I hope you don't mind me hijacking the thread slightly, but i'd like to add Mike Nesmith's solo work to the mix. I've heard whispers of its 'lost classic' status - is there any truth in this?

As for the Monkees themselves, i've only heard 'Head' - being a soundtrack, it's pretty fragmented, but it's all good fun with some lovely tracks, not least the Carole King-written 'As We Go Along' which reminds me of early Tim Buckley.

Okay, stuff to look out for - and they actually (via a Michael Nesmith coup) took artistic control after the first two albums,
These albums are worth checking out, 'Headquarters' (the first to be be played by the band itself), 'Pisces Capricorn Aquarius & Jones', 'The Birds The Bees & The Monkees' and of course 'Head Soundtrack'. They're not consistent and there's usually a small number of Davy Jones clunkers on each album (kinda the 'Ringo' tracks of the Monkees) but there are also some bubblegum psych and garage delights courtesy of Nesmith & Tork.
Tunes to watch out for (just off the top of me head);
You Just May Be The One
Salesman
The Door Into Summer
Love Is Only Sleeping
Star Collector
Daily Nightly
Tapioca Tundra
Auntie's Municipal Court
Do I Have To Do This All Over Again
Can You Dig It?

I agree with what most have said here. Headquarters onwards definitely worth checking out.

Also Nesmiths early solo stuff.

The early Monkees stuff is pretty cool too, and anything with Carol Kaye and co playing is gonna be great by default.

I'd recommend getting the 2CD "Anthology" on Rhino, and then the "Head" soundtrack, which is by far the most psychedelic thing they ever did. Their back catalogue is laden with classic songs - not all of which get included on single-disc compilations - but the individual albums do tend to have quite a lot of filler on them, (which is hardly surprising, given that they released two or three per year at the same time as filming episodes of the TV show.

I'd also recommend avoiding any of the re-union albums like the plague, especially the 1986 release "Pool It" which is truly, mind-numbingly awful. The same gies for any of Davy Jones' solo albums, but I'm sure you've probably guessed that already.

Harry Nillson, Neil Diamond and Paul Williams were the 'REAL' Monkees....amongst many other writers and studio musicians.
I think its funny that the Monkees are getting the REVISIONIST assesment nowadays by folks who were'nt even born yet during there tenure.
Like the boy bands of the modern era, a TV fabrication that took it self too seriously.
Light hearted POP if nothing else played by real'crack' L.A. studio musicians in the majority.

Supernatural? Perhaps. Baloney? Perhaps Not.

Damn! Don't even get me started on this topic, I don't have time!

I think The Monkees was a super huge important group, a key influence on CSNY, The Sex Pistols and Backstreet Boys (among many others)!

The records are generally pretty good -- the first two are backed by "The Candystore Prophets", the same session dudes behind The Byrds first album (and Sonny & Cher and the rest of the Hollywood hits of the day), and produced by Boyce & Hart (who wrote most of the tunes.) Material is hit or miss, but when it hits it's perfect 60's pop-rock.

Starting with the third "Headquarters" it gets more interesting, though unless you're a nut like me you should stop well before their final album "Changes" (1970) when they were reduced to a duo of Davy & Micky (the joke at the record company was that if one more member quit, the last guy would be billed as "The Monkee"!)

Best LP to start on is probably "Pisces Aquarius Capricorn & Jones" (1967) -- the first pop album with a moog. The "Head" soundtrack is also great, but really just 6 songs. "The Birds The Bees & The Monkees" also pretty interesting.

On video:

"Head" is a CLASSIC 1960's film, and an important part of the Hollywood story of the time. Directed by Bob Rafelson (who also directed the most arty & interesting episodes of the TV show) and co-written by Jack Nicholson, whose next film together was the acclaimed "Five Easy Pieces". Supposedly the funds for "Head" were somehow plowed (or diverted) into a little film called "Easy Rider" (in the cantina scene with the transvestite, watch carefully and you'll see Nicholson and Dennis Hopper hanging out on the set when the Monkees "break the fourth wall.")

The TV show is mostly corny kid comedy, though in the second season it starts to become artier and you'll find sneaky hipster drug references and stuff.

If you can rent the DVD's individually somehow, just grab the final disc from Season 2 which has the best episode of the show ever (the very last one to air, "The Frodis Caper" -- Frodis being the Monkees' codeword for pot on the set) AND their incredibly surreal 1969 TV "comeback" special called "33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee" which is the strangest mindfuck ever to get broadcast on American TV!

Or lucky for you, it appears "33 1/3" is on youtube!

Awesomely psychedelic intro (featuring Brian Auger & Julie Driscoll!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYOleTcuQuo

Mime dancing about evolution, followed by one of the most embarassing musical numbers ever perpetuated: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7sJBGVOj3Y

(That'll scratch the surface . . . Damn, I am supposed to be working!)

I'm not sure I'm gonna just sit back and nod along to comments about how current music is getting worse and worse.

Today's kids have better taste than ever. I bet children are weirding their muso parents out the world over with their internet-schooling. Everytime I'm playing something like Caetano Veloso at the shop I work at, some kid comes up to the counter knowing exactly what it is. No way in hell would that have happened ten years ago. And most of the crowd at gigs I've seen recently like Throbbing Gristle and Daniel Johnston have been around sixteen/seventeen.

I remember reading Caesar's commentaries and seeing a passage where he bemoans the younger generation and how the world will go to seed when they're put in charge etc. It's a total empty (and natural) gesture to comfort yourself in your redundancy.

Even the chart music isn't all that bad if you sit back, relax- stop squirming!- and just listen with open ears.

Of course, the fact that the scene is so splintered makes it a little harder to find new acts that stand out, but it also means that there are dozens of bands out there who cater to exactly your sensibilities- it just requires a little bit of effort on your part to scout them out.

Thanks to illegal downstealing, the lines between genres are being knocked down. New musicians are absorbing everything at once and incorporating it into their new sounds. Personally, I think this is one of the most exciting periods of music in a long time, but I guess it's easier to have a whinge than actually listen to it. ;)

Well, I've just reserved The Defintive Monkees remastered 2 Cd set from the library, which I'll pick up this afternoon, (it seems pretty comprehensive and with bonus rarities as well), and I've ordered Head DVD/CD from Amazon. Thanks everyone for all your suggestions and contributions!

Thanks for all the positive input. This thread should have run out off steam a long time ago ( some may say it should never have been started in the first place, so to you, apologies ; ....). It's served its purpose as an enquiry re. my ongoing psych quest. This site is a very broad church indeed, and all the better for it. The overwhelming majority of contributions are informative, intelligent, amusing, and above all, friendly. I would like to ask that we let this thread die now, and don't add to it anymore. I don't want to lock it (for obvious reasons) but I would like to see it ended. Thanks.