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Richard Marx revealed he was a huge fan of The Monkees‘ songs from a young age. Subsequently, he covered The Monkees’ “I Wanna Be Free” and one of the band’s songwriters reacted to it. Interestingly, “I Wanna Be Free” was supposed to sound like one of The Beatles’ most famous songs.

The Monkees' Mike Nesmith, Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, and Peter Tork wearing blue
The Monkees’ Mike Nesmith, Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, and Peter Tork | Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

The Monkees’ I Wanna Be Free’ was supposed to sound like 1 of The Beatles’ songs

Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart formed the songwriting duo Boyce & Hart. Together, they wrote many songs for The Monkees. According to Hart’s 2015 book Psychedelic Bubble Gum: Boyce & Hart, The Monkees, and Turning Mayhem Into Miracles, the pair wrote the song “I Wanna Be Free” before the group’s sitcom aired.

“Conveniently, the song was already in our drawer when we went looking for a romantic song for Davy’s beach scene in The Monkees pilot show,” Hart wrote. “And once again, it served us well when we needed a ‘Yesterday’-type string quartet ballad for their first album.”

“I Wanna Be Free” became popular with other artists. “It has probably been recorded by more artists than any other Boyce & Hart song,” hart revealed. “One of my favorites is the stripped-down and unplugged YouTube performance by Richard Marx.”

What Richard Marx thought about The Monkees in comparison to The Beatles

In a 2012 post on his website, Marx discussed his childhood reaction to The Monkees. “It was the winter of 1968 and aside from The Beatles, nothing on earth was bigger than The Monkees,” he recalled. “In my house, however, The Monkees were everything. I didn’t really catch up to how life-changing The Beatles were until later.”

Marx elaborated on the Prefab Four’s impact on him. “I think I knew the words to ‘Daydream Believer‘ and ‘(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone‘ before I could speak in complete sentences,” he said. “I freaking loved The Monkees. I watched their show on TV every Saturday and begged my parents to buy me every record.”

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How ‘I Wanna Be Free’ and its parent album performed on the charts in the United States and the United Kingdom

“I Wanna Be Free” was never a single in the United States. Thus, it never charted on the Billboard Hot 100. The Monkees released “I Wanna Be Free” on their self-titled album. The Monkees became the biggest album of the Prefab Four’s career. It was No. 1 for 13 of its 102 weeks on the Billboard 200.

According to The Official Charts Company, “I Wanna Be Free” did not chart in the United Kingdom either. Meanwhile, The Monkees was a hit there. In the U.K., the album reached No. 1 for seven weeks, remaining on the chart for 37 weeks in total.

“I Wanna Be Free” wasn’t a hit — but Marx’s cover impressed Hart.

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