Last week Monkees lead singer Davy Jones passed away at the relatively early age of 66. He was a hero to many young fans throughout the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s as the two series of The Monkees were run and re-run.
For me, the happy sunshine filled show with Davy Jones, Mickey Dolenz, Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith was a special part of my childhood. I watched it every morning in the school holidays before going out to play with my friends over the road and the crazy adventures of the four teenagers would make me laugh and daydream about my own adventures that lay ahead for me as I got older. Ultimately the show was about music and their songs were some of the first I really enjoyed.
Each episode involved some kind of escapade where the band tried to get their big break on the music scene. Davy Jones would always fall in love with a beautiful girl and his huge brown eyes would melt the lucky one’s heart before moving onto the next love interest in the following episode. Clothes were brash and hippyish and colours were orange, yellow and bright blue, always evoking hot summers on the beaches of California. The sense of humour was slapstick and silly appealing to children and teenagers everywhere.
TV producers in America were keen to find a group to appeal to the youth market following the success of Beatles films ‘Help’ and ‘Hard Days Night’. Despite The Beatles being ‘The Beatles’ it’s The Monkees that caught the imagination of children of the decades following It didn’t really occur to me that these programmes were made before I was born and the characters in it were old enough to be my fathers. They had an appeal that didn’t wear off with time and I think the programmes aged better than the Beatles films which looked about 100 years old to me!
I remember buying the Monkees greatest hits on cassette in Woolworths and playing it constantly in my room. Songs such as ‘Last Train to Clarksville’, ‘Stepping stone’ and ‘I’m a believer’ stood the test of time and sounded good alongside the Blur and Oasis I was listening to at the time. Especially when The Wonderstuff and Vic Reeves covered I’m a Believer, meaning we got to hear it played out and about in indie clubs. ‘Daydream Believer’ was our favourite choice on the Kareoke at college parties, getting us all up and dancing on the sofas.
Like most fans, I grew out of them and hadn’t thought about the group that much until last week. Just hearing those songs again and seeing Davy Jones face brought back the happy sunshine filled memories of school holiday mornings and nights dancing away with my friends. Sadness for the loss of Davy Jones was felt by many people of my generation, and rock radio station Kerrang put some Monkees on their playlist recognising the influence this once ridiculed band had on many modern musicians and people who just love music.
I’m going to download some Monkees albums, buy the two series on DVD and remember to watch them when I’m having a bad day.
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