The Monkees should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Monkees finest single: Pleasant Valley Sunday/Words

What better way to launch the new location of Pleasant Valley Sunday than with a call for The Monkees to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Sure, the group was fabricated by others but so were The Sex Pistols and Crosby, Stills, and Nash. They were the first post Beatles teen phenomenon, pioneers of what became the rock video format, and produced music of outstanding quality, performing songs by Goffin and King (Pleasant Valley Sunday), Neil Diamond (I’m A Believer, A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You), and Harry Nilsson (Cuddly Toy) along with Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart (Last Train to Clarksville).

Feeling constrained by the pre-fab four image and by performing almost exclusively songs by other songwriters, within a year they had written, performed, and had a hand in producing their finest album, Headquarters, a masterpiece of pop rock that stands up against almost any album of 1967. They followed it up with Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, and Jones Ltd., another album produced and almost entirely written by the group.

The end of the television show and the gradual exodus of members Tork and Nesmith saw the band fade away rather than come to an abrupt end, but they enjoyed a renaissance in the 80s with the MTV rebroadcast of the series and Rhino Records reissue of all their original albums. It’s a huge disservice that the band has not been inducted into the Hall yet, and one that should be corrected as quickly as possible.