The death of Monkees lead singer Davy Jones at 66 is another sad loss for those of us who love music. In recent years we have lost Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, George Harrison, Amy Winehouse, and many others. I tend to look at all this starting with the death of Elvis Presley - all this referring to not only a loss of innocence but perhaps the loss of what defined our youthful days. Certainly the murder of John Lennon turned the page in a way that many of us never saw coming, and since then things have changed the world in ways (many of them not good) that Lennon could never have imagined (yes, I know).
Thinking back to the Monkees and their brief and soaring brush with fame, they were for many of us a poor cousin to the Beatles, but any relation to the Fab Four would be welcome in our homes. When the TV show came out in 1966, the Monkees were a fabricated band (perhaps truly the first boy band) that threw together Peter Tork, Mickey Dolenz, Mike Nesmith, and Davy Jones. The Beatles had started to leave the mop-top look behind, but the show was meant to capitalize on the band and the good natured fun of their films A Hard Day's Night and Help.
The Pre-Fab Four (as the jokes were made back then) had to have a British lead singer, so enter Jones. The TV show was what could be called a zany, Marx Brothers type of musical comedy, with the four guys getting caught up with spies, assorted other bad guys, and pretty girls. The show shrewdly featured videos of their songs, beating all those lip-synching videos one would see on MTV by fourteen years. Songs like "Last Train to Clarksville," "I'm a Believer," and "Pleasant Valley Sunday" became great big hits, and to this day they always bring a smile to my face when I hear them on the radio.
For two years the show was on and then, like many fads, the thrill was gone and the show went off the air. For kids like me, it was gone way too soon as was Batman, Planet of the Apes, and Star Trek, but those shows helped define a generation and pave the way for new incarnations in the years to come.
Article comments
1 - beachmom52
The Monkees bring back a simple time in life. and I still catch a few of the reruns when i want to reflect back to childhood.
2 - Cindy
Only a fool would disparage a Monkee. That is what I think.
3 - El Bicho
"they didn't play the instruments on their recordings (session musicians did); they didn't write their songs (but people like Neil Diamond and Carole King did), and their fame didn't last long."
Their very first album has two songs written by Mike. He produced the sessions, which included Peter on guitar. They became more involved with creating the music as time went on, driving Don Kirschner out and becoming more involved in creating their music. Since Jones death was such big news, I'd question how long their fame lasted.
4 - Stella Osborne
The Monkees were part of my childhood. I used to listen to their singing, "We may be coming to your town." But they never did....my town was too small. When they reunited, I was finally able to see them (many times). They always put on wonderful shows, and I, like all of the fans in the audience, were so happy to revisit their childhood memories. I will miss you, Davy Jones. I was fortunate to see The Monkees one last time in Richmond, Virginia in June.
5 - walrus
The Monkees wrote & played all the instruments on the Justus album.
They also wrote some of their best songs such as Randy Scouse Git, Goin' Down, Listen to the Band, Good Clean Fun and many more
Anyway how many songs did Elvis write and how many instruments did he play? Did it matter, he was still the King.
Even The Beatles didn't write many of their earlier hits.
Micky has one of the best pop voices of the era. Davy and Mike also had great distinctive voices. Peter also sings some great songs such as Shades of Grey and Auntie Grizelda.
The fact that the untimely death of Davy is news 40 years after the band first broke up shows how popular they were, which is more than can be said about the miserable critics of the group.
6 - Mike R
While I agree with the title of the piece, even the article does just that. The band began as a fiction, grew into a reality and a track record that saw 56 episodes, 200 'live dates', a movie, a tv special and 6 lps as a foursome (4 of them # 1 with sales that topped and rivaled their 60's competition)- all in a 2 and a half year period is remarkable. And for once and for all- they did play instruments on 4 of the 6 lps, they did write some of their music and they did play live. Try and find any other example of that workload and that output before suggesting a negative. As John Lennon once said " they have their own scene- you try doing what they're doing and see if you could do half as good ". 'Listen to the Band'.
7 - trudy4
At the height of their popularity, the Monkees actually outsold the Beatles in terms of singles at one point. Pre-Fab or not, the Monkees had a real fanbase. I do not get how anyone would be putting them down--that people still remember Davy Jones after all these years shows they did have a legacy and they had some really great classic 60's songs like "I"m a believer", "Daydream believer" and of course, "Last train to Clarksville"!
RIP Davy Jones and to heck with all the haters! The Monkees were great!