1967 Comeback Single Mocked the Monkees, Then Became a Classic

It's frustrating enough when your band's shrinking success is being eclipsed by more manufactured musical acts, but it's even worse when your swipe at their songs becomes one of your most beloved songs - take it from The Byrds, who experienced this phenomenon with "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star."

The 1967 track came at a creative and commercial crossroads for the American band, who found the initial excitement of 1964 to early 1966, which saw an explosion of rock music and folk influence across the cultural landscape, to begin to come back down to earth with a crash.

"We'd watched [The Beatles film] A Hard Day's Night just as we were starting out and were so enamoured of it," Byrds bassist Chris Hillman told Classic Rock in 2017. The 1964 film, with the iconic opening scene of screaming fans chasing the Fab Four down the street to the titular track, was an exemplary piece of filmmaking of the unprecedented year witnessed by the group, which had a rippling effect on other rock bands, receiving a warm (even if less stratospheric) reception by an adoring public.

By 1966, however, the tide began to turn. The Beatles quit touring the same year - one part exhaustion, another part a move to in-studio productions away from screaming fans and shoddy stadium speakers, and another move away from growing backlash against rock groups, perhaps most famously the reaction by American fans towards John Lennon's comments about Jesus and Christianity.

"We started doing shows and girls were running after us and jumping on the car. But within a matter of two years, all of a sudden we were like jaded old men who'd been around the block a few times," Hillman continued.

"By late '66, early '67, we were going out of business," guitarist Jim McGuinn echoed. "We were up at Chris's house and going through the pages of some teen magazine, cracking up at all these one-hit wonders who would be gone by the next week."

One rock band that rose to prominence in that period was The Monkees, the British-American group that was, quite literally, made for television and the teen market. The group of actors/musicians, consisting of Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork, was assembled by NBC executives for the TV show of the same name. The Monkees' self-titled comedy series premiered in 1965, and the release of their debut album in 1966 saw the group achieve four consecutive No. 1 albums, even outselling The Beatles in the year of 1967.

This shift to a more commercialized, family-friendly rock and roll inspired "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star," a sarcastic song taking a swipe at the new, corporate face of the genre. How do you become a rock 'n' roll star, then? According to the Byrds, "Just get an electric guitar/Then take some time and learn how to play/And with your hair swung right and your pants fit tight/It's gonna be all right."

While this may be described by a modern music stan as "throwing shade" at the Monkees, McGuinn has maintained it was all tongue-in-cheek. 'Rock & Roll Star' was NOT about the Monkees, but the whole pop music business," he told Planting Seed Records. "Mike [Nesmith] and I were friends and used to jam together."

Perhaps a little too ahead of its time, "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" peaked at a lowly #29 on the Billboard Hot 100, but found later success, mainly among icons of the rock genre. Since its release 59 years ago, the track has been covered by artists such as Patti Smith, Tom Petty, and has been a frequent feature at Pearl Jam concerts. It even got a slightly modernized update, thanks to R.E.M.

"When we played 'Rock 'n' Roll Star', where it has that part where it goes 'la la la la la la la', [McGuinn] played C-F-G," R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck told The Aquarian Weekly, speaking of McGuinn joining the band on stage at a New Jersey concert in 1984 for a cover of the song (obtained via East Coast Rocker). "I said, 'That's weird, we do C-D-G'. Then he played it that way and said, 'You know, I like that better. I think I'll change it.'"

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 6, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published June 6, 2026 at 8:00 AM.