Peter Tork of the Monkees passed away. His 77th birthday was just eight days ago.

The Monkees was one of the first musical acts I was ever aware of, watching reruns of the TV show as a kid. I saw them in concert in the 80s when MTV ran a Monkees Marathon, sparking a revival of the band. Apparently, I was not alone. There were a lot of people who were high-school age like I was at the show.

At first, the band was not allowed to write or perform their own music, but Peter managed to get a minor part on one or two early songs. When the band was allowed to contribute, Peter scored a bit of a coup with the song “For Pete’s Sake.” The song was used for the end credits of the show in season 2.

RIP Peter Tork.