Here We Come, The Monkees at 50!

Original version

BBC Radio 2 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Light Programme.

BBC Radio 2

Radio 2

Here We Come, The Monkees at 50!: Episode 1: The story of the original boy band!

Here We Come - The Monkees at 50!

Episode 1: The story of the original boy band!

BBC Radio 2 - Here We Come, The Monkees at 50!, Episode 1: The story of the original boy band!

Back in 1966 the world was shaken by the arrival of the Monkees - this is their story!

Back in 1966 the world was shaken by the arrival of the Monkees - this is their story, told in their words.

Another chance to hear this two-part series as a tribute to Michael Nesmith who died on 10 December 2021.

Back in 1966 the TV & pop worlds were shaken by the arrival of the Monkees, a post-Beatles, pre-boy band sensation who took the charts by storm, selling millions of records off the back of their hugely successful TV series.

The songs – I’m A Believer, Last Train To Clarksville, Daydream Believer and many more – were instant pop classics and the Monkees – Mike Nesmith, Mickey Dolenz, Peter Tork and Davy Jones – were instant pop stars.

Except that they weren’t. They were actors playing a part, pretending to be a band, miming on screen and singing over other people’s music. But like Pinocchio, they wanted to be real and the puppets turned, wrestling control of their records from the hands of the TV moguls and striking out on their own, a path that led them to the Sgt Pepper recording sessions, to Jimi Hendrix, to avant garde film-making and to a completely unique type of stardom.

In this two part series - originally broadcast in 2016 before the death of Peter Tork - the Monkees tell their own story, alongside their friends, family and associates. 

Speaking about the programme after its initial broadcast Mike Nesmith remarked "It is unique in my lifetime to see a programme get to the fundamentals of the Monkees phenomenon & to catch not only the events but the spirit of those events. A remarkably accurate account as I recall it - and lived it!"

Amazing music. Played by an amazing line up.

Radio 2: Amazing music. Played by an amazing line-up. The home of great music, entertainment and documentaries

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media: Arts

In this two-part series, the Monkees tell their own story.

In this two-part series, the Monkees tell their own story, alongside their friends, family and associates.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Here We Come, The Monkees at 50!

Episode 1: The story of the original boy band!

Genres

Series

BBC Radio 2

About BBC Radio 2