In the years since their original disbanding, the group has reunited in various incarnations, mostly involving Dolenz, Tork and Jones, but not Nesmith. The first reunion began in 1986 and at first featured only Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork. Davy Jones joined the others and a new album was released before they split again in 1989.
The next regrouping took place between 1993 and 1997 and featured a new album that included the particpation of all four members. A further reunion between 2001 and 2002, was followed by another reunion in 2011 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the television show. This reunion was cut short before 2011 had ended due to scheduling problems with the anniversary tour.
The unexpected death of Davy Jones at the beginning of 2012 prompted the most recent reunion tour, this time featuring Dolenz, Tork and Nesmith.
Created by producers of a TV series to be an American Beatles, the antics of the Monkees band members on the television series were very reminscent of Beatles' antics in films like 'Help' and 'Hard Day's Night'. Indeed, in songs like 'Forget that Girl...', the band and even the lead singer could sound just like the Beatles. With songs provided by Don Kirshner from such writers as Neil Diamond and Carole King, among others, the Monkees were assured of pop success. However, in the beginning, the four group members were hired only as actors to front the band and to provide the vocals whilst studio musicians recorded the backing music. These recordings were provided by Kirshner. Things changed though after the success of the single Last Train to Clarksville, the first hit, leading to demands that the band play live gigs. Having learned to play the music, the band became angry when the second LP was recorded (by Kirshner) by studio musicians, without their knowledge or musical input. They therefore demanded and obtained control of the music.
Nesmith who revealed that the band did not perform on their records was also instrumental in getting Don Kirshner sacked. the next album Headquarters was recorded by The Monkees alone, using hand picked producer Chip Douglas. While not as successful as their first two albums it made it to number one, only to be replaced a week later by The Beatles' Sgt Pepper album. The Monkees eventually settled on a formula of using their own talents as well as those of studio musicians. After two seasons the network and the group could not reach agreement on the format of a third season and the show was canceled even though the ratings were still high. A feature film named Head co-written by The Monkees, Jack Nicholson and Bob Rafelson) followed.
Peter Tork was the first to leave the band, in 1968, during 1969 The TV show went into Saturday morning reruns and the three remaining Monkees recorded two more albums. in 1969 Nesmith departed and began a serious foray into merging country and rock music. He also eventually developed a format that became MTV. By the way his mother invented a product called Liquid Paper, sold it to the Gillette Company for $47 million dollars then died a year later leaving the money to her only son. The remaining two Monkees Dolenz and Jones recorded one last album named Changes in late 1969.
There has, however, been a resurgent interest in The Monkees' music Rhino Records has been instrumental in restoring all their albums, adding bonus tracks, and equipping them with complementary liner notes and stories.
Davy Jones died on February 29, 2012 in Indiantown, Florida.
Peter Tork died on February 21, 2019, at his home in Mansfield, Connecticut.
Michael Nesmith died on December 10, 2021, in Carmel Valley, California.
DISCOGRAPHY (from www.themonkees.net):
The Monkees (1966)
More of The Monkees (1967)
Headquarters (1967)
Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd. (1967)
The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees (1968)
Head (1968)
Instant Replay (1969)
The Monkees Present (1969)
Changes (1970)
Then & Now...The Best of the Monkees (1986)
Pool It! (1987)
Live 1967 (1987)
Justus (1996)
Good Times! (2016)
Star Collector
The Monkees Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where ever it is, she's goin', too.
Give her my autograph and tell her
It's been nice knowin' you.
[Chorus]
She's a star collector (collector of stars)
She only seems to please young celebrities.
How can I love her, when I just don't respect her?
When everything is goin' my way,
She wants to be close at hand.
She moves to some other doorway
When things don't go the way she planned.
[Chorus]
It won't take much time before I get her off my mind
[Chorus: x2]
The Monkees' song "Star Collector" is about a woman who collects stars, but not the ones in the sky. She collects young celebrities and only seems to please them. The singer of the song finds it hard to love her because he does not respect her.
The lyrics of the first verse imply that the woman enjoys following the young celebrities everywhere they go, and the singer asks someone to give her his autograph and tell her that it has been nice knowing her. He knows that she will not be satisfied with just his autograph and will keep chasing after the elusive stars.
The chorus highlights her obsession with young celebrities, causing the singer to question whether he can love someone he does not respect. In the second verse, he realizes that she only wants to be around when everything is going well, and she moves to some other door when things do not go as planned. The song ends with the singer hoping it won't take long to get her off his mind.
Line by Line Meaning
Take a letter, keep on going
I will write a letter and leave, and she can go wherever she wants.
Where ever it is, she's goin', too.
She has an intense desire to be around celebrities and will follow them anywhere.
Give her my autograph and tell her
It's been nice knowin' you.
I will give her my autograph as a means of saying goodbye as I do not want to interact with her anymore.
She's a star collector (collector of stars)
She only seems to please young celebrities.
She is obsessed with collecting young celebrities, and pleasing them is her only interest.
She's a star collector (collector of stars)
How can I love her, when I just don't respect her?
Because of her obsession with fame, I cannot love her as I do not respect her values.
When everything is goin' my way,
She wants to be close at hand.
She only wants to be around me when my career is going well.
She moves to some other doorway
When things don't go the way she planned.
She will quickly distance herself from me if my career takes a downturn.
It won't take much time before I get her off my mind
I will quickly forget her and move on with my life after ending our interactions.
[Chorus: x2]
Repetition of the chorus indicating the artist's continued frustration with the star collector.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: CAROLE KING, GERRY GOFFIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Philip Kassabian
on Words
A good and catchy song by The Monkees.
Philip Kassabian
on D.W. Washburn
A good song by The Monkees.
Philip Kassabian
on Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere
A good song by The Monkees.
Philip Kassabian
on That Was Then, This Is Now
This is a great Monkees song.
Philip Kassabian
on Last Train to Clarksville
A good Monkees song.
Philip Kassabian
on A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You
An excellent Monkees song.
Philip Kassabian
on Daydream Believer
A great Monkees song.
Philip Kassabian
on I'm a Believer - 2006 Remaster
This song is amazing.
Philip Kassabian
on Listen to the Band
Yet another classic song by The Monkees.
Philip Kassabian
on Pleasant Valley Sunday
I've always loved this song ever since I heard it when I was a kid.