Monkees star Peter Tork, who played bass and keyboard on hits like "Daydream Believer" and co-starred in the band's popular 1960s comedy TV show, has died at 77. Read the rest

Happening was a Los Angeles-based rock and roll variety TV show produced by Dick Clark, and co-hosted by Mark Lindsay and Paul Revere of the Raiders. It ran from 1968 to 1969. It's interesting to see the TV commercials, which make me miss Mad Men, and to see how unsophisticated live TV was at the time. The budget was probably miniscule. Read the rest

"I Love the new Monkees record!," is something I thought I'd never hear my adult self saying, but I've heard myself saying it. The three surviving members of the 60s made-for-TV rock band (Davy Jones died of a heart attack in 2012) have recently released Good Times!, their 12th studio album and their first since 1996's Justus. Read the rest

It's hard to believe that fifty years ago, The Monkees' television series premiered. The band is often denigrated as phony, but I don't care. They had some of the best songwriters and studio musicians in the business, and if you listen to the final product with an unprejudiced ear, it's good stuff.

Lead singer Davy Jones died in 2012, but that is not stopping Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork from hitting the road and cutting a new LP (Michael Nesmith is most likely sitting out on the tour) this year. The album is called Good Times, and will be released June 10, 2016.

Radio.com:

Surviving members Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork perform on the entire album, which brings together songs originally penned for the group in the 1960s along with newer work by Cuomo, Gibbard, XTC’s Andy Partridge and more. One song written by Neil Diamond, “Love to Love,” features Davy Jones with a vintage vocal.

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At Spin, cult cartoonist Ward Sutton illustrates a memorable encounter with the Monkees' Davy Jones. Read the rest