Peter Tork Of The Monkees Passes Away At 77

Peter Tork of The Monkees 

Peter Tork, who found fame as one of the made-for-TV pop foursome, the Monkees, has died at the age of 77.

Cast in the 1966 sitcom (with fellow band mates Davey Jones, Michael Nesmith and Micky Dolenz), the blues/folk musician found he was limited in utilizing his skills when it came to the show's music.

Producer Don Kirshner was more interested in sitcom hi-jinks and parodying the Beatles than having the actors be actual musicians.

Eventually, the 'pre-fab four' fought for and won the right to participate in creating band's music.

Wikipedia notes that the quartet sold over 75 million albums and scored such hits as "Daydream Believer," "Last Train to Clarksville," "I'm a Believer," and the show's iconic theme song.

Although the TV show ended in 1968, the band would experience a revival in fandom when MTV began airing the series in 1986. A reunion tour followed, where the band reportedly made more money than ever thanks to nostalgia.

The Washington Post writes, "If the Monkees were a manufactured version of the Beatles, a “prefab four” who auditioned for a rock-and-roll sitcom and were selected more for their long-haired good looks than their musical abilities, Mr. Tork was the group’s Ringo, its lovably goofy supporting player."

As a kid, I wore a hole in my Monkees albums playing them over and over.

RIP Peter Tork.

Davy Jones of the Monkees passes away due to heart attack

Singer Davy Jones of The Monkees has died of a heart attack at 66, the medical examiner's office in Martin County, Fla., has confirmed to NBC News.
The news was originally reported by TMZ.

Jones was most famous for his role in the pop group The Monkees, which was put together in 1965 for the TV show of the same name. With such hits as "Daydream Believer," "Last Train to Clarksville," "I'm a Believer," and "Pleasant Valley Sunday," and the "Monkees" theme song, the group sold more than 50 million records.

In 2008, Yahoo Music named Jones the top teen idol of all time.

After "The Monkees" disbanded in 1971, Jones sang solo as well as with various reincarnations of the group.

He also acted on stage and screen, with his most famous TV appearance as himself on "The Brady Bunch," in an episode where Marcia Brady was the president of his fan club and tried to get the singer to appear at her school dance. He also played Fagin in "Oliver!" on Broadway.

He released his final album in 2009.

As recently as June of 2011, Jones told The Palm Beach Post that after a routine stress test, a doctor said he had the heart of a 25-year-old. "The doctor says my heart's so good, the door's open to do any kind of exercise I want," he told the paper.

Last summer Jones and fellow bandmates Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz as the band, minus Michael Nesmith, prepared to tour. That tour was later canceled due to internal conflict.

Peter Tork, Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz of The Monkees