Monkee Business: The Revolutionary Made-For-TV Band

With quotes and from my memories as a first generation fan this is pretty accurate. I liked learning details hidden for many years. My one big let down was the emphasis on the discord within the group. There were many instances over the years where they expressed some affection for each other as well. I would like to have seen it balanced out a bit more with that.

I recently ordered the new Monkees book, 'Monkee Business' by Eric Lefcowitz. As a Monkees fan, once I caught whim of this new book, it was all I could do to wait for it to be released. Once I heard from Facebook that you could order it online from here, I jumped the gun and ran, credit card in hand, to my laptop to order it. It was a wonderful birthday gift to myself.I own the book before the one, 'The Monkees Tale'. I read through that book in a day as well as 'Monkee Business'. And I loved it. There were a few misguided things, as Micky's tale as to why he wasn't drafted. It wasn't because of a childhood illness, but because he was to skinny and just a couple of other things, but otherwise, the book, much different than its ancestors, is a stunning tale. It tells of all the emotional turmoil the guys went through, throughout the sixties, as well as during their past reunion tours.There are times in the book where you feel you are standing in the crowd among the thousands of fangirls. Then, there are times, you want to put your fist in the wall as Mike did during that meet with the villianous Donny Kirshner and last, times you feel as if you want to cry, as I did, when talking about the end of the Monkees special, 33 1/3 while the live version of Listen to the Band is played.The book is much more currently updated down to Davy's marriage, the false tale behind the abusive releationship and to his drunken mishap on stage in which he challenged the audiance to a fight. He talks about Micky's marriage, Mike's VideoRanch webside and world(which is ALWAYS entertaining. Stop by when you can!) and briefly of Peter's advice column.There are many other fun facts(such as the Plaster Caster story), little brief chats about the Monkees and their drug indulgences(personally my favorite is the story about Micky and his 'children')and many memoriable quotes that will have you stiffling giggles as your younger brother gives you odd looks.The only other problem I saw, were the lack of pictures. Many of the pictures used in the book were ones used previously in others. it would have been nice to see some previously unreleased photos, if at all possible. The book did include a picture of each Monkee now, as well as bits and pieces of recent interviews. Being a paperback chapter book, I imagine it would have been a bit tough.(although I think if it had been formatted like Micky's unauthorized bio it may have worked a bit better)The book also talks about one of my favorite subjects. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum. This is a subject I argue with constantly and have been planning a protest for. The Monkees may have their doubts, but fans are still out there. Plenty of them. Many who seek another tour as well. Someday, hopefully, perhaps the 'dashing' Jann Wenner will finally understand the Monkees became an actual rock group and one of the best yet. And no one has been able to mimic them.(I'm looking at you Big Time Rush folks)All in all, I'd say this book is worth it in the end though. I throughly enjoyed reading it and plan on reading it at LEAST five more times. Its updated, very informal, and while most the pictures are the same, there are a few new ones fans may enjoy, not to mention plenty of humor and quotes. I give this book a 4 out of 5.

Even though I Have been a fan ever since I was four years old, I knew relatively little about the band. I caught them on their '86 reunion tour, and it was even the first concert I ever saw. But other musical interests in my life always kept me from going too deep into my Monkees enjoyment, and former love. Until recently.As for the book itself, there is a good amount of interesting information and background on the recording process of each album, and what exactly happened with the band. This all might be common knowledge to people who are familiar with the band, but the information is atleast interesting and keeps the new person interested in the history.The Kindle edition does suffer from some of the standard digital problems, such as alignment of paragraphs, and spelling errors. I am not too sure if the spelling errors are in the actual print versions, but this is an issue it seems with ebooks. Does it distract from the read? No, not too much.The pictures in the Kindle version are a little hard to make out. They suffice for their purpose, but I was never "wowed" by the reproduction quality. But there are pictures, atleast.I will also echo what others have said, and the author does seem to have a slight agenda at times. IMO Davy suffers the most from his depiction in the book. Jones rarely comes across as little more than an arrogant, self centered jerk. Micky comes across the best, and seems to be the one in the band most liked. Mike seems exactly like we have always thought him to being, and Peter seems like a hippie caught up in the times. But poor Davy, it is not a very glowing book for him. I sill like him, though.If there was something I could have hoped for, I would have liked a discography, videography, and more background on the recordings. I have become somewhat obsessed about the recording process that these guys must have gone through from their albums, and want to know as much as possible. I intend to check out the Day By Day book to see what light that sheds.In the end, this was an enjoyable read, but with somethings that brought it down a little. I would actually prefer to give the book 3 1/2 stars, just because I think the author let personal opinion get a little in the way and might have possibly distorted some truths.I also agree with the others, when the author decides to get rough on later recordings, he is exceedingly harsh.

I wasn’t born when the Monkees were at the height of their powers or, rather, I was towards the end of that era but was too young to really know of them. I know of them now though but not through this book which,, I can’t truly criticise as I didn’t read that much of it on account of the fact that i just don’t like what I call journo-speak. ‘He recalls’ ‘she said’ ‘they rememberd’ and so on and so forth. Of course these things were recalled or they wouldn’t be mentioned. Naturally episodes are ‘remembered’ by people. We don’t really need to be told. This is supposed to be a book not a newspaper article. I give it three stars just because it might not be a bad book for some it’s just not my cup of tea that’s all.

Whilst their albums have enjoyed frequent releases since their back catalogue was bought up by Rhino in the late 1980s there continues to remain a dearth of biographies for the biggest manufactured band of all time. Since the publication of Monkeemania  The Monkees : Monkeemania  in 1986 there has been just the excellent Sandoval book  The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation , a couple of editions of Micky Dolenz's autobiography and the odd execrable solo Monkee book (Total Control anyone?). Therefore this newly revised book from Eric Lefcowitz is to be welcomed. It delivers a well researched and brutally honest account of the band's origins right through to their truculent and seemingly endless reunion tours sans Nesmith. There are new anecdotes aplenty and insights into the fault lines that existed between the four actors almost before the series went on air.Refreshingly and as might be expected, all these years later, the heart throb turns out to be a diva, the Texan is the arch manipulator, the dumb one is ultimately most damaged by the instant stardom and only Dolenz comes out the other side with anything resembling a normal life intact. The book pulls few punches and so the other players in it who get a less than impressive description are the band creators - rich kids Rafelson and Schneider and the Simon Cowell of his day Don Kirshner. Kirshner knew what would make the charts but as the Monkees demonstrated their music was far more interesting when he had been pushed to the sidelines.Whilst later years for each of the Monkees is covered it does feel a little cursory and in light of the regular fallings out its a shame that Lefcowitz couldn't have extended this part of the book. (I'd pay money to read more about Davy Jones and his difficulties to retain an audience or his composure when drunk on stage!)Still it is an excellent read and should be for anyone interested in music from the sixties or those who having read Peter Biskind's book  Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-drugs-and Rock 'n' Roll Generation Changed Hollywood now realise that modern Hollywood started in the fall of 1966 with a comedy show on NBC. The Monkees : MonkeemaniaThe Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop SensationEasy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-drugs-and Rock 'n' Roll Generation Changed Hollywood

Read this three times now. Am into all types of music..Just thought the whole Monkees thing was amazing!!!!!'Great stuff never dies.

Not enough gossip!

Great book about the story behind The Monkees. I have read a few and this is the best available on Amazon.