Why Mike Nesmith Hated The Monkees’ Theme Song

In contrast to most bands, The Monkees had their very own present: The Monkees. The Monkees’ theme music turned some of the well-known theme songs within the historical past of tv. Regardless of this, Mike Nesmith hated the theme music, contrasting it with the work of The Beatles.

The Monkees’ Mike Nesmith, Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, and Peter Tork | Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Picture

1 of The Monkees’ songwriters mentioned Mike Nesmith ‘positioned himself’ because the chief for the Prefab 4

Collectively, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart fashioned the songwriting duo Boyce & Hart. They wrote Prefab 4 tracks equivalent to “Valleri,” “Last Train to Clarksville,” and “I Wanna Be Free.” In his 2015 e book Psychedelic Bubble Gum: Boyce & Hart, The Monkees, and Turning Mayhem Into Miracles, Boyce mentioned the origin of the band’s theme music.

“[Television producer] Bert told us that the pilot episode would require three original songs, a romantic ballad, a dance number called ‘The Chase,’ and a theme song called ‘The Monkees’ that would open and close every show,” Hart wrote.

Subsequently, Hart recalled Nesmith’s function within the band. “Michael Nesmith, the oldest and most music-business savvy member of the group, had positioned himself as their ringleader,” Hart remembered. “He knew the value of songwriting royalties, and he had been led to believe that he’d have a say in the music the group would make.”

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The Beatles ‘A Day in the Life’: The Monkees’ Mike Nesmith on Watching the Fab 4 Report the Song

Mike Nesmith felt The Beatles would by no means launch one thing like The Monkees’ theme music

Nesmith defined his emotions concerning the theme music. “[Record executive] Lester Sill had told us that Nesmith had argued long and hard against the theme song we had written for the show,” Hart wrote. “He advised his boss, Bert Schneider, ‘The Beatles would never sing about themselves like that. ‘Hey, hey, we’re The Beatles?’ Come on, give me a break!’ 

“Of course, Michael didn’t know that it was Schneider who had designated in our first meeting that the theme song for the pilot should be called ‘The Monkees,’” Hart added. Hart cited Nesmith’s emotions concerning the theme music as one in all many examples of the singer butting heads with the Prefab 4’s administration.

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Why The 1st Takes of The Monkees’ Theme Song Had been Unusable

How ‘(Theme From) The Monkees’ carried out on the charts in the USA and the UK

“(Theme From) The Monkees” was by no means a single in the USA, so it didn’t chart on the Billboard Hot 100. The music appeared on the album The Monkees. For 13 weeks, the album topped the Billboard 200, staying on the chart for 102 weeks in whole.

The Official Charts Company reviews the theme music didn’t chart in the UK both. In the meantime, The Monkees was No. 1 within the U.Ok. for seven weeks. It stayed on the chart for 37 weeks altogether.

The Prefab 4 has some of the well-known theme songs ever — even when Nesmith was not a fan.

The Monkees’ Peter Tork ‘Couldn’t Bear’ to Sing Their Theme Song in Public

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