Here We Come...Walking Down the Street, again and this time very slowly

I'm sure some of you old schoolers out there all remember the theme song to the TV show "The Monkees."

Yes, before NKOTB, Backstreet Boys and *Nsync, there were four 20-something-year olds, two actors--Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz--and two musicians--Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork--who showed up for a casting call in L.A. in 1965. The four guys were hired to play members of a struggling rock 'n' roll band. Alas, The Monkees were born! The show ran on NBC from 1966 to 1968 and the group's funny antics plus their catchy Pop music was a great recipe for the situation comedy.

Well, this year marks the 45th Anniversary of the show's premiere and the former quartet-now trio (Michael Nesmith doesn't tour anymore since having inherited his mother's Liquid Paper fortune), who range in age from 65 to 68, will be going out on the road this summer. They tour the U.S. beginning in early June and will arrive in California in early July. I'm hoping to attend their Northern CA show along with a few friends. Rumor has it that Michael "Mike" Nesmith may join the band on a few dates in the U.K., but has no intention on touring with the Micky, Davy and Peter in the states. Although The Monkees was a made-for-TV band/group, they were one of the inspirations or reasons why I'm majoring in Communications/Media Studies.

Here are several retro Monkees music videos, which may in fact be the first music videos ever played on TV, pre-MTV! By the way, Nesmith has been dubbed as the 'Father of MTV.' He's been credited for having invented the channel since he created a half and hour pilot for a show that was never made. He later sold the rights to Time-Warner, who played around with the idea and turned it into MTV.

http://www.monkeeland.com/tourdates.html

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