Here are 5 fun and interesting trivia facts about The Monkees:
The Monkees were formed through a casting call in 1965 for a TV show about a fictional rock band—think The Beatles meet The Marx Brothers. The show aired in 1966, and out of 437 applicants, Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork were selected.
In the beginning, The Monkees were primarily actors, and studio musicians handled most of the music. But the guys pushed for creative control and eventually played their own instruments, starting with the 1967 album “Headquarters”.
Their 1968 film “Head”, co-written by Jack Nicholson, was a surreal, psychedelic experience that satirized everything from Hollywood to the music industry. It was a commercial flop but later became a cult classic.
At the height of Monkeemania, they were massive: in 1967, The Monkees sold more records than The Beatles and The Rolling Stones combined. Not bad for a “manufactured” band!
And one of the most legendary points of trivia of all time:
Michael Nesmith’s mother, Bette Nesmith Graham, invented Liquid Paper (a.k.a. white-out) in the 1950s. She later sold the company to Gillette for $47 million—a fortune at the time!
