Jump to content

The Monkees Thread


Horrorshow_Plant

Recommended Posts

Wow ,this is sad and unexpected news. As young kid, The Monkees were definitely a part of my music staple and Davy, well he was stealing young girl hearts everywhere. What young guy didn't want to be him ! I'm truely saddened to hear that he has passed away . RIP Davy

Edited by ally
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm at work today and my daughter calls me this morning and asks if I had read any news today. No, just working my ass off. She tells me that Davy Jones has passed away. NOOOOO. I am so sad to hear this news. He still had many more years to live his life. Another piece of my childhood chipped away by death.

About 30 minutes later the hubby calls me to ask if I had heard the news. Yes. They both knew I have a soft spot for the Monkees as they were my first musical idol crush as a kid. Before Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple there was Hermans Hermits and the Monkees.

My first purchase of a 45 was a Monkee song. A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You. Still one of my favorite Monkee songs. That 45 was long lost in the not so nice childhood that I had back in the mid to late 60's. But an island of happiness for me was looking forward to Wednesday nights (I think) and watching whatever Monkee antics were in store for my viewing. I had a huge crush on Davey, Mickey, Mike and Peter. Many a time was daydreaming about any one of those young men sweeping this young girl off her feet with song and a smile.

Davy, may you RIP. I hope you had a happy and fulfilled life. Thank you for the memories.

Edited by ledzepfvr
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm at work today and my daughter calls me this morning and asks if I had read any news today. No, just working my ass off. She tells me that Davy Jones has passed away. NOOOOO. I am so sad to hear this news. He still had many more years to live his life. Another piece of my childhood chipped away by death.

About 30 minutes later the hubby calls me to ask if I had heard the news. Yes. They both knew I have a soft spot for the Monkees as they were my first musical idol crush as a kid. Before Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple there was Hermans Hermits and the Monkees.

My first purchase of a 45 was a Monkee song. A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You. Still one of my favorite Monkee songs. That 45 was long lost in the not so nice childhood that I had back in the mid to late 60's. But an island of happiness for me was looking forward to Wednesday nights (I think) and watching whatever Monkee antics were in store for my viewing. I had a huge crush on Davey, Mickey, Mike and Peter. Many a time was daydreaming about any one of those young men sweeping this young girl off her feet with song and a smile.

Davy, may you RIP. I hope you had a happy and fulfilled life. Thank you for the memories.

i feel the same as you. way too young to die. i loved the monkees show too. i guess i was about 11 or 12 at the time it was shown. i love some of their songs.... " take the last train to clarkesville " and " i'm a believer " are great pop songs, imo.

R.I.P. Davy Jones.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

RIP Davy. The Monkees show was part of your childhood if you were a kid in the 1960's. It was zany, and IMHO their hit records were good. Davy also had acting parts in the UK. I remember him as Ena Sharples' grandson in the legendary British television soap opera, 'Coronation Street'. This must be very hard for his family - my thoughts are with them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unlike some recent deaths, THIS was a complete surprise to me, as Davy Jones seemed so perpetually youthful. You never thought of him as "old" or "aging". He was always Davy...that cute, tiny, cheeky, scamp of The Monkees.

Michael Nesmith was always my favourite Monkee(something about his wool cap and his bemused nature), but they all were fun to watch. The Monkees was a show I enjoyed with relish and with no compunction about its "manufactured origins" and supposed affront to true rock fans ideals about authenticity.

The show was fun and zany and quite groundbreaking and influential in its way. In fact, for all the impact that '60s films like "2001", "Easy Rider", "The Graduate", "Bullitt", and "Bonnie and Clyde" had on the pop-culture landscape, it is "A Hard Day's Night" and "The Monkees" that probably had the strongest and most lasting influence.

As much as I loved the TV show, though, the clincher was the Bob Rafelson-Jack Nicholson drug-fueled phantasmagoria on The Monkees, "Head". Made in 1968, I didn't get a chance to see it until the late-70s. What a trip! A surrealistic exploration and explosion of the Monkees myth, it is something you have to see at least once in your life. Whether you see it stoned or not is up to you...I've seen it both stoned and sober and enjoyed it just as much either way. Look for the amazing amount of hip counter-culture cameos in the film.

And fans of Michael Mann's "Heat" will recognize the bridge in the opening scene.

Anyway, this movie encouraged me to reevaluate the Monkees place and relevance in Sixties pop culture...and they had some pretty good tunes, too.

Let me put it this way...nowadays I find myself listening to the Monkees more often than Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Santana and the rest of those deadly earnest San Francisco bands that scoffed at "fake" bands like the Monkees.

Anyway...it was a sad shock hearing about Davy's passing. May he rest in peace.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As much as I loved the TV show, though, the clincher was the Bob Rafelson-Jack Nicholson drug-fueled phantasmagoria on The Monkees, "Head". Made in 1968, I didn't get a chance to see it until the late-70s. What a trip! A surrealistic exploration and explosion of the Monkees myth, it is something you have to see at least once in your life. Whether you see it stoned or not is up to you...I've seen it both stoned and sober and enjoyed it just as much either way. Look for the amazing amount of hip counter-culture cameos in the film.

I've never seen Head myself. I'm going to have to fix that.

Let me put it this way...nowadays I find myself listening to the Monkees more often than Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Santana and the rest of those deadly earnest San Francisco bands that scoffed at "fake" bands like the Monkees.

I don't think that's entirely true. I'm not sure if you've ever seen this but during this interview with Jerry Garcia, the interviewer tries to corner Garcia into talking shit about the Monkees, which he refuses to do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXs_rwjb_x4

Edited by Jahfin
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Monkees were always just another band I knew, I wasn't ever to fasinated with their work. Sure I've listened to a few of their tunes ("I'm a beleiver" comes to mind). But when I heard about Davey's death this morning, I was shocked, I had no idea his life would end so soon.

R.I.P. Davey Jones

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The more I've thought about this, the sadder I've felt, although except for a tiny sliver of my life, one long ago summer, I never really considered myself a Monkees fan. Since the passing of Davy Jones, I've heard from so many old friends and family members: A cousin reminded me that Oliver (with Davy Jones as the Artful Dodger) was one of the first Broadway musicals we attended (although I don't honestly have a clear memory of it). My younger sister (who was a huge Monkees fan) emailed me a photo of us together, in front of the Monkee mobile - she is posing against the railing, all smiles, while I am behind her, standing straight, looking like a bored and tolerant older sister. A friend talked about the night we all saw the Monkees at Forest Hills when a teenager started a "We want the Monkees!" cheer in our section that drowned out the (to us unknown at the time) guitarist (Hendrix) who opened for them that night. I wrote about my memories of going to Zilch, buying love beads, and the English woman who worked behind the counter, who we were told was Davy's mother.

http://youtu.be/3OVGY7Rjbhc

I don't think that's entirely true. I'm not sure if you've ever seen this but during this interview with Jerry Garcia, the interviewer tries to corner Garcia into talking shit about the Monkees, which he refuses to do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXs_rwjb_x4

Several of my friends posted this yesterday and one of them, who once worked with Jerry, told us that "Jerry liked the Monkees."

I think much of the scorn heaped on the band may have come from certain journalists rather than from their fellow musicians. Peter was a musician who was part of the NYC folk music scene and a friend of Stephen Stills (who tried out for the role that Peter ultimately took). Mike was a musician too (writing and performing music). Not everyone cared for the television show and not everyone cared for their pop music sound, but my friends who were/are musicians have had nothing but good things to say about the individual members of the Monkees, as people and as musicians/performers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As I previously mentioned, I was more of a fan of the TV show than I was of the Monkees themselves. In other words, I watched the show regularly but have never owned a Monkees record, nor have I ever had the desire to. That's not to say that that I never listened to one of my older brothers' Monkees records because I most certainly did (their self-titled debut to be specific). Growing up in the 60s and early 70s (I was born in '62), bands like the Monkees, the Partridge Family, Herman's Hermits and yes, even the Jackson Five and the Osmonds were a huge part of my musical landscape so they were inescapable. They were a big part of my youth but that sort of stuff quickly fell by the wayside once I was exposed to the Beatles, Zeppelin, Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Steppenwolf, Grand Funk Railroad and the like. In that regard, that early bubblegum pop will always hold a special place for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As someone here mentioned the TV show kind of made them famous, one wonders if they did not have the TV show how big they would have been? Perhaps the TV show put them in the same type of league as the Partridge Family. Now do not take that as an insult, because I actuallly liked David Cassidy's' voice alot and liked alot of their songs. I have to go see if I still have any of my old Monkees or for that matter Partridge Family records.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Monkees were invented just for TV so I don't think you could have had one without the other. Same thing for the Partridge Family though I believe the Partridge Family program was inspired by the Cowsills, an actual singing group.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Susan Dey :wub:

+ 100!!! Oh YEAH! Susan Dey(Laurie Partridge) was groovy!

Back to the Monkees...here's one of my favourite bits from "Head", where they address the "manufactured" tag:

Another great scene from "Head"...Davy Jones meets Frank Zappa:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Monkees star Davy Jones mourned in private funeral

By MATT SEDENSKY, Associated Press – 8 hours ago

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) — Monkees singer Davy Jones was remembered in a small private Florida funeral as a laid-back daydreamer who brought fans into a world blissfully free of worries.

The service was held behind locked doors Wednesday at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Indiantown, close to Jones' home and next to Hope Rural School, which Jones had supported.

The Rev. Frank O'Loughlin, who presided over the service, said several of Jones' own songs were played, including "I'll Love You Forever" and "Written in My Heart." In his own remarks to mourners, the priest compared the singer to the diminutive hero of "Lord of the Rings," saying the author J.R.R. Tolkien portrayed a world not unlike the one Jones offered fans.

"He wrote about a quiet, gentle, contented people," O'Loughlin said in his sermon, a copy of which he shared with The Associated Press. "A people for whom life was bright, neighbors friends, daydream believers with an absolute absence of burden who took themselves lightly — lighter than air. Wasn't that what David conveyed to the world, a blissful lightness of being?"

O'Loughlin said Jones' widow, Jessica Pacheco, brought her husband's cremains to the church and her brother Joseph Pacheco, the singer's manager, gave a eulogy. Besides family, the man who first trained Jones to ride racehorses was in attendance, as were members of his current band, who wrote prayers they read at the service.

The three surviving members of The Monkees did not attend, saying they didn't want to attract unwanted attention.

"I think your David captivated us because he was a new universal hero — not a typical Odysseus or Beowulf — but a very Christian hero, strength of character rather than strength of arms," O'Loughlin said, "conducting himself with humility and caring for others."

Jones rocketed to the top of the 1960s music charts along with his bandmates in The Monkees, captivating audiences with hits including "Daydream Believer" and "I'm a Believer." He died of a heart attack Feb. 29.

A spokeswoman for Jones, Helen Kensick, said Thursday that another memorial will take place next week in the singer's hometown of Manchester, England. It will also be private and no further details were announced.

Discussions are under way for a public service in either New York or Los Angeles.

Jones' four daughters — Talia Jones, Sarah McFadden, Jessica Cramer and Annabel Jones — released a joint statement Thursday thanking fans for the response to their father's death.

"Our family has been greatly comforted by the support and love of everyone who has reached out to us," they said. "Knowing that so many people around the world were so affected by our dad's life and music makes us feel connected to you all."

Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfsbiDzdIUQ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

THE DAVY JONES MEMORIAL PROGRAM

Saturday March 10, 2012

Noon to 4:00 p.m.

Beavertown PA 17813

BRING LAWN CHAIRS. IF INCLEMENT WEATHER, BRING RAIN GEAR. NO ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

BEAVERTOWN, Pa. — A tiny Pennsylvania town where Monkees singer Davy Jones got away from it all will host a celebration in the '60s heartthrob's memory on Saturday.

A few hundred people are expected for the concert and memorial service in Beavertown, where the singer of "Daydream Believer" and "Last Train to Clarksville" fell in love with a rolling landscape that reminded him of his native home.

"He said, 'This is just like England,'" Mayor Cloyd Wagner told The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Jones died Feb. 29 of a heart attack in Florida but spent much of his time in Beavertown, about 150 miles northwest of Philadelphia. He settled on a 15-acre spread on the edge of town two decades ago, enjoying relative anonymity while keeping horses.

Jones was just someone you'd run into at the post office, Wagner said.

Next-door neighbor Carol Wickard said Jones was a kind man who helped the community — once making a donation to keep the town's library open.

Beavertown Mayor Cloyd Wagner tells The Philadelphia Inquirer Jones settled on the borough's edge after falling in love with the landscape when visiting a former Monkees musical director who hailed from the area.

"When it was down, he helped this town," Wickard said.

Wickard said Jones would wear a wig to trim his hedges, even though fans would come by only once in a while.

"I'd say, 'Just don't open your mouth. You're the only person around with an English accent,'" Wickard said.

The concert is being organized by Wagner and Mike Shoenfelt, a fan from Altoona, who are arranging for a "jam fest" concert on the Firemen's Carnival Grounds followed by a service at the church Jones was rehabbing in hopes of building a Monkees museum.

A Facebook page for the event has more than 450 people promising to attend.

Wagner says he's a little worried about crowd control, even though it'll hardly be a rowdy event.

"This is a tidal wave," Wagner said. "Our population is going to double."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...