Slog
News & ArtsWednesday, February 29, 2012
Death We Interrupt Slog Silence To Bring You This Sad News
Posted by Dan Savage on Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 10:25 AM
Davy Jones has died.
5
Ooo just Sunday night I was wondering who would be the first Monkee to die and how Peter Tork was coming along with his cancer treatment. Surprise!
9
The original Justin Bieber. His voice slayed me when I was a kid. You meant to post this one, obviously:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU615FaOD…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU615FaOD…
13
Bummer. Never was a fan of the show, but their music (even if it was penned by others, like Neil Diamond) was always catchy and well performed. RIP.
15
This is very sad, thanks for sharing the news! I do think it's ironic that the video you have is a Micky Dolenz song and not a Davy Jones song. No love for Daydream Believer? ;)
18
The Monkees were after school viewing during my high school years (20 years after their show was actually on).
Yeah, the Beatles were first and better...but there is still a soft spot in my heart for the Monkees and Davy Jones.
Yeah, the Beatles were first and better...but there is still a soft spot in my heart for the Monkees and Davy Jones.
21
After the first season, the members had learned their instruments and were starting to take far more control over the show, the music, and their tours. If you've ever had the opportunity to watch all episodes in a psychedelic marathon you'd see the changes in style. This is a case of a manufactured boy band breaking their mold. Also, they were funny. RIP Davy.
22
who cares if the beatles did it 1st and better? authenticity is not what i look to the monkees for.
25
The Monkees were genuinely brilliant. Not even The Beatles captured quite that perfect sixties sunshine sound and look and scene as well as they did. Certainly the death of Davy is the end of as big a part of my childhood as those of John and George.
There's a lot of bollocks talked about The Monkees, how they were "fake" and "didn't play their instruments" and so on, but they were in fact 100% real. The controversy over whether they played their own instruments or not (yeah, sometimes they used the guys who did "Pet Sounds" and a thousand other of the best records of the period; yeah, their songs were written by slouches like Goffin/King, Neil Diamond, Harry Nilsson) is completely bogus. But often overlooked is the fact that they were absolute genius comic actors, and their TV show was revolutionary, completely fresh, completely new. Davy was a great comedic icon of the age; most every other TV show of the time (or most times after) looks like something out of an older, flatter world in comparison.
While Mickey Dolenz was the really great vocalist, Davy could handle a tune as well: "Daydream Believer", "Look Out, Here Comes Tomorrow", "Valleri", "Cuddly Toy" -- great stuff all of it. If you haven't listened in a while, it holds up against anything from the time period you can throw at it -- certainly better than the plodding two-left-foot hippie tosh that the critics were raving about at the time (Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, The Doors, ad infinitum).
Davy was also of course the fellow who made young David Jones change his name to Bowie.
Two of the first albums I ever owned were "The Monkees" and "More of the Monkees" and I played them both until the grooves wore down to dust. I think between us Mrs. Fnarf and I have bought around twelve copies of the latter.
Good night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
More...
There's a lot of bollocks talked about The Monkees, how they were "fake" and "didn't play their instruments" and so on, but they were in fact 100% real. The controversy over whether they played their own instruments or not (yeah, sometimes they used the guys who did "Pet Sounds" and a thousand other of the best records of the period; yeah, their songs were written by slouches like Goffin/King, Neil Diamond, Harry Nilsson) is completely bogus. But often overlooked is the fact that they were absolute genius comic actors, and their TV show was revolutionary, completely fresh, completely new. Davy was a great comedic icon of the age; most every other TV show of the time (or most times after) looks like something out of an older, flatter world in comparison.
While Mickey Dolenz was the really great vocalist, Davy could handle a tune as well: "Daydream Believer", "Look Out, Here Comes Tomorrow", "Valleri", "Cuddly Toy" -- great stuff all of it. If you haven't listened in a while, it holds up against anything from the time period you can throw at it -- certainly better than the plodding two-left-foot hippie tosh that the critics were raving about at the time (Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, The Doors, ad infinitum).
Davy was also of course the fellow who made young David Jones change his name to Bowie.
Two of the first albums I ever owned were "The Monkees" and "More of the Monkees" and I played them both until the grooves wore down to dust. I think between us Mrs. Fnarf and I have bought around twelve copies of the latter.
Good night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
26
My father bought our first tv set (black & white on a little wheelie cart) so that he could watch the Monkees. Davy was my first crush as a little girl.
28
@22 maybe that's what I'm missing, because I hate, hate the Monkees. Give me Hendrix, The Doors, early Pink Floyd, early Zeppelin (I'm going 60's here), The Stones, Dylan, Motown, Grateful Dead, CSNY, and yes, yes, the great, immortal *creatively original* Beatles. (I don't feel it for Janis Joplin, sorry.) To me, The Monkees represent one of the first attempts to take a vibrant musical movement, remove all its vitality, and repackage it in the lamest, most inoffensive form. Daydream Believer is BORING, always has been, always will be. (My opinion.) I'd be more forgiving if their music wasn't; I do enjoy ABBA and the Carpenters. But it is, so I can't even enjoy them for what they were.
But on a broader level, a human being with friends and family has died. At least he lived a full life.
But on a broader level, a human being with friends and family has died. At least he lived a full life.
30
PS: the fact that The Monkees are not in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is a travesty which reflects far more poorly on the Hall than it does on them. John Mellencamp is in the Hall, for crying out loud. The Red Hot Chili Peppers! Tom Petty is in there! Jefferson Airplane! Billy Joel! Genesis! Guns 'n' Roses! Miles Davis? Performers from the same era but with much inferior accomplishments like The Young Rascals, Ricky Nelson, The Four Seasons, The Dave Clark Fiveand Gene Pitney are in. And explain to me how, in god's name, Don Kirschner, who put The Monkees together, is in the god damn motherfucking Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but they themselves are not?
Fuck you, Jann Wenner.
Fuck you, Jann Wenner.
31
Ah, yes, count on Fnarf to deliver a lecture instead of a tribute. And to stand up for twee pop, even when it wasn't so twee in this case.
Love ya, and mostly agree with ya, but damn you're predictable sometimes.
Love ya, and mostly agree with ya, but damn you're predictable sometimes.
32
I had such a massive crush on Davy when I was in elementary school that I actually prayed that I wouldn't grow taller than 5'3" (his height as listed on the back of the first Monkees album) and unfortunately I got my wish.
33
I love the story of how Jimi Hendrix opened for The Monkees at the Coliseum here way back in the day. I can only imagine what the little girls who came to see The Monkees thought about Jimi.
34
@28, you like Motown? I thought you said "creatively original"? Most Motown artists didn't write or play their own material either. The Supremes and the Four Tops didn't play instruments or write songs; Holland-Dozier-Holland did. They used the best musicians they could find -- just like The Monkees (and every other sixties band) did. You know who played bass on the first Doors LP? Larry Knechtel, who was a regular on Monkees sessions, too.
You can argue that everything about Motown was creative and original as all hell. Same with the Monkees. You think that guitar played itself? When's the last time you listened to "The Porpoise Song"? Step out of the rock ghetto for a minute and open up your mind.
You can argue that everything about Motown was creative and original as all hell. Same with the Monkees. You think that guitar played itself? When's the last time you listened to "The Porpoise Song"? Step out of the rock ghetto for a minute and open up your mind.
37
I always sang Daydream Believer as "cheer up, sleepy Geni." I always figured he was singing it to me. ;-)
Michael Nesmith is a genius. You can talk about how "fake" the Monkees were all you like, but Nesmith was (and remains) a brilliant innovator in many ways. And I agree with Fnarf - if you like ANY bouncy 60's pop, the Monkees did it best.
Steven Stills really wanted to be one of the Monkees, but couldn't get out of his record contract, so he recommended Peter Tork.
Michael Nesmith is a genius. You can talk about how "fake" the Monkees were all you like, but Nesmith was (and remains) a brilliant innovator in many ways. And I agree with Fnarf - if you like ANY bouncy 60's pop, the Monkees did it best.
Steven Stills really wanted to be one of the Monkees, but couldn't get out of his record contract, so he recommended Peter Tork.
38
@25, a stirring defense. I treated him only as a bit of rerun-star eye candy to accompany my boyhood, a candy-floss role he seemed happy enough filling for airheads like me, but I'm glad to learn from you that he was able to be so much more.
40
@33 I loved Peter. But nobody got all my lovin' like John Lennon. When I saw his album with him naked on the cover, I realised for the first time that life could hold some joy.
41
@34 I'll give you that Motown used session musicians, just like Dylan did, and Neil Young did, etc. And a number of great performers, like Frank Sinatra and Patsy Cline, didn't write their songs. And yes, all I know about The Monkees is Daydream Believer and their TV show, which make them look like total rip offs of mid-period Beatles and the movie Help! (which wasn't so great, other than the songs). And I'll be sure to give the Purpoise Song a try. But it better be a whole lot better than Daydream Believer to make me change my opinion that they were a manufactured group solely created to cash in on The Beatles' popularity.
42
@37, Nesmith also had a couple of records out before the Monkees, and was establishing himself as a songwriter for others -- Linda Ronstadt's first hit "Different Drum" was by him, written before the Monkees.
Davy also had an album out before the Monkees, as well as a stage career, and in fact appeared on the same "Ed Sullivan Show" as The Beatles's first appearance, doing a number from "Oliver!".
Peter Tork was a scuffling folkie from the same Greenwich Village scene that produced The Lovin' Spoonful, The Mamas and the Papas, and Stills. Dolenz was the least experienced member, but had played in teen garage bands.
Davy also had an album out before the Monkees, as well as a stage career, and in fact appeared on the same "Ed Sullivan Show" as The Beatles's first appearance, doing a number from "Oliver!".
Peter Tork was a scuffling folkie from the same Greenwich Village scene that produced The Lovin' Spoonful, The Mamas and the Papas, and Stills. Dolenz was the least experienced member, but had played in teen garage bands.
43
@41, every group in America was formed to cash in on The Beatles's popularity. What do you think The Byrds were doing?
44
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ornP4eeCy…
This should be shown on the news as part of his his obituary reel.
This should be shown on the news as part of his his obituary reel.
45
Mrs. Fnarf points out that real mystery is this: how on earth has David Crosby outlived Davy Jones?
47
@44, here's another one, that Nipper shared -- no video, just a fantastic Paul Williams song. I was born a someday man, I'm a maybe child; I was born a someday man, I was always wild: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBcBgyOT5…
48
You never know what's going to click for some folks.
I was a Beatles fan before a Monkees fan, but then I was exposed to a lot of pop music at a relatively young age. It was the typically short, sharp (for a nine year old) songs of the Monkees that prepared me for the Sex Pistols, Elvis Costello and to some extent, the Pretenders, when I became a teen.
I was a Beatles fan before a Monkees fan, but then I was exposed to a lot of pop music at a relatively young age. It was the typically short, sharp (for a nine year old) songs of the Monkees that prepared me for the Sex Pistols, Elvis Costello and to some extent, the Pretenders, when I became a teen.
50
@48, The Sex Pistols famously covered The Monkees's song "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone". Supposedly it was singing along with this song, the B-side to "I'm A Believer", in a jukebox that won Johnny Rotten the job (though others say it was "I'm Eighteen"). Yes, the Sex Pistols: a manufactured group designed to cash in on a trend started on the other side of the Atlantic....
51
@49, which quarter of Davy Jones are you saying died? Or are you claiming that after death he can be called to mind only 75% as often?
DId you hit your head again? If not, allow me. I have a skillet right here.
DId you hit your head again? If not, allow me. I have a skillet right here.
52
People said they monkeyed around, but only because they masturbated in public and threw feces at each other.
54
@ 50, yeah, but they had so much of a bigger impact than the ones they were "cashing in" on. (Curious turn of phrase given that punk was nowhere near commercial at that point, not even Blondie.)
Ugh. This is why I hate these threads. What should be a tribute to a fallen artist becomes so much mental masturbation over tangents and irrelevant points. And here I am, doing just that with you...
Ugh. This is why I hate these threads. What should be a tribute to a fallen artist becomes so much mental masturbation over tangents and irrelevant points. And here I am, doing just that with you...
55
@54, you think the Pistols had a "bigger impact" than Richard Hell and the Voidoids, Patti Smith, The Ramones, Television, Talking Heads, Blondie, The New York Dolls? Pfft. The Pistols were a bar band with a canny manager and a magnetic front man. Pffft some more. If you don't think that McLaren's entire existence wasn't cashing in, "commercial" or not, then even more pfffft. Read a book.
I am reminded by a commenter on Metafilter that Davy Jones also originated the snakey hip-wiggle dance later exploited by Axl Rose.
I am reminded by a commenter on Metafilter that Davy Jones also originated the snakey hip-wiggle dance later exploited by Axl Rose.
57
@30 Hey, leave Gene Pitney out of this! I really like this song from '68 (which Davy co-wrote) called "You and I," not your regular Monkees bouncy pop. Neil Young on guitar!
http://youtu.be/Y6cpo_5lMWs
http://youtu.be/Y6cpo_5lMWs
58
@54, @55:
I don't think it's mental masturbation if you discuss how all the components interact and reverberate and get re-applied/borrowed as a point of wonder to share, instead of as one-upsmanship. At least that's not where I was going.
The Talking Heads are another discussion for another day. :-)
I don't think it's mental masturbation if you discuss how all the components interact and reverberate and get re-applied/borrowed as a point of wonder to share, instead of as one-upsmanship. At least that's not where I was going.
The Talking Heads are another discussion for another day. :-)
59
#30 - no way in hell Rick Nelson doesn't deserve to be in the hall of fame. One of the true underappreciated giants of early rock 'n roll.
60
Ditto for Gene Pitney and the Four Seasons. I like the Monkees OK, but they're just not in the same league. Sorry.
63
I didn't say that Pitney, The Four Seasons, and Rick Nelson didn't belong in the Hall. I like Nelson and Pitney a lot. I said it's an injustice that the Monkees are not. The Monkees are greater than them, and they are in, therefore an injustice has occurred.
You could call this the Ron Santo Rule. Ron Santo was by any standard a better third baseman than Freddie Lindstrom, George Kell, Jimmy Collins, or Pie Traynor, yet he couldn't get elected into the Hall until after he died. Saying that's an injustice says nothing about whether those other guys deserved to be in or not.
Now Davy Jones suffers the same fate, or worse -- because as long as Jann Wenner lives The Monkees will NEVER make it in. Hopefully Wenner will die tomorrow, in a fire.
You could call this the Ron Santo Rule. Ron Santo was by any standard a better third baseman than Freddie Lindstrom, George Kell, Jimmy Collins, or Pie Traynor, yet he couldn't get elected into the Hall until after he died. Saying that's an injustice says nothing about whether those other guys deserved to be in or not.
Now Davy Jones suffers the same fate, or worse -- because as long as Jann Wenner lives The Monkees will NEVER make it in. Hopefully Wenner will die tomorrow, in a fire.
64
@41 - I have to kind of cringe when people call the Funk Brothers "session musicians." Yes, they were, but they deserve way more credit than that. James Jamerson, anyone? The Funk Brothers played on more #1 hits than the Beatles, Elvis Presley, and the Rolling Stones combined. They were some of the greatest, and most unsung, musicians ever. Thankfully, a few years back, Allan Slutsky (Dr. Licks) started writing a biography of James Jamerson for other bassists, and got sucked into the story of how badly the Men Behind the Music got fucked over, wrote Standing in the Shadows of Motown, and finally got some of these guys a little credit before they all died. Most are gone, but I've seen the remaining members in concert twice, and they are AMAZING.
I highly recommend the documentary film, Standing In the Shadows of Motown. It's fantastic.
I highly recommend the documentary film, Standing In the Shadows of Motown. It's fantastic.
65
True story: I never watched the Monkees on TV as a kid, but somehow my 10 yo daughter discovered them on YouTube many years later, and became a huge fan. Thanks to Netflix, we got to relive the magic that is the Monkees, and I have to say the show was quite sweet and innocent. When you compare the offerings on the Disney Channel, I was THRILLED she wanted to watch the Monkees instead. Last summer they came to an outdoor theatre in our area and I took both kids to the concert. My kids were only a handful of youngsters, otherwise the place was PACKED with old hippies. Good times. Farewell, Davy.
67
Then of course, there is the time that Marsha Brady met Davy...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm39e0w8f…
68
Okay, fine, people. A lot of you have fond personal memories of The Monkees and I won't rain on your parade. I'll grant you that they were talented. (I'm willing to say that for Brittney Spears.) But it may be that I just don't like the sugary, empty confection that is The Monkees, and how much they adhered to the Beatles' formula. And they seemed kind if wimpy... Not the Sex Pistols (which I love). But if I'm in the mood I'll keep in mind what they were, not what they were not, and give them a fair second listen. I could never be a fan, though.
69
Used Monkees albums were my first musical purchases in the mid-70s as I watched the reruns on UHF TV in Chicago lo those many afternoons after grade school let out.
I loved Davy. As a tall girl, I just wanted to fold him up and put him in my pocket.
RIP, Mr. Jones.
I loved Davy. As a tall girl, I just wanted to fold him up and put him in my pocket.
RIP, Mr. Jones.
70
Davy was my first celebrity crush when I was a little boy, long before I knew what it meant to have a crush on another guy.
Davy--I know you were straight--but thanks for being the first one to point me in the direction that ultimately led to my husband.
Davy--I know you were straight--but thanks for being the first one to point me in the direction that ultimately led to my husband.
71
@69. Love it. Your experience is the same as mine except I am a guy and I watched the reruns on UHF in Detroit. My first favorite band and I actually think that Michael Nesmith is one of the great songwriters in modern music. David Thomas Jones I have been and always shall be your fan.
72
How, just how, did I know that this Slog headline would be regarding a member of the Monkees? . . . . (And interrupting Slilence no less . . .)
[After hearing the news from other media outlets, of course . . . ]
Only a year older than my parents.
Did he live clean? Not that it matters to his family and friends . . .
RIP.
[After hearing the news from other media outlets, of course . . . ]
Only a year older than my parents.
Did he live clean? Not that it matters to his family and friends . . .
RIP.
73
For what they were--a product of a corporate conception to cash in on the pop culture tidal wave of Beatlemania and the British Invasion--The Monkees were rather good. Their tv show was more innovative and funny than it had to be, and their music was catchier and better than it had to be.
But comparing them favorably to the Beatles is ridiculous. Two or three genuinely memorable songs and a half dozen other songs that are pretty good is an awfully thin portfolio compared to the Beatles. And setting the music aside completely, the visual and cultural impact of the Beatles hair, personalities and movies were enormously more influential--and original--than the Monkees.
The Dave Clark Five is a different matter--I'll agree that a case can be made that the Monkees merit eventual induction to the Hall of Fame, and that Jann Wenner's animus may well be what's kept them out up until now. But I'd rather see Richard Thompson and Robyn Hitchcock make the Hall than the Monkees--just because some marginal pop groups have made it isn't much of an argument for another marginal pop group to make it, especially when several prolific and high-quality artists who haven't sold many records remain outside the Hall.
But comparing them favorably to the Beatles is ridiculous. Two or three genuinely memorable songs and a half dozen other songs that are pretty good is an awfully thin portfolio compared to the Beatles. And setting the music aside completely, the visual and cultural impact of the Beatles hair, personalities and movies were enormously more influential--and original--than the Monkees.
The Dave Clark Five is a different matter--I'll agree that a case can be made that the Monkees merit eventual induction to the Hall of Fame, and that Jann Wenner's animus may well be what's kept them out up until now. But I'd rather see Richard Thompson and Robyn Hitchcock make the Hall than the Monkees--just because some marginal pop groups have made it isn't much of an argument for another marginal pop group to make it, especially when several prolific and high-quality artists who haven't sold many records remain outside the Hall.
77
You can say what you want about bubblegum music, but at the end of the day, I'm still listening to it.
78
@77 Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth.
(That's a book title, BTW -- you should read it, it's great).
(That's a book title, BTW -- you should read it, it's great).
79
Ahhh...."Daydream Believer" I caught a drag show down in Key West a few years back - rather scary English queen who had us learn to shout in unison "Rancid Old Drag Queen" and then played this song. Instead of "Homecoming Queen" imagine a very lively crowd singing this alternative lyric. It was great.
Advertisement
Most Commented on Slog
-
Foie Gras Tastes Like Cat Food by Callan Berry
-
SL Letter of the Day: The Tell-Tale Handjob by Dan Savage
-
Cap Hill Is Becoming a Little Like What? by Charles Mudede
-
Pizza Update: Breaking the 5-Minute Barrier by Goldy
-
President Obama Says NSA Spying Is "Transparent" by Paul Constant
-
Today in the Surveillance State: The "War on Reality" by Brendan Kiley
-
Slog Bible Study: Leviticus 20:9 by Goldy
-
The Full Text of David Guterson's Controversial Commencement Speech by Dominic Holden
-
Egyptian Theatre to Close at the End of This Month by Paul Constant
-
The Monday Morning News by Goldy
Stranger Personals
The Stranger
RSSSeattle Art & Performance Quarterly
A complete guide to Seattle's current art, film, dance, and theater season.
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (79) RSS