1986 will long be remembered by Monkees fans as the year that Monkeemania finally returned to the USA.  Of course, it never really left.  Fans have always supported the Monkees and that's the real reason for the current revival.  After all, you can't make a comeback if you have nothing to come back to.  So before we get underway, let's salute you - the Monikees fans - who have made it all possible. Now, on with the show ... "The Monkees Scrapbook" is a collection of odd bits of trivia, interviews, and hopefully a few suprises.  Inside you will find an exclusive interview with Michael Nesmtih, the Monkee who will not join the Summer '86 tour.  Another exclusive "Scrapbook" feature is the never-before-published list of  ALL the songs the Monkees ever recorded, including unreleased material..."  [pg. 8]

The first book to be published after the Monkees popular resurgence in 1986, The Monkees Scrapbook is pretty much what it claims to be: an odds-and-ends assortment of information, trivia, pictures, interviews, biographies, and more, that swerves from moment to moment without much rhyme or reason, other than to celebrate fan's renewed interest in the Monkees.  Although the introduction above thanking Monkees fans for their devotion is disingenuous at best, (why not just thank them for spending their money?) the authors don't waste time on silly frivolities, they dive right into a timeline of Monkees 'happenings' in 1986, from the MTV reruns of orginal Monkees TV episodes, which led to the 1986 Summer Reunion Tour, to Rhino Records releasing all the Monkees albums, Arista records putting out their best-selling "Then and Now" hits collection, video tapes of the original series sold through Columbia House, conventions, new books and more... it's an interesting read, seeing how the whole event steamrolled into something far larger than anyone could've imagined.  Next comes a complete Monkees discography, listing both released and unreleased (at the time) compositions; a couple of pages devoted to listing artists who've been influenced by the Monkees, including The Bangles, Duran Duran, The Go-Gos, Squeeze, REM and the Violent Femmes.  A very brief bibliography follows, and then a 50-question trivia page ("How Many Neil Sedaka songs did the Monkees record?") and the 'exclusive' Mike Nesmith inteview where his terse and sometimes bitter answers adequately show how much he regarded the Monkees.  Next comes a quick guide to episode songs, followed by quick profiles of each Monkee member, a lengthy profile of Monkees fan and popular DJ Rodney Bingenheimer, some video trivia questions (based on specific episodes) and finally, a tour itinerary for their 20th anniversary.  So a quick, painless, and sometimes illuminating time capsule of 1986, and a pretty fun way to remember the Monkees return to fame.

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Hey, Hey We're The Monkees (1987) By Mary Anne Cassata; Sharon Starbooks, 64 p.

"Is it possible that after two decades, the Monkees' music can live again?   Just ask any first, second, or even third generation fan, and you're likely to be quite suprised.  The Monkees TV series is regarded as an American classic right along with such notables as Star Trek, The Honeymooners, and Leave It To Beaver.  Through TV syndication networks, and more so these past few years, the Monkees are as influentially popular at present as they were 20 years ago.  With ample support from the innovative cable station MTV back in early 1986 The Monkees were featured in 22-1/2 consecutive hours called Pleasant Valley Sunday."  [pg. 52]

Released soon after the Monkees' successful reunion tour, this thin fan guide by Mary Anne Cassata does a good job of summing up the Monkees' careers and lives up to that point, although the writing style is simplistic, it's certainly enthusiastic, and the book is full of stock black and white photographs from the Monkees hey-day, as well as several familiar publicity photos from 1986-87. Divided into seven chapters, the book begins with "That Was Then" which chronicles the formation of the Monkees, quickly punching out a description of the auditions, the success of the TV show, the albums' rocketing to the top of the pop charts, and the direction the show took in the second season. The entire two-year series boiled down into a dozen paragraphs - that gives you a good idea of the depth of the book. The second chapter, "Changes" discusses the cancellation of the show, the movie HEAD, the breakup of the Monkees and their spotty reunions and projects over the years; all in about four pages. The next four chapters put the spotlight on each Monkee, giving super-brief biographies covering both pre-and post-Monkees activities, with each member getting about four pages of type, along with numerous black and white photographs. The final chapter brings the narrative up to 1997, with rehashes of MTV's Monkees marathon, the reunion tour, Rhino's CD reissue program and the usual speculation about projects that would never materialize.  The author's writing is strictly minor-league, with too much gushiness to distinguish it as a serious biography.  A minor entry in the Monkees' biographical canon.

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They Made A MONKEE Out Of Me: The Only Authorized Story (1987) by Davy Jones; Dome Press, 240 p.

"I had never had to deal with failure, because I had never failed.  Well, there was the eleven plus, yes - and I'd certainly been second in a running race, or lost as part of a team in school soccer, y'know.  But in my theatrical experiences, school and church drama groups - it was never a question of win or lose.  I never thought about the numbers of people wathcing 'Coronation Street' - or the audiences in the West End theatre or on Broadway.  Same thing with The Monkees.  Success breeds success.  I never wondered about it - other people were responsible for that department...getting the people in...advertising and promotion...bump di bump di bum. Now that I think about it though, that is a fear - butterflies - will the people come?  But failure just wasn't happening somehow - I mean, the success of The Monkees was only to clear." [pg. 64]

Although the Monkees had severally given numerous interviews about their time with the Monkees, Davy Jones was the first of the Monkees to go public with his experiences in a published autobiography, and this candid, sometimes bitter book, is revelatory not only about the business part of show business, but also in showing just how naive Davy Jones was about the whole process.  He clearly recounts his childhood, growing up in Manchester, his working-class parents, his normal upbringing, including his early penchant for acting in shows like "Tom Sawyer" and his early fascination with horses.  Davy's personality, centered around 1.) himself 2.) his career, and 3.) his family points out both his strengths as a performer and his failures in other areas of life.  In particular, Davy's not afraid to point fingers at nearly everyone around him, whether it be the people in charge of Monkees production and merchandising, his fellow Monkees, his business manager - about the only time Davy takes any blame upon himself for his failures in with his personal relationships; but even those he softens with "well, it was the pressures of show business".  The book isn't laid out in an easy format for reading - often the text is interrupted with pictures, photocopies of letters or contracts, and quotes from Peter Noone.  In fact, the book is more like a personal scrapbook of reminiscences, with scatterings of ephemera cut and pasted willy-nilly throughout the text, making it somewhat of a chore to plow through the entire book, but fans of course will no doubt have no problems wading through the quagmire of Davy's life.  This particular edition is out of print, having been supplanted by the updated Daydream Believer (see below), but this first version was the first to blow the doors off of the Monkees idealistic facade.

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Davy Jones: Daydream Believin' (January, 2000) by Davy Jones; Hercules Productions, 395 p.

"It's September 7th, 1986.  And when Mike Nesmith walks on-stage at the Greek Theatre, Hollywood, to join Micky, Peter and me - it's the stuff dreams are made of. Five days short of the 20th anniversary of the first airing of The Monkees TV show - the impossible, the improbably...the inevitable happens.  We come home to Tinseltown - the place that made us and then threw away the mold.  And we play and sing together, just the way they always hoped we would, confounding our cirtics and delighting our fans.  Dreams do come true.  And good guys win in the end. Just a couple of days prior, we had been on the MTV Music Awards how featuring such stars as Tina Turner, Mister Mister, Whitney Houston, David Lee Roth and Genesis.  And there we were on the TV screen again - as bubbly and instantly recognizable as when we originated the whole music video style with the first Monkees episode, The Royal Flush, September 12, 1966." [pg 321]

The flabbergasting chutzpah of Davy is amply shown in the paragraphs above.  He was bitterly opposed to the long-A.W.O.L Mike Nesmith appearing at the Greek Theater with the touring Monkees, and publicly lambasted him in Monkees' fan magazines afterwards as being a glory hound and not interested in The Monkees at all.  But here, in his revised and updated autobiography, it's all fairy dust and stars-in-their-eyes press releases.  Also, check out the list of stars he names at the MTV Music awards - how many of them have disappeared or self-destructed?  It's an ironic touch in this expanded and revised book.  Davy's disingenuous remarks run all the way through Daydream Believin' (a vastly improved title), which increases the number of pictures, brings Davy's life story up to date (at least up to 2000), and softens some of the more venemous remarks that were cast about in his first book. Davy comes across as a doting father, inept businessman, fervent horseman, all with that undeniable touch of egomaniacal tendencies that make him so endearing, and frustrating, to his many fans. Davy's life story is mostly the story of unfulfilled ambitions, and to a large degree, wasted talent, as his pixie charm and broadway sensibilites were mostly squandered after his stunning star turn with The Monkees: his bankruptcies, divorces, reunions, guest-star appearances and missed opportunities are all chronicled with a touch of regret, and seasoned with his still-intact sense of humor and even a little self-deprecation. The reformatted book is larger and easier to read this time around, all for the good - and this book, self-published and promoted, is exclusively available through Davy's official web site. 

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The Monkees Tale (March 1990 - Revised Edition)  by Eric Lefcowitz; The Last Gasp of San Francisco, 119 p.

". . . the smoke screen has finally lifted on the Monkees phenomenon.  What remains is a telling portrait of a time when authenticity - a key slogan of the era - could be used as a tool of repression.  Instead of simply being accepted at face value, the Monkees were victimized both by their image and an unwritten law stating that all celebrities must scratch and claw their way to fame. Admittedly, the group was a synthetic creation.  Scientifically manufactured in the image of the Beatles, the Monkees were rock's first test-tube baby.  And yet the group's illegitimate origins are hardly scandalous considering the roots of rock 'n' roll, which, arguably, is the bastard form of all folk music anyway.  This somewhat spurious notion of authenticity clearly muddles the issue.  Everyone knows the Monkees cashed in on Beatlemania - the question is, were they artistically bankrupt as well?  The answer is on the record." From the introduction [page 1.]

"The Monkees Tale" by Eric Lefcowitz is a blow-by-blow recounting of the Monkees history using numerous interviews and articles culled from dozens of magazines, newspapers, and other sources.  Written in a fast-paced, fluid style, "Tale" is a quick read that doesn't spend much time analyzing the events as they happen, but merely reels them off and allows the reader to make their own conclusions about how and why.  It this sense, this slim book is an ideal introduction to the Monkees for people who are just beginning to discover them, and want a timeline of events and the people who made it all happen. Beginning in 1966, with Bob Rafelson and Burt Schneider's germ of an idea, and following the Monkees from the beginnings of the show up to 1989, readers who are looking for more biographical information on each Monkee will want to look elsewhere, since "Monkees Tale" skims over this time of the band members' lives, diving straight into their careers, but the author does spend more time in the post-Monkees lives of Micky, Davy, Peter and Mike, revealing how despite spending only a few years as Monkees, it has branded each of them for life. A fine book, and a quick read. Sprinkled with black & white photographs throughout.

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Mutant Monkees Meet The Masters Of The Multimedia Manipulation Machine! (1992) by Davy Jones & Alan Green; Click! Publishing, 176 p.

"They say when one door closes, another opens.  Well, when this door opened about a dozen others closed.  We were locked in and it seemed doomed to be over almost before it had begun. The second time around, twenty years later, we played small places, big halls, huge arenas - and basically did what we really wanted to do the first time around, but weren't allowed.  We put more of a theatrical presentation together... did songs we wanted to do, as well as the TV favorites - and had a great time doing it. When we're on stage there's a certain magic that we have together - it can't be compared to anything. But off-stage... ah, well." [pg 22]

Undoubtedly the strangest book ever produced about the Monkees, this one-off charity promotion (helping Missing Children be reunited with their families), is an explosion of manipulated images of the Monkees (using MacIntosh computers) and various quotes from Davy about his experiences with the group all all seemingly tossed together into a salad shooter and the published.  photos are stretched, cut out, and warped - colors are mixed and mingled, snapshots are given off-the-cuff captions by Davy, and The Monkees are transformed into christmas ornaments, flowers, ghostly images, and yes, even Monkeys!  Davy is shown undersea as King Triton, a collage is formed of all the girls he kissed on the TV show, The Monkees are shows popping out of the infamous "Black Box" they were kept in during the filming of the show, and much, much more.  There are numerous candid shots of the Monkees, both from their heyday, and more recent reunions, all taken from Davy's private archives, and a plethora of quotations, (with no notes as to when or where they were expressed) pepper the pages.  I suppose that the intent of this new format was to show off the possiblilities of MacIntosh imaging software, but now, only a few years after it was produced, many of the images look static and clumsy - the progress in computer graphics has advanced miles beyond what was possible in 1992; and the confusing whirlwind of colors and words make the book hard reading from cover to cover - most readers will want to browse different pages instead of devouring it front to back.  But still, there is a zany 'Monkees' element about the book - a 'what will they do next' sort of tension that's produced that's not unlike the Monkees themselves, so in that respect, it succeeds, and curious Monkees fans can still order this book through Davy's official web site. 

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Monkeemania (Feb. 15, 2000)  by Glen A. Baker; Plexus Publishing, 144 p.

"1967 was a truly extraordinary year for rock music, which was being propelled to dizzying new heights by every major album release.  No one knew this better than the Monkees and, even with only nine rushed days of recording, they managed to contribute to the rapid evolution with some important innovations.  A more practical approach to the question of session musicians had been adopted and a sensible complement of session players were used and duly credited, among them . . . [was] Moog synthesizer pioneer, the late Paul Beaver.  'I had the first Moog on the West Coast,' explains Micky.  'It was only the third one ever made.' . . . Micky played his Moog on Goffin and King's Star Collector and Nesmith's Daily Nightly.  The flying saucer effects on the latter inspired some critics to compre it to Beatle studio innovations." [page 75.]

I consider "Monkeemania" to be the flip side of "The Monkees Tale" above.  Written with about the same style, and almost the same content, the two books could almost be considered interchangable, with a few exceptions.  "Monkeemania" spends several pages on the Monkees' childhoods, while spending less time on the aftermath of the experience, which gives the reader a little more appreciation of the Monkees as individuals, and helps the reader to understand how the sudden fame and notariaty affected each one, but shrinks on how the aftermath of being a Monkee has been both a blessing and a curse.  Other than that, I really can't recommend one book above the other in terms of the facts and how their presented. "Monkeemania" seems to have more in-person interviews to spice up the text, and the pictures, though still all in black & white, are more informal and behind-the-scenes. Monkeemania also includes full episode guides, discographies, chart information, and other indexes which readers may find helpful. A great introduction to the band, but you still need both books for the most complete portrait.

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The Monkees, Memories & the Magic (March 15, 2000) By Edward Wincensten; Wynn Publishing, 171 p.

[Sandy M.] shared this, "I am a 40 year old mom of two children.  They are also fans, as of the recent 30th anniversery. [sp]  I first became aware of the Monkees in 1966 through the television show.  I was only 7 at the time.  When I saw the show, seen the guys and heard the music I knew they were something special.  I never missed the show.  I was not the typical 7 year old, I didn't play kids games much, I preferred to listen to music, watch TV and read teen-idol magazines.  I think I acted more like a teenager than a 7 year old.  The show was funny, fresh, creative, fun, and the music was excellent.  All four guys were great and had their own appeal, and good looks.  The chemistry of the guys was perfect, no one else could have done it then, and I don't think anyone else could do it today.  It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing."  [pg. 42]

A dull, unimaginative read, author Ed Wincensten makes a hobby of producing rock 'n' roll books for the masses which lean heavily on the words of other people.  Here, all Ed has done is interview dozens of Monkees fans and put their words in his book.  Loosely tied together into sections entitled "The Fans," "The Monkees In Concert," "Alan Green, Davy Jones and a Book," "How To Touch A Monkee," "Monkees Good Deeds," and "Abby Alterio's Story About a Special Friend," the only chapter to feature the author is the Davy Jones chapter, where he recounts his experience in putting together the second of Davy's autobiographies.  Most disturbing is the account "How To Touch A Monkee" which describes the rabid accounts of a fan to get close to each Monkee.  The author describes it as hilarious, but it's actually somewhat disturbing to see the lengths some fans will go to to intrude upon the Monkees' lives.  The rest of the book is paragraph after paragraph of Monkees fans of all ages, means, and types discussing why they love the Monkees, moments they've had with the Monkees, when they first watched the Monkees on TV, and what the Monkees have meant to them in their lives.  I know that many of these fans have honestly sincere and deep feelings for the Monkees, but having to plow through them is hardly the best use of ink and paper.  If fans want to discuss their love of the Monkees, the best place is with other fans, but here, there's no reason for it, other than the author to cash in on the Monkees' name.  Also included in a short section of color photographs of concert appearances, some color plates the author made, and a short fan-drawn cartoon (in german); also sprinkled throughout are pictures of the various fans, stock photos of the Monkees from their TV show, concert pictures, and various photos of fans with the Monkees.  I suppose if you contributed to this book, you would want a copy for your own library, but for all others, this is akin to reading the same fan letter over and over - a sure cure for sleepless nights.     

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I'm A Believer: My Life of Monkees, Music, and Madness (1993, revised July 25, 2004)  By Micky Dolenz and Mark Bego; Cooper Square Press, 232 p.

"Because of our similar backgrounds, Davy and I had a lot in common and hit it off almost immediately.  We were used to the film production process and took to it like lawyers to politics.  Mike and Peter on the other hand, were more familiar with the worlds of recording and performing, and they blossomed whenever we started to rehearse or record.  Unfortunately, even from the very beginning, it was apparent that Mike and Peter were destined for confrontation.  There really couldn't be two more incompatible characters.  Mike is pragmatic, Peter is ethereal.  Peter is laid back, Mike is impatient.  Mike is oil, Peter is water.  There's no way these two would have ever gotten together to form a group under normal circumstances but, here we were, all together in a small room, in the final stages of labor, trying to give birth to something that resembled music. [pg. 68.]

What a fun biography this is!  written in a free and easy style, reading this autobiography is like sitting right next to Micky and getting to chat with him for a couple of hours. Micky's natural exuberance comes though loud and clear in his first book, and although it has some interesting idiosyncracies, it's a real page-turner, and gives readers a true first-hand look at the experience of being a Monkee. Micky's opinions on everything from his bandmates (see above) to the worth of autobiographies in general (regards them as obituaries) ring through every page, and his first-person account of the sheer ridiculous enormity of Monkeemania is enlightening. Every few pages, Micky turns to an unusual device to shed light on a situation, or character: he writes as if he's penning a screenplay, and so the narrative breaks into dialogue, with some truly funny stuff going on. Yes, it's a conceit, but I found it refreshing and written, like most of the book, very tongue-in-cheek. Micky speaks candidly of his upbringing, "Circus Boy" which first catapulted him to fame; his attempts at singing in a band (before the Monkees), and of course, the eventual golden ticket of becoming a member of the Monkees. Seen with his jaundiced eye, the experience takes on a jaded sheen, with lots of "this is how it really was" hindsight, Micky makes the most of his memories, and delivers a tome worthy of a Monkee.  The newly revised edition adds an updated section on Micky's films and discography, and is easily the most enjoyable read you'll find about the Monkees. 

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Hey, Hey, We're The Monkees (1996)  Edited by Harold Bronson; General Publishing Group, 160 p.

"I thought bands played on their records.  So when they told us show up for our first recording session, I brought my guitar.  They didn't want me to play.  They said, "What are you complaining about?  You're making money."  I was distraught.  I look back on it now, and it makes all kinds of sense that we didn't play.  Obviously, we didn't know enough about pop music record production to be able crank out two tunes a week for the show, as well as act in it.  When we started filming the TV episodes, it took us five twelve-hour days per week.  We'd walk out of those things with our eyes crossed, and we were in no condition to be making records.  We finally did make our Headquarters album.  We were doing forty to fifty and sometimes seventy takes apiece on the basic tracks.  I didn't realize beforehand, but we weren't ready." - Peter Tork [pg. 42.]

"Hey, Hey, We're The Monkees" can be considered the Monkees version of the Beatles' Anthology book.  Filled with first-person narration by all four band members (gleaned from interviews taken from the documentary of the same name), as well as contemporaries and others involved, this book is a fine "in-their-own-words" autobiography, with several different viewpoints,  giving a nice overview of the entire experience.  There are snippets of how each Monkee viewed the others, how major events are perceived by different players, accompanied by lots of photographs (mostly black & white, some color) and divided into thematic chapters ("The Beginning," "Boyce & Hart," "Jimi Hendrix" etc.).  I have a couple of gripes with the layout of the book itself.  Even with all of the people involved, it feels skimpy, with all of the text triple-spaced, so there's LOTS of white space on each page; and the text itself is rather clumsily blocked, so that some quotations spill over onto other pages, without telling who's being quoted, and other simple editorial blunders that show the general lack of professionalism that went into this book.  That said, this is still indispensable for Monkees fans, since these interviews are all exclusive, and can be found nowwhere else.  Add to that the nice, rosy reminiscent glow that is over everything, and it's a very pleasant read.  I just wish the same money had been poured into this as was the Beatles' Anthology - then it would have been definitive.

"Bill Chadwick said "He saw it as an opportunity, as a stepping stone.  He took every advantage he could.  Mike was a very intelligent guy, he was a real good businessman and a real talented person.  He was going to make the best of it no matter what the situation was.  The Monkees was a vehicle." "Lester Sill said "I hold Mike responsible for breaking the Monkees up.  That was his intention, and I tell him this when I see him.  We don't see each other that often, but when he came up here to buy some of his songs back, which I refused to sell him, I told him that I thought he played the part of a cold-hearted Rasputin that did not consider Davy, Peter or MIcky.  I feel he was the catalyst in helping to destroy the group because he felt that the other boys were inadequate." [pg. 11]

The Monkees Collectables Price Guide (Dec. 1998)  by Marty Eck; Antique Trader Books, 207p.

"Collecting Monkees memorabilia is like collecting almost any time of collectable:  Some items are more common than others, so their value is not as great.  Some items are much harder to find, because the manufacturer did not produce many, or because of the nature of the item.  Also, these items were, for the most part, designed for young people to play with, not to save. The original packaging is often a better-looking collectible and has more graphics than the item itself.  The wraparound design of many boxes made it difficult to get the item back in after playing with it, so they were usually discarded.  The original packaging often doubles the value of an item, because it is harder to locate.  The Monkees drum set is a good example of the item not being as colorful as the original box." [pg.15]

This is a great book, not just for collectors (although it's fabulously informative for them as well), but also for just casual fans of the Monkees, since it's chock full of full-color pictures of all kinds of items that were the rage during the height of Monkeemania.  Marty Eck, a ferocious collector of Monkee stuff, has put together a slim paperback book which is nonetheless filled to the brim with rare and otherwise hard-to-find items including general memorabilia, books & comic books, magazines & television guides, music books & sheet music, fan clubs, trading cards, concert items, records & tapes, and even counterfeit items!  Some of my favorite items included are the french Kellogg's "Honey Smacks" box which included a picture of Monkees inside; the Mattel Monkees Record Tote bag; the fan club merchandise; actual office letters directed toward individual Monkees; and of course, the omnipresent official Monkees lunchbox!   Printed on nice, slick paper and in full color, this book is just plain fun to read and look at.  Also included with each item is a full description and a comparative price guide for each and every item.  Whew!  Highly recommended. The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story Of The 60s TV Pop Sensation (June 10, 2005) by Andrew Sandoval; Thunder Bay Press, 288 p.     Wednesday 22nd (1967) FILMING Production wraps on what will become episode 47 of the Monkees series, The Christmas Show.  Before The Monkees shoot thier next episode they probably take a few days off to work on the script for their upcoming movie.  Traveling north to the coastal town of Ojai, California, the group tape their ideas for a screenplay.  In addition to the four Monkees and number of others participate in these brainstorming sessions for a script, including series co-creators Bob Rafelson and Berg Schneider, actor Jack Nicholson, and Monkees assistant Brendan Cahill. Peter: "The main thing I remember ... was retiring to Ojah.  For three or four days we talked about what we did and didn't want.  Just hung out and talked about things.  We sort of found a common ground.  Al that we wanted was just to do something special.  Something a little extraordinary.  Something not quite normal.  What exactly that was, we wound up leaving to Bob and Jack ... We didn't want to do any of the conventional stuff."  [pg. 147] The best reference book about The Monkees bar none, and the best book about The Monkees overall, period.  A staggeringly complete day-by-day guide to the Monkees during their 1966-1970 heyday, Andrew Sandoval, who's had a hand in most of the notable Monkees projects at Rhino Records, as well as several other bands, he interviewed each of the Monkees at length as well as those associated with the show and recordings, poured over recording sheets, contracts, television shooting schedules, concert listings and more in order to present an almost day-to-day guide to what the Monkees were doing on which day, which recordings were laid down, what episodes were shot, where they performed in concert, and much more.  The information is presented in an easy-to-read format, and the book is loaded with rare and familiar photographs throughout, as well as memorabilia that makes this book extremely easy on the eye.  But there's also eyewitness accounts, explanations for specific events, commentary, a complete Songography, capsule episode guides sprinkled throughout, and even pre-Monkees timelines which trace the early lives and careers of the Monkees.    Mr. Sandoval goes in-depth with his explanation of how the Monkees series got started, detailing audition and rehearsal processes in a minute detail which has never been attempted before.  What happened on January 25th, 1968?  (Mike Nesmith was in RCA Studios, Hollywood laying down tracks to "Empire" and an untitled piece of music); What important event occured on February 27, 1967? (Don Kirshner was officially fired from the Monkees); Where did the Monkees perform on July 18, 1969?  (the Majestic Bandstand, Majestic Hills, WI).  For Monkees fanatics this is just the bread and butter of thier lives - equal in every way to similar books about the Beatles and The Beach Boys, this book is the new standard of excellence for research about The Monkees.

"On the day of the session, I dressed up in my finest fab Carnaby Street gear, complete with hippy beads, tie-dyed shirt, and paisley bell bottoms, and was picked up by a black Daimier limo.  As we pulled up to the studios, I was awash with excitement - looking forward to what I assumed was going to be a psychedelic manic mod music love fest.  Imagine my surprise when I walked into the studio and was greeted by four guys, who were sitting alone, in folding chairs, under the glare of neon lights.  It looked like the inside of my high school gym. John asked if I wanted to hear what they were working on and I replied in fluent hippyese, "Yeah ... cool, man." Up in the booth, George Martin, wearing a three-piece suit, started a four-track tape recorder and I listened to the early tracks of "Good Morning Good Morning."  [pg. 237]

REVIEW:  For fans of the Monkees, this book will probably be something of a dissapointment, since there is actually very little of Micky Dolenz within the pages.  Compiled mostly by the staff of the Buzztime Trivia Series, Micky gets copyright credits for four pages of brief reminiscences, and the introduction, as well as the standard acknowledgements and book dedication, and that's about it.  How much of a hand he actually had in compiling and choosing these questions I can't say for certain, but the cynic in me says that he was paid for the use of his name and the few brief passages I've mentioned, and laughed all the way to the bank.  Also, for fans hoping that this book is chock-full of Monkees-related trivia, you will also be disappointed, since this book is a wide-ranging tableaux of trivia, one small section of which is related to the Monkees, but even these questions aren't terribly challenging ("The Monkees' logo had the band's name spelled out in the shape of a _________?").  The questions don't even seem to get harder, and at a scant twelve questions, Monkee fans are going to rip through this section in no time at all.  That's not to say it's a bad book - if you're really into music trivia, you'll have a fine time perusing the wide-ranging questions, testing your knowledge of everything from Motown to Fake Bands, One Hit Wonders to The Piano Man, Charity Songs to Rock Romances.  The answers can be informative and interesting, but unless you are really into trivia games (didn't they go out of style with Trivial Pursuit?), this book will only be of interest to a narrow audience.  Now, if the Monkees would get together and put out a full-bore Monkees Trivia book - that I would wholeheartedly dive into.

Gakky Two-Feet (May 18, 2006)  Micky Dolenz; Putnam Juvenile, 32 p.

Nobody wanted to be called a scaredy-cat, so they all followed Frizz. "I can't see a thing," whispered Plop to Gak. Gleeb, a pretty little girl hominidee, was limping along beside Gak.  She had fallen out of a tree when she was a baby and had broken her leg.  She had walked with a limp ever since. "I have a bad feeling about this," she said as she tried to keep up." [pg. 9]

REVIEW:  In the lengthy introduction to his debut children's book Gakky Two-Feet, author Micky Dolenz recounts how he has "always been fascinated with anthropology,"  which, if you stop and think about it, is ironic, considering that for the majority of is life, Mr. Dolenz has been associated with the anthropomorphically-titled rock group The Monkees.  That self-professed love for paleoanthropological theory has  resulted in this book which is a story about a monkey-like creature who prefers to stand on his hind legs, much to the derision of his fellow critters, only to be ultimately lauded for his unique ability after saving his tribe from a prowling lion.  I wish I could say that this first children's outing by Micky is as wacky and clever as his Monkee-days antics, but sadly, it's not the case.  Gakky Two-Feet is not much more than a  somewhat dry, "what-if" scenerio that tries to show in simple terms how an erect  hominid is the next step on the evolutionary chain, being better suited to defend his  colony and thus advance the species.   Unfortunately, the book is about as fun as this description makes it sound.  Micky has succeeded in producing a competent look at current scientific theory, but he's failed at making it fun and lively.  The illustrations, by David Clark, are good, with the chimps all looking somewhat bug-eyed and having an indefinite "slack-jawed yokel" look about them, but with such dry prose to illustrate, the spark of real whimsy is pretty much extinguished.  And I question the ending in which the females of the tribe suddenly find the erect Gakky more desireable as a mate as appropriate for young children.  In short, this Monkey-to-Man storyline penned by Man-to-Monkee Dolenz is sorely lacking in that divine touch of humor and wit that could have elevated it to the next level.