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The Monkees are an American pop/rock band that released music in their original incarnation between 1965 and 1971, with subsequent reunion albums and tours in the decades that followed. They were formed in Los Angeles in 1965 by Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series ''The Monkees'', which aired from 1966 to 1968. The musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork and Englishman Davy Jones. The band's music was initially supervised by producer Don Kirshner. Dolenz described the Monkees as initially being "a TV show about an imaginary band () that wanted to be the Beatles, () that was never successful." The actor-musicians, however, soon became a real band. As Dolenz later described it, "The Monkees really becoming a band was like the equivalent of Leonard Nimoy (played the alien officer Spock in ''Star Trek'' ) really becoming a Vulcan." For the first few months of their initial five-year career as the Monkees, the four actor-musicians were allowed only limited roles in the recording studio. This was due in part to the amount of time required to film the television series. Nonetheless, Nesmith did compose and produce some songs from the beginning, and Peter Tork contributed limited guitar work on the sessions produced by Nesmith. They eventually fought for and earned the right to collectively supervise all musical output under the band's name. The sitcom was canceled in 1968, but the band continued to record music through 1971. A revival of interest in the television show came in 1986, which led to a series of reunion tours and new records. Up until 2011 the group had reunited and toured several times, with varying degrees of success.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.monkeesconcerts.com/2011-45th-anniversary-world-tour.html )〕 Despite the sudden death of Davy Jones on 29 February 2012, the surviving members reunited for a tour in November–December 2012〔 and again in 2013 for a 24-date tour. The Monkees have sold more than 75 million records worldwide and had international hits, including "Last Train to Clarksville", "Pleasant Valley Sunday", "Daydream Believer" and "I'm A Believer". At their peak in 1967 the band outsold the Beatles and the Rolling Stones combined.〔()〕 ==Conception== Aspiring filmmaker Bob Rafelson developed the initial idea for ''The Monkees'' in 1962, but was unsuccessful in selling the series. He had tried selling it to Revue, the television division of Universal Pictures.〔Sandoval (2005), p. 15.〕 In May 1964, while working at Screen Gems, Rafelson teamed up with Bert Schneider, whose father, Abraham Schneider, headed the Colpix Television and Screen Gems Television units of Columbia Pictures. Rafelson and Schneider ultimately formed Raybert Productions.〔Sandoval (2005), p. 18.〕 The Beatles' film ''A Hard Day's Night'' inspired Rafelson and Schneider to revive Rafelson's idea for ''The Monkees''. As "The Raybert Producers", they sold the show to Screen Gems Television on April 16, 1965. Rafelson and Schneider's original idea was to cast an existing New York folk rock group, The Lovin' Spoonful, who were not widely known at the time. However, John Sebastian had already signed the band to a record contract, which would have denied Screen Gems the right to market music from the show. On July 14, 1965, ''The Hollywood Reporter'' stated that future band member Davy Jones was expected to return to the United States in September 1965 after a trip to England "to prepare for () TV pilot for Bert Schneider and Bob Rafelson".〔Sandoval (2005), p. 24.〕 Jones had previously starred as the Artful Dodger in the Broadway show ''Oliver!'', which debuted on December 17, 1962, and his performance was later seen on ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' the same night as the Beatles' first appearance on that show, February 9, 1964. He was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical in 1963.〔Sandoval (2005), p. 16.〕 In September 1964 he was signed to a long-term contract to appear in TV programs for Screen Gems, make feature films for Columbia Pictures and to record music for the Colpix label.〔Sandoval (2005), p. 19.〕 Rafelson and Schneider already had him in mind for their project after their plans for The Lovin' Spoonful fell through; when they chose him, he was essentially a proto-star looking for his lucky break. On September 8–10, 1965, ''Daily Variety'' and ''The Hollywood Reporter'' ran an ad to cast the remainder of the band/cast members for the TV show: ''Madness!! Auditions. Folk & Roll Musicians-Singers for acting roles in new TV series. Running Parts for 4 insane boys, age 17-21. Want spirited Ben Frank's types. Have courage to work. Must come down for interview.'' Out of 437 applicants,〔 the other three chosen for the cast of the TV show were Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz. Nesmith had been working as a musician since early 1963 and had been recording and releasing music under various names, including Michael Blessing and "Mike & John & Bill" and had studied drama in college; contrary to popular belief, of the final four, Nesmith was the one member who actually saw the ad in the ''Daily Variety'' and ''The Hollywood Reporter''. Tork, the last to be chosen, had been working the Greenwich Village scene as a musician, and had shared the stage with Pete Seeger; he learned of ''The Monkees'' from Stephen Stills, whom Rafelson and Schneider had rejected. Dolenz was an actor (his father was veteran character actor George Dolenz) who had starred in the TV series ''Circus Boy'' as a child, using the stage name Mickey Braddock, and he had also played guitar and sung in a band called the Missing Links before the Monkees, which had recorded and released a very minor single, "Don't Do It". By that time he was using his real name; he found out about ''The Monkees'' through his agent. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Monkees」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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