The Monkees’ theme song couldn’t be more perfectly efficient, probably because it was written—by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart—as the intro to the band’s TV show. And it reveals pretty much everything you might need to know about the group: They’re here, they’re a little weird (people even say they monkey around), they’re friendly (they’re not interested in put-downs), and they’re socially conscious, but only vaguely. The band would go on to assert itself musically, though this song will surely be its most closely associated, for obvious reasons. [JM]
