Forgive the hyperbolic headline, but it's all coming back to me today, on the 50th anniversary of the debut of The Monkees' TV show.
While I was alive when the first episode premiered, I was only months old, so my record collection was understandably lacking.
By the time I was five, though, I was already tiring of Shaggy and Scooby's predictable hijinx and looking for something a little more, you know, cool. Heck, I was already rocking at a fifth grade level thanks to a tennis racket and wall-size mirror.
So when I caught my first episode of "The Monkees" one afternoon, my regularly scheduled trip to the local park to play with friends was slightly delayed. By "slightly", I mean I really should get going. If my pals are still waiting for me, well, I could have a bit of explaining to do.
What caught my attention first was how "The Monkees" was like a real-life version of Scooby Doo with much better music. The second thing to catch my attention was quickly addressed to my mom, who, just a few days prior, had nixed my attempt to unwittingly become a hipster: "Hey, that guy gets to wear a snow cap and its not even winter."
She took one look at Michael Nesmith on the boob tube, shook her head, and replied, "When you get your own TV series, you can wear anything you want."
As the credits rolled, I hopped off to my room singing nonsensical lyrics to the tune of "The Monkees' Theme", powered up my computer and attempted to log-on to the internet in order to buy a Monkees CD on Amazon.
Unfortunately none of those things had been invented yet so, instead, I peppered my mom with questions about my new "Second" favorite band, including "Can we go see them play?"
It was at this point that my mom politely informed me that, like me #1 favotite band of all time, the Beatles, they had disbanded. That's right, Mr. Young and Innocent, your two fave bands were gone before you ever knew they existed.
Thankfully, the Monkees have tried valiantly to make it up to me over the years, reforming on an almost annual basis in hopes of one day earning my forgiveness. I kid, of course. I have never seen the Monkees perform, wouldn't go if you gave me tickets and flew me to the show, but would cancel plans to see Al Jourgensen perform With Sympathy in its entirety if a Monkees marathon came on the boob tube.
Also worth mentioning is the fact that YouTube is a treasure trove of full episodes of the TV show so if you're at work staring down a pile of TPS Reports and need a diversion in a hurry...click above and all your worries will drift away. You've heard of "kitten therapy", right? How about a little "Monkee therapy"?