Well...I grew up watching the Monkees on TV (remember the 1986 reunion tour and their 20 year anniversary?) and my mom was excited that I liked them because she was a fan when she was young-un. BTW, I'm only 26 years old (I'm saying this for a reason), so I didn't "grow up" listening to the Beatles, like most people older than me did. I realize that the Beatles transcend age, and I did hear their songs growing up on the radio occasionally on the local "oldies but goodies" station, so it's not like I don't know their stuff and I'm talking out of my butt.
I got all the Monkees cassettes (are those things still around? LOL) and listened to them CONSTANTLY...I loved the different sounds of the group, the Broadway (Davy), the country (Mike), the R&B/pop (Micky) and the bizarre (Peter! LOL). Unique blend, FOR SURE!! LOL I don't know why, but I've never connected with the Beatles music. I guess I'm one of the
VERY FEW. I realize that you may argue, "but they weren't/aren't even a REAL group!!", but I would counter-argue that they ARE, and at first, when the TV show came out, they were not ALLOWED to write or play their own music (thanks to Don Kirschner who was eventually fired) and Mike and Peter were none too happy about it. Micky and Davy were the actors, Mike and Peter were the musicians. Did everyone know that Mike Nesmith's mom invented Liquid Paper? That's only one reason why HE'S loaded! Just some trivia for ya. They played and wrote almost every song on their album, Headquarters, btw. Well, there's some Monkees info, if anyone cares. LOL I would suggest listening to some non-famous songs that were written by the Monkees OR written by some great writers like Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Neil Diamond, Boyce and Hart, PLUS, JOHN STEWART wrote Daydream Believer!!
You know what is HILARIOUS about this whole post...my name comes from a song called Randy Scouse Git, by Micky Dolenz, where he mentions "wondergirl", his eventual wife, at a party with...THE BEATLES!! LMAO!! "the four kings of EMI are sitting stately on the floor.." <----Beatles.