The Monkees Members of the Monkees, Nesmith in particular, cite the soundtrack album as one of the crowning achievements of the band. Tensions within the group were increasing. Peter Tork, citing exhaustion, quit by buying out the last four years of his Monkees contract at $150,000 per year, equal to about $ per year today. This was shortly after the band's Far East tour in December 1968, after completing work on their 1969 NBC television special, "33⅓ Revolutions Per Monkee", which rehashed many of the ideas from "Head", only with the Monkees playing a strangely second-string role. In the DVD commentary for
More of the Monkees sales of more than five million copies. "More of the Monkees" is also notable for being the first pop/rock album to be the best-selling album of the year in the U.S. Monkeemania had reached full swing by the time the album was released. The Monkees' second single, "I'm a Believer"—included on this album—held the number one position on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and they were about to embark on a highly successful concert tour. The release of "More of the Monkees" was rushed to capitalize on the band's popularity, catching even its members by surprise. The band learned of the