Growing up With a Sister Who Loved Davy Jones & The Monkees

From left to right, The Monkees were Michael Nesmith from Texas, then Peter Tork, the late Davy Jones who died this week and Mickey Dolenz.

Davy Jones’ death reminded me of how my sister used to play their songs over and over again.  My brother and I had a lot of “The Monkees” in our ears back then.

I guess that my sister was doing what millions of girls all over the world were doing at the time.  She was a big fan of The Monkees.  It was really “cool” for girls to love them back then.

The group was literally put together in Hollywood and the guys had never performed together prior to the TV tryouts.  They were chosen for their good looks and appeal to the pre-teen & teenage girls who’d be watching the show on Monday nights.  (Like my 10 year old sister)

I don’t think that Hollywood expected them to be so successful.  Nevertheless, The Monkees turned into the hottest musical act in the country overnight.  They had two best selling LP’s and several hit songs like “I’m a believer“, “Pleasant Valley Sunday” and “Daydream Believer“.  They were a smashing success!  They were quickly touring all over the US and the UK.

Eventually, the guys developed their own image on screen and when they sang in front of screaming 10 year old girls.

Mickey Dolenz played the drums, sang many of their hits and was the comedian.  Mickey had already done some acting as a young boy.  He is still performing today.  In fact, he sang at the 2009 Dallas Tea Party event.

Peter Tork was the silly and gentle one.  He played bass, banjo and did background vocals.  I remember reading that he was a school teacher before applying for the TV job.  I don’t know what he is doing today.

Michael Nesmith was a great guitar player and wrote some nice songs, such as “Different Drum” by Linda Ronstadt.  He recorded on his own after The Monkees and still plays around the country.

Davy Jones was the handsome romantic from the UK who turned into a big teen idol.  He was the girls’ favorite, including my aforementioned young sister Lidia, who hung his posters on her bedroom walls.  He was “cute” as my sister used to say!

They were not a great group but did record some good tunes.  They also had access to lots of songwriters, including Carole King and Neil Diamond.  They worked with Tommy Boyce-Bobby Hart, one of the most underrated songwriting teams in pop music.

The Monkees sold many 45′s and LP’s:

The Best Of The Monkees…… https://t.co/3HQwUOC3ER via @amazon

— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) September 12, 2017