Through the Monkees have been eligible since 1992, a quarter century after their debut single, they’ve gotten no closer in the ensuing time to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
This despite their having sold more albums in 1967 than did the already-inducted Rolling Stones and the Beatles — combined. Despite helping pave the way for MTV with their television program, a show that played host to the already-inducted Frank Zappa and Jimi Hendrix.
Detractors invariably mention the factor that they were actors, not rockers. But the Monkees – who are touring as a trio now in the wake of Davy Jones’ death last year — overcame their own inexperience to craft a number of memorable songs, both together and apart.
Vocalist and drummer Micky Dolenz has a simpler explanation for being snubbed.
“The thing about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” Dolenz says in this video Q&A, “it’s a wonderful organization. I’ve actually done quite a bit of charity work for the foundation. It’s a wonderful organization, but it’s a private organization. It’s like a golf club.”
That means entry into the hall — founded by a group that included record executives Ahmet Ertegun and Seymour Stein along with Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner — is predicated on personal choices, not popularity.
“These three gentlemen said we want to start a private club,” Dolenz adds. “We gonna call it the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and we’re going to let it who we want. And, like a golf club, they have every right to do that. It’s not a democratic, popular vote, or record sales or every person in the music industry voting. No, it’s a private club. They have the right to let in who they want — or not.”
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