“HERE WE COME – 54-YEARS AGO”
by Shannon MacDonald
The Monkees, aka The Pre-Fab-Four, were a cast of individuals that were molded after the original boy-band…The Beatles. They were “slipped in” at a perfect time as some Beatles fans were not happy with the new turn of events that were happening on the road to Sgt. Pepper (silly them). The only thing cooler than The Monkees, at that time, was their Monkee logo. It was genius!
Let’s examine the cookie-cutter resemblance of Rubber Soul on the cover of this 54-year old album. Uncanny isn’t it? Not! It’s a blatant rip-off. But that’s ok… as many did it at that time including The Rolling Stones… whose album “Their Satanic Majesties Request” was “Pepper-esque”, to say the least. Hey, if you’re going to rip someone off… you mine as well rip off the #1 band of all time…The Beatles.
Nevertheless, The Monkees’ new album proved to be a huge success. It remained #1 on the charts for 18-weeks. And why not? The songbook boasts of writers such as… Boyce & Hart, Neil Sedaka, Neil Diamond, and Carol King. Yeah! That’s some heavy cats at the wheel of the Monkee-Mobile. It was bound and birthed for royal success!
For many, this is the favorite of all Monkee Albums… Songs like… She, Mary Mary, Stepping Stone, I’m A Believer, Sometime in the Morning, and Look Out – Here Comes Tomorrow.
In the end, no matter how Faux-Beatles these dudes were, especially Jones and Dolenz, they were “money in the bank”. What a sensational album!
