The Monkees surprised to influence the Sex Pistols

The Monkees are "surprised" they influenced The Sex Pistols.

The family friendly 60s group - the first ever manufactured pop band - said they are astounded by the artists who admire them, in particular the outrageous English punk band, who covered the track '(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone', which they had made popular in 1966.

Singer Davy Jones said: "I'm quite surprised by the amount of musicians who have great affection to The Monkees. He was a bit of a character old Sid Vicious there!"

Bandmate Micky Dolenz added he felt privileged to meet and tour with some of the biggest artists of the period, in particular guitar legend Jimi Hendrix.

He added to England's BBC's 6 Music radio station: "Jimi Hendrix, who opened for us on the road, was a fabulous gentleman and the greatest rock guitar player of all time ever. To have known the Beatles and all those kinds of people I just think I'm on top of the world."

However Micky and Davy - who along with Peter Tork have recently announced plans for a 45th anniversary Monkees tour, without fourth member Michael Nesmith - don't have fond memories of everyone from their heyday, particularly songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart responsible for the band's hits including 'Last Train To Clarksville' and '(Theme from) The Monkees'.

Micky said: "Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart wrote most of our songs and were the producers, and I didn't like working with them one bit."