Post by Rob Durkee on Feb 29, 2012 22:24:03 GMT -5
DAVY JONES (1945-2012)--HE MADE US ALL DAYDREAM BELIEVERS
By ROCKIN' ROBIN
INDIANTOWN, FLORIDA (RTDP) 2/29/12 -- Davy Jones, the lead singer for the Monkees, the made-for-TV group that was often described as America's answer to the Beatlles, died today (February 29, 2012) of a heart attack. He was 66. Helen Kensick, Jones' publicist, confirmed his passing at his Indiantown home. Indiantown is located about 10- miles east of Lake Okeechobee and about 40 miles northwest of West Palm Beach.
"the Monkees" TV show debuted on September 12, 1966. However, sources disagree as to how many Monkees TV shows there were and when the last one aired. According to Wikipedia, it was 58 shows with the last one airing on Labor Day, 1968. According to writer Craig Rosen, it was 59 shows with the last one airing August 19, 1968. For certain, the shows have remained in syndication off and on at least into the mid-1980's. The inspiration for the group's formation was the Beatles' movie, "A Hard Day's Night."
The Monkees were the result of a massive tryout that involved 437 musicians. One rumor that existed for many years was that Charles Manson was among the 437 who tried out for the Monkees. This rumor was totally false. Manson was behind bars for various offenses from 1961 to 1967, so he couldn't have tried out. According to writer Fred Bronson, among those who did try out for the Monkees were Danny Hutton (who would join Three Dog Night), songwriter Paul Williams, singer-actor Paul Peterson of "My Dad" hit song and "The Donna Reed Show" fame; and Stephen Stills,
In the end, the Monkees' chosen lineup would be Jones, Mickey Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork. Dolenz had already gained fame for the 1950's TV show, "Circus Boy."
The Monkees burst onto the pop music scene with instant success. Their first two albums--"The Monkees" and "More Of The Monkees"--together spent 31 straight weeks at #1 on one magazine's LP chart for a record that's believed to still exist today. The group also had chart-topping albums with "Headquarters" and "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd."
On the Cash Box pop chart, the Monkees hit #1 in 1966 with their first two chart singles, "Last Train To Clarksville" and "I'm A Believer," the latter of which was written by Neil Diamond. The group also topped the Cash Box chart with "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You," "Daydream Believer" (written by John Stewart) and "Valleri." The group's last top tenner was the #10 "D.W. Washburn" in 1968. Two relatively forgotten Top 40's followed with "It's Nice To Be With You" (#26) and "Teardrop City" (#37).
There's been no official year of the Monkees' breakup. Tork left the group not long after the TV show was cancelled in 1968. The Monkees' movie, "Head," came out in 1969 but was pretty much a flop. Jones left the band in 1970 and would appear on TV shows like "Love American Style" and "The Brady Bunch." Nesmith and the First National Band had top 40 hits in 1970 with "Joanne" (#17) and "Silver Moon" (#28). Then in 1971, Jones had minor charted hits with "Rainy Jane" (#32) and "I Really Love You" (#96). Jones also had a minor chart single with the #94 hit, "What Are Going To Do?" in 1965, the year before the Monkees were born.
The Monkees found a new audience in 1986, when "That Was Then, This Is Now" became a #24 hit for "Mickey Dolenz And Peter Tork Of The Monkees." Through the years, the group has sold at least 65 million records.
One controversy plagued the Monkees throughout their successful years of 1966-69. It was over whether they did or didn't play their own instruments. In the beginning, they left the instrumentation to studio musicians while for their TV show, they would lip-synch to their hits. Eventually, according to "The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock And Roll," the group learned to play instruments so they could tour. However, the Monkees' label, Colgems, refused to tell the truth about their inability to play instruments at first. That particularly angered Nesmith, who in 1967 said at a press conference in New York City, "There comes a time when you have to draw the line as a man. We're being passed off as something we aren't. We all play instruments but we didn't play them on our records. Furthermore, our record company doesn't want us to and won't let us." At that point, Nesmith nearly got into a fight with a record executive when he was told he could be suspended from the band.
Another controversy, though certainly not as big as the instruments one, was whether or not the group turned down the song, "Sugar Sugar." Jeff Barry, who along with Andy Kim wrote the song, insisted in the late 90's that the Monkees were never even offered the song. Whatever the case, "Sugar Sugar," complete with some hand-clapping help from Ray Stevens, became a #1 hit in the fall of 1969 for the Archies. The Archies, however, were based on the cartoon characters and were a non-existent group consisting mainly of studio musicians. Ron Dante and Toni Wine were the only real singers on "Sugar Sugar," which became the #1 single of 1969 and the most successful bubble gum single ever.
David Thomas Jones was born December 30, 1945, three years to the day after Nesmith was born. Jones quit school at the age of 14 and for a while was a racehorse jockey. He would never be taller than 5-foot-3. One of his early breaks was portraying the Artful Dodger in the stage production of "Oliver."
The Monkees got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1989. In the late 1990'/s, the group filmed a special entitled, "Hey, Hey, It's The Monkees."
By ROCKIN' ROBIN
INDIANTOWN, FLORIDA (RTDP) 2/29/12 -- Davy Jones, the lead singer for the Monkees, the made-for-TV group that was often described as America's answer to the Beatlles, died today (February 29, 2012) of a heart attack. He was 66. Helen Kensick, Jones' publicist, confirmed his passing at his Indiantown home. Indiantown is located about 10- miles east of Lake Okeechobee and about 40 miles northwest of West Palm Beach.
"the Monkees" TV show debuted on September 12, 1966. However, sources disagree as to how many Monkees TV shows there were and when the last one aired. According to Wikipedia, it was 58 shows with the last one airing on Labor Day, 1968. According to writer Craig Rosen, it was 59 shows with the last one airing August 19, 1968. For certain, the shows have remained in syndication off and on at least into the mid-1980's. The inspiration for the group's formation was the Beatles' movie, "A Hard Day's Night."
The Monkees were the result of a massive tryout that involved 437 musicians. One rumor that existed for many years was that Charles Manson was among the 437 who tried out for the Monkees. This rumor was totally false. Manson was behind bars for various offenses from 1961 to 1967, so he couldn't have tried out. According to writer Fred Bronson, among those who did try out for the Monkees were Danny Hutton (who would join Three Dog Night), songwriter Paul Williams, singer-actor Paul Peterson of "My Dad" hit song and "The Donna Reed Show" fame; and Stephen Stills,
In the end, the Monkees' chosen lineup would be Jones, Mickey Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork. Dolenz had already gained fame for the 1950's TV show, "Circus Boy."
The Monkees burst onto the pop music scene with instant success. Their first two albums--"The Monkees" and "More Of The Monkees"--together spent 31 straight weeks at #1 on one magazine's LP chart for a record that's believed to still exist today. The group also had chart-topping albums with "Headquarters" and "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd."
On the Cash Box pop chart, the Monkees hit #1 in 1966 with their first two chart singles, "Last Train To Clarksville" and "I'm A Believer," the latter of which was written by Neil Diamond. The group also topped the Cash Box chart with "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You," "Daydream Believer" (written by John Stewart) and "Valleri." The group's last top tenner was the #10 "D.W. Washburn" in 1968. Two relatively forgotten Top 40's followed with "It's Nice To Be With You" (#26) and "Teardrop City" (#37).
There's been no official year of the Monkees' breakup. Tork left the group not long after the TV show was cancelled in 1968. The Monkees' movie, "Head," came out in 1969 but was pretty much a flop. Jones left the band in 1970 and would appear on TV shows like "Love American Style" and "The Brady Bunch." Nesmith and the First National Band had top 40 hits in 1970 with "Joanne" (#17) and "Silver Moon" (#28). Then in 1971, Jones had minor charted hits with "Rainy Jane" (#32) and "I Really Love You" (#96). Jones also had a minor chart single with the #94 hit, "What Are Going To Do?" in 1965, the year before the Monkees were born.
The Monkees found a new audience in 1986, when "That Was Then, This Is Now" became a #24 hit for "Mickey Dolenz And Peter Tork Of The Monkees." Through the years, the group has sold at least 65 million records.
One controversy plagued the Monkees throughout their successful years of 1966-69. It was over whether they did or didn't play their own instruments. In the beginning, they left the instrumentation to studio musicians while for their TV show, they would lip-synch to their hits. Eventually, according to "The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock And Roll," the group learned to play instruments so they could tour. However, the Monkees' label, Colgems, refused to tell the truth about their inability to play instruments at first. That particularly angered Nesmith, who in 1967 said at a press conference in New York City, "There comes a time when you have to draw the line as a man. We're being passed off as something we aren't. We all play instruments but we didn't play them on our records. Furthermore, our record company doesn't want us to and won't let us." At that point, Nesmith nearly got into a fight with a record executive when he was told he could be suspended from the band.
Another controversy, though certainly not as big as the instruments one, was whether or not the group turned down the song, "Sugar Sugar." Jeff Barry, who along with Andy Kim wrote the song, insisted in the late 90's that the Monkees were never even offered the song. Whatever the case, "Sugar Sugar," complete with some hand-clapping help from Ray Stevens, became a #1 hit in the fall of 1969 for the Archies. The Archies, however, were based on the cartoon characters and were a non-existent group consisting mainly of studio musicians. Ron Dante and Toni Wine were the only real singers on "Sugar Sugar," which became the #1 single of 1969 and the most successful bubble gum single ever.
David Thomas Jones was born December 30, 1945, three years to the day after Nesmith was born. Jones quit school at the age of 14 and for a while was a racehorse jockey. He would never be taller than 5-foot-3. One of his early breaks was portraying the Artful Dodger in the stage production of "Oliver."
The Monkees got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1989. In the late 1990'/s, the group filmed a special entitled, "Hey, Hey, It's The Monkees."
