an avid Marathon Runner--something atypical from a fatal heart attack.

Although he's no longer with us, Davy is here in spirit.

The surviving trio of Monkees are here tonight to accept their induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, along with Davy's 4 daughters substituting for their father; that being said, it's with great honor and enjoyment that I FINALLY induct into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Mike Nesmith, Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones--The Monkees."

So let's make this dream a reality; let's have The Monkees inducted into the 2015 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, 50 years after their formation.

[MickeyMac]

Only if Jann Wenner resigns or dies.

[[-Kelsey-]]

I think they are eligible for this I heard (I can't remember why) but recently they did get into the Pop Hall of Fame back in March, which is still quite the accomplishment!

[Marvo301]

It's sad they didn't receive this recognition while Davy was still with us!