The Monkees have been knocking on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's door since 1991, but no one has answered the door yet. Peter Tork thinks he knows why:

Peter Tork... says the Monkees merit consideration for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but one man opposes their induction.

"The only person ... holding a grudge is Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone," says the former Monkee. The magazine editor "has never written a gracious word. He personally has the veto power to keep us out."

Wenner - who didn't reply to an interview request - allegedly denounces Tork, Dolenz, Davy Jones and Mike Nesmith for not playing their own instruments on the band's first albums.

In this "American Idol" era, when acts are "manufactured" like toasters, fewer critics crucify the Monkees for being a TV show that spawned a band. So have they faced an unfair standard? Were they, in fact, a "real" group?

"I've not heard the slightest murmur about the Monkees being fake," Tork, 65, says from his Connecticut home. "Everybody's forgotten it, except Wenner. He's been vicious."

One Rolling Stone reporter, Tork says, wrote a glowing story crystallizing their merits. But before publication, Tork adds, "The writer said, 'Jann took my article, gutted it and rewrote it to [bury] you.'"

Wenner is often accused of using his clout to keep out a particular band, but it seems unlikely he's the only obstacle in their way to being inducted.

Thanks, David.