More of the Monkees output, since this album and their debut, "The Monkees", featured them limited to just vocals with scattered instrumental contributions. Kirshner had a strict rule that the Monkees were to provide only vocals on his productions, though separate sessions produced by Michael Nesmith himself usually featured Peter Tork on guitar. "More of the Monkees" has Nesmith limited to one song as lead vocalist. Within weeks of the release of "More of the Monkees", Nesmith lobbied successfully with the group's creators, Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, for the Monkees to be allowed to play their instruments on future records, effectively giving the
The Monkees and Minor Threat both recorded versions of "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" and it was often played live by Toy Love. The Japanese new wave pop group the Plastics recorded a synthesizer and drum-machine version of "Last Train to Clarksville" for their 1979 album "Welcome Back." Glenn A. Baker, author of "Monkeemania: The True Story of the Monkees," described the Monkees as "rock's first great embarrassment" in 1986: Like an illegitimate child in a respectable family, the Monkees are destined to be regarded forever as rock's first great embarrassment; misunderstood and maligned like a mongrel at a ritzy dog show,