The amazing story of the '60s rock group, now in a new edition -- Illustrated with over 200 photographs including Monkees ephemera and film stills -- Includes a complete Monkees and solo discography Monkeemania is the essential retrospective on a rock and media phenomenon, providing revealing insights into the rough and tumble worlds of music and film. In 1968, the Monkees were millionaires, unable to set foot in public without being mobbed. It began with an ad in Variety that sought four "insane boys" to play a pop group in a TV series. An instant hit, the show won Emmy Awards and the four singers -- Davy Jones, Mike Nesmith, Peter Tork, and Micky Dolenz -- decided to form a real pop group. They took Britain and the U.S. by storm and went on to outsell the Beatles and the Rolling Stones combined. Their popularity has never diminished, and following their recent 30th anniversary reunion tour and a Disney documentary, Monkeemania is primed to resurge. Rock historian Glenn Baker tells the complete story of how filmmakers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider created the first "manufactured" pop group. He traces the Monkees' meteoric rise to fame, the adulation and hostility they faced at the top of pop's ladder, and their sudden decline into battles with the music business and Hollywood. Their meetings with the likes of Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Carole King, and Jack Nicholson are described along the way. The new edition has been updated, with a redesigned cover. Hundreds of memorable photographs document one of the biggest waves in rock history.