The Advertisement That Changed Pop Music Forever

Most ads aren’t as momentous as the one that ran for two days in 1965.

The Sept. 8-9 advertisement began with “Madness!!” in large type to get people’s attention.

Apparently, it worked.

September 8 & 9, 1965- Auditons for The Monkees took place! Nearly a year later, the first episode aired and the rest is history pic.twitter.com/rbLhXTfVYF

— The Monkees (@TheMonkees) September 8, 2026

The NBC ad appeared in both Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, drawing more than 400 young men seeking stardom. One potential actor didn’t get the job thanks to his imperfect teeth – future folk rock superstar Stephen Stills.

Four “insane boys” made the final cut:

• Micky Dolenz
• Davy Jones
• Michael Nesmith
• Peter Tork

Hey, hey, they were The Monkees, a manufactured band created to star in an NBC half-hour sitcom. The show ran for two wacky seasons and saw the cast members blossom from a media-created quartet into the real deal.

The Monkees’ first two albums used session musicians behind their vocal performances. They weren’t a band in the traditional sense, just actors playing a part.

That was never the original intention, and the studio and network preferred it that way. Control mattered.

Except the quartet took the Pinocchio approach – we can be a real band. They fought for their musical independence, and won, witness the 1967 “Headquarters” album.

The Monkees gave us some of the era’s best pop songs in a shockingly short time frame:

• “Daydream Believer”
• “I’m a Believer”
• “Sometime in the Morning”
• “The Girl I Knew Somewhere”
• “Last Train to Clarksville”
• “Pleasant Valley Sunday”

Then, just as quickly as the foursome erupted on the music scene, they faded away. The Monkees’ movie, “Head,” bombed in theaters. Tork exited, stage left. Nesmith soon followed.

Except they refused to stay down.

The mid-80s saw a major Monkees reunion, complete with three-fourths of the band touring the country.  They kept reuniting after that, recording new music (“Pool It,” “Justus” and “Good Times”) while touring off-and-on over the decades.

Now, Dolenz is the last surviving Monkee, and he is currently hitting the road to support the band’s 60th anniversary.

September is here, which means we’re getting ready to take Micky Dolenz Celebrates 60 Years of The Monkees back on the road.

We start with two nights at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix on September 8 and 9, then we head to Los Angeles on September 12 for a very special… pic.twitter.com/JmGfajcP9V

— Micky Dolenz (@TheMickyDolenz1) September 2, 2026

Except The Monkees’ legacy doesn’t stand alone. Boy bands became all the rage in their wake. Each new decade offered another manufactured group that connected with the era’s youth. 

• New Kids on the Block
• Menudo
• The Jackson 5
• Backstreet Boys
• *NSYNC
• One Direction
• BTS

Not bad for an add seeking “Ben Frank types with “courage to work.”