Talk:The Monkees

Latest comment: 5 months ago by Sm5574 in topic Remove Instruments from Timeline

American-British Band

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This has not been fully discussed before, so I'm bringing it up now as reference for when the next person inevitably makes this change.

I do not believe that it is accurate to describe the Monkees as an American-British band (or however you want to word it). The only tie they had to England at all was Davy Jones, and Jones demonstrably contributed the least of all four members in terms of songwriting. Yes, he sang on several of their songs, but that was as a musician under contract (which all the Monkees were) until the reunions. Peter is on record as saying that Davy didn't feel that he contributed much to Headquarters, and Davy himself seemed to imply that he felt Mike left him out of the process on Justus.

I don't want to get bogged down in particulars. The point is, Davy was a hired musician for the first 9 albums (and everyone actually in charge was American), and even including the '80s and '90s, with the exception of a couple of songs almost all of Davy's contributions were vocals only, with some production thrown in. Thus, I think it is too much of a stretch to say that the Monkees were, to any significant degree, a British band...any more than covering Daddy's Song made them a swing band. Sm5574 (talk) 00:26, 7 May 2024 (UTC)Reply

Remove Instruments from Timeline

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I think instruments should be removed from the graphic timeline. That kind of thing is intended for bands who have replaced members through the years (e.g., Journey). The Monkees never replaced a member, and they have almost always had backing musicians, rendering the whole thing moot. Mike, Micky, Peter, and Davy sang and played what they did when they did based on their desires and abilities, not as members hired specifically for any particular instrument (other than vocals). As such, having the instruments listed in the timeline adds nothing but clutter; rather the timeline should simply show when each member was active with the group. Sm5574 (talk) 02:25, 25 July 2024 (UTC)Reply