Monkee Shines
The Purple Flower Gang Winter /Spring 2005 Issue 61
Monkee Shines Editor: Cindy Bryant with a little help from my friends, The Road Crew. The whole crazy lot! Monkeeing around since 1987
David and sister, Hazel Wilkinson on one of his last visits home
Inside: Truth Or Consequences (What Happens When A Teen Idol’s Letter Gets Lost in the Mail :-)) We’re Off To See The Wizard Cheering Up The Pops Concert Pop Legend Jets In For Funeral Of Brother-In-Law Great Moments in Monkee History Pen Pals DJB&H Interview Words to Nobody Cares About The Railroad Anymore and Why And much more!
Monkee Shines
Table of Contents
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Letter from Editor..................................... 3 Personal Ads ............................................. 4 DJB&H Interview .................................... 5 Nobody Cares About The Railroads Anymore........................................................... 16 Why ........................................................... 17 Note From The Wilkinsons ..................... 18 Pop Legend Jets In For Funeral Of Brother -In-Law ..................................................... 19 We’re Off To See The Wizard ................ 21 Davy News................................................ 37 Micky News .............................................. 38 Mike News ................................................ 39 Peter News ................................................ 40 Pen Pals ..................................................... 41 Great Moments In Monkee History ........ 43 Truth Or Consequences ........................... 53 Cheering Up The Pops Concert ............... 57 Post Card From Peter ............................... 60
If you find a stamp in this area, your membership has expired with this issue. Please renew as soon as possible to assure your next issue. This is the only notice you will get.
Thanks to all who made this issue possible! Celeste Kocot, Diana & Bob Scharp, The PFG Road Crew (Kimmi & Kevin, Shane, Janet & Tom, Colleen, and Bonnie, Craig, & Hannah) who make it all so much fun!, Hazel & Ken Wilkinson (we love you so much!), and David, Micky, Peter, and Mike who started it all!
Monkee Shines is printed by Mailboxes & Parcel Depot
I’m so sorry this is so late!
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From the Editor!
Ken Wilkinson
are no pictures of ME!” Or how he told our friends, “The mentally ill oftimes appear quite normal,” when they asked what he thought about us traveling around the country to see David. We especially loved the stories he told, not just about David but, of his own life. We always joked that we got to know David to get to Ken. He was such a character! Those of us who were blessed to know him will miss him greatly. Our hearts are with David’s sister, Hazel, and their son, Robert at this difficult time.
Dear Gang, It is with a truly heavy heart that I write today. Our dear friend, David’s brother-in-law, Ken Wilkinson, lost his battle with cancer and was laid to rest on April 25th. Bonnie and I were extremely lucky to have gotten to spend some time with Ken (and Hazel) over the years. Ken was a big teddy bear of a man with a deep voice and a fantastic sense of humor. We will never forget how he thumbed through our mountains of photos of David and announced, “These are boring!” Shocked we replied, “WHAT?!” He grinned and answered, “There
Cindy
Notice We have tried to stick to a regular schedule for the newsletter but something always gets in the way/ We have a choice to throw something together or take a little longer and do something we can be proud of. We hope you think it is worth the wait. As always, if you are unhappy with your membership for any reason, we will be happy to refund the remainder of your membership dues upon request.
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Monkee Shines
Mother, Happy Easter! From Denise, the “8”, the “9” and the “2”
Remember the saying goes like this: All good things withstand the test of time!!!! Janet
Sandy and Dave A, Missed you in Omaha! So Sorry!
Hazel, David, & Bonnie, My thoughts are with you in the loss of your loved ones. God bless. Shane
Kimmi
Janet & Tom, Where is Petah? Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky! Shane
Lauren St. David
Bonnie! The postal service does work and the mail DOES get through...or should I say MALE! Cindy
Bonnie, Tom, & Janet, It’s called a didgeridoo! Shane
Bonnie, Good bush, bad bush!
Dear David, I can see clearly now, the moat is gone. I can see all band members as they play! What a difference a time zone makes! The “crazy lot” from the lighthouse
Shane
Kimmi, Geek is Greek to me! Shane
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Dolenz, Jones, Boyce and Hart The Radio Interview A brief note from Shane: The following is a transcript of an audio rarity that wound up in my collection a number of years ago that we thought you might enjoy reading. This interview, to be used for a Tiger Beat magazine article, took place in the Saint Louis area in the very early stages of the DJB&H project in the late 1970's. It's interesting to note how the guys thought and felt about the Monkees and their place in history during this time. Some philosophies have stayed the same, while others have developed and/or changed over time. The audio quality of this interview is very poor in spots, and the following shouldn't be taken as a
word for word transcription, but I have tried to the best of my ability to reproduce the gist of this unique exchange as it happened. MD: What's this for? MOD: Tiger Beat. BH: Tiger Beat. DJ: Tiger Beat what? BH: Tiger Beat magazine? MD: That's funny. Is it really? Is that girl still working there?....Okay, at any rate. TB: Let's talk about what we're doing here, why we're here. Go ahead... MOD: Do you guys mind talking about the Monkees show? DJ: That's what we're going to be doing--the Monkees show. 5
Monkee Shines MD: We don't mind. If you could direct the questions to one person or the other, 'cause otherwise we all talk amongst each other.. MOD: Alright, Micky. How did the Monkees all begin? How did you get the job? Make it brief, okay? MD: You really want to know, huh? MOD: Well, if you can make it brief. MD: It was different for each one of us. I went in for an interview. MOD: Did you answer an ad in Variety or something? MD: No, I didn't. My agent did. But there was an ad. DJ: His agent went to the interview and didn't get it [the part], so he sent Micky instead. MD: To briefly summarize, Davy was under contract to Screen Gems, who was also in a show. I got it through an agent. Peter Tork got it through Stephen Stills, who heard about it and went and told Peter. And Mike--I think Mike got it through Randy Sparks or somebody like that. Tommy and Bobby were writers for Screen Gems, and their music--Colpix. TB: We were going to be the writing team of the Monkees. Like the John Lennon and Paul McCartney of the Monkees. And for some reason somebody at Screen Gems thought we shouldn't have the [Monkees] parts...so they promised us the part but we didn't get the part. DJ: At any rate...
TB: So that's how we became the writers of the Monkees. MD: Tommy and Bobby wrote the majority, I would say ninety percent of the songs. MOD: Your first few records, didn't they produce? MD: Yeah. MOD: I heard at one time that you guys weren't even allowed to play your instruments. MD: We did all the singing. I played drums on--I would say quite a few of the tracks. Not all of them. DJ: They told us what to do. Who was singing background. He sang some background--he sang some background. "Ow"s and a couple of "ah"s. And they made all the money. [laughs] MOD: Well, how long was the Boyce and Hart team together? MD: They still are. DJ: Too long, I'm telling you. BH: Ten years ago was when we started in New York. '64...yeah. MD: So it's been ten years, actually. BH: I'm a little iffy, but he wrote Pretty Little Angel Eyes--Curtis Lee. I like all those old songs. Did you write any of those other old songs back there? TB: Whenever The Mood Is Right--Curtis Lee. Before that, Be My Guest--Fats Domino. BH: Oh, yeah. DJ: See, these guys are not on television, but are talented men here. Just because they got hung up with us guys doesn't mean they aren't great. 6
Monkee Shines MOD: How did you guys come together now? To get together as the Monkees? MD: We were always friends. The four of us got along really well mainly because of our similarities and our backgrounds. Davy and I did exclusively all the lead singing, [ed note: yes, we know that's not right, but that's what he said!] so naturally we worked closer together because they were writing the songs and Davy and I were singing them. And we've seen each other over the years...just because we live in the same areas, in the same business. And about a month ago, Tommy called me and said that there was a promoter who was interested in doing some dates. And, uh... TB: We all had a good laugh. MD: So we all laughed and said if we're all here, what will we do? DJ: So they pulled the dates over... MD: So we started thinking of what kind of show we would do. And we didn't want to go out there and do...put a new, contemporary kind of show together. DJ: We don't want to go out and sing other people's hits. And we haven't had too many since the Monkees. MD: ...and we didn't have too many hits of our own or new contemporary stuff, so we knew we couldn't go out there... BH: We haven't recorded in five years.
MD: We haven't recorded. So then I came up with the brilliant idea to have the show that we're putting together now. So, in trying to come up with a concept for a show that would not be, you know, stupid and trite and just run of the mill kind of show, I thought of how they have those record albums come out on TV of the "Golden Great Hits of the...", right? So I got the idea from that. I said why don't we go out and do the "Golden Great Hits of the Monkees Show" live, and just do all the old songs, instead of selling the kids an album, you know...we wouldn't get much out of it, anyway...we'll give them the album live. And that's the whole concept of the show. MOD: How come you couldn't get Peter and Mike to come back? MD: Mike does not do any road work and Peter isn't too crazy about it, either--especially about doing old songs. MOD: He was the first to leave the group, wasn't he? MD: Yeah, he was the first to leave, and he's into doing his own thing and Mike is into his own thing, and they didn't sing any of the original hits, so they wouldn't really have that much to do. And we have met together, the four of us, and if we do something together as the four it will probably be something like a TV special or movie. And who knows? They may end up doing a few of these shows. So, you never know. We decid7
Monkee Shines ed to go out like this, and the band, and see what happens. DJ: A long time ago when we used to do the Monkees tour, Bobby used to play on the tour. He used to have his own band. And he used to lead the band for us. And we all got along. MD: We never went out, just the four of us as a regular group, 'cause we never were. We were a television show about a rock and roll group. The show we did--I don't know if you originally saw it... MOD: A spin-off from the Beatles' Help and Hard Day's Night stuff, isn't it? MD: That was the TV show. The road show was more like a Vegas thing or theatrical...with a James Brown impression, and another band. Bobby had a band at the time... Much more theatrical than just a regular concert. MOD: Not too long ago didn't you do a horror movie? [ed note: the infamous Night Of The Strangler pic] DJ: All the movies he's done are horror movies. MD: Not a horror movie, I did a murder... MOD: Well maybe that's what...I didn't see it but I heard something about it. MD: That was a long time ago. MOD: And you recorded a single not too long ago, or did you guys break up first...a song called Don't Do It. MD: Oh, that was before. MOD: That was before? DJ: I had a song after the Mon-
kees called Rainy Jane. And Girl, which was from [The] Star Spangled Girl. MD: Mike had a hit called Joanne... I didn't have a hit I can think of. [laughs] MOD: In your young days-you've done Circus Boy when you were little... DJ: And I did the Monkees when I was little... MOD: You did the Monkees when you were little, you were onstage and I saw you do a Brady Bunch. And I saw Boyce and Hart do a Bewitched... TB: I wrote Pretty Little Angel Eyes. Bobby wrote Hurt So Bad... Davy said "What are we gonna do?" and then Micky came up with the "Golden Great Hits" and then Davy said "That's a good idea, why don't we add to that--'The Golden Great Hits Starring The Guys Who Sang 'Em And The Guys Who Wrote 'Em'.". MD: So that's kind of the concept to the show, just like one of those albums you see on TV. And then the radio ad...I don't know if you've heard the radio ads that we did. Are they playing here yet? Do you have any idea? The one I produced? MOD: No, I haven't heard it yet. DJ: See, the thing is...whenever I go anywhere, everybody says "Hey! Davy Jones! The Monkees. Who cares about Micky?" [laughing] MD: That's funny. They always say to me "Hey! Micky Dolenz! Who was that other 8
Monkee Shines guy? That short guy?" DJ: ...we did the whole shtick, you see, so we go out on the road like we do. I've been out there with a bunch of stuff of my own. Micky and I have entertained together, and he's done different things for charity. We've never really gotten together over the years--Monkee see, Monkee do--'cause that was ten years ago, all those tunes. But the thing is, we realize at this point that whenever we go anyplace that people remember us from the Monkees. These are the guys who wrote the tunes, and we're the guys who sang them. So why should we go out and sing You've Got A Friend or Bridge Over Troubled Water... I mean, we can do a lot of shtick on stage, but instead of that we sing twelve, fifteeen songs that were all top twenty or top ten tunes that anybody who knows anything about the Monkees, or coming to see the Monkees-they'll hear the tunes and they'll hear the same... MD: And we're going to a lot of towns we never went to before. The small ones. Small cities that we never had a chance to see. Not like St. Louis, 'cause we were here. DJ: The show has also been running for five or seven years on television, so now we have kids who were not even born when we started doing the show in 1965--who couldn't be out there saying "Hey Davy, Micky, Tommy, Bobby!", you
know? And that's about the extent of the whole thing... "Don't you feel kind of funny about going out and doing the old songs?" Well, I'm sure that Tony Bennett sings I Left My Heart In San Francisco. He's only got one hit to sing. We've got a lot of them. And that's what we're going to do. MOD: Does Bobby and Tommy get to do songs like they did...like Alice Long? MD: Yeah, but not when they're doing I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight. DJ: They can take off and do those two songs, and tell everybody to go and get a sandwich. [laughing] BH: I didn't know Alice Long was big in Saint Louis. We should have worked it up. DJ: When Bobby came to me and begged me to go out on the road, I said "Sure, man!". I mean, I'd only been going gray...and getting old, and you need the break, and I need the break. And Micky's saving up for his operation, and that's about it. Tommy says "If you don't go, guys, I'm going to bust your nose, don't you understand.". So here we go... MOD: I've seen the movie HEAD. And I don't understand it. Was there a plot to it? I don't understand the movie. I want to get it, but I don't understand it. MD: The plot...it's very episodic. It's probably the first major episodic movie to come out of a major Hollywood production 9
Monkee Shines company. It was a...the plot more or less was an abstract... [thinking out loud] DJ: I'm going to have to go and shave in a minute. MD: It was the story of the Monkees in kind of an animated look at the whole Hollywood motion picture syndrome. And using us as examples, more or less exemplified the creation of an entity in Hollywood, and their rebellion and their confusion and their...the black box...the black box was like--we used to joke a lot about when we were on tour going from one black box to another. From a black limousine to a black guarded entrance to a hotel to a hotel room to a black tunnel of an amphitheater. And, you know, we never saw anything but these black tunnels. And um, when we wrote the movie-'cause the four of us more or less conceptualized the movie. Jack Nicholson did the screenplay. We met with Jack Nicholson and Bob Rafelson at one time for three days, and out of that came the movie. The plot is really just... BH: Stardust, ten yeas before. MD: Well, yeah, but even more abstract. Very abstract. MOD: Why did he jump over the bridge? BH: It makes more sense now than it did when I saw it then. MD: You really have to just look at it...really at it's face value. For the effects. For the visual imagery. DJ: Some of the chromakey
work and stuff... BH: I really like that. That's a cool effect. MD: And you really have to look at it as symbolism. Like Victor Mature symbolizing the big, traditional, classical Hollywood stepping on the new, little Hollywood freaks running around. DJ: ...and the gurus sitting in the steam bath and Peter getting into the trip, and saying-and calling him master...thinks that somebody says "How about some more steam?". MD: It's very symbolic. If you try to look at it too deeply it doesn't make any sense at all. Most people didn't understand it. I had a little girl come up to me one day in a parking lot after she'd seen the movie. And remember the sequence about-the war sequence? Showing that footage of Viet Nam, and making an analogy to kids screaming at a concert and ripping our clothes off. Bert Schneider was always really big on the anti-war thing. I remember that he was the producer at the Academy Awards last year...read the telegram from the North Vietnamese...he won the Academy Award for Hearts And Minds. At any rate, she came up to me--she says "I don't know how you can do that. You're advocating the war.", you know? The impression she got was that we were advocating the war--that we were supporting war because she didn't understand the anal10
Monkee Shines ogy we tried to make. There was a lot of confusion about the movie. But we all didn't mind...I didn't mind. We all agreed that we did not want to make just an hour and a half long Monkees show. And that was universally agreed by all of us. That we did not want to do that . We didn't want our names on it. We didn't want the name "The Monkees" on the movie... DJ: I just want to add one thing. That little girl that said that--I beat the living sh** out of her. [laughs] And that was it. She didn't ask any more. MD: So, uh...[incredulously] Davy being quoted in a Teen Beat that "I beat the living sh** out of little girls"... So, we got exactly what we wanted, you know. I'm very proud of it. I think it's probably the finest thing that we did. DJ: I think it's one of the finest things that Micky did. As far as everybody else's performance, it was like toy town. MOD: What was that bridge you jumped off of? MD: It's in Long Beach. MOD: Is it a real bridge? MD: Yeah. MOD: Did you really jump off it? MD: Sure. [laughs] Five hundred feet. MOD: Where did you jump? I always loved that scene. MD: I didn't do anything... DJ: No, no. We had some guy down below with a rope who would catch us. [laughs] MD: "How do you guys do it?"
No, it was a... beautiful effects. That thing was a fantastic... for effects I think it was the greatest... DJ: Tiger Beat's getting four pages, here... MD: So go ahead--next question. MOD: Okay, what was something about you diving into a three foot kiddie pool on stage? [ed. note: the Monkees concert at the Hollywood Bowl] I read this someplace about...at a concert. You dive into... [DJ and MD begin talking at the same time--audio is indecipherable] MD: Shut up and let me answer this g*d**n question. Could you get Peter Tork on the phone, please? DJ: I just happened to grab the mike off him before he did it. Out of pure instinct. I thought it was a good move--or I would be on the road with Tommy and Bobby. MD: And not selling any tickets... DJ: I'm here too, you understand? I've had to butt in. I've butted in this whole thing like I'm not there. MD: Tell them about your hat and cane. DJ: My hat and cane--I'm sorry, it got lost in the mail coming over here. And they were going to do a routine between them. I'm selling tomatoes in the audience for that particular night. [laughs] TB: Just don't call him Fred Astaire. 11
Monkee Shines DJ: We do a little tiny bit... MD: We also do a psychedelic number. Turn on a light on our face ...it's a strobe effect. We couldn't afford a real strobe, so I just put my foot down like this...[imitates stomping] DJ: Micky and I...as far as this tap dancing thing...we touch upon it. We have the straw hats and canes. Micky has a whole box of sh**. We've come up with it yesterday at rehearsal. And so meanwhile we're all going "One two three four, two two..." and we just learn a little bit of a step to a little number. Happens to be written by Harry Nilsson. MD: What we did is feature in the show, as you see in the program, songs that were written mostly by Tommy and Bobby. 'Cause they wrote the majority of these songs. And also, we encourage people to know that Carole King wrote quite a few of our hits. Harry Nilsson had his first hit with us. DJ: Neil Diamond... MD: Neil Diamond had his first major hit with us. MOD: I'm A Believer. MD: Paul Williams had his first hit with us. And there were some other ones. MOD: Which one is Paul Williams's? DJ: Someday Man... MD: Someday Man... DJ: ...but that wasn't a hit. MD: Well it was, but not a big hit. It was the first record he had recorded by a major artist. DJ: As far as our show...the
show that we have...is a show of songs, mainly. There's a small amount of conversation. We don't have time to get into any great big production because of the facilities and the different places that we play. Daytime--there's no lighting that we use. The show consists of performance, just a bit of conversation, a couple pieces of comedy here and there within the show. And until we get into a facility where we're able to do more with these tunes instead of just play them, it's enough. And when you see the show tomorrow you'll realize it is, you know, a complete show. But if we're going into other venues, into a different facility, you know, where we're able to get into the lighting changes--into strobe lights and into dry ice and into hat and cane numbers with other dancers, not just us guys--we're the stars of the show, we're featured. Maybe there will be other dancers with us. But right now, at Six Flags, we're limited to what we can do. We all have a certain amount of time, and most of it is spent singing. I do a little thing, and we all do a little dance together just for the fun of it. By any stretch of the imagination we're not...we don't have anything...too choreographed. It's all just kind of natural. BH: It's fun... DJ: It's fun. That's the idea of the show. TB: We started together. We all met, you know. The four of 12
Monkee Shines us were together before the four of them were together. And ten years later, it's the same where we started. DJ: But it's not a chore, you see. It's not a chore for us to go out and sing these tunes. MD: Not a what? Choo-ah? DJ: Chore. That's what I said. I said chore. MD: A chore! DJ: I didn't say a choo-ah. I said a chore. You're trying to tell me how to speak? [laughs] J**** C*****, you guys ain't learned how to speak in two hundred years. BH: ...[the tour] seemed like the right thing to do. Tommy got the whole thing together... Everybody knows...together, the four of us... DJ: I mean, we're just singing straight music. We've got four guys who are real competent musicians, and we're just going to have some good times, and sing some harmonies, and sing some tunes. You know, we've got fifteen tunes that anybody who's ever listened to a Monkee album... MD: You will recognize them... DJ: Yesterday, Hard Day's Night... MOD: Are you still writing songs for other people? TB: Well Bobby just had a couple... He's the most prominent of the group right now. He just had two hits. Keep On Singin' by Helen Reddy... MD: You wrote that? TB: And Something's Wrong With Me by Austin Roberts. On
the back page of the book you'll see I have an ad for the book I wrote--on the inside cover. I have a book on how to write songs. How we collaborate... DJ: You see, so it's all entertainers. Micky and I have worked together a little bit. Tommy and Bobby are writing with different people. It's just a gathering of four entertainers and putting together something that was... I just repeated a role that I did twenty years ago on Broadway in a show called OLIVER. I played the Artful Dodger. Two years ago I did the same role for a Los Angeles company and a San Francisco company--a big, lavish production. It's not like a step back, know what I mean? It is a continuation of what we are doing and what we are. We can never shake "Hey, I'm Davy Jones of the Monkees". The same as Groucho Marx and the Marx Brothers. MD: Aren't you the Groucho Marx of the Beatles? DJ: So, it's nothing that's needing to be explained in any great length. Just that we have hit songs, and we're here to sing them to people who haven't heard these things live. As far as Mike and Peter--there's every possibility of them joining us at a future date, but it's not feasible at this point because of the venues we are playing, and because of the kind of show... MD: Because they don't want to play on the road right now. Let's go on to something else... 13
Monkee Shines MOD: This will be the last question and I'll let you guys go. Now you guys were once like...you were like the American Beatles. And you couldn't even walk down the street without being mobbed. Do you wish that you could be number one again or you don't want to that much? DJ: As far as myself, I feel exactly the same as I did when I used to hold the spear in the school play. And I feel no different. I am the same person with twenty thousand people out there or twenty people out there. My performance does not change. As far as my feeling--of course there's more money when there's more people, but as far as feeling inhibited about not having the success or the adulation or whatever, I don't know no [differently]. MD: It has its advantages and it has its disadvantages. Naturally, like Davy said--when there's more people, there's more money. But once you've done it and had it, the drive and desire for it doesn't exist as much anymore. And in a way that's a disadvantage because you don't have as much ambition. I've found that out over the last few years. I don't have those kind of driving ambitions for fame and fortune that keep you...that keeps somebody going on and pressing and pressing and pressing harder and harder to achieve success. So I've become a little lazy, you know, a little complacent be-
cause I've already done it. DJ: I was nineteen when we started. He was twenty. And that's pretty young, you know? To have done what we did. And these guys have been writing for twenty years. He's been writing for twenty years, he had a hit some twenty years ago. MD: I would like to have that, but it would take somebody else to really get together... DJ: And as far as musical influences, I'm sure that a lot of people identify with Pretty Little Angel Eyes or will identify with his latest one, Keep On Singing by Helen Reddy, a long time from now. But we're not shmucks--we'll be around entertaining for the next twenty years. I mean, I understand there's a lot of hit groups around pulling in thousands and thousands . You take Rod Stewart, put him in downtown Saint Louis, and nobody would know who the he** he was. You take his face or my face, and they know who we are. And so there's that kind of thing going for us. Not that we want his success, because we've had his success--the kind of success he was getting. It's a whole different ball game. It's just a continuation of who we are. We're just carrying on entertaining. I mean, he does theater. I do theater. They write new songs every day. I mean, this is what we are. We're entertainers joining forces. MD: We're trying to please the 14
Monkee Shines fans. TB: Bobby and I came up with, when we read the script you know, and were going to be the writing Monkees, and it didn't work out to become the Monkees for various reasons... DJ: Politics. TB: In American music at the time, there was, like, a void for something to happen, you know. And our music became a happy, go lucky type of music... The voice part sounds like happiness, good times, summertime, bubblegum music. It was like a new image. The Beatles had totally checked out...and there was still nothing happening. So there was all this happy, smiling, go lucky, make everybody feel good music. DJ: That you didn't see every week on TV. TB: So we were, like, noted for that. In fact, they wrote a song once--the 1910 Fruitgum Company called Bubblegum Music. It went like [singing] "Love the bubblegum music, make me feel so good. Good, good, good. Give me more, more, more of that bubblegum music. Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart-I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight while the Monkees sing Valleri". MD: Get me Peter Tork on the phone. [laughing] TB: They wrote that song because of what we did, and what the four of us in the '60's... Making people feel good, that's what we're doing. Making peo-
ple feel like they want to see us. DJ: It makes sense, again, what you just said about Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart and the Monkees and what happened to Valleri. When all of a sudden ten years later some guy turns around and does MGM or Chuck Berry, and does that record. You know what I mean? It's just a change over, change over. It's not that it's our time again, it's just that the desire is there once more to go out in front of the people. MD: [in his best announcer voice] Yes, you don't have to tear anything off or send anything in... DJ: As soon as Chuck sends me my share of all the money that he made... BH: I think you can ask Tony-he's been talking to the people who are booking us. He knows the feeling of the people out there wanting to see the four of us together. MOD: Well, it's really nice having you guys back together again. That's great. MD: Well, we appreciate it. We appreciate your interest.
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Nobody Cares About The Railroads Anymore By Harry Nilsson (sung by David Jones)
When we got married back in 1944 We'd board that silver liner below Baltimore Trip to Virginia on a sunny honeymoon Nobody cares about the railroads anymore We'd tip the porter for a place of our own Then send a postcard to your Mom and Dad back home Did something to ya, when you'd hear that all aboard Nobody cares about the railroads anymore When we got married back in 1944 We'd board that silver liner below Baltimore Trip to Virginia on a sunny honeymoon Nobody cares about the railroads anymore Did something to ya, when you'd hear that all aboard Nobody cares about the railroads anymore
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Why By: Michael Card (Sung by David Jones) Lyrics Courtesy: Janet Litterio
Why did it have to be a friend Who chose to betray the Lord Why did he use a kiss to show them That's not what a kiss is for Only a friend can betray a friend A stranger has nothing to gain And only a friend comes close enough To ever cause so much pain And why did there have to be thorny Crown pressed upon His head It should have been the royal one Made of jewels and gold instead It had to be a crown of thorns Because in this life that we live For all who seek to love A thorn is all the world has to give And why did it have to be A heavy cross He was made to bare And why did they nail His feet and hands His love would have held Him there It was a cross for on a cross A thief was supposed to pay And Jesus had come into the world To steal every heart away Yes, Jesus had come into the world To steal every heart away
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Monkee Shines
Pop legend jets in for funeral of brother-in-law
it because he liked it. “He came with us a lot when we were on tour and he always had it just right in everything he did. “I remember him saying to me: 'How much is enough?’ But I knew he wasn’t talking about money. He was talking about other things in life.” Davy was born in Manchester and appeared in Coronation Street before answering an advert to join the Monkees, the first manufactured pop group, which had enormous success both in this country and America.
POP legend Davy Jones leaves Monday’s funeral
POP legend Davy Jones paid a sad visit to Accrington this week for the funeral of his brother-in-law Ken Wilkinson. Davy, 59, who sang with pop group the Monkees, flew over from Orlando, USA, for the funeral of Mr Wilkinson, who had acted as his security guard and personal assistant on tours of the USA in the band’s Sixties heyday.
Ken Wilkinson
He said: “When I first met Ken I decided I liked him right from the start.
At the height of their fame young fans would camp outside sister Hazel’s house in Church when it was rumoured he was paying a visit.
“He was a very intelligent and well -read man with a dry sense of humour and we were very close. He was always very good to me.
Mr Wilkinson, of Cranbourne Drive, Church, died in Blackburn Royal Infirmary aged 67, leaving Hazel and a son Robert.
“He did a lot of painting but he didn’t do it for money. He just did 19
Monkee Shines Over the years he made many friends in the USA, Holland and Japan through Monkees fan clubs.
Accrington Crematorium was packed for Monday’s funeral. So many family, friends and former work colleagues turned up that many had to stand in the lobby to hear the service conducted by the Rev Steve Thomasson.
He served with the Grenadier Guards and was a Lancashire police officer for 30 years until his retirement 17 years ago. He served as a motorcyclist in the traffic department at Accrington and later became an accident prevention officer.
Article courtesy of Hazel WIlkinson
“I’ll Love You Forever” at The Bottle Neck Blues Bar in St. Charles, MO. Photo by Bonnie Borgh
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Monkee Shines
We’re off To See The Wizard She Said SLASH She Said By Bonnie Borgh, Diana Scharp, and cindy bryant
When last we left our heroines (okay…The Gang) on October 24, 2004, they were bitter sweetly departing from the Lockport show. While driving west on Interstate 80, they were clicking their heels together and repeating their mantra, "There's no place like Jones, There's no place like Jones, There's no place like Jones."
service to the Young in Heart and Time has been powerless to put its unique Monkee Shines out of business. To those of you who have been faithful to it and to the missing in action…we dedicate this story.] Bonnie: It had been almost five months since any of us had seen The Wizard of Ahs (okay…David). Colleen from St. Louis braved the elements
[For nearly eighteen years this newsletter has given faithful 21
Monkee Shines
Bonnie: There were looming health concerns of both my father and Craig's father. I was recuperating from a sinus SLASH eye infection. Craig had a sinus infection and was uncomfortable because of a stiff neck. Hannah had either viral or bacterial bronchitis. Craig had to take time off work to take Hannah to school and pick her up from school on Thursday, March 10. Since her school was having Kindergarten Round-up on March 11, Craig also had to use vacation time on Friday to stay home with her. Cindy had to take a week of vacation. Besides dealing with her arthritic (knee) pain, most of her semi-effective prescription drugs were being removed from the market. We even prayed there would not be a late winter snowstorm preventing our journey.
Photo by Bonnie Borgh
on New Year's Day to purchase the best available tickets for Cindy and I to see him on Thursday, March 10 at the Ameristar Casino in St. Charles, Missouri, but it's never easy leaving Kansas (okay…Iowa). Cindy: Potayto, Potahto. Only the names have been changed to protect the guilty
Cindy: While I grew up in the 60s it wasn’t until recently my mantra has become “better living through chemistry “… Who knew?
Diana: Kudos from Diana and Bob to Colleen too! She gave us the heads up that David was comin’ to our town! I’m afraid Bob and I were “Daydream Believin” a little too much and would have missed the show! I’m thinking our son, Bobby, is going to be quite a busy boy in life like my husband, Bob, and “our David!”
Diana: I talked to Colleen just before the concert! She’s been as busy as a one armed paper hanger hanging upside down on the side of a building! (You know, putting up a billboard! Ha! Ha!) I made that last part up. Colleen has been training people by day and singing at night! We caught you on St. Louis TV, Colleen. It sounded 22
Monkee Shines Cindy: The trip went so fast! As I said we were on a mission. Bonnie and I never seem to run out of things to talk about. Craig thinks we are attached at the ear by a phone cord as it is!
great! (Hmmm…training by day and singing by night? It sounds like you and David have a lot in common! Bonnie: It was very much like being caught up inside the eye of a cyclone when I departed our house at 5:00 am on Thursday, March 10. The ruby slippers (okay…Hannah's red sparkly Christmas shoes) were on the ledge behind the back seat. Everything seemed to be in black and white. (Okay…it was black because sunrise was about 6:15 am and white because snow started to fall when I approached Highway 38 to Muscatine.) Right on schedule, Cindy and I departed her house at 6:00 am. We were off to see the Wizard! Despite slightly slippery road conditions, we carefully followed the yellow brick road (okay…Highway 61 south).
Bonnie: Speaking of "welcome", Cindy and I noted some rather unique billboard signs along Interstate 70 east as we approached our destination. There was one advertising a "pooper scooper" service (for pets, I assume) and another which read, "Having bra problems?" Excuse me! Diana: It sounds like you were pushing right along! Cindy: Was that a bra joke? Them people in Missouri don’t mince no words! But really, I thought MY job was bad until I thought about the pooperscooper option!
Cindy: Amazingly we were pulling away from the curb in front of my house at 6 AM. It wasn’t the first time we set out with the threat of snow but “neither rain nor hail nor sleet nor snow….” We were on a mission, you know.
Bonnie: We arrived at the Quality Inn and Suites in St. Charles approximately 11:00 am. The snow had completely stopped, the skies became blue with puffy white clouds, and the bright golden sun was shining! Then a strange and wonderful thing happened. There, in the parking lot, Cindy spotted a radiant ball of color from which emerged a beautiful princess (okay…It was a Honda, and our friend, Colleen, was just getting out of the vehicle.) Talk about impeccable timing! Colleen opted to stay at our hotel of
Bonnie: By the time we reached the Missouri border, the snow dissipated. We picked up some free discount coupons for our hotel at the Welcome Center in Hannibal. (More dollars for Davy!)
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Monkee Shines choice rather than fight the St. Louis traffic later.
ter Be Clean, but we know David's casino engagements are not necessarily family shows. Besides the "casino", there were shops and restaurants galore.
Cindy: We couldn’t have timed this one any better if we’d tried. It does seem to be a little more than co-incidence that the temperature always goes up (“it’s always up!”) when the Manchester Cowboy is in the area.
Diana: Bob and I drove slowly up the sparkling yellow crystal lighted illusionary dome drive to the casino. It felt like Oz! We couldn’t wait to see good friends and be a part of the “David experience” again! After all, we had a babysitter and the night was ours! Ha! Ha!
Bonnie: Of course, we had to check in, unload our suitcases, etc. and freshen up before approaching the Wizard! (Prior to our departure, Cindy and I received a "Thinking of You" package in the mail from Janet Litterio. She sent each of us warm and fuzzy purple Monkee socks SLASH slippers to wear during the concert. She had purchased a pair for herself that she planned to wear in order that we might all be united in spirit. I was proud and just a little bit humble to wear them. They were a perfect match to my concert attire. Thank you, Girl!)
Cindy: The Ameristar is pretty impressive. All it lacks is a hotel.
Cindy: I had chosen to save mine to wear to breakfast the next morning should we decide to dine at the hotel.
Bonnie: Our first order of business was to drop off the goods from the hoods with the Gatekeeper (okay…Matt) at the Promotions counter. (Scott, the Entertainment Coordinator, was temporarily away from his station.) Cindy had ordered and sent via FTD a bouquet of flowers. However, we still had a few assorted (okay…sordid) items to present to the Wizard. Most importantly, there was a particular and familiar "form" enclosed...
Bonnie: At approximately 12:00 pm, Colleen led us to the Emerald City (okay…the Ameristar Casino) which was just minutes away. It truly was a city in itself. We easily found the Bottleneck Blues Bar (BBB). I think that also stands for Bet-
Cindy: The people were all so nice there. Scott, thank you for your kindness…in spite of the anthrax remark! . Bonnie: Our second stop was to obtain our Star Awards card, which we needed along with 24
Monkee Shines
our ticket to audience with the Wizard.
the buffet items. I selected fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet corn, a Chinese egg roll, and an Italian bread stick. However, we were rather surprised when we got back to our table with our food. There was a strange woman already sitting there eating! (Somebody was sitting in our booth and drinking Cindy's ice tea!) We said, "Excuse me, but you're sitting at our table!" She said she was wondering where her friends were (but kept right on eating) and then realized she had, in fact, parked her entrée at the wrong table! Once she found her designated table and the waitress tidied up our table, we thoroughly enjoyed our lunch right through to the vanilla yogurt ice cream with blueberries I had chosen for dessert.
Since there was no line assembled at the BBB, Cindy, Colleen, and I decided to have a little "snack". We chose to dine at the Landmark Buffet. [Food, glorious food! We're anxious to try it. Three banquets a day. Our favourite diet!] (Imagine that! Wrong musical!) Cindy: There are those who read these stories just to see what we have eaten and we wouldn’t want to disappoint … you know who you are! Bonnie: The idea was that you pre-ordered your beverage and were assigned to a table. Then you were free to choose any of 25
Monkee Shines Photo by Bonnie Borgh
It was Scott, and he was very accommodating to our Motley Crue (Imagine that! Wrong group!) I'm not sure he completely understood why we were there waiting at 1:00 pm when the show did not begin for another six hours. [I could while a-way the hours, be plantin' purple flow'rs, or consultin' with the Gang. And my toes I'd be tappin', and my hands I'd be clappin', If I only had a brain.] However, as Monkees' fans know, oftentimes the early bird gets the good seats. In fact, our numbers rapidly grew as we were joined by various other Munchkins and Hobbits.
Cindy: She certainly didn’t seem to be in any hurry to leave even after she found out she was at the wrong table. She must have been hungry. The food was quite good and there was a huge variety from American to Italian to Chinese. Oh, and a chocolate fountain!
Cindy: We're just checking to see if you are paying attention, Kimmi! Diana: Bob and I arrived early to meet the Gang and get in line. Everyone was super to us! Instead of going to a restaurant, we opted to grab a sandwich and chat in the “Q”.
Diana: Did someone mention chocolate fountain? I love fountains and chocolate too, of course!
Bonnie: Is that an abbreviation for "queue"? Diana: Our conversation was a little bit me and a little bit you, too! I had spent the day at a spa called Friends (a present from my wonderful husband!) I felt like a gem! (Emerald?) In fact, my hair has a lot of natural curl and wave so I picked a hairstyle (a good friend said) like Shirley Temple! No one
Bonnie: It was after 1:00 pm when we decided we better return to the BBB. There we met Celeste (the first in "line") who was from the St. Louis area. Shortly thereafter, a very business-like man approached us whilst we loitered at a round table outside the establishment. 26
Monkee Shines knew me! Not even David! You never know what hairstyle will be coming to your town! It turns out, my Bob is tall like Bonnie’s husband, Craig (who we’ve never met) Right David? That’s another story! Ah Americans! I traveled from Friends Spa to see wonderful friends! Can’t ask for more than that!
sound check, an entourage came through those same doors. (Come out, come out wherever you are and meet the young ladies who follow a star. They fell for a star, they drive very far, and Taurus they say is the name of the car. Bottleneck they say is the name of the bar.) David was in the middle of the pack, and he blew kisses to us all and waved heartily as he breezed by enroute to eat at the Falcon Diner. People come and go so quickly in Oz! Something tells me there's a character omitted in this story. Unfortunately, like the scarecrow, I don't have a brain and am unable to identify who it might be.
Bonnie: In fact, two women appeared whom Cindy and I had not seen in almost thirteen years. Peggy and Jill flew in from California. About a quarter to three, I spied with my little eyes far off down the yellow brick road (okay…red cobblestone walkway) two figures entering the complex with musical equipment. I'm A Believer it was time for the usual and customary sound check. As "John Boy" once said, "Stars never do sound checks," but alas the Great and Powerful was amongst the members of the band.
Cindy: Never mind, there were no demons, monsters, or witches in this story! There was a very curious flying Monkee, though. Bonnie: Shortly afterwards, we met Diana and her husband, Bob. They were a lovely couple. Diana showed us some beautiful collage pictures of their handsome little four-yearold adopted son, Robby, from Russia.
Cindy: Well, John’s been wrong before…. Bonnie: Taking turns, we occasionally peered through the double glass doors for a momentary chance to see the Wizard who was seemingly trying out all the chairs. (Keep them warm for us, David!) Seriously, David also took to the stage with the microphone and sang a few select tunes. (Since I was not officially "on duty", I did not write them down.) After the
Diana: Thank you for the really nice compliment, Bonnie. You all are as nice as Colleen said you were! (Very special!) I’ve told Robby about Hannah, and he wants to meet her sometime at David’s concert. Bonnie: 27
She'll be in Oshkosh
Monkee Shines 'B Gosh!
ryone in line to sign for Ken and Hazel to let them know we were thinking of them.
Cindy: Robby might have to settle for a Micky concert if he wants to meet Hannah, right Bonnie?
Bonnie: Just before show time, Scott said he wanted to inspect our (gift) bag for Anthrax before he delivered it. We thought, "You must be joking!" (Ken must have talked to this guy!)
Diana: Robby’s pretty funny sometimes! He has a good sense of humor! He teases me when I wear David’s t-shirt around the house. I have to admit it wholly /holy (holey)! I call it my Sunday shirt! Ha! Ha! Bob and I attended a Paul McCartney concert in St. Louis a few years ago (We’ll be married 18 years in October.) Well, I also wear Paul’s shirt too! Now Robby has attended one of David’s concerts at the age of seventeen months (so he knows who’s face is who’s)! He’s very sharp! Cindy: Scharp!
Cindy: We are a GANG you know! Bonnie: Before we knew it, it was 6:00 pm when the doors opened. Our Star Awards cards were swept (Somebody Swiped Me!), the perforated part of our tickets was taken, and without further adieu we promptly SLASH calmly chose our seats. Talk about an incredible view of whatever! There was a 2' x 2' square table between the stage and us. Cindy had the aisle chair, and I was right alongside her front and center. It was such an unfortunate time for a moratorium on photography. Visions of Harrah's in Lake Tahoe (1987) danced in my head.
I’ll bet he is very
Diana: He will ask me, “Mommy, who’s face is that on your shirt?” And I‘ll say, “David’s!” He will grin with that dimple of his and say, “No, Paul’s!” Ha! Ha! We have fun! Cindy: I have to say after almost eighteen years of standing in line this was the nicest group of Monkee fans to spend the day with. Everyone was just so nice. Bonnie and I got a brief flash of inspiration and Bonnie followed the yellow brick road to the gift shop for a card which we then passed around to eve-
Cindy: Photos would have been nice but I still think that as close as we were a stack of one -dollar bills would have been appropriate! Oh my my! Bonnie: Speaking of which, all of a sudden, we heard a voice belt "Cindy Bryant!" down the adjoined rows of 2' x 2' tables. 28
Monkee Shines It was Mary Jo Maloney! We had not seen her since 1987 when she accompanied us aboard Bronco Express to The Monkees' (minus Mike Nesmith) two shows at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles and The Monkees' fourteen shows at Harrah's in Lake Tahoe. She had not changed one iota in almost eighteen years. At the time Mary Jo lived in Festus, Missouri, and she now lives in St. Louis proper.
Photo by Bonnie Borgh
Cindy: How great was it to see Mary Jo!? We often talk of that first MAJOR trip we all took and the great fun it was. We could write a book! The Grand Canyon, the plague…seriously!, an earthquake, and two weeks of Monkees…sigh.
words. In fact, when we talked with Mary Jo before the show at Ameristar, she said that (1987) trip was one of her greatest memories. We laughed about that incident now!
Bonnie: One of the most memorable times of that (1987) trip was when a Neil Diamond song came on the radio. Mary Jo exclaimed how much she loved Neil Diamond and that he was her favorite male singer of all time. Astounded, we all looked at her and said, "We thought Micky Dolenz was your favorite singer!" Of course, she regretfully retracted her words but not without a little help from her friends. We made her write (in a legible fashion) one hundred times, "Neil Diamond is not my favorite male singer of all time. Micky Dolenz is my favorite entertainer." She was not pleased with us, but it did bring to light the error of her
Cindy: I still laugh ‘til I cry when I think of that trip. Somewhere in my photo albums there is a picture of Mary Jo snarling at the camera while doing her homework at a little desk in a hotel in Big Sur where Bonnie flirted with Ranger Rick to get us more towels and I am not sure but from the looks of the carpet in that room something (or someone) had been gutted in the not so distant past. I can’t quite remember, Bonnie, was there a chalk outline on that floor? Ranger Rick’s real name 29
Monkee Shines wasn’t Norman, was it?
stopped the band and (in a joking but frustrated tone) said, "We're not going to do this anymore! Didn't you get my tape?" (I know exactly how the mail is!)
Bonnie: Suddenly it was 7:00 pm. The master of ceremonies welcomed the audience and announced a refrain from flash photography. (I had been told prior to the concerts "no photography". However, I brought along my aim and shoot camera in keeping with my Girl Scout motto of always being prepared. Had I known about the ban on flash photography, I would have brought my Minolta camera and 800 SLASH 1600 speed film. Que sera sera.)
Cindy: “Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow’s just a day away!” Bonnie: He proceeded to play an excerpt of his "Testing 1, 2, 3" cassette tape on his handheld recorder prop. It earned a great reception. He then continued with "Look Out Here Comes Tomorrow" and "Valleri". David remarked that Michael Jackson (was so white he) would have to go to a sunbed to play Dracula. (Actually, David's joke was in keeping with our story since Michael played in "The Wiz".) He then proceeded with "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights". I really like that song! David referred to this as his "Second Alimony Tour". (I thought it was his "2005 Bee Serious Tour".) Dave Alexander did a very convincing Buddy Hackett impression. David continued with one of Tommy Boyce's songs, "I Love You, Like I Love New York City". He then performed, "A Little Bit Me A Little Bit You", "She Hangs Out", "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby" (dedicated to all of the "Mom's"), "I'm A Believer", "Papa Gene's Blues", "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone", "Daydream Believer", "Girl",
Cindy: Ah well, the real photos are burned into our brains! Diana: Hey Bonnie, Bob got a couple of good shots of David with my trusty camera that I do my collages of Robby and other good friends with. I make my collages all by hand! It takes a lot of hours to do a collage but, you can be assured, there’s a lot of love put into them! Bonnie: One by one, the band members appeared on stage and briefly introduced themselves. Finally, the stage was set for the Wizard of Ahs himself to arrive. David appeared wearing black pants and a longsleeve black Davy Jones Band red-rose logo sweatshirt. He looked great! The show began with the standard "Hey Hey We're The Monkees" intro, but David quickly 30
Monkee Shines and "No Time".
my miscellaneous papers up and putting them in my purse. I thought it was mine. I am so sorry Bonnie….. Scott wasn’t about to throw you out by then though.
After the first show, we had to vacate our seats, proceed to the back of the bar, present our 9:00 pm tickets, and once again have our Star Awards card swiped. The only problem was that I absolutely could not locate my ticket SLASH card! I looked high and low and was in a momentary state of a panic until Cindy pulled my ticket SLASH Star Awards card out of her purse. She saved the day! Again, we complied with instructions and returned to our same original seats.
Bonnie: The master of ceremonies did not mention anything relative to photography during the 9:00 pm performance, and there was a bit of flashing noted. For the second show, David wore black pants and a long-sleeve silver shirt. He made light of Prince Charles' betrothal to Camilla. His joke was something to the effect that "Not everybody's been up the Eiffel Tower." David mentioned that Mark Clarke had been performing with his band "Coliseum". The show began with the intro to "Hey Hey We're The Monkees", "Look Out Here Comes Tomorrow", and "Valleri". It seems that a last-minute request was added to the set list. When David noticed "Somebody Slap Me" written on a sheet of paper, he questioned it's origin. Being the true sport that he is, he encouraged the band to play (at least a portion of) "Somebody Slap Me". "It's Nice To Be With You" and "A Little Bit Me A Little Bit You" followed. Dave Alexander performed a song in Japanese. David entertained us with a "Dances With Wolves" rain-dance step and "Lord of the Dance" Irish footwork. Dave Alexander emulated a Michael Jackson maneuver,
Cindy: Oops! How’d that happen? Actually I think I know. I was in the process of picking
Photo by Bonnie Borgh
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Monkee Shines and David followed with a unique Siamese twin joke. David launched into "Nobody Cares About The Railroads Anymore". Dave Alexander and Sandy Genaro did their familiar "All in the Family" routine. David continued with "Bright Side of the Road". A request came from someone at the back of the bus to sing "Listen People". (Imagine that! Another wrong group!) However, David complied with the request and an intro to the song was performed. Another person requested "When All Else Fails". David began the song but stopped after a few lines. He cited that the key Dave Alexander had chosen was too high for his [blank] (I knew this was not going to be a family show!) At this point, Mark Clarke said, "Is this request hour?" Seemingly, it was, but being the Wizard he is, David took it all in stride. The final medley of songs were: "I Saw Her Standing There", "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone", "(I'll) Love You Forever", "I'm A Believer", and "Daydream Believer". It was 10:20 pm and David concluded with show with a very heart-felt "God Bless America". There was "No Time" for an encore undoubtedly due to time limitations from the casino. Once again, the wonderful Wizard of Ahs was gone.
longer than it has been lately and it looked really good. We are always telling him NOT to cut his hair so short and I am so glad he has let it grow a bit. David, you know we would all kill for that beautiful wavy hair! Diana: Like the poppy fields of Oz, our minds were intoxicated with sweet memory of our dear friend’s lyrical tones. David was in the house! To all that experienced it, he lulled us to a happy place in our minds where smiles are evoked and memories are made. Bonnie: Since we had "No Time" for dinner, Colleen, Cindy, and I went to the Falcon Diner for a late-night snack. I
Cindy: I have to comment here because I know it is being read. David’s hair was quite a bit
Photo by Bonnie Borgh
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Monkee Shines had mozzarella sticks and a garden salad with ranch dressing. Colleen graciously took us back to our hotel, and we rather quickly retired for the night. It was "All Jones, All The Time" on MDC (My Dream Channel) l that evening.
and change of clothes, Cindy, Colleen, and I packed up our bags and checked out of the hotel. We returned to the Emerald City (okay…Ameristar Casino) one last time. We had a few minutes to gamble in the casino. Regrettably, I lost $10.00, but the luck of David was still with Cindy. It was then time to enjoy breakfast at the Falcon Diner. Colleen and I had a three-cheese (cheddar/ Monterey jack, and American) cheese omelet, hash browns, and a biscuit. It was mouth watering! What did you have again, Cindy? We stopped at the gift shop to rescue some lovely fliers from extinction, which announced David's appearance at the Bottleneck Blues Bar. Colleen returned us to the hotel where Cindy and I departed about 10:15 am for home.
Cindy: Yeah and I was concerned about your breathing! Bonnie: I awoke at approximately 6:30 am. Cindy was still asnooze so I quietly changed into my swimsuit and entered the pool. Once again, I had the entire pool to myself, and I swam for an hour. I enjoyed the tunes, but unfortunately, no Monkees' songs graced the PA system. Cindy stopped by about 7:30 am. She asked how I slept. She said that I did not snore but my breathing was certainly labored. It was then I told her I had one Jones dream after another all night long. The one in particular I remembered was that I shook David's hand. Everyone else who followed received a kiss. I thought, "What's the deal here?!" At any rate, Cindy thought I was still suffering from sinus problems and said, "If I had known that! It's a good thing I didn't hear you say 'Davy" or I would have bopped you with my pillow!" What a friend!
Cindy: It was one of those skillet breakfasts with basically the same thing as your omelet just served a little different. It was good but by this time the place had lost a little of the charm it had the night before. Then we made the obligatory stop at the casino. David has always been a good luck charm for me when it comes to his casino shows. I remember once getting up at 5 to see him off to the airport after one of the Bettendorf shows. Since all of my partners in crime that weekend had slept in, after David
Cindy: That’s what I am here for… a friend to the end! Bonnie:
After a nice shower 33
Monkee Shines left, I walked over to the casino with my last $20 bill. 10 minutes later I was standing there with $1000 in my hands! This time was pretty much the same on a smaller scale. 10 minutes in Bonnie had lost $10 and came looking for me. Colleen was right behind her. I had put $20 in and cashed out $100…I even covered Bonnie’s losses. So pretty much my concert and hotel were paid for. David, one of these days we have to go through the casino TOGETHER!
the Bottleneck Blues Bar Crew, and David and the band. We love you all! Diana: It’s nice to be with you, and your little dog, Toto, too. P.S. Whenever we drive by the casino now, Robby asks, “Is that David’s place?” We represent the Purple Flower Gang, The Purple Flower Gang, The Purple Flower Gang, and in the name of The Purple Flower Gang, we wish our lot were sane, but we are not!
Diana: Way to go, Cindy! Bonnie: The six hundred mile round-trip went so fast! Cindy and I passed the journey home reminiscing, drafting the outline for our next feature article, and answering some questions (to the best of our ability) in case Mr. Postman fails to deliver.
The End…….? Not Hardly!!!!!
Diana: Wake up Sleepy Jeans! You’re not quite in Kansas yet (or Iowa)! Cindy: It’s true there’s no place like home but now that we are here we are clicking our heels together and chanting, “There’s no place like Jones, there’s no place like Jones…” We wanna go back. Thanks to all who made the trip a wonderful experience … our friends, new and old, in the front lines, Celeste and friend, Bob and Diana, Peggy and Jill, Mary Jo, Colleen and friend, Scott and
Photo by Bonnie Borgh
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Photos by Bob Scharp Diana, Bonnie, & Cindy
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Our flying Monkee Hannah’s flying monkey
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Monkee Shines
Davy News David's beloved thoroughbred Indiantown Jones, a 17-handtall bay gelding, won First Place on Saturday, June 4th 2005 at Indiana Downs Race track while Davy watched proudly from the owners' area near the track. Indiantown Jones didn't just eek by, he won by 13 lengths! The very next day June 5th, Davy was in attendance at Calder Race Course when his Jessie Jones proudly wearing #2 did just that...came in second! JESSIE JONES reserved early, steadied to avoid running up on rivals on the turn, angled out and closed to PLACE! Congrats to the both of them on their accomplishments!
David's tour schedule includes the following dates: Mon 07/04/05 Tampa, FL--Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Sun 07/17/05 Hershey, PA--Hersheypark Arena Sat 07/23/05 Westerly, RI--Misquamicut State Beach Sat 07/30/05 Westbury, NY--North Fork Theatre @ Westbury Fri 09/23/05 Eagen, MN--Septemberfest Sat10/15/05 Lockport, IL--East High School Sun 10/16/05 Crystal Lake, IL--Raue Center for the Arts Sat 11/19/05 New York, NY--B.B. King's Blues Club Sun 11/20/05 Wilmington, DE--Grand Opera House Sat 02/18/06 Peekskill, NY--Paramount Center
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Monkee Shines
Micky News Some sad news to report on the Dolenz front this time. The afternoon of Friday, June 3rd, shortly after Micky celebrated his 100th "Micky In The Morning" radio show on New York City's WCBS-FM, the station changed formats without any advanced warning leaving virtually all of the on-air personalities, Dolenz included, out of a position. There have been a number of online protest petitions circulating in the aftermath of this news, but it looks like this change at the station will be permanent. We're certain that Micky will land on his feet, though, and wouldn't be surprised to see him back on the theatrical stage soon. The good news is that Micky and Coco still have a number of concerts booked for the coming months: Sat 07/16/05 Woodstock, GA--City Park Sat 08/06/05 Kalamazoo, MI--Arcadia Festival Site Fri 08/12/05 Santa Cruz, CA--Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Sun 08/14/05 Lake Forest, CA--Pittsford Park Thu 09/29/05 Culver, IN--Culver Academies Sat10/29/05 Westbury, NY--North Fork Theatre @ Westbury There is also some Coco news to report. As mentioned in our last newsletter, Coco is making available her first ever live album entitled "Songs From My Music Stand". Micky appears on the CD, singing with his sister on two of the tracks. There are copies now available for purchase through her website. Please visit www.cocodolenz.com for all of the ordering information.
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Mike’s News There's finally been an update from Videoranch regarding Mike's long awaited "Rays" project. According to the Monkeesrule43.com website, when Videoranch was asked if they were still working toward Nez's plan of releasing the album's songs through individual online downloads rather than on CD, they said, "That's still the plan. We're hoping to begin making the songs available sometime in the next couple of months. We're still working on how we're going to do it. We might try something new - different from the downloads we have available now." Many of you may recall that Douglas Adams, author of the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, was a very good friend of Nez's. Following Mr. Adams' passing away recently, Mike was interviewed in a print article that can be found online at fimforce.ign.com. Mike is quoted, in part, as saying that "Douglas Adams could see connections between things, people, and ideas that ordinary people either never saw, or finally saw long after Douglas had seen it. It was a singular talent, intuitive to Douglas, and developed to a unique and extraordinary extent." The second edition of Randi Massingill's Nesmith bio, Total Control, is now available from a wide variety of online retailers, including amazon.com. The new edition of the book contains two new updated chapters, and 75 new photos including the only known photo of Mike with his father. And while you are book shopping, keep an eye out in your local bookstores for the long awaited Monkees book from Andrew Sandoval, which chronicles day by day the history of the Monkees phenomenon from 1965-1970. It's well worth checking out!
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Peter’s News Shortly after our last newsletter went to press, Peter called Micky Dolenz on his first day on the air at WCBS and mentioned that he recently moved from Los Angeles to his late parents' home on the east coast. And Peter's concert dates seem to reflect that move, with most of his shows being concentrated in his home area as either a guest of the blues band Texas Flood, or with his own Shoe Suede Blues Band. The latest dates include the following: July 16, 2005 Westerly RI--Paddy's (Texas Flood) July 21, 2005 Downtown Springfield, MA--Stern's Square City Block Concert (Texas Flood) July 22, 2005 West Dennis, MA--The Speakeasy (Texas Flood) August 14, 2005 Block Island, RI --Springhouse Hotel Concert Series (Texas Flood) August 27, 2005 Clemmons, NC--The Lawn Party 2005 (Shoe Suede Blues) September 2-5, 2005 Elkins, WV--The High Land Jam ZENfest (Shoe Suede Blues) October 28-31, 2005 Birmingham, UK--Cult TV Festival (solo appearance) November 12, 2005 Uncasville, CT--Wolf Den at the Mohegan Sun Casino (Texas Flood) According to James Lee Stanley, the live Two Man Band album is inching ever closer to fruition, and is reported to be ready for release by the end of June. Stay tuned to petertork.com and jamesleestanley.com for updates on this long awaited album.
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Write to your favorite Monkee at: Davy Jones PO Box 400 Beavertown, PA 17180 Peter Tork 524 San Anselmo Suite 102 San Anselmo, CA 94960
Diane Klosak 2101 Nicholas Ct Bettendorf, IA 52722
This is a new address for Micky:
Rick Schwinden 3275 Valley Ridge Drive Egan, MN 55121
Micky Dolenz CBS-FM 1515 Broadway 40th Floor New York, NY 10036
Ronda Russell 2031 Glen Avenue Beloit, WI 53411
Mike Nesmith Video Ranch 8 Harris Court Suite C1 Monterey, CA 93940
Susan Bragga 4222 West Robin Meadows Lane Eau Claire. WI 54701
Jenny Hersey 31 Prescott Street Apt. 23 Concord, NH 03301
Maria Tereza Pinho Gomes Da Silva Rua Dominges Ferreira 159 Apt 902 Copacabana Rio De Janeiro RJ Cep22050-970 Brazil
Beverly Ann Clark 2710 Crestmont Drive Garland, TX 75040 Nina Totaro 137 Long Point Road Stevensville, Maryland 21666-3639
Diane Scharp 14850 Phelps Drive Bridgeton, MO 63044 41
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Debbie Kolbaba PO Box 89 Holstein, IA 51025
Colleen Johnson 9104 Lemona Drive St. Louis, MO 63123
James Elswick 5017 W 2nd Street South Bloomfield, OH 43103
Susan Jensen 210 Washington Street Audubon, IA 50025-1133 Shane Worden 306-A Waugoo Avenue Oshkosh WI 54901
Kathy Brewer 1198 Turkey Blind Road Crossville, TN 38572
E-mail Pals Maria Tereza Pinho Gomes Da Silva: terezaharrison@uol.com.br Shane Worden: idolthreat@prodigy.net Janet Litterio: janet6356@juno.com Barbara Woerner: Wbwoerner@aol.com Nina Totaro: woolhat@atlanticbb.net If you would like your email address listed in Email Pals please let me know. 42
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Birthdays and other special events
April 1 3 3 3 3 5 5 6 6 6 9 9 10 10 11 12 12
David Jones in "Real Live Brady Bunch", Chicago, Illinois (1994) "Monkees Get Out More Dirt' (1967) Jan Berry Jeff Barry Jan Chilton Micky's second album "Broadway Micky" released on Kid Rhino (1994) Coco Hinzelmann Micky appears on "My Three Sons" (1972) Phil Leeds Michelle Phillips Carl Perkins Julie Harris "Monkees in Manhattan" (1967) David Jones at Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee (1992) David Jones at Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee (1992) First Tork-less concert in Charleston, West Virginia to ca pacity crowd of 6000. The Monkees backed by Sam and The Goodtimers David Cassidy 43
Monkee Shines 12 12 13 13 14 14 14 15 16 17 17 18 19 20 22 22 24 24 26 26 26 29 30
Tiny Tim David Jones at Hirsch Coliseum, Shreveport, Louisiana (1992) David Jones at St. Louis Arena, St. Louis, Missouri (1992) Diane (Hildebrand) Roland Skye One-hour special "33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee" airs on NBC on Monday night (1969) Shorty Rogers David Jones at Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri (1992) "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" #39 David Jones in "Real Live Brady Bunch", Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania (1994) "Monkees in The Movies" (1967) Don Kirshner Alex Singer Mark Volman Monte Landis Jack Nicholson Glen Campbell "Monkees on Tour" First season ends (1967) Last show of the U.K. tour at Reading where they receive a Gold Disc on stage for their "Hey Hey! The Monkees Greatest Hits" LP and CD (1989) "Someday Man" b/w "Listen To The Band" released Donna Lee Bascalla Bobby Rydell Tommy James Bobby Vee
May 1 2 2 2 3 8 8 9 9
David Jones in "Real Live Brady Bunch", Morgantown, West Virginia (1994) Johnny Ware Leslie Gore Emmy nominations announced: Best Comedy Series (Producers Bert Schneider & Bob Rafelson); Best Comedy Director (James Frawley, "Royal Flush") Bert Schneider Michael on "American Bandstand" performs "Nevada Fighter" Brendon Cahill Tommy Roe Scottish actor Monte Landis signs for ten Monkees segments 44
Monkee Shines 10 10 12 12 14 15 16 19 19 20 20 22 23 24 26 28 29 29 31
Fats Domino Donovan Peter on "Boy Meets World" (1995) Bill Chadwick Lek Leckenby David Jones at Hershey Park Amphitheatre, Hershey, Penn sylvania (1993) David Jones at Hershey Park Amphitheatre, Hershey, Penn sylvania (1993) Davy hosts "TV's All Time Favorites on CBS (1995) Pete Townsend Susan Cowsill Cher Trina Dolenz Micky Dolenz at Adventureland, Des Moines, Iowa (1992) Bob Dylan Billy Beck The Monkees hold press conference at the Hard Rock Hotel in NYC to kick off their 20th Anniversary Reunion Tour (1986) David Jones at Tiger Stadium, Massillon, Ohio (1994) Rick Schwinden (Dr. Rock) Samantha Juste
June 1 1 2 3 4
Ron Wood Pat Boone Charlie Watts Janet Litterio The Monkees' show receives two Emmy awards for Best Comedy Series and Best Comedy Director (1967) 6 Gary US Bonds 7 Tom Jones 9 LA radio station 93/KHJ sponsors "The Monkees" concert at the Hollywood Bowl 11 Mary Ann Hart 12 "Headquarters" album released (1967) 12 Micky Dolenz at Burlington Steamboat Days, Burlington, Iowa (1991) 13 Michael on "Late Night with David Letterman" (1983) 14 "The Monkees Greatest Hits" released (1969) 14 Micky Dolenz at Holiday Star, Merrillville, Indiana (1991) 15 Harry Nilsson 45
Monkee Shines 16 17
John Franklin The Monkees (Micky, David, and Michael) on The Tonight Show in NY with Johnny Carson (1969) 17 Ken Wilkinson 17 David Jones (Teen Idol Tour) Burlington Steamboat Days, Burlington, Iowa (1998) 17 The Monkees (minus Mike) at Burlington Steamboat Days, Burlington, Iowa (2001) 18 "Headquarters" album receives Gold Record (1967) 18 Paul McCartney 20 Michael's Cruisin' video airs on "Don Kirshner's Rock Con cert" 20 The Monkees (minus Mike) at Burlington Steamboat Days, Burlington, Iowa (1986) 20 Brian Wilson 21 DJB&H debuts their act at Six Flags in St. Louis, Missouri before 12,500 people (1975) 21 Ray Davies 22 "D.W. Washburn" #19 (last Top 20 Hit) (1968) 23 Howard Kaylan 23 The Monkees arrive in Paris to begin shooting for show (1967) 25 Hank Cicalo 26 Annabel Jones (1988) 28 The Monkees (minus Mike) at Iowa Cubs Sec Taylor Sta dium, Des Moines, Iowa (1996) 28 First group interview (Micky, Davy, Michael, and Peter) since 1968 at KLOS Radio Station in LA on the "Mark and Brian" Show (1989) 29 Pizza Hut commercial debuts with Micky, Davy, Peter, and Ringo Starr (1995) 30 The Monkees on "The Pat Sajak Show" (1989)
July 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3
Ron Masak First concert of the 1987 tour in Tucson, Arizona (1987) First concert of the 1989 tour in Winnipeg, Canada (1989) Naom Pitlik Kelly Jean Peters Winton Teel David Jones at Buffalo Racetrack, Hamburg, New York (1994) Sarah Jones (1971) 46
Monkee Shines 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 10 10 10 11 12 12 12 12 13 13 13 16 18 18 18 19
Jerry Blavat David Jones at Summerfest, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1991) David Jones in "Oliver!" rehearsal Starlight Theatre, Kansas City, Missouri (1993) David Jones in "Oliver!" Starlight Theatre, Kansas City, Mis souri (1993) Peter on "Geraldo" "Pleasant Valley Sunday" released (1967) "That Was Then, This Is Now" enters Billboard Top 100 at #88 with a bullet (1986) David Jones in "Oliver!" Starlight Theatre, Kansas City, Mis souri (1993) David Jones, Frontier Days, Arlington Heights, Illinois (2003) "Heart & Soul" video shot in Hollywood Pat Paulsen Press conference in NYC announcing thirty-city tour (1967) Ringo Starr Peter on "Late Night with David Letterman" (1982) "Pleasant Valley Sunday" receives Gold Record (1967) Michael Nesmith performs with The Monkees at the Univer sal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles, California (1989) The Monkees received their Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 11:00 a.m. in front of the Vogue Theatre (1989) David Jones at Westroads Shopping Mall, Omaha, Ne braska (1987) David Jones (Mark Lindsay/Eric Burdon) at Rivinia, High land Park, Illinois (1991) Peter on "The Stephen Banks Show" (1994) Peter Meyerson Joe Higgins David Jones at Walden's Bookstore, Woodfield Mall, Schaumburg, Illinois (1987) The Monkees (minus Mike) at Poplar Creek, Hoffman Es tates, Illinois (1987) DJB&H tour southeast Asia and Japan (1976) Roger McGuinn David Jones at street fest in Elkhart, Indiana (1991) The Monkees tour Japan for the first time since October 8, 1968 (1989) Brian Auger Dion DiMucci Micky Dolenz at Williamsburg Beach Party, Williamsburg, Iowa (1992) The Monkees (as a Trio) on the "Johnny Cash Show" on ABC 47
Monkee Shines 19 19 20 21 22 22 22 24 25 26 26 27 27 27 29 30 30 31
David Jones at Heart of Illinois Fair, Peoria, Illinois (1993) David Jones/Micky Dolenz, Casino Magic, Bay of St. Louis, Mississippi (1994) David Jones/Micky Dolenz, Casino Magic, Bay of St. Louis, Mississippi (1994) Barry Whitwam The final show in Toyko, Japan (1989) Bobby Sherman Stanley Ralph Ross Ruth Buzzi Emily Dolenz (1983) Mick Jagger David Jones on "Sally Jessy Raphael", New York City, New York (1993) MFQ performs "Laura" on "Michael Nesmith in Television Parts" ninety-minute special David Jones in South Bend, Indiana (1991) David Jones at Tobin Plaza, World Trade Center, New York City, New York (1993) "Pleasant Valley Sunday" #3 (1967) Phyllis Nesmith Paul Anka Gary Lewis
August 4 5 5 5 5 6 6 7 7 7 8-
David Jones aired "Sally Jessy Raphael" (1993) "Words" #11 (1967) Billie Hayes David Jones/Micky Dolenz, Holiday Star, Merrill ville, Indiana (1994) Nina Totaro David Jones in "Oliver!" Muny Theatre, St. Louis, Missouri (1993) David Jones/Micky Dolenz, Point Park 3 Rivers Regatta, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1994) Jason Nesmith (1968) Jack Good David Jones in "Oliver!" Muny Theatre, St. Louis, Missouri (1993) Davy portrays "Fagin" in "Oliver!" at Kansas City's 48
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14 8 9 10 10 11 13 14 15 16 16 18 18 18 19 19 19 20 20 20 20 22 26 27 27 28
Starlight Theatre (1988) Charlotte Dolenz (1981) Nita Talbot David Jones at Fargo Fest, Moline, Illinois (1992) Micky on "Tonight Show" with Jay Leno (1994) Ronnie Spector Michael's "Rio" video airs on "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert" (1979) Marilyn Schlossberg La Salandra David Crosby Rose Marie "Last Train To Clarksville" released (1966) Julie Newmar "That Was Then, This Is Now" #20 (1986) David Jones/Micky Dolenz, Milwaukee Zoo, Mil waukee, Wisconsin (1994) The Monkees (minus Mike) at The Mark of the Quad Cities, Moline, Illinois (1996) Hazel Wilkinson David Jones/Micky Dolenz, Treasure Island Ca sino, Red Wing, Minnesota (1994) Billy J. Kramer Peter Tork and Friends at The Vic, Chicago, Illi nois (1988) David Jones at The Bismarck, Chicago, Illinois (1990) David Jones/Micky Dolenz, Lake, Rattle, and Roll, Lake Superior, Wisconsin (1994) David Jones/Micky Dolenz, Treasure Island Ca sino, Red Wing, Minnesota (1994) Ron Dante Bob Cowsill Peter's first album "Stranger Things Have Hap pened" released on Beachwood Records (1994) Chip Douglas (1942) The Monkees attend The Beatles' concert at Dodger Stadium in LA (1966) 49
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28 28 29 29 30 30
Barbara Iannoli The Monkees (minus Mike) at Holiday Star, Mer rillville, Indiana (1987) The Monkees (minus Mike) at Marcus Amphithea tre, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1987) Michael Jackson John Phillips The Monkees (minus Mike) at Taste of Iowa, Ce dar Rapids, Iowa (1996) September
1 1 1 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 6 6 7 8
Press party in Los Angeles held at Screen Gems to kick off a ten-day promotional tour (1966) Micky and Davy on "The Tomorrow Show" with Tom Snyder (1977) Barry Gibb The Monkees (minus Mike) at Holiday Star, Mer rillville, Indiana (1989) The last show of The Monkees US tour at Six Flags in Eureka, Missouri (1989) Georgia Dolenz (1984) Alan Jardine Jessica Jones (1981) "Monkee Day" in Hollywood when Monkees re ceived the key to the city from Honorary Mayor, Johnny Grant (1986) David Jones at Allen County Fairgrounds, Lima, Ohio (1993) John Stewart "Good Clean Fun" b/w "Mommy and Daddy" re leased (1969) Henry Diltz (1938) 20th Anniversary Reunion with Michael Nesmith at the Greek Theater. Hollywood Reporter runs "Madness!! Auditions" ad for The Monkees (1965) 50
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8 9 9 9 10 10 10 11 11 12 12 13 13 14 16 17 17 18 18 18 19 19 21 21 21 22 22
Irwin Charone Variety runs "Madness!!" ad for The Monkees (1965) The Monkees moves from Saturday morning re runs on CBS to NBC (1972) Stu Phillips Jessica Nesmith (1970) Nurit Wilde Danny Huttion LA radio station 93/KHJ Boss Radio sponsors "Last Train To Clarksville" promotion (1966) The Monkees begins it's second season on NBC "It's A Nice Place To Visit (1967) "Royal Flush" (1966) The Monkees TV Show airs (1966) The Monkees returns to television as part of the Sat urday morning line-up on CBS (1969) Micky on "Adam-12" on NBC Barry Cowsill Helene Winston Steve Blauner David Jones/Micky Dolenz, Worlds of Fun, Kan sas City, Missouri (1994) "The Picture Frame" (1967) Frankie Avalon David Jones/Micky Dolenz, Worlds of Fun, Kan sas City, Missouri (1994) "Monkee See, Monkee Die" (1966) Paul Williams The Monkees (minus Mike) at Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, California (1987) The Monkees tour Australia for the first time since September 28, 1968 (1988) Davy on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" (1995) The Monkees (minus Mike) at Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, California (1987) David Pearl 51
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23 23 23 23 23 24 24 24 25 25 25 26 26 27 27 28 29 29 29
"Circus Boy" premieres on Sunday night on NBC. Micky (Dolenz) Braddock plays "Corky" (1956) Second and final appearance on the cover of TV Guide (1967) Kathleen Scott David Price David Jones in "Grease", Mulroy Civic Center, Syra cuse, New York (1994) Gerry Marsden David Jones in "Grease", Mulroy Civic Center, Syra cuse, New York (1994) David Jones at The Lady Luck Casino, Bettendorf, Iowa (1999) "Everywhere a Sheik, Sheik" (1967) The Monkees (minus Mike) at Harrah's (South Shore Room) Lake Tahoe (September 25 through October 1, 1987) David Jones at The Lady Luck Casino, Bettendorf, Iowa (1999) "Monkee vs Machine" (1966) Michael G. Bush Micky on "Cannon" on CBS (1872) Carl Ballentine Kimmi Jasnvrin Tommy Boyce James Frawley Jerry Lee Lewis
If you see any mistakes or have any additions to our calendar please let us
Help! We need your help! We love telling you our stories but we would love to hear yours. We need stories about Micky , Peter, and even Mike, who don’t come to our areas as much as we would like! If you have stories on any of the guys you would like to share please send them to us! 52
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TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES David Jones “Interview” By: Bonnie Borgh/Cindy Bryant (With A Little Help From Our Friends) Rated PG: Parental Guidance Suggested
The Purple Flower Gang (PFG) is proud and just a little bit humble of our newsletter. In an effort to continue the quality to which we aspire, we had hoped to bring to you our first-ever David Jones interview.
is 805 miles from Beavertown. We’ve got a good headstart! However, David, we are always happy to print your rebuttal, if tomorrow ever comes. As always, your participation is most welcome but not required!
We asked our members, “If you had five minutes to speak with David Jones, what question(s) would you ask him?” The following questions were delivered to David on October 22, 2004. On October 24, 2004, David said he was “working on the form” and he would “drop it in the mail tomorrow.” We requested an April 1, 2005 deadline (no April Fool’s Day joke) or we would take the liberty of answering the questions for him in the manner we thought he would respond.
----------------------Are you or have you ever been fearful of flying? If so, how do combat your fears? Celine Allan Flying Monkees have been around for years! Haven’t you seen “The Wizard of Oz”? That’s when I started drinking! What is your favorite thing to order at a sushi bar? Celine Allan A cab, a chef, and a habatchi.
We would deeply apologize if we have offended or misrepresented David, but as the saying goes, “We don’t care because he can’t catch us!” Bettendorf (not to be confused with Biloxi)
How do you do that “Valleri” yell without hurting yourself? (I want you to teach me.) Jan Beaudrie From being served divorce pa53
Monkee Shines pers or by wearing underwear that’s too tight.
Yeah, I love older women. They don’t yell, they don’t tell, and they’re grateful.
When you guest starred in the Wonderful World of Disney’s “The Bluegrass Special” (1977), was “Bayonet” one of your horses, and were you the jockey aboard “Bayonet” in the race against “Penny” and “Woodhill”? Bonnie Borgh
In 1966 when we heard “Last Train To Clarksville” playing in the car I thought “The Monkees had hit the big time.” The most surprising part of my career is how many loyal fans we have had.
[If I only had a brain, I would know.]
The most disappointing part of my career is not spending much time with my family.
Do you know who you are? If you know who you are, who are you? If you don’t, ask the nurse; she’ll tell you. Cindy Bryant
You have been a successful Broadway actor, a successful recording star, a successful television star, and a successful racehorse jockey among many other accomplishments. Which of your accomplishments provides you with the most personal satisfaction? Why? Donna Davis
Michael Douglas or Desi Arnez, Junior or Senior. Would you mind me putting you as a character in a fiction story I'm writing for fun? Karen Renee Britell Sure. I’ll be waiting for my royalties check.
Success is not to be measured by the position you reach in life but by the obstacles you overcome to reach that success.
Outside of the obvious: Will you marry me? Couldn’t you go for an over-weight middle-age woman? I have three questions: When did you know that The Monkees had hit the bigtime? What was the most surprising part of your career? What was the most disappointing part of your career? Linda Cook (Interviewer Extraordinaire/Film Critic)
Have you seen all three movies in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy? If you have, which one is your favorite and why? If you haven't, what are you doing this Friday night? “Return of the King” is still at the cinema! I'll bring you up to speed on the first two on the way there so pay attention. FYI, I like butter 54
Monkee Shines on my popcorn and chocolate covered raisins (on the side). We'll get you your own box. It's safer that way! And my own Sierra Mist. I also talk a lot during movies. I'm a girl. What do you expect?! Kimmi Janvrin
in music history that changed the industry? Sarah Odendahl 1. My birth. 2. Elvis. 3. The Beatles. Do you believe in ghosts and have you ever experienced seeing one? Denise W
Let’s watch one of my videos instead and talk about me! I’m taller than those hobbits and better looking, too! You make the popcorn; I’ll take a “lemonade”. I’m a guy; what do you expect?!
December 2000 Central PA Magazine “Oh, I’ve got ghosts out the ying yang.” Jones exclaims, noting that one smokes cherry-blend tobacco. He pops up again, disappears, and retrieves two pipes once used by the home’s former owner. “A lot of their stuff is still in the drawers,” he adds, baking utensils, social security cards.
Has the transition from teen heartthrob to rock and roll icon been a tough one, gradual one, or just part of life? Debbie Kolbaba What transition? Now I have male breasts I have to carry around!
From your vantage point, what are the big differences (or similarities) between the teen idols of present day, and the teen idols of the 1960's? Shane Worden
Do you realize how people's lives are affected...for the GOOD...by attending your shows? Do you realize how you have brought people together that would not have otherwise met if it hadn't been for you? Janet Litterio
Are you speaking of teen idols of the 60’s who are now in their 60’s? Man breasts, chest and gray hair, arthritis, bum di bum...
Of course I do, but it scares me sometimes. Did you know that after I performed in Iowa in 1991 the Gulf War ended?
The last nine questions have seemingly been asked repetitiously over the years, but we found an answer for them, too.
Out of any genre, group or event, what would you say are the top three things to happen
Did you marry Marcia Brady? 55
Monkee Shines Hope Lesley Devoted
I think he’s a teen idol in India.
Yes. We got married, moved to Ohio, had three very lovely girls, three boys, bought a psychedelic tour bus, and traveled the country.
Did you really say you liked cufflinks during an interview and then were inundated with them? Chuck Ling Yes, I liked the Cufflinks. Wasn’t Tracy a great song?
How many episodes did The Monkees make? Hugh R. Ewe All of them.
Where do you go abused? Anna Lyze
Where’s Micky? Ima Fan
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It’s not my day to watch him.
What’s your favorite Monkees’ song? Carrie O’Key
Davy, are you standing up? Joe King
to
be
The ones I wrote.
It’s always been up.
Do you really play your own instruments? Stu Pitt
What ever happened to Sajad Kahn? Ruth Less
I beg your pardon!
Photo by Celeste Kocot
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CHEERING UP THE POPS CONCERT: DAVY JONES A HIT WITH ORCHESTRA
(Review by Carl Franklin for the Williamsport Symphony Orchestra)
Grade-school music appreciation classes of the 1950s and 60s paid off. The baby-boomer pop/rock bands went on to mix it up with baroque and symphonic music. The songwriters of Motown would go to orchestra concerts to get ideas. Rock anthems like "In-A -Gadda-Da-Vida" and "Whiter Shade of Pale" quoted Bach. The Beach Boys and The Beatles borrowed from Beethoven, Copland, Gershwin and Ives. Chamber music informed Top 40 hits like "Pretty Ballerina."
After intermission, Jones stormed the stage with a rendition of "I'm a Believer." The bubblegum-soul of the pop classic was rebuilt for a sixty-six piece orchestra. It recalled the big productions of Petula Clark and Dusty Springfield, proclaiming the pulsating dynamics of the original with dazzling splashes of horns, strings and percussion (mirroring elements of the orchestration in "A Day in the Life" by The Beatles). "Valleri" was given a John Barry-treatment, suggesting how "Valleri" would play in a 'James Bond' movie. For the solo parts normally ascribed to electric guitar, 'Spanish trumpets' played stacks of harmonic couplets. The French horns were at full bravado while arpeggiated piano burrowed under layers of strings.
The Monkees were part of that slipstream and their pop admixture translates well to the symphony-as evidenced when Monkees' figurehead and former "teen idol" Davy Jones took the stage with the award-winning Williamsport Symphony Orchestra on March 15th.
Arranger Rob Byham (The Spiral Staircase, Daddy-O & the Sax Maniacs) transformed the Jones/Monkees material to orchestral charts.
The evening opened with the WSO giving a vivid performance of Dvorak's "American Suite," followed by the ultraromantic tempest of Grieg's "Piano Concerto" as delivered by wunderkind teenage Russian pianist, Maggie Loukachkina, the 2005 Young Artists' Competition Winner (she received her own bale of "fan mail").
Jones (whose rat-a-tat comedy and story-telling kept the house in stitches) paused to tell of his "first orchestra experience" at age eleven, playing trumpet for the Manchester Railway Band. "It was 57
Monkee Shines a great way to get out of math and geography," he joked. This led into Mike Nesmith's "Papa Gene's Blues," given a make-over in the spirit of Copland's "Hoedown."
some nouveau-"All in the Family" and Buddy Hackett schtick before the orchestra resumed with "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby," the 1940s Louis Jordan standard that Jones discovered through his mother's record collection. Bassist Charles Holmes "walked" on his upright while the orchestra animated the period-jazz with an Ellington-Gershwin flavor.
Next came "I Wanna be Free," which played off the quiet 1966 version on the Monkees' first album. "Over the years that song has morphed into a power ballad," said Johnny J. Blair, who traded guitar, piano and vocals with Dave "Loafy" Alexander (music director from Jones' road band). "The original had atmospheric strings with sparse guitar and keyboard-Dave and I were tempted to add 'faux Erik Satie parts,' We were 'that close' to 'Gymnopedies Two.'" laughed Blair. "There's a sense of honesty and release in that song, and toning it down like this brought that out."
Cassie Blair and Linda Wheatley (familiar voices on Jones' recordings) were a hit with their harmony vocals. After "Is You Is," Wheatley told Jones that he was "still her baby, but you'll have to clean up your English!" Next came a title Jones described as "born for an orchestra"-the pizzicato-laden, reggaedriven "It Must Be Love" by the Brit-ska group Madness. Trumpeter Dale Orris (veteran of Motown pit bands) got an ovation for his Sandoval-esque solo.
Cellist Linda Kanski (a session player from Jones' recordings) did a "shining solo" on Jones' "I'll Love You Forever." The rhythm section was managed by Jones' studio stalwart Tim Breon (bass, guitar) and Grammywinning drummer Bob Leidhecker (also principal percussionist for the WSO).
Symphony audiences can be exuberant, but no one expected the rush of applause when the opening chords of "Daydream Believer" sallied forth. The George Martin-like arrangement was a response to key lyric-lines (like flutes following "bluebird as she sings") and it ended with "Handelian fireworks." The nearcapacity house was singing along and dancing in the aisles.
Jones submitted Harry Nilsson's "Nobody Cares About the Railroads Anymore" and a scaled-down, obligatory "Girl" while donning the striped jacket he wore on the famous "Brady Bunch" television episode.
The audience was drawn from Illinois, New York, Maryland and around Pennsylvania. Pre-
Alexander and Jones gave 58
Monkee Shines concert anticipation was high, and the online version of the Jones/ WSO television ad (http://firstcontact.us) received hundreds of hits from around the world. The concert literally ended on a dream-like note as Alexander grabbed a ukulele to lead on the standard "I'll See You in my Dreams." Jones encouraged people to shuffle out while he serenaded a very cheerful audience slipping off into the glow of a happy evening. Photos of the concert will soon be posted on : www.williamsportsymphony.com.
Photos by Celeste Kocot
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Look what recently came in the mail! See Bonnie the postal service DOES work! 60