The Monkees

The Monkees were a pop rock quartet assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968. The members were Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, and Englishman Davy Jones, who were supervised and popularized by Don Kirshner. At the time of the band’s formation, its producers saw The Monkees as a Beatles-like band. At the start, the band members provided vocals, and were given some performing and production opportunities, but they eventually fought for and earned the right to collectively supervise all musical output under the band’s name. The group undertook several concert tours, allowing an opportunity to perform as a live band as well as on the TV series. Although the show was canceled in 1968, the band continued releasing records until 1970. In the 1980s, the television show and music experienced a revival, which led to a series of reunion tours, and new records featuring various incarnations of the band’s lineup. Critics of the Monkees observed that they were simply the “prefab four”, a made-for-TV knockoff of the Beatles, but the Beatles took it in stride, and made the Monkees welcome when they visited England. John Lennon publicly compared the Monkees’ humor to The Marx Brothers. George Harrison praised their self-produced musical attempts, saying “When they get it all sorted out, they might turn out to be the best” (Peter Tork was later one of the musicians on Harrison’s Wonderwall Music …

It takes most producers years to get their music signed to a label. When you’re as prodigiously talented as Spanish DJ/producer Kramnik is, it’s a mere 12 months from the creation of first track BPM Blues to the ink drying on that all important contract. After months of interest from various imprints around the world, it was the attitude and passion of CuePlay Records that finally sealed the deal for Kramnik. “Even though there were several labels interested in releasing this first EP, I signed with CuePlay because they represent what I was looking for during this first production,” he said. “I like their honest approach to the creative process because, being honest, there is more to electronic music than just dance floors. Making music is not the same thing as dancing to it, and there is no reason why that should ever change.” Oleg Hripko, owner of Cueplay, underlined his long-term commitment to Kramnik’s future. “We signed Kramnik because of his unique style, his energy flow, his intuition to the small details. Our team wants to bring him into our family, a friend for life. “When we listened to his music for the first time, we instinctively believed in him. When we spoke to him for the first time, we were really nicely surprised at how big his love for music is — his soul is open towards new emotions, new feelings, new moments. Kramnik is a man and an artist with an open heart, fantastic, unique music style and we are really glad to have him on board with us.” Kramnik …
Video Rating: 5 / 5