My wife said that she would leave me if I couldn’t stop my obsession with the Monkees. I thought that she was joking, and then I saw her face……
Anyway although the Monkees were effectively a manufactured band I thought that they were pretty good, how about you? Did you know that over 400 musicians auditioned to be in the band, including Stephen Stills, Harry Nilsson, John Sebastian, Paul Williams, Danny Hutton (of Three Dog Night) and allegedly Charles Manson. Although some reports state that Manson was in prison at the time of the auditions.
Davy Jones of the Monkees died in Florida earlier today of a heart attack. He was aged just 66. Before he became a Monkee in 1965 he had appeared on stage in successful shows like Lionel Bart‘s ‘Oliver’. He even had an appearance on long running British soap operaCoronation Street under his belt, where he played the grandson of Ena Sharples. At one point he even trained as a jockey. This was something he came back to later and won his first race in 1996.
His vocals and backing vocals graced many of the Monkees songs, including the Neil Diamond penned “I’m A Believer“. He was also British (he was born in Manchester) and the only non-American member of the band. Jones and two other former Monkees; Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork reunited last year to play a few gigs.
I am a big fan of David Bowie and if it hadn’t been for Davy Jones then Mr Bowie as we know him may not have existed, well at least he would have probably not been called Bowie anyway. The former David Robert Jones (sometimes known as Davey Jones) changed his name to David Bowie in the mid 60s to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of the Monkees.
Davy Jones is survived by his wife and four daughters. My thoughts go to all of his family, friends and fans. RIP Davy Jones.
With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 