Issue 84

Monkee Shines

Issue 84 Summer 2013

Meeting Michael

2013 Tour

Also in this issue:

The Band 6 Story Videos For Davy’s Horses Micky Dolenz Interview Cut It Out (I Cut The Monkees Hair) Micky News Michael News

Peter News David News 2013 Tour The Monkeephiles A Captain’s Story ( Team PFG) Manchester Convention And more!

Editor: Cindy Bryant With a little help from my friends, The PFG Road Crew, “the crazy lot!”

An Official Monkees Fan Club Monkeeing Around Since 1987

Monkee Shines

In this issue Letter From The Editor .......... 3 Getting Davy Jones A stamp.. 3 Videos for DJEMF ................. 4 Band 6 .................................. 5 Meeting Michael .................... 6 Micky Dolenz, The Best of the TVD Interview ....................... 9 Reminiscing ........................ 16 Cut It Out ............................ 19 David News......................... 23 Micky News......................... 24 Peter News ......................... 25 Mike News .......................... 26 The Monkeephiles ............... 27 Meeting Michael Again ........ 28 Beavertown ......................... 30 A Captain’s Story ................ 36 The Bed .............................. 46 Davy’s Beavertown.............. 48 Bed Signs and Bluebirds ..... 51 Manchester Convention ....... 52

Membership dues are $15 (Us

and Canada) and $20 (overseas).. Ads are $30 for a full page and $15 for a quarter page. Money orders preferred, cash at own risk. Make all payments payable to Cindy Bryant NOT the PFG. Checks made out to the PFG will be returned. Mail to Cindy Bryant, 903 East 2nd Street 1A, Muscatine, Iowa 52761.

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.

My thanks to the people who made this issue possible: Bonnie Borgh, Tina Howard, Jerri Keele, Laura Dever, Pam Patrick, Dawn Hoffman, Becca Nelson, Marie Gibson, John Roginski, David Levin, Alexis Rigby, Jody Proetta, Roxanne Salch Kaplan, Andrea Gilbey, the Road Crew who always made it fun (Bonnie Borgh, Kimmi Wright, Colleen Johnson, Dawn Hoffman and various others along the way, the Cookbook team (Jody Proetta, Colleen Gruver, Jerri Keele, Andrea Gilbey, Ginny Flemming, Darlen Bowen Haines), Hazel Wilkinson,the Jones girls (Talia, Sarah, Jessica, and Annabel) and especially the Monkees and their families for putting up with this “crazy lot”!

Visit us at: www.purpleflowergang.com And email us at: pfg@machlink.com & join the Purple Flower Gang Group on Facebook

The Purple Flower Gang 903 E 2nd Street 1A Muscatine, Iowa 52761

Monkee Shines is printed by Mailboxes & Parcel Depot 2

Monkee Shines

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Dear Gang, y apologies to Alexis Rigby and Andrea Gilbey.

In the last issue of the newsletter I was talking about TEAM PFG and the bed race in Beavertown, I mistakenly said that Alexis crocheted the purple flowers for the bed spread but it was Andrea who made them. Alexis is our TEAM PFG photographer. Both women have been indispensable to the team and we thank them and everyone involved for their spirit and help..

Many changes are coming. For a long time now there has been 2 PFG. One online and the official group that received the newsletter. With postage and printing costs sky rocketing the only logical thing to do was combine the two and take the PFG online exclusively.

I know this will be disappointing to the few people who are not online and I apologize for that but the benefits are many: 1. There will be no membership dues.

2. There will still be a newsletter but it will be online and can be read by everyone for free.

3. Those who chose to print it out can do so on their own or order a copy from ISSUU (the online site where you will be able to read the newslet-

ter.

We will have less constrictions on how big the newsletter is 5. We can post more photos.

We will continue to print newsletters through Issue 88.

4.

If your last newsletter is Issue 84 you can renew for the remaining newsletters for $15 ($20 overseas) If your last issue is Issue 85 you can renew for the remaining newsletters for $12 ($15 overseas) If your last newsletter is Issue 86 you can renew for the remaining newsletters for $7.50 ($10 overseas) If your last newsletter is Issue 87 you can renew for the remaining newsletters for $4 ($5 0verseas)’ After that you will be able to read them online for free at: http://issuu.com/purpleflowergang/ I hope you will book mark it.

Cindy We will still continue to print issues for our honoraries.

Help Us Get Davy Jones His OWN US Postage Stamp Here’s why it ‘s important: Davy was not only a heartthrob to millions of teenage girls in the 1960’s but continued to entertain us until his death Feb. 29,2012. He was also an advocate for horses and left 14 horse his daughters care for today. The Davy Jones Equine Memorial Fund takes care of the horses he loved so much. Support DJEMF at www.djemf.com SIGN THE ONLINE PETITION TO GET DAVY JONES HIS OWN POSTAGE STAMP AT:

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Monkee Shines

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Monkee Shines

THE BAND 6 STORY

By Laura Dever

B

AND 6 actually started after the Monkees concert at Arlington Stadium in 1986. My friend Nedra and I sat in the lobby of the hotel most of the night to meet The Monkees. That is another story though. While there I met several other people later who had been there later or that night or I met through other people the knew. Iona Dennis had a duplex, and started giving Monkees parties. I began getting together with her, Heather French, and Sue Cosgrove other than those parties, and we started talking about starting a Monkees fan club. Iona held a party to see what interest there would be in the club. The group at that party liked the idea, and before the end of the evening, we had all voted on the name of BAND 6 with the newsletter called ZILCH. We decided to do four newsletters a yearMarch, June, September, and December. We put out our first issue in June 1987. We mailed copies to The Monkees. And thus BAND 6 was born.

Laura Dever with Peter Tork

HEY, HEY, JOIN BAND 6 \MEMBERSHIP INCLUDES: Quarterly issues of ZILCH, the BAND 6 newsletter Four pictures of The Monkees then and now BAND 6 membership card Memberships run from the Spring newsletter through the Winter newsletter, ZILCH and the cost of membership varies according to when you join. Renewals are at a discount rate after the end of the year, and you receive a new membership card with the Spring issue. The rates are:

In the next few years Heather, Iona, and Sue dropped out, and it was left to me. I have continued it ever since.

A lot has changed and improved over the years. Where we once typed the issues on a typewriter and thanked Mama Nesmith, pasting pictures on the pages and spending a lot of money on color copies at Kinko’s, it is now all done on my computer with pictures inserted and printed on my printer.

One thing has not changed. It is still a labor of love.

Join with Spring issue in March- $9.00 Join with Summer issue in June- $7.00 Join with Fall issue in September- $5.00 Join with Winter issue in December- $3.00 Add $2.00 if outside USA or Canada.

To join send check or money order made out to Laura Dever (not BAND 6) and send it and the form below to BAND 6, P.O. Box 600704, Dallas, Texas 75360-0704, USA. Questions? Email LauraED@tx.rr.com or Laura Dever on Facebook, or write to the above address.

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Monkee Shines

Meeting Michael

By Pam Patrick

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t was pretty windy in Philadelphia on April 15th, but that didn’t stop our enjoyment of the city. My friend Janine Mannick and I found a place to park close to the World Café Live and walked around the block to Slainte Irish Pub where we had a drink and unfortunately found out about the Boston bombings. We then decided to walk around a bit, we walked across the bridge near the theater and saw a tugboat docked there named Dave V (coincidence??) We then went through Rittenhouse Park.

fortunately they were sold out of most things, and Jessica said to keep checking at Videoranch for them.

Finally it was time to go in!! We were shown to our seats, Front Row!! Unfortunately Michael’s set list stand was right in front of me. But WOW we could touch the stage and he would be no more than five feet away! I was so excited!

Upon entering World Café Live I went to the will call stand and asked about my special bracelet, and they knew nothing about it. I had never received my email telling me my special instructions, but thought since I was a late add on that could have been the reason.

I had to go back upstairs to try again and get my bracelet and on the way out the door I meet up with David Levin and his mother Brooksie. Luckily I had printed out my email with the bill of sale, so after several phone calls I finally got it. I felt so bad that Janine couldn’t get one. I didn’t immediately put the bracelet on because there was a really strange guy harassing people trying to get them to take his things in to be signed.

Janine and I got a small bite to eat and brought Jessica a glass of water to drink. As it got closer to show time we went back to our seats. We sat next to a fun group of guys who had on t-shirts that said “Save the Texas Prairie Chicken”.

Feet touching the stage—Photo by Pam Patrick

Janine and I went downstairs to wait and watched Jessica Nesmith set up the table to sell Michael’s items. Un-

Finally the band comes out on stage and we all wait holding our breath

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Monkee Shines and then out comes Michael Nesmith and we are all on our feet screaming, clapping in amazement!

ous and excited. The band members came through the area greeting everyone, Paul Leim-the drummer, grabbed my arm and patted my shoulder. (During the show every time I looked at him he was looking at me and smiling) And then Michael comes from backstage and up to the bar area where we all are, he raises his hands and says “Hello”.

All throughout the concert Michael seemed to be enjoying himself and smiling. I could even hear him saying to the band “Good times, good times”.

Since I could not see because of the stand I leaned over Janine several times and peeked under the stand, once catching Michael’s eye and receiving a grin.

Each person got their turn to speak with Michael, have him sign items and have their picture with him. One guy even had Michael sign his chest because Micky had sided one side so he wanted Michael on the other.

It was an amazing concert and Michael was in top form weaving little stories before each song. A couple of times he got so into the music that he even did a couple of dance steps, which made me giggle.

As I got closer and closer I talked with the girl in front of me because she was so nervous she was shaking. In trying to keep her calm I think I kept myself calm.

And although I could have listened to Michael forever, all too soon the show was over. Those of us with the special conversation reception passes waited until we were called to the back of the room along the bar. Even though most of us didn’t know each other we spoke as if we did, each of us nerv-

As it became my turn I had all my stuff out because I didn’t want to waste his time. He took my hand in both of his and said “Hello there, what’s your name?” He then took my

Pam and Jessica Nesmith

Photo courtesy of Pam Patrick

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Monkee Shines items and started to sign them. I gave him a book my friend Rebecca Stallard wrote and sent for him and he told me to tell her he WILL read it.

I then took out a bag of treats for Dale. Michael looked at me surprised and asked if I made them and was curious what was in them and if they would last until he got home.

He took me to his side and asked if I was ready for my picture to be taken.

He then turned to his assistant to get her attention he yelled “Hey! Pam’s ready for her picture!”

As I packed up all my stuff Michael thanked me for supporting him all these years. I asked him for a hug and he said “Of course.” He told me to be safe in my travel back to Kansas and thanked me again.

As he continued to sign items we chatted, he was impressed by one of the photos I had and thought it was a good one of him, and chuckled over another.

We chatted about where I was from and I asked him about the convention and with true sadness in his eyes he said they had done several memorial things for Davy already. To lighten the conversation I said, “But you didn’t get to meet me” and he laughed. We talked about being a rancher (on Videoranch) and he asked my name on there. And we chatted about this and that.

I don’t know how I managed to walk out of the room, but I did and met up with Janine and Jessica.

This evening will not soon be forgotten.

This IS my Monkee year!! Now off to see Peter and Micky in their solo concerts and the summer Monkee tour!!

Pam and Michael Nesmith

Photo courtesy of Pam Patrick 8

Monkee Shines

Micky Dolenz: The Best of the TVD Interview

By Jennifer Carney | May 9, 2013

I loved their songs.

And why wouldn’t I? They had the best songwriters in the industry writing their hits, and they set the standard for music television that pre-dated MTV by nearly two decades and Glee by nearly four decades. Hell, The Monkees outsold most of the biggest acts of the ’60s — including The Beatles.

Despite pressure to tour as a “real” band, artists from John Lennon to Jerry Garcia to Frank Zappa loved The Monkees for what they were: talented actors who could sing and play their own instruments, shining a humorous light on the travails common to all rock bands.

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t’s not lost on us that some of the biggest and most talented artists and musicians of this or any generation have gone on the record—on records—here at TVD. This week we’re sharing some of our favorites from the archive. — Ed.

When I spoke with Micky Dolenz in Los Angeles, it was forty years nearly to the day that “Last Train to Clarksville” hit the Top 40, and just one day after his new album, Remember, was released. While perhaps officially a “nostalgia” album of some of his favorite tunes, Dolenz

When MTV started re-broadcasting The Monkees in the ’80s, my parents were amused that I latched onto their music so strongly. I never got that The Monkees weren’t a band. All I knew was that I loved their show and 9

Monkee Shines and producer David Harris have gone to great lengths to re-imagine those songs. Remember includes a countrified “I’m a Believer,” an incredibly cool “Good Morning, Good Morning” with swapped time signatures—even “Sugar, Sugar” sounds fresh as a tongue-in-cheek lounge lizard “standard.”

But it’s the title track, written by Harry Nilsson—completed prior to Davy Jones’ untimely passing in February—that makes the record feel more wistful than he perhaps intended it to be—especially as Dolenz, Peter Tork, and Mike Nesmith prepare for a 12date Monkees tour beginning next month. (A summer tour is planned for 2013. —Ed.) But what Dolenz does best and, perhaps, has always done best is move forward in his own way. His passion for the music that moves him seems to be his big motivator, but he talked to me about his time in musical theater, his thoughts on digital vs. vinyl, living in Laurel Canyon, and what his passions are today (hint: they include singing Monkees songs).

I have kind of a funny story. The first rock concert I ever saw was The Monkees when I was a kid – probably 1986 or so at Great Woods outside of Boston..

and I interviewed him.

[Laughs] So here we are! That’s great!

I hadn’t even thought about that until I found out I’d get to talk to you today!

[Laughs] Well, thanks so much for your time!

So, I wanted to keep things kind of loose, but since I write for The Vinyl District I’d love to get your thoughts on the format, your record collection – things like that.

You mean there’s something else besides vinyl? [Laughs] I don’t know what to call it now when I talk about my new project; is it my new CD? My new album? My new digital dump? My new download? It’s kind of crazy.

The thing I miss the most is the artwork, you know, when you could have this beautiful piece of art. Now you’re cramming everything… if you’re lucky, you get a CD, and it’s all crammed down into this little thing.

It’s the whole experience, right? You get the album, you get the art, you get the liner notes…

Oh, really? Gosh!

Besides the whole debate between analog and digital, of course.

I grew up watching the show and thought it was the greatest thing. At the same time, my brother and I would do fake radio shows and record them on our tape deck. After the concert, I made him pretend to be you

What are your thoughts about all that?

Well, it depends. Sometimes, all they’re doing is making an analog copy of a digital recording. If that happens then it’s not analog – it’s an

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Monkee Shines analog copy of essentially a digital recording. To be pure analog you have to record it in analog, and there are very few people that I know of that are still doing that. I think I can notice a difference, but then again maybe I’m just old school and prejudiced. But if you record it digitally, it doesn’t matter what your end format is – you’re still just sampling. It’s digital sampling – I don’t care how many times you’re sampling.

guish between the pixels, but it is still not the chemical reality. It really depends on how purist you want to get.

So, somebody who is sixteen years right now has ostensibly grown up only listening to MP3s…

Oh, and me too!

[Laughs] For the last twenty years!

And same here! But do you think people, in general, have an awareness of what’s missing?

But that’s an ongoing debate. There’s just something about the chemical reality in photography, say. The people that still shoot in film will say you can get the resolution digitally by going up to ten megapixels, but you’re not gonna get the chemical reality of film. It’s a physical, chemical thing. Physics. And it’s the same thing with analog. When you’re actually taking the sound wave and translating it into the physical movement of a needle, and that’s cutting a physical groove into a physical substance.

And then everything is an analog version; it’s literally the analog copy of the actual, physical airwave – all the way from where it’s recorded, into the diaphragm of the microphone to the diaphragm of your ear. And it all stays consistently analog. Well, as soon as you chop it up into sample bits, digitally, it’s just not continuous – it’s no longer analog.

Nah. Unless you’re a purist you probably wouldn’t notice. Let’s face it – back in the day, okay it was vinyl, but you still were hearing it through a really crappy speaker in your car!

It’s ones and zeroes.

[Laughs] So, it made no difference because you’d never get that studio quality. In fact, that’s almost more to the point; you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. You can have the most amazing recording equipment in the world, digitally or analog or whatever. But if it’s a crappy song and it’s not arranged well and there are lousy lyrics – it ain’t gonna matter. [Laughs] But if you take a fantastic song and you can record it on your iPhone, you can record it in your toilet, you can record it on a cans and strings! [Laughs] And you’re gonna still have a great song. That’s infinitely more important than the technology behind any of this.

It’s ones and zeroes, exactly. It can be incredibly sophisticated and an amazing reproduction – it just ain’t the same. Same with photography.

You can have amazing resolution and your eye may not be able to distin-

When we heard songs in the ‘60s and ‘70s – all these, say, Monkee tunes like “[Last Train to] Clarksville,” “I’m a Believer,” “Pleasant Valley Sunday” – all these Carol King tunes and Neil Diamond tunes, it was on a 11

Monkee Shines little, crappy speaker about that big!

[Sings, imitating a tinny-sounding radio] “Take the last train to Clarksville, and I’ll meet you at the station…” [Laughs] Or it was on a transistor radio which was like that [shapes hands to the size of a transistor radio] and had less of a quality.

But that’s what doesn’t matter. Kids today that are into music are into the song, they’re into the sentiment of the song. They’re into the tone – all of those esoteric things… the lyrics, the theme, what it’s about. That’s infinitely more important than the frequency reproduction, ultimately.

That’s the one I can’t get out of my head!

You are so conscious of the songs that you’ve chosen to perform, and you have such a unique voice. Your new album, Remember, is great, but it feels rather sad or melancholy.

What’s interesting to me is how many of the songs on Remember were completely re-imagined and how well they all worked.

Oh, yeah! It’s an incredible reenvisioning of that song. And I wrote it and it was a big hit for me in England. So, he must get a lot of credit.

Yeah, I don’t think necessarily “sad” is the right word, but it is darker maybe and a little melancholy. “Johnny B. Goode” is up-tempo, but a totally different take on that. I did that because it was my audition piece for The Monkees. But yeah, it’s Remember… it’s a little melancholy.

You know, we took a long time doing this. There was a long time to reflect.

This was not under the auspices of a record company. There was no budget, no time constraints, there were no deadlines. There was just a guy who had a studio at his home and basically badgered me into coming in and recording for quite a while. And I was busy, I was out of town, I didn’t have time, and finally when we started routining some of the songs and he’d come up with some of these unbelievable arrangements and sensibility… I was like, “Wow! This is really different. This is really good.”

Melancholy, maybe. It wasn’t intentional – maybe I’m just a melancholy person. The song choices came really out of the stories about the songs.

And then the treatment of many of the songs came from not just myself, but from David Harris and he must get credit where credit is due. He’s the one that came up with that marvelous interpretation of “Sugar, Sugar.” When I told him the story about “Sugar, Sugar,” which you probably know – how it was going to be a Monkees song. And I told him the story and he thought it was hilarious and he said, “Let me see what I can come up with.” And I said, “You gotta be kidding! There’s no way I’m recording ‘Sugar, Sugar’!” And now it’s one of my favorite tracks. But he did the same thing with “The Diary” and a couple of others – “Randy Scouse Git.”

And we took a lot of time. There was no rush; I’d be gone out of town for months and I’d get back and we’d work a little bit. The beauty of that is that you have time to reflect, you have time to [attend to] the details, and it isn’t rushed through. You don’t 12

Monkee Shines have to make urgent decisions or anything like that. And that’s how almost all of the stuff came out.

building furniture. I have a workshop and last night I was in my shop until midnight working on a coffee table with my radial arm saw. [Laughs] I have a lot of passions. I’ve always been a science geek, I’ve always had a workshop, always had metal and wood equipment. I’m serious – last night I was rippin’ through a Douglas fir 4”x6” with a sliding miter.

[Laughs]

Do you feel like your work in theater has influenced your singing style lately? I feel like on this album that I hear more of a musical theater influence than I’ve heard before.

Absolutely! I think that without question. Not intentionally, but I think that by having done a lot of musical theater fairly recently – I only really started doing it in the ‘90s – and then in 2000 a huge break with Aida, the Elton John/Tim Rice musical. And it had a lot to do with my vocal training.

That is what, for my mind, is the big difference and it’s affected everything I’ve done since. Even singing “Clarksville.”

You’d get along great with the brother that pretended to be you for my fake interview. What else is on your plate?

I’m a huge handyman/builder kind of guy. I love musical theater and I’ve been offered a couple of things – I’m going back to do Hairspray. I did Hairspray in England for a couple of years in London and then the national tour. That was, like, 2010-11 I think.

I’m doing it with the Baltimore Philharmonic and the Indianapolis Philharmonic. I’m doing Wilbur again in January. And then I have an offer to go back to do a show in England possibly, and another show is interested here. So that is, yeah, a passion, but I came to it really late in life. I really love doing it – it’s the real deal. But I love recording, I love doing Monkee songs.

So, it’s not that I’m singing those songs theatrically, so to speak. I’m not like, [sings over-the-top and operatically] “Take the laaaaast train to Claaaaarskviiiiille!” [Laughs] But my voice is stronger and I support all the songs and I can hit the notes. That helps a lot. Yeah, maybe I do add maybe a little more theatrics… a little more performance, but that comes from singing them live and it does come from theater. But I even give my vocal coach credit on the album to be able to hit some of the notes, to be able to do some of these harmonies, to be able to support the vocals.

That seems more the trend now – everybody’s reinventing themselves at all different stages of life. And not only reinventing, but more exploring things they hadn’t had the time to pursue before.

Of all these different things that you do, what do you feel at this point in your life is your passion?

Well, you know in a funny way The Monkees was like musical theater on television. It was like an old Marx

Oh, I have a bunch right now. I guess it’s between musical theater and 13

Monkee Shines Brothers movie where the sang and they danced and they had a production number and they had a little fun plot running through it. It was actually John Lennon that first made that comparison. The Monkees were ultimately a lot more like the Marx Brothers than [the were like] The Beatles in the final analysis. And then along comes High School Musical and along comes Glee and Smash, which is wonderful because it’s introducing whole new generations to musical theater.

Well, you’d have to ask each one of us that question. To Mike it was very important, Peter maybe more so. To me, I’d come out of a showbiz family. My parents were in the business and I had a series when I was a kid playing a kid in a circus – Circus Boy. I was an actor playing the part of a kid in the circus. So, when I approached The Monkees, I was an actor/singer/entertainer playing the part of the drummer – that’s how I approached it. And it’s still how I approach it – like you’d get cast into a musical. And as far as, you know, trying to prove myself… again, each one of us will have a different answer to this question. I never felt I did, but then again when you’re that successful, and that popular, and that rich… you don’t really give a shit. [Laughs]

I read a quote about how The Monkees were a band like Glee is a glee club…

That was me, that was my quote.

That’s the closest thing that’s come along, I think, in a long time that sort of captures that sensibility – that paradigm. The Monkees was a TV show about this imaginary band…

Especially at that age – your early 20s.

…that never made it.

At that age, especially! Over the years, I’ve been annoyed when people misunderstand; they don’t get what it was about. There are still people to this day that ask me questions – journalists, even! They’ll ask me questions like, “So, what was it like when the band got the TV show?”

And I’m like, Jesus… is Wikipedia that bad? But there is, still, a misconception because at that time nothing like that had ever happened on television. Nothing like that. It really broke the mold. Now, it’s not uncommon at all – Glee, Smash, and other shows that have been on the air since about musical acts and kids in bands and stuff like that. But forty-five years ago, it had never happened and so there was maybe a little confusion

That never made it. That was a very important element – the struggle for success. But we could all sing, and act, and play, and dance, and do all of it. And Glee is similar – it’s a show about an imaginary glee club, but they can actually all do it. They can all sing and play and dance – and very well. It is similar in that sense.

At the time, though, you guys really seemed to go out of your way to prove that you were a “real” band, and you went out on tour to prove that you could do it – even though you had the respect of people like Frank Zappa and The Beatles. In retrospect, how important was it to do that?

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Monkee Shines and misunderstand and “we don’t get it” and “what’s it all about”… but like I say, when you’re that successful, who cares? [Laughs]

it had always been this sort of little hotbed of an artistic community from way back in the ‘30s and ‘40s, I guess, where the artisans and musicians and actors would hang out. I just happened to find a house that I liked and could afford, you know, and it happened to be where a lot of other people ended up settling just more by geography than anything else. But it did have a certain buzz to it. When they talk about Laurel Canyon, they’re talking more about that whole enclave that was all the way from Benedict Canyon – that whole little strip of the Hollywood Hills all the way to Beachwood Canyon, even further, where a lot of musicians and that bohemian, hippie culture sort of settled up in those hills.

You’re an Anglophile. Don’t you think, too, that maybe part of why guys like The Beatles seemed to get it is because The Monkees were pretty “camp” and Americans don’t really have a concept of what that is?

Very good point. No, they don’t get the camp thing – that’s a very good point. I’ve never heard anybody actually put it in those words. I think you’re right, and I think that’s why the British always got it, the Monkee thing – The Beatles amongst others – and respected it and understood what it was all about. And you’re right – Americans still don’t have that sort of sense of humor. It’s a little bit better these days, but Monty Python never hit the mainstream here. There are those of us that got it and love it, but not the mainstream. But that sort of irony… that sort of puns, you know…

Did you ever feel like you were on the fence in that world? Did you consider yourself a hippie?

You were recently interviewed for an documentary about Laurel Canyon.

What drove you to seek that out? Did you think you wanted to be there because it was the place to be?

[Laughs] I think I was probably too successful and wealthy – it really depends on what you mean by the word “hippie.” There was certainly what had been the bohemian culture… see, the hippie thing didn’t happen overnight. It was a sort of morphing between the bohemian and the Jack Kerouac and the On The Road and Neal Cassaday and Alan Ginsberg and Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie… and then The Byrds and, of course, The Beatles and The Buffalo Springfield. [Note: Stephen Stills auditioned for The Monkees, but ultimately suggested his friend Peter Tork instead.]

Oh, no – that was before Laurel Canyon was Laurel Canyon. [Laughs] I mean, it was always Laurel Canyon –

gradual transition – it wasn’t overnight. But it was definitely that sort of laid-back, for want of a better

That sort of self-conscious, kind of making fun… …yeah, self-deprecating stuff. No, you’re right – Americans [aren’t into] that kind of humor.

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Monkee Shines word, bohemian culture – counterculture, if you like. But it was very different in Los Angeles than it was in San Francisco, and certainly than it was back in New York.

And that doesn’t even happen anymore – that geographical, huge difference.

No, not anymore. Especially with social media geography means almost nothing now. But back then it did. You had to actually fly and travel. [Laughs] So, no I was not a kid from the Midwest running around and crashing on people’s floors and looking for handout and being that type of hippie, the Haight/Ashbury kind of thing. But I did wear the clothes and I did have some of the sensibilities. I had a Volkswagen bus. [Laughs] I didn’t have flowers painted all over it, but I had a Volkswagen bus. And I definitely got into the Southern California, laid -back sort of lifestyle.

After all this, what do you feel like is the most important thing you’ve contributed?

To the world? My children, I guess.

[Laughs] How about culturally?

Artistically? I don’t know. You could tell me that better than I. The artist himself is probably the last person to ask. I don’t know – making people laugh, maybe. I like it when people say, you know, I had a tough childhood and The Monkees show or Circus Boy made me laugh or saw me through some tough times. Maybe that. And my children… song of the songs I’ve written… performances… It’s probably a question that’s better for somebody else to answer.

What do they think I’ve contributed.

Because from my point of view, I just do what I do and hope for the best. [Laughs].

PFG 1987 Courtesy of Dawn Hoffman

Reminiscing

By Dawn Van Meter Hoffman a story I had written about the beginning of the PFG....... (my new comments are in the parenthesis).

“Well, I guess the best way to start this out is from the beginning, the true beginning way back before I was a twinkle in my parent’s eyes. The Monkees (as we all know), began in 1966 and ran through 1968. Unfortunately the show was cancelled after its second season. (I for one am glad they actually made a TON of episodes in one season back in the

T

he last year or so I have really been reminiscing about my good times with good friends and making dreams come true.

I looked back in an old scrapbook/ photo album I made up back in 1987 and found

16

Monkee Shines day….leaving us more fun to watch).

Monkeemania lived on and in the mid70’s the Monkees reruns ran on TV and caught the eye of a whole new fan generation. This is where I enter Monkeedom.

The Catholic Diocese hosted a Monkees show at the Rosemont Horizon in the fall of 1986. I am not Catholic and found it impossible to get tickets. (Turns out after the fact, my mom worked for a Catholic school kitchen and Father Harlan said he could have gotten me tix….no problem… uhg).

In 1986, the Monkees rejoined forces again to do a 20th anniversary tour! Wow! (“You must be joking!”) A real chance for the second generation fans (and the first) to catch a glimpse of their lifetime faves, a well as a chance for a whole new 3rd generation of fans to fall in love with this wacky foursome. Although Michael Nesmith didn’t join the reunion tour (worked out okay for me…I was a Davy fan), he did join his old buddies for one show at the Greek Theatre in LA .

Luckily the story doesn’t end there.

(Unless of course you are tired of my story.. then not lucky---I go on…). In January 1987, Micky D was making appearances with the Monkeemobile at the World of Wheels Car Shows across the country. I got my notice in the mail from the Monkee Business Fanzine (See….good thing I ripped that page out) and I immediately rushed over to my Aunt Patti and Uncle Bob to see if they would drive me to Chicago to see and meet a real Monkee! Of course being Saints they agreed. (LOL – we didn’t know LOL back then, but we did LOL a lot).

The Monkees, my Monkees, were going to be at Poplar Creek Music Theatre near my home… NO WAY! After some desperate searching I was finally able to find someone (more like beg, plead, cry, some more begging) to accompany me to the concert. (My Aunt Patti and Aunt Carol were Saints and Uncle Bob….. even more!) The three put up with me and my re-born addiction to the Monkeemen.

On a snowy day back on January 18, 1987, I head to Chicago’s McCormick Place to meet that lovable funny guy, Micky Dolenz. Not only was I able to meet and see Micky there, but in that very room there were seven other people that I would meet and become the best of friends with.

The show was fabulous. (Interrupting myself again here, I was on the lawn, they seemed a million miles away, but I will NEVER forget when my Davy took the stage….sigh). One of the things I remember about that day is that the episode, “Son of a Gypsy” was on and that Micky had a small bald spot on the back of the top of his head and when Davy came out in his black tank top and white pants I cried. The binoculars had to practically be chiseled off of my face when the show was over.

(I ripped the back of my program off and sent in to be a member of the Monkee Business Fanzine….thank goodness or I may have missed meeting some of my best friends and experiencing some of the most memorable times.)

Micky and Carla– Chicago January 18, 1987

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Monkee Shines First there was Dehbee Benz (no relation). She and I didn’t even know each other, but belted out an obnoxious rendition in perfect harmony (well….not so much)… “We love you Micky, oh yes we do….. we don’t love anyone as much as you…..when you’re not with us…..we’re blue…..oh Micky, we love you”. (Thank you, thank you very much--- oops wrong guy.)

Cindy and Laura came out the next weekend for a visit and about a month after that we got together again in Alsip, IL at a Budgeteer Inn. (We traveled high class). We went to Gail’s house first and SURPRISE….we had a surprise birthday party for Cindy, Laura and Dehbee. Lynn and Gail decorated great, streamers and balloons everywhere! (I know…TMI, but we didn’t know what TMI was then either…LOL). It was the beginning of a wild weekend. We spent the weekend watching Monkee episodes and videos… two others joined the fun too, Debbie Badalmenti and Beth Adams. For Dawn and Dehbee it was also time to do homework. (Darn senior year.)

Next to Dehbee and I was Debbie Badalmenti. She was so cute and kept repeating, “I can’t believe I am doing this….. I am 30 years old”. (Hee hee….

Dang…..wonder whatever happened to her?….)

The next morning we had to pack up and leave the famous, or is it infamous, Budgeteer Motor Inn. We headed to Gail’s house to pick up Gail and Lynn (their parents said no to the no tell motel…LOL) after a pit stop at Micky D’s.

Then we headed for the flea market and all came home with Monkee treasures.

And like all things, the weekend came to an end. But as before, this was only the end of one weekend and there were MANY more crazy antics to follow….

“Hard to Believe”.

Then there was Cindy Bryant and Laura Reeves. The duo that had traveled all the way from Iowa to be there. We noticed them because of Cindy’s HUGE camera lens and Laura being completely bogged with camera equipment… (that just makes me laugh….all the stuff that had to go along with the cameras back then….if we had digital then….OH MY MY!) Also there was Gail Bruno and Lynn Pluhar both from the Chicago suburbs and the two destined to catch Micky’s marker and water cup! (that kind of stuff is still exciting to me…hee).

And while we were all getting acquainted, another girl, Carla Hughes was backstage meeting our beloved Monkeeman!

(I still can’t believe it….the pictures are great…I still talk to Carla every day….Cindy too) After the car show the “gang” kept in touch. Dehbee and Gail decided to start a fan club and named it the Purple Flower Gang. In March, to celebrate Micky’s birthday, they held a party at the McDonalds. (Micky D’s, where else?? ) Although Cindy and Laura were unable to make it, they sent a scrapbook in their place. (Whatever happened to that?)

(Okay, my final interruption….I am so blessed to have been a part of the beginning of this newsletter and gang of friends. We laughed a lot, cried some, fought some and in the end…..remember the whole experience fondly. The best part is many of us went on to create many more memories and the best, best part…..

Cindy. Thank you my friend for continuing this newsletter and growing the “crazy lot” as you have come to be known. ) (Dawn, Thanks for being part of the road crew on this the wild and wonderful journey! Who knew back then where it would lead us! I am glad you came along for the ride! Love you !

Cindy)

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Monkee Shines edition: ------------------------

CUT IT OUT!

“I Cut The Monkees’ Hair!”

Have you ever wondered what happens to Davy, Micky, Peter and Mike’s fallen locks after their hair is shorn? Here’s the whole truth told by the Monkees’ hairstylist!

AND DON’T MISS THE MONKEE SURPRIZE ON PAGE 16!

By Bonnie Borgh

I

n the December, 1967, issue of 16 Magazine, there is an article entitled, “I Cut The Monkees’ Hair!” written by Michael Graber, and “Lock of Monkee Hair Contest” is featured on the next page. Who writes that stuff? Perhaps you will recall reading in David Jones’ autobiography, They Made A Monkee Out of Me, on Pages 97-98 the following excerpt:

ALL ABOUT MICHAEL Michael Graber was born on June 2nd in New York City. He is five feet and ten inches tall, has brown hair and light brown eyes. After graduating from high school Michael worked in New York City at various jobs for two years. Ten years ago he decided to go to Los Angeles. “I had heard it was beautiful out there,” he says, “and it was –and I never left.”

“WIN THEIR HAIR!” proclaimed one tabloid of the day. ‘In packets with GUARANTEE signed by their hairdresser!’ And for those who couldn’t risk not being one of the lucky winners, there was a fail-safe ‘BUY A PACKET-be sure to specify whose hair you want-JUST ONE DOLLAR EACH!’ Yes, each hair that is.

Michael went to hairstyling school and had worked in many places before Jim Frawley asked him if he would consider cutting the hair of the then unknown Monkees. Mike’s first reaction to the boys, whom he met one evening in Frawley’s home, was:

I noticed one of our studio hairdressers used to sweep up everyone’s hair into a big pile, laughing himself silly.

We wondered why he was so happy all the time. He was always asking if we needed a trim.

“They were delightful-very natural, spontaneous and individualistic.”

Mike has been hairstylist for the Monkees ever since, and travels with them wherever they go.

“But I just had it done!”

“No, dearie-looks terrible, love. Here, allow me.” Snip, snip.

Then we saw what the magazines were selling. It was a button with one hair taped across it. You had to look hard to see it. His haircuts sucked but he was great with a broom.

Mike resides in a bachelor pad high up in Laurel Canyon, has a German Shepherd named “Schlub”, and drives a burgundy Porsche-Targa convertible. His favorite pastimes are surfing at Malibu and going to the discotheques on the Sunset Strip.

The following is the actual article which appeared on Pages 14-15 in 16 Magazine in the December, 1967

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Monkee Shines CUTTING the Monkees’ hair is really something else! It’s all been like a crazy dream. There I was styling hair for women in a Beverly Hills salon when a friend of mine put the famous director, Jim Frawley, in touch with me.

stop. I decided then and there not to drop the boys’ hair out of a window ever again! Before I go on to even more fascinating things, let me pause and tell you what the Monkees are like when they are sitting in my Monkee “barber’s” chair.

“How would you like to snip the locks of four young fellows who are going to be teenage idols in five months?”

Jim asked me.

PETER Peter meditates while I cut-which makes it a very groovy thing for both of us. When Peter meditates, he sits perfectly still, as though he were in a trance, and that makes it easier for me to guide my scissors around his dark blond locks.

“Would I?” I said. “You know it, baby.”

The guys and I hit it off just great from the very beginning, and since then it’s been the trip of all trips. I mean that I travel wherever the Monkees go, and so far that’s more than halfway around the world!”

DAVY

HAIRY LONDON A crazy thing happened when we were in London this past trip. I was giving Mike’s hair a trim and he was sitting right by the hotel window, where the light was best. I heard a strange noise building up outside, but I hardly noticed. Slowly, the “noise” became a roar! I looked out the window and I saw at least a thousand girls standing there with their hands up in the air, screaming for me to throw down some hair! Since I meticulously save every single strand of Davy, Micky, Mike and Peter’s hair that I cut (you’ll see why later), it wasn’t easy for me to forego a few of Mike’s lock’s-but I did. I leaned out the window and dropped the little fluffs of hair. What happened when they hit the waiting hands of the English fans would make a mob riot look as prim as a London tea party! Piles upon piles of screaming, wiggling girls began to build up before my eyes. I thought they would never

20

I’ll never forget when I had to cut Davy’s hair at the time it got so long (you do remember how long it used to be, don’t you?). His hair hung about five inches below his collar, and before his “big clipping” we just stared at each other for awhile. Davy is very definite about what he wants, but on that particular day neither of us was too sure of just what to do about all that incredible brown hair. We finally decided to be ultra-daring and go “all the way”. Personally, I think Davy’s hair looks better than ever with his new hairdo. It is short, but it has a long look-if you know what I mean.

And don’t worry, girls-I saved every precious strand I snipped off that day (as I always have saved all of Davy, Mike, Peter and Micky’s hair that I’ve cut).

MIKE Mike’s hair grows fastest and he has enough for ten people. He is very relaxed when I give him a trim. In fact, he’s so relaxed that once he almost fell asleep. I keep him awake by whistling. That makes him start

Monkee Shines singing in self-defense. Hey, maybe I oughta get a tape recorder!

If you want the hair of either Davy, Peter, Mike or Micky, just send $1 in check, cash or money order (be sure to enclose an additional 25 cents for handling and mailing) for each hair badge you want to this address: Michael Graber Enterprises, P.O. Box 581, Hollywood, Calif., 90028. In your order be sure to state whether you want DAVY, PETER, MICKY or MIKE’s hair badge. Don’t forget to enclose $1.25, and be sure to print your name and address very clearly on the letter you send as your order.

MICKY I call Micky “wiggly” because he’s the twitchiest Monkee. He’s either yawning, frowning, talking, singing or slipping and sliding. Micky used to have his hair straightened, but lately he has let it grow back to its own natural soft curliness. In fact, Micky has decided that he wants everything in his life to be as natural as possible-and I think that’s a groove.

GET DAVY, MICKY, PETER and MIKE’S HAIR!

This article appeared on Page 16 of the December, 1967 issue of 16 Magazine

With all this talk about the fabulous hair of Davy, Peter, Mike and Micky, you must be going wild wondering how you can get a lock for your very own. As usual, 16 is coming to your rescue-and I wish to point out here and how that no matter what you read anywhere else, the hair of Davy, Micky, Mike and Peter that 16 is giving away absolutely free to you (See Page 16) is the only real authenticated hair these boys have personally given to any magazine in the world!

To get your very own lock of Micky, Peter, Davy or Mike’s fuzz, just turn the page. You’ll find out how super 16 once again saves the day for each and every one of you!

LOCK OF MONKEE HAIR CONTEST WIN a lock of REAL AUTHENTIC MONKEE HAIR straight from the heads of DAVY, MICKY, PETER and MIKE! IMPORTANT! YOU CANNOT ENTER 16’s “LOCK OF MONKEE HAIR CONTEST” UNLESS YOU USE THIS COUPON! FILL IT IN, CUT IT OUT AND MAIL IT NOW!

In case you’re not one of the ultralucky winners who will get a “Michael Graber authenticated lock of hair” from either Peter, Micky, Davy or Mike-you needn’t weep over it. I have made special arrangements to make sure that no one will be left out. I’ve made up “hair badges” with a personal guarantee on them from me. Each of these badges holds a piece of hair from my clippings of either Davy, Peter, Micky, or Mike.

“LOCK OF MONKEE HAIR CONTEST” DECEMBER 1967 Please enroll me in 16’s “Lock Of Monkee Hair Contest” The name of my favorite Monkee is:

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Monkee Shines Mike’s head. And each lock of hair has been authenticated by Michael Graber, the Monkees’ exclusive hairstylist-so you know each and every one is the real thing!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ (PLEASE PRINT ONLY THE NAME OF YOUR ONE FAVORITE MONKEE)

MY NAME _ _ _ _ _ _ _AGE _ _ ADDRESS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ CITY _ _ _ _ _ _ ZIP CODE _ _ STATE _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

One (or more!) of these locks of Monkee hair can be yours. All you have to do is print the name of your fave Monkee in the space provided on the coupon, and then print your name, address etc. on the coupon. It’s that E-Z! (IF you can’t make up your mind which Monkee you like best, send two coupons-or three-or four! And on each coupon print the name of a separate Monkee. You CANNOT print the names of more than one Monkee on each coupon!)

All coupons will be dropped inside a barrel. The barrel will then be revolved and 16’s editor, Gloria Stavers, blindfolded, will pick up four coupons from the barrel. The first four coupons she picks on which are printed the names of the four separate Monkees will be the contest winners-and the sender of each coupon will be awarded the lock of hair from the head of her fave Monkee plus Michael Graber’s authentication that it is real genuine Monkee hair!

Cut out and mail this coupon to:

“LOCK OF MONKEE HAIR CONTEST” CONTEST DEPARTMENT 16 MAGAZINE 745 FIFTH AVENUE N. Y., N. Y. 10022 THERE’S NEVER BEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT! It’s a gift from heavenMonkee heaven, of course! You’ll be beside yourself with joy, not to mention the green-eyed envy of your friends! You’ll go around for months mumbling to yourself, “16 has done it again!”

And indeed we have! Right here, right now is an exclusive 16 contest that’ll make you reach for the scissors and clip out the coupon faster than you ever have before! Cos we are giving away absolutely free real Monkee hair straight from the heads of Davy, Micky, Peter and Mike!

AND THAT’S NOT ALL! Each of the four grand-prize winners will also receive a large, glossy, personally autographed picture of her fave Monkee, a super-outasite psychedelic Monkee sweatshirt, an autographed copy of the Monkees’ latest Colgems LP-and a full year’s subscription to 16 Magazine! Like we said: There’s never been anything like it!

No other magazine can make that statement!

(The Monkee hair awarded as prizes in this contest is the only hair Davy, Micky, Peter and Mike have personally given to any magazine-so 16 is the only magazine which offers its readers real authentic Monkee hair!)

So don’t delay! Grab on to your pencil, pen or typewriter and fire away the coupon-or coupons!-today!

Ready and waiting for four lucky 16ers are four locks of hair-one from Davy’s head, one from Micky’s head, one from Peter’s thatch and one from

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Monkee Shines

A new Project for The Davy Jones Equine Memorial Foundation When the book is complete and has been approved by the girls (who have already offered at least one of their dad's favorite recipes for the book) we will put it on Amazon to sell with 10% of the profits going to the David T. Jones Estate and the rest going to DJEMF. You will have to sign a release to have your recipe included in the book and the release just says that you are contributing a recipe to the book and know that your name and where you are from will be included and that you know there is no compensation.

Once the book is on Amazon anyone can purchase it and hopefully it will be a source of income for the girls for a long time and anyone who contributes will be a part of that.

We are putting together a Vegan/ Vegetarian Cookbook which as you can see by the proposed cover is being done with the permission of the David T. Jones Estate and all proceeds will go to DJEMF. There will be sections for all kinds of foods from salads to desserts...even a section for pet foods and a section for kids' recipes.

We want you to submit your family favorites (NO meat) and anyone who has a recipe printed will have their name and city and state listed with the recipe..

The team that is putting this together include me, Jody Proetta, Jerri Keele, Colleen Gruver, Andrea Gilbey, Ginny Fleming, and Darlene Bowen Haines who brought the idea to us! Thank you Darlene! If you have any questions these are the people to go to.

Our Mission Statement The Written In Our Hearts Cookbook is a cookbook compiled by the Purple Flower Gang fan club to honor the memory of Davy Jones, and to provide a source of revenue for the non-profit organization The Davy Jones Equine Memorial Foundation, so that they may continue to care for the rescue horses that David so loved. Ninety percent of all profits from this book will go directly to The Davy Jones Equine Memorial Fund with the remainder to the David T. Jones Estate.

Estimated Publish date: November 2013 The cover of the book will say “Permission Courtesy of the David T. Jones Estate�.

23

Monkee Shines

By Becca Nelson

Micky has been extra busy these past few months getting ready for the next Monkees tour to kick off!

First off, From Broadway With Love: A Benefit Concert for Sandy Hook, which took place at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT in January will be airing on select PBS stations in the New York area through July. An hour-long version of the concert will premiere July 18 at 10 PM on WLIW21, July 26 at 10 PM on WNET/13 and CPTV and July 30 at 10 PM on NJTV. In June, Micky took part in an Image Meet and Greet where fans could place an order for merchandise to have signed to the person of their choice! Fans were also given a video of the signing with a greeting. It was a very successful event and helped to raise money for the Make-a-Wish Foundation. I purchased a photo of the guys from the 60s for our new little Monkees fan and can't wait to give it to him one day when he gets a little older!

chests. Micky said on Facebook, "I can say with great pride that we both {Micky and Georgia} personally handcraft the chests from start to finish. We select each plank of wood with great care and bring it back to our shop. We even made our own staining tent!" The chests are running $495 with the option of a $50 engraved plate that can be added to the order so start saving those pennies Micky fans! You'll have to wait till the tour is over though as the shop will be closed while Micky's out entertaining us fans!

Head over to www.dolenzanddaughters.com to see their shop and check out some great pics of Micky and Georgia in action!

Micky has been in rehearsals with Peter and Mike getting ready for the tour to kick off and has promised "some surprises in the set list‌" Can't wait to hear what they have in store for fans this time!

Micky has also opened up shop! Dolenz & Daughters Fine Furniture was first introduced in midMay via Facebook and has been doing great business, accepting orders in waves for beautiful handcrafted cedar hope

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Monkee Shines

By Becca Nelson -Crash Course on the Blues -Daydream Believer -Higher and Higher -Pleasant Valley Sunday He also took part in the Long Beach Bayou & Blues Festival, wowing the crowd. Peter told the Long Beach Post, "We do about five or six Monkee songs. We try to do them about as bluesy as we can. Something about 'Daydream Believer,' you can’t really make it swing very well. But the other three or four songs we do, we do swing ‘em. Make them a little oilier and a little bit funkier, and thereby wind up giving ourselves a great time.

We have a great time with these songs. We do some other covers, and we do some originals. "

Peter has been keeping busy with his "In This Generation: My Life in the Monkees and So Much More" tour and getting rave reviews! His show included many great Monkees tunes along with some great tunes that highlighted his folk origins. Here's a look at the set list…

-Long Title: Do I Have to Do This All Over Again?

-Jericho -The Fox -Venezuela -Cripple Creek -I Want You, I Need You, I Love You -I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate -Come On In -I'll Spend My Life With You -Shades of Gray -Lady's Baby -Tear the Top Right Off My Head -Alvin -She Hangs Out -Easy Rider

His band Shoe Suede Blues has recently released a new album called Step by Step so make sure you head over to petertork.bandcamp.com to check it out! It's full of some great tunes including a great rendition of Early Morning Blues and Greens!

Peter is now rehearsing with Micky and Mike for the Monkees tour set to kick off in mid- July! They are said to be adding some new songs to the set list this time around including one they haven't performed since their first tour in December of 1966!

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Monkee Shines

By Marie Gibson

H

appy Summer Heads!

Break

Nez

clever.

A status he posted last week, which started with “I washed my car today, oh boy..” (which isn’t there anymore, but I saved it in a Word file, ha-ha), he talked about how he washed his car wearing his favorite cologne, L’Heure Bleue” by Guerlain. He described its creation in 1912 that was inspired by the painter Jacques Guerlain. Apparently it is very rare, and very costly. So, if you have a ton of disposable income, you now know what to get him for his birthday

It has been rather slow, Nezwise, after his solo tour ended earlier this year.

He has posted some rather odd status updates on Facebook, first as his beloved dog Dale, then I believe a deer and a badger. It was quite a giggle, I must say.

As Dale, he posted a message to a Murray Gellman, who did a TED talk about Beauty and Truth in Physics.

Here’s the link if you want to take a gander:

A lot of die hard Nez fans have speculated that the entire post was a coded message that he was going to go on another solo tour this fall. I, personally, did not get that impression from the post, but like I said before, when it comes to Michael Nesmith, I’m not all that clever. In my opinion, people see what they want to see.

http://www.ted.com/talks/ murray_gell_mann_on_beauty_and_truth_in _physics.html

He also put Gellman’s song up on the Video Ranch website, where you can download it for free:

But I’ve been wrong before.

http://www.videoranch3d.com/mm5/ merchant.mvc?

Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=1000011

Marie

Have a wonderful summer

I told you I could be wrong, and I was. According to the Mike Nesmith Fan Page on Facebook, Paul Liem, Mikes drummer in his Spring Tour, posted this on his website:

(use the code word GELLMAN to get it for free)

Michael Nesmith Fall tour 25 Oct 2013 - 16 Nov 2013 || USA Nez Fall tour starts in Phoenix Oct. 25, thru Nov 16 Cities to be determined.

Nez’s latest update, posted just yesterday (July 9, 2013) alludes to rehearsals with Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz for the summer Monkees Tour and jokes about NSA leaker Edward Snowden being in attendance.

There seriously needs to be a college course in "De-Coding Michael Nesmith" for people like me.

I don’t get it, but then again, when it comes to Michael Nesmith, I’m not too

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Monkee Shines

The Monkeephiles About: Two huge Monkees fans' studio sound-alike project.

Artists We Also Like The Monkees

Biography John Roginski met Paul Venturi in 2006 when he was singing "Hold On Girl" under his breath. All of a sudden, he heard someone harmonizing. Shortly thereafter, what was then known as the Mr. Webster and Mr. Frisbee project was born. In 2008, John and Paul were at a Micky Dolenz show answering his questions from the front row. He called us "Monkeephiles" and it stuck. We hope you enjoy our efforts as much as we do!

Genre Classic Rock/ Cover Members

John Roginski - Lead and Backing Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Drums, Keyboards, production and engineering.

Paul Venturi - Lead and Backing Vocals, Percussion, Keyboards Hometown Scranton

Band Interests The Monkees

You've been asking, so here it is! If you would like a copy of our CD, just send $15.00 (includes overnight shipping) through Paypal to Monkeephiles@yahoo.com. Be sure to include your shipping address. THANK YOU for your support!

Includes: Heart & Soul DW Washburn Early Morning Blues and Greens Hard To Believe It’s Got To Be Love Love Is Only Sleeping Papa Gene’s Blue I’ll Be True to you Salesman Shades Of Gray

Shorty Blackwell Someday Man I’ll Love You Forever Teeny Tiny Gnome The Poster Words Cuddly Toy Dream World You Just May Be The One Day Dream Believer

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Monkee Shines

Meeting Mike Again!

By David Levin It had been 21 years since I had the opportunity to see Michael Nesmith solo in concert. Less than five months earlier, I had the thrill of seeing him live with Micky and Peter.

Something else happened that night in November, but that still feels like a dream!

With my Mom in tow, we went to Papa Nez's April 15th concert in Philly. My Mom was thrilled. It was a slightly early 80th birthday gift.

The crowd was very respectful and receptive. As we know, Michael had a story for each and every song he performed. "The songs live as movies in my mind.", he has said on this tour. My Mom enjoyed our dinner

and had a blast during the show!

Lucky me once again, was able to obtain a meet and greet with Michael. He called it a "conversation reception". So, I had that to look forward to as the concert went on. He sounded great and seemed very pleased with the crowds reception to all he did.

The meet and greet was upon me.

I'd like to think I'm cool when I meet most celebrities, most times, in some manner, I'm not as much as I'd like to be. I was the third to last to see him. It came upon me, that I could audio record this happening. Happy that I did. Walked up, Mike says, hello and I say, "Reno, why Reno?" He responds, "Not Reno dummy, (which thrilled me!) Rio Dee-jerr-no!"

Overall, silliness and nervousness as aside, it went well for the near 5 minutes. I made him smile, laugh, maybe gave him heartburn. Nahhh, I hope not.

The coolest moment was when I mentioned that I had met him recently. He replied, "Oh yeah?"

Then I said, "At the Keswick theater." He says, "Oh yeah???"

Then I showed him the pic of me and the guys, and he says, "Oh yeahhhhhhh!" Tre' cool!

Michael also said he will be back to Philly and will out on the road for a longer tour later this year!

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Monkee Shines

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Monkee Shines

By Alexis Rigby

The Gang in Beavertown

Photo Courtesy of Roxanne Salch Kaplan

By Alexis Rigby

O

ur journey started at 9:15 in the morning. Cathy Defini came to my house to pick me up and then drove back to her house to load up her neighbor, Holly's car. We left around 9:45 and began the long trip to Beavertown, PA. It took us about 6 hours with very few potty stops. We managed to stop only 3 times which for a car full of 4 girls is really great!! We got into town about 4ish and settled into the Philips Motel. As far as we could tell, we were the only Monkee fans that made it so far!! We got to our room, freshened up a bit and took off into Beavertown (our hotel is in Selinsgrove).

We drove around looking for the house. I was in shock and I gasped when I saw it. It was extremely surreal. Davy had lived here. I had joked with my friend Katherine about accidentally driving into his bushes to be invited to tea. We parked across the street and got out to take some pictures because it looked like his girls were in the house at the time. We had just started taking pictures when Annabel started walking down the street.

I got a little nervous because I wasn't sure the girls would be okay with us taking pictures yet, especially cause no one else was there. Annabel was

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Monkee Shines her and her sisters were nervous about getting a 400 pound body builder type guy on the bed for the race (she obviously didn't want to be offensive) (But her sisters and her are so tiny so of course she was scared!)

extremely sweet though and greeted us with a hug and kiss on cheek.

Cathy asked if they minded us taking a few pictures outside the house and she said no, she actually expected a ton of it tomorrow. Tiffany Defini asked how she felt about everyone coming to honor him and Annabel got a little teary. She told us that sometimes it gets hard for them but she and her sisters are just amazed and extremely grateful for what everyone has done for them. Then Tiffany asked if it was weird that people just know everything about their life and Annabel said that she was just so used to it that its normal to her. She posed for pictures with us and then Cathy asked how she came up with the name for her band, Bluebell (which is really awesome if you haven't checked them out already!). She told us that her niece didn't like her real name so one day she asked if her name was Bluebell and Annabel just said yeah, you can call me that.

We started talking about the bed race. Annabel was really cautious with her words, telling us about how

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We said goodbye soon after and headed back to get some food and we went to Red Robin where we had a really nice waitress who told us she never got to meet Davy, but she took care of his horses at the stables sometimes. After dinner we went back to our motel and relaxed for a little bit as we waited for other Monkee fans to get to there. Sarah Combs, one of the administrators of the Davy Jones Facebook page, began to text me. I went out to the gazebo to meet her and her fiancĂŠ, Jeff.

I was so excited to finally get to meet her because we had been friends for a long time. We talked for about 2 hours or so about The Monkees and she told me lots of fun stories about Davy and how her grandma walked her up to the house to get her book signed. Then out of the blue she asked me to talk about the commemorative candy bars that Karen Burns had made special for the event. She told me she would give me the information the next day since she hadn't gotten the announcement yet. Soon after, Jody Proetta and Roxanne Kaplan walked into the gazebo and we had even more friends! It was so exciting to finally meet everyone!

Jody told us wonderful stories about her friendship with Davy and so many hugs were exchanged! Sarah and her fiancĂŠ went back to their room and we headed over to Jody and her husband's room to get our Purple Flower Gang shirts and after seeing the headboard for the bed and receiving everything she made special for us I burst into tears because it had been so long since I had felt such kindness

Monkee Shines from Monkee fans. I've had such bad luck dealing with a couple of people and a certain community on tumblr that to see and feel this kindness was so touching to me. These people weren't just 'internet' friends. They were real life family to me. We went back to our hotel room and talked to Jody and Roxanne for a little while longer before everyone said goodnight.

stopping every few minutes so we could adjust it and carried it to the food stand that was being set up. We kept it hidden from the girls view. We went to go scope out the car boot sale which was still in the works of getting set up and signed the misprinted Davy memorial sign and did a little shopping. I ended up with a copy of Colgems Changes, Missing Links vol.

1 and Christmas is my Time of Year. (pretty nice finds if I do say so myself!) .Tiffany and I went over to check out the Monkeemobile, which was so cool to see in person. It was like a dream come true. We took some pictures by it .Soon Davy's Dangerous Daughters had arrived and began to set up their merchandise. The members of the PFG assembled and we brought the cake over to the stand.

We waited till it had calmed down a

The next morning we were up bright and early to prepare for the memorial.

My anxiety was at a whole new level (which wasn't very good). We left around 8:30 to get to the breakfast buffet where we met up with a few other people from the PFG and other various clubs etc. We met Sharron Ganjei, Jerri Keele, Sheri Lloyd and Leah Emmons at the buffet. I couldn't tell you how the food was because my anxiety was so bad I could hardly breath (Tiffany had to bring me into the bathroom at a certain point it got so bad) After everyone had eaten we walked over to the post office to pose with everyone (there is one woman who was posing with us who I don't believe was part of the gang, but she was super nice. She didn't have a PFG shirt until the bed race I think) Once the pictures were done, we went over to Leah's car where she had bought the cake for Annabel's birthday which took 3 of us to carry it. That didn't work so well so Jerri and I worked together, her carrying the cake and

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Monkee Shines bit before calling Annabel over. The look on her face when she saw the cake was priceless. We all burst into singing happy birthday to her and she was just so speechless. Once she regained herself she told us how beautiful it was and how “She had never had this big of a personalized cake before” and she asked if she had to eat it all herself! She was such a little cutie pie. She and Anita carried the cake over to a fridge to keep it cool and we moved to get in line to shop.

talk to Nancy Mattice who was dancing away to I believe The Characters.

Not long after I got a text from my friend Pippie (her real name is Gina but her online persona is Pippie) stating that she was finally there!! I was ecstatic. She called me and we were looking for each other. When we saw each other finally it was just one big giant hug! We were so excited to finally meet each other!! While midst hugging through, I accidentally broke her bra. I felt so bad but she assured me it was on its last thread anyway, but I still felt bad!! But it was literally our favorite part of finally meeting each other. I had to get back into line, so I told her once I was done that I would be back and hurried back to my spot since it had gotten a bit closer to the front. Once we were almost to the booth, David Levin and his daughter Lauren showed up! I got a big hug and kiss from him and was so exited to finally meet him!! Lauren was such a sweet heart and as soon as she saw my “My Little Pony” wallet we immediately became best friends!

The line was very long so all of us were kinda all over. We would have one person hold our spot as we ran around doing different things. Tiffany went to sit for a while and I was just meeting a bunch of people that I had known from online. I very briefly got to

I didn't pay to much attention to the concert, I was much more interested in meeting and talking to everyone (Also I was beginning to panic over when I would announce the candy bar sales) but I believe the line up was something like The Characters, The Monkeephiles, David Alexander, Jennifer Alexander and then The Blue Meanies.

I did tune in enough for

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Monkee Shines

the Monkeephiles to briefly hear the proposal( Tiffany was the one who provided me with this info, Thanks Tiff!!) of John to his girlfriend Theresa.

He sang “I'll Love you Forever” (a wonderful song by Davy) and once he finished he asked, “What do you do when you say you'll love someone forever?” and got down on his knees and asked her to marry him. (Of course she said yes! If you guys see this, congrats!!)

tions in our hearts. And today is not going to be a mourning day, its going to be a thankful day that we are family because of Davy. We will love and miss him forever.”

The girls were brought up on stage and everyone sang Daydream Believer as the statue was unveiled. It was honestly such a touching moment and I burst into tears the moment the cloth came off the statue. Everyone's opinion on the statue varied and I know it wasn't perfect, but that didn't matter because it was still such a beautiful moment. I thought the statue was very beautiful and embodied Davy very well. I stood by the stage with Sarah because I had also been asked to pass out the tickets for the bed race which was a whole event on its own.

Afterward, I was brought up on stage

by David Alexander to announce the candy bar sales. I was a nervous wreck (and you could tell because I kept stuttering) but I was really proud of myself for stepping up to announce it. After the Blue Meanies played, a few things were said in memory of Davy, this one in particular stood out that I believe Chuck LaMark said, but was quoting someone Tiffany and I are unsure of.

Once the tickets had been passed out we headed over to the bed race. Everyone was feeling very enthusiastic about the race, it was a very exciting

“Davy's legacy will live on for genera34

Monkee Shines

From Jody Proetta moment for everyone. The beds, the outfits, everything was amazing.

Davy's daughters were absolutely adorable. They all wore the 8 button Monkee shirts and had a special helmet made and had actually brought one of Davy's actual nightshirts. The drawing was done and Laurie Capani was chosen to ride with David's Dangerous Daughters!

the church and posed for a few pics and then went to the house to leave small gifts. Sarah's daughter Lolo took the little bear with the personal penguin that Jerri made special for the girls and Sarah came out to thank her personally, it was really sweet. Afterwards we all said goodbye to each other with promises of returning next year for the next memorial.

The PFG won against the team they raced and placed 3rd. The girls won by donations and Charlie's Angels won the bed race (though their team had really tall guys and was totally not fair!!!) It really was a picture finish though and everyone had a ton of fun!

Honestly it was the best weekend I could ever ask for. I felt so much love radiating from everyone. The girls were so grateful for everything.

I can honestly not wait for next year so I can see everyone again. Thank you everyone for everything you did and being the best friends I could ever ask for! I love you guys!!

Once the bed race was over, the entire team went to Rayauda's Restaurant, a place Davy frequently ate at. The food was really good and we all took pictures together. We shared more laughs and fan stories and once we were done we headed to

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Monkee Shines

By Jody Proetta

A

s soon as I saw the Davy's Beavertown 2013 event posted, and also the Bed Race, I knew that PFG had to be a part of it. PFG was a part of Davy's life for so many years. I asked Cindy if the PFG could enter a bed, and she was delighted to give me the OK!!! And I knew Davy would have loved it, had he been here. But, he sure had the best seat and loved it from afar.

Photo by Roxanne Kaplan

Our excitement grew more and more each day after we announced it to all of you. Everyone in PFG was on board. There was a telephone number posted on the internet to call for information regarding the Bed Race, and to get the specifications, and regulations. I proudly announced when I called them, "The Purple Flower Gang, a Monkees fan club is proud to enter a bed, in the bed race". We were officially, the 2nd ones to call, and to enter a bed. The person I spoke to on the phone was delighted. They immediately mailed me the information needed to make the bed.

through catalogs my husband had, on special wheels and tires. We found the perfect wheels and tires with special pivot devices. We ordered them. Then, my husband set about putting our bed together, measuring, cutting, bolting, bracing, etc. It came out really great. Now all we had to do was add the special tires/ wheels. Finally, the wheels/tires arrived via UPS. My husband found the huge box by the garage door when he arrived home from work. He called me at work and was all excited "our wheels arrived!!!". We put them on the bed the next day and they were super!!!! My hubby's part was done, now it was my part.

My husband and I set out to get the pieces to build the PFG official bed. We used recycled material to build our bed as we knew Davy would have wanted it that way, and the only new part of the bed were the tires--that was the most important part so we splurged--we wanted the bed to roll nice and easy for us. We were running this for Davy, and we wanted the best for the best. We looked

Our bed had to have a theme. Hmmmm. Purple Flower Gang, Davy Jones, what can our theme be. Ahhhh---our bed is going to be purple for our team PFG, I'll paint purple flowers on it, and for Davy, his song, Daydream Believer, be-

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Monkee Shines me ornamentation from England for the bed. Her crocheted flowers were a beautiful part of my quilt. Georgeann was willing to drive over 5 hours up to my house, to help me paint the bed. Heather, and Helen from Australia were trying to win the lottery so they could fly over here to help and go to the event. Velcro spent hours on her posters for her exchange program for the DJEMF so I could place them on the bed and advertise for our wonderful charity. Cathy Defini, bought purple socks, nail polish, and purple flowers for the pushers of the bed so we could be in unison. Roxanne wanted to come to my home to help us build the bed----so many of you offered to help--I cannot name all of you so I am thanking you and I love all of you so much!!!!! The excitement was growing and growing more with each day that passed!!!

cause we are all BELIEVERS. We believe in the dreams of a better and happy world that the Monkees portrayed, and what Davy stood for, happiness and love. THAT"S IT!!! Everyone of us in PFG loves Daydream Believer. That's who our Davy was.

I messaged Buffy Stewart and explained to her about the Beavertown Bed Race, and how PFG entered a bed, and we were going to theme our bed Daydream Believer. I also told her that John's name as writer of the song would be written on the bed with all of the words to Daydream Believer. She was thrilled. She told me she would have gone to the event if she had known about it sooner, but, she had already made plans to go to an event on the west coast. I promised her pictures of the bed which I had sent her from the event. I had my bed pushers lined up, and our rider. My cheerleaders, pit crew, photographer, reporter, artist, Velcro's exchange program, EVERYONE from home was a part of our team as well!!!

One night, I sat down and designed the tee shirts. I wanted something that reflected our PFG, all of us, and Davy. Davy and his horses. We worked so hard to help him with his

EVERYONE WAS WONDERFUL!!! I would mention Daydream Believer, and Andrea was mailing

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Monkee Shines herd. I chose one of Velcro's restored photos of Davy with one of his horses.

That picture was a favorite of everyone's. Purple Flower Gang--Flower Power---and Davy's drawing of his Pansy that he drew when he signed autographs.

Us and Davy. Flowers together. Davy's birth date, and the date he left our earthly plain. The front of the tee shirt was done. Then on the back of the shirt, another picture of his flower, the Monkees guitar, Purple Flower Gang, Beavertown, the date, Us and Davy again. The peace sign. What he believed in, what we believe in. A representation of Davy and us.

him". When I bought the material for the quilt, and I was looking for material with horses on it, the woman who was cutting it for me asked me about the horse material, and I explained about Davy and his love of horses, and of course, "Davy Jones, from the Monkees?" and I answered this time, "you love him don't you" and she said, all blushing, "yes, he is so cute".

Gus, our tee shirt man was great. The first day I appeared with the drawing of our shirts, I must say, surprised me.

This man is about 35 years old. He is married with children. When I showed him the drawing, and the photograph of Davy, he said "Davy Jones?" "from the Monkees?" I said "Yes," and explained the race and everything. HE WAS THRILLED!!! He said, "me and my kids don't miss a show on Saturday and Sundays. We love him". He gave us a big discount. We were really lucky.

The big day was drawing nearer and nearer so quickly. We were getting more and more excited!!!! Everyone was thrilled and we were nervous energy--we found out the Jones girls were entered also in the bed race. Davy's Dangerous Daughters. We knew we had some rough competition---they were real good runners. I believe Talia ran in the London Marathon.

I spent a little time each day painting the bed. My friends in PFG were so excited and kept the level of wonderful anticipation as high as the clouds where Davy sat and watched us all and smiled. Cindy's lovely banner arrived and I hung it in the garage near where the bed was and looked at it each day as I painted. I played Monkee tunes on my boom box in the

Everywhere I went, I met people who love our Davy. My postman, as I was mailing out the shirts, was a big fan. He was curious to see what I was placing in waterproof envelopes so I held up one of the tee shirts to show him and of course, "Davy Jones?

From the Monkees?" "I love

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Monkee Shines garage as I painted the words to Daydream Believer on the shiny purple wood. I thought about all of us at PFG and how Davy would have loved this event and how he must be enjoying seeing all of his fans so excited and how his girls are so excited to be a part of this event honoring him. I was so excited for his girls and for all of us watching the unveiling of the sculpture made in honor of this wonderfully talented and loving man, and then the girls and us racing to the finish laughing and having so much fun as Davy would have wanted us to. I enjoyed every moment that I was in that garage thinking about how excited with anticipation everyone was.

The big day finally arrived. We set out to go to Beavertown. Davy's hometown. My husband and I took the bed apart and carefully and lovingly loaded it on pads and wrapped it in the back of our truck. I had packed everything we needed for the bed and with horror saw that we were running out of room in the truck. The bed took up the entire back of the truck. So now we have to get our suitcases into the back seat of the truck with the box containing all the bed ornamentation, the Davy sheets, the Davy quilt, and Roxanne who was going to ride with us and her suitcase. Anyway, Roxanne was so good about sitting in a little patch we made for her in the back seat of the truck and she was able to rest her head on the bed pillow with the Davy pillowcase on it. She admitted to us she liked that. LOL!!

Beavertown, Pennsylvania was gorgeous. As soon as we got close to it and were

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riding past the lush green rolling hills of Davy's hometown, we felt his spirit right away. Oh my gosh, that man's presence in Beavertown could not be missed. Everywhere we were in Beavertown, we felt Davy. His spiritual presence was so strong. It was magical. And Beavertown was Davy. You could see him living there and loving it. So quant, so quiet, so beautiful. And it was real horse country.

Getting to Beavertown on Friday night was wonderful because we were able to relax a bit and sleep. We met Cathy, Tiffany, Alexis, and Cathy's lovely neighbor on Friday night, as they came a day early to Beavertown as well. So we were able to talk about the events and the bed race, and I handed out the tee shirts to them. It was so wonderful meeting the for the first time. Jerri was in early as well, but, we met Jerri the next day. Her motel was further away. It was so lovely meeting everyone in person!!! We were excited about Saturday.

On Saturday morning we woke up early because we had to be at the Beavertown Firehouse early to have breakfast. The festivities were in the field behind the Beavertown

Monkee Shines Firehouse. You've all seen photographs of us in front of the Beavertown post office, which was next to the Firehouse, I am sure, on our page. It was at the Beavertown Firehouse that we first saw our competition's bed. Davy's Dangerous Daughters bed arrived at the Firehouse. We ran over to look at it. We knew we had our work cut out for us when we saw that bed. Between that bed, and the girls running with it, we knew we were going to work really hard. We were ready for them!!!! We were excited and nervous at the same time. At breakfast everyone started coming in. All of us were meeting for the first time and it was so wonderful!!!

the Monkeephiles, and Dave and Jennifer Alexander. The Jones girls arrived and were setting up their merchandise for DJEMF---they also were on the stage saying some lovely things about Davy's fans and how we all eased the pain of losing their father by always being there for them and reaching out to them.

They talked about always feeling welcome in Beavertown when their dad was alive and when they would come to visit with him and they would stay with him for a while, the people of Beavertown always made them feel like they belonged there, and they were all a part of one big family. It was very sweet and brought tears to your eyes. They went on to say that after their dad passed away, the people of Beavertown reached out to them and once again made them feel like family. The Mayor of Beavertown

After breakfast, we walked out to the event grounds behind the firehouse. I loved seeing us all in our tee shirts. We were all one family and it felt really really good!!!! We were excited, nervous, happy, anticipating, looking for the other beds, all kinds of emotions all at once. Everyone was setting up on the event grounds. The bands were getting ready to play. Dave Alexander, the musical director of the event and his wife Jennifer were helping the bands set up.

We were walking together from the Firehouse to the part of the field which would host the band stand, the merchandise tables, the food hut. We were listening to the bands play---the Blue Meanies, The Characters,

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Monkee Shines said some nice about Davy well.

words as

Our team was growing quickly Saturday morning, and Jerri Keele, Sheri Lloyd, Leah Emmons, Sharon Ganjei, David Levin and Lauren, Tiffany and Cathy Defini, Alexis Rigby, Holly, Cathy's neighbor, Roxanne Kaplan, Georgeann McGuire, and some other wonderful facebook friends who joined our team at the last minute (it's a good thing I brought a lot of extra tee shirts) we were all walking around the event grounds soaking in all of the wonderful activities.

It was there that we all sang Happy Birthday to Annabel who celebrated her 25th and Leah had brought the most gorgeous sheet cake from PFG to present to her. Annabel was so thrilled, there are no words to describe her face as we all sang Happy Birthday. We also gave the Jones girls each, our PFG team tee shirts. They loved them. We also gave them little hand made bags with Davy Jones M & M's in each bag so they could hand them out as gifts to people who donated money to the DJEMF, or they could sell them for money for the DJEMF. Whatever they preferred to do. We also gave them Andrea's personal penguins she lovingly made by hand, and Annabel got Rapper D from Ginny. They loved and appreciated all of their gifts. It made us feel so happy to present them with these little gifts because we don't get to see them much, and we want to show

them how much we think about them, and giving them these little mementos makes us feel happy.

Something for them to remember us by.

We walked around and bought little souvenirs from the DJEMF table, from the girls, or we sat listening to the bands play Monkee music. Chuck LaMark talked a little on stage about Davy, about his statue. Davy's daughters were brought on stage, and Chuck talked about his statue making journey and unveiled the prototype statue of Davy for all of us to see. The real statue will be erected and will be ready in the spring to unveil. My husband and I made our journey around 12 noon to the Beaver Springs Drag Strip where the bed race would take place. We had to rebuild the bed at the drag strip so it

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Monkee Shines would be ready to go, and also so it could be inspected by the special inspection committee of M.A.C.C. Some of our team wanted to go with us to help us with the bed, but, we told them to stay at the event and represent PFG and we would get the bed rebuilt in no time, and we'd be back to them.

I played Monkee songs on our boom box as my husband and I were putting the bed together. It helped calm my nerves. It also brought a lot of people over who were watching the drag races----they now were standing there watching us put the sheet, and pillow and quilt on the bed. They didn't seem interested in the drag races anymore. Some of them were taking pictures of the PFG bed. Some of them were singing along with the Monkee tunes. I was looking at our racing course on the drag strip. Hmmmm, not too long for us. My butterflies were accumulating in my stomach though. My husband was striking up a conversation with our audience of about 30 people now. There was a huge watch tower not too far from where we were assembling the bed--I pictured the officials up there watching us race---wow --was I getting nervous now. Someone drove in with their bed---they were getting it off of their truck. Our audience did not seem to be interested in anyone else's bed expect our Daydream Believer PFG bed. Everyone sure loved Davy. His song came on the boom box now, "I want to be Free", and more pictures were snapped of our PFG bed. My eyes

It didn't take us long to reach to Beaver Spring Drag Strip. We popped the address into our navigator, and it brought us right there in no time. The drag strip was pretty busy--there were cars there racing. They were very cordial to us and had us assemble our bed right on the border of the drag strip near the fence. We set about putting the bed together and it took us about 45 minutes. We did not transport it assembled, because it would have damaged the bed. We had about a 41/2 hour ride from New York to Beavertown. Reassembling the bed made the impending race all the more real and I started getting butterflies in my stomach. The Proprietor of the drag strip was a very nice man---he came by and chatted with us as we were almost finished with the bed. He loved our PFG bed--he knew Davy and told us Davy liked going to see the cars race and would spend many an evening there. He went and got his camera out of his office and took a picture of our bed. He said he was going to put a picture of our bed in his office.

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Monkee Shines started tearing because I pictured him standing here watching the drag races, smiling, a life that ended too quickly. Well, Davy, we'll run the good race for you, dear friend!!!

I was impressed by the drag strip---everyone there was very cordial and friendly--some of the judges were there already, and the inspection committee and they came over and greeted us and they also were taking pictures of our bed.

Reporters with cameras were there and asked my husband and I how the bed was made, and the inspiration for the design. My butterflies were very very fluttery now, and some more beds were arriving. Davy's Dangerous Daughters bed had not arrived yet. We completed our bed and headed back to the Beavertown event. We left a crowd still standing by our bed snapping pictures.

Just beyond the perimeter of the firehouse property line in the far corner was the beginning of David's property, and David's home. Whenever I would look at that part of the Beavertown Firehouse property, I sensed his presence. I imagined him riding his horses on his property and through his wooded acreage to the post office to collect his mail, and back again through the woods to his stables. It gave me a very peaceful feeling to think of that and made me smile. His spirit is here with all of us. You couldn't see his yellow house from the firehouse grounds but his property started there and just looking at the woods of his property told you he was there, everyone could feel it.

The drag strip was pretty large---there was a spot to buy food, bathrooms, I did not tour the entire facility but it was a nice place. Very loud though with the drag racing going on. When we got back to Beavertown, we enjoyed the bands. The Jones girls seemed to be doing well at their booth selling their Ride On shirts, and duffle bags, etc. I was happy. Our PFG gang was walking around, chatting with friends. All you saw when you looked around were PFG tee shirts---wow, we were all over. There were a lot of us!! And I felt proud to be part of such a great group. It really showed how much we supported this special man and his family, and it made me so happy!!

We enjoyed some more music and singing along to Monkee songs, and Davy's songs and then it was time for everyone who was going to the Beavertown Bed Races to get ready to go.

The announcer was setting up a caravan to Beaver Springs drag strip. Now the butterflies were really flitting around in my stomach. I remained calm in front of the team, but, internally I was pretty nervous. Where my husband and I had parked the truck when we returned to Beavertown after reassembling the bed,

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Monkee Shines enabled us to leave first as the caravan was lining up. So we got to the drag strip first.

great moment in time!!

Our team ROCKED THE STRIP!!! Well, now it was time for the real deal---the race.

There were still people around our bed when we got there. The other bed owners were looking at our bed. There were only 6 of us racing beds, including the Jones girls. My husband walked around and looked at the other beds. I was too nervous to walk and look. I put my boom box on and played Monkee music which always made me feel calm and happy.

Our PFG team arrived, and once I saw those shirts walking to our bed, and everyone was excited and chatting, the butterflies went away. Cindy's banner was on the top of the bed and ready to go. Roxanne and Lauren were going to hold the banner and march in front of our bed in the parade. The banner had Davy's picture on it, and PFG. Then the bed after them, with us pushing, and then our wonderful and beautiful cheerleaders--they were terrific and they were going to chant "PFG!!

PFG!! PFG!!" as we marched.

The moment has come. It was RACE TIME. We stayed on the strip in race line-up. Our cheerleaders who were with us the entire time now had to leave the strip. I hated to see them go. They supported us up to that point so well. We were the only team with cheerleaders as far as I could see. We were the largest team there. It was so obvious how much we were a part of the Jones team, supporting and caring and loving this great man, and his wonderful family. And most of our team was at home cheering us on!!!!! There were hundreds of us.

Well, the moment of truth had arrived. The butterflies were in full flight now, trying to build nests and fighting in my stomach. I looked at our competition across the strip on the other side lined up and they looked more nervous than me. We all smiled at each other. I said "we gotta run really fast guys" --it was Cathy and Tiffany in front, David in the bed, and Georgeann and I in the back.

WE WERE READY. We were in running position. The man with the flag was standing between our bed and our competition. The flag was up---he was getting us ready---okay here it goes-THE FLAG WAS DOWN--we took off!!!!!

The race announcer called all of us over to the tower---he announced the parade and race lineup. Gave us the rules and regulations of the race. We got ready for the parade. The butterflies were back. We lined up. Each bed team was announced one at a time as each team marched out on to the drag strip in front of the bleachers where the audience sat. Everyone in the audience cheered. We felt so proud when it was our turn. Our cheerleaders were chanting "PFG!! PFG!! PFG!!". Our boom box played Monkee music. We were so very proud. There were a lot of us and we were in unison, we really looked very together and we were!! A

We ran our brains out---we got to the end where David had to jump off the bed and change the sheet and remake the bed-he threw off the quilt and the pillow and the first sheet and

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Monkee Shines set out to place the new fitted sheet on. It wasn't easy-he did a great, great job. He got that sheet on before our competition got theirs on!!!

There was a lot of cheering going on in the bleachers!!! It was so exciting!!!

We were off again to the finish line.

The Fred's were way behind!!!! We won our heat!!!! WOW!! What a feeling!!! It was not easy running on that sticky tar---it was hot, and pushing a bed on it was difficult. But we did great!!!

We visited David's church and took pictures together on the steps. We could see inside the windows on the second floor the ladders and scaffolds set up where he had been working on the inside setting in motion his plans to turn the church into a museum, and performance theatre for the youth of the town. A life ended too soon. So many plans. I hope his dreams will be fulfilled---that church was him---you could see his personality all over it.

The weather vane on the very tippy top was a horse!!!! So Davy!!!

We watched the rest of the race, and cheered the Jones girls on. They did great--they were fast. The team called Charlie's Angels won the race---they were very fast. They raced against the Jones girls and I felt so bad because the girls ran their hearts out. Charlie's Angels were all tall men with a very wide stride--wow were they fast. The Jones girls won also in a way as--they had raised a lot in donation money for the M.A.C.C--I believe over $500.--congratulations girls!!! You did a great job running and raising money. Their dad was a donor to the M.A.C.C. as well. So essentially, they carried on his tradition of support for the community.

Our time in Beavertown came to an end. It was special, it was meant to be that we all met there. But we were all there together essentially--all of the PFG from home, and across the ocean--you were all there with us. We locked hands in preparation for this event and never let go!!! I realized that as we were driving back to New York. Davy wanted it that way!!!! We became one big family---so we can carry on the legacy for Davy---and his family. Love to you all always!!! Looking forward to seeing all of you in Beavertown next year ---and looking forward to even more of us being there!!!!

I was so proud of our team. We did wonderfully!!!

Our bed was donated to the Jones girls complete with everything on it, to auction or sell to raise money for DJEMF. The beautiful herd.

After the race we all went to David's favorite restaurant near his home---Rayauda's. A traditional American restaurant--and the food was good-Pennsylvania Dutch style I would say. We all realized that we hadn't eaten all day and were pretty hungry. It was very nice to sit with everyone---we all felt like we had known each other for years. David sure brings people together. Like Cindy always says, a real Pied Piper.

Thanks to everyone in the PFG who worked so hard as members of Team PFG! I am so proud of this group of wonderful fans!!Love to all!

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All photos in the Beavertown articles are from Team PFG: Jody Proetta, David Levin, Roxanne Salch Kaplan, and Cathy Defini.

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British flag came from Cathy Defini in Ohio

PFG signs, license plate, bed sickness bag, clock, blue bird, and crocheted flowers came from Andrea Gilbey in England

Miss Mollie McMonkee Jones came with Jerri Keele all the way from Oregon. And Rapper D Bear Jones came from Ginny Flemming in Indiana

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Davy’s Beavertown 2013!

By Roxanne Salch Kaplan

O

n June 15, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to attend the events in Beavertown, PA, in memory of David T. Jones. I have been a fan of David’s since I saw him in “Oliver” on Broadway, with my 5th grade class, on throughout the Monkees years , and beyond. I first heard of the PFG about a year before Davy passed, and having new friends here, who understood, helped me to get through the sadness of his loss. One of the friends I met was Jody Proetta. Cindy suggested we meet, because we had something in common; we had both seen David in the original “Oliver”. Jody, in fact, actually had the pleasure of knowing David, and hanging out with him like a little sister! After speaking with Jody on Facebook, we met in person at the David T. Jones Memorial/Monkees Convention, held this past March in New Jersey. We talked all that weekend, and felt like we had known each other for years!

Jody and her husband, Anthony, decided to build a bed for the bed races in Beavertown, and offered to give me a ride there, so I could participate as one of the cheerleaders for PFG.

at Jody’s house, and helped her and Anthony pack everything into his truck. All of the pieces of the disassembled bed had to be packed, along with all of the accessories that went with it. I was so impressed with all of the hard work that was put into this project, not only by Jody and Anthony, but also by PFG members all around the globe, who made some beautiful accessories! We had the prettiest bed there!

After a beautiful, scenic drive, we arrived at the Phillips Motel, which is about a 45 minute drive from Beavertown. When I checked into my

On Friday, June 14th, after several hours on the trains from Long Island to Westchester County, NY, I arrived 48

Monkee Shines room, I could not believe this was a motel, because it looked more like a lovely inn! I had a four poster, King sized bed, with a beautiful quilt, and the furniture was unique and charming. A strange thing happened at this point: Jody and I both noticed that the WiFi password for the motel was “George 12”. I called over to Jody’s room to ask if she had noticed it, because “George” is the name of the teddy bear that David had given to Jody when he left NYC to go on a theatrical tour. David had brought George with him from England 2 yrs. before that, and the bear was named after his Uncle George. Jody and I could hardly believe the “coincidence”….but it became even more amazing, when we realized that Jody had been 12 years old when David gave her the bear! That was when we knew that David was there with us, and we felt his presence strongly for the rest of the weekend. That evening, we met some of the other fans who had gathered to honor Davy, and the rest of the PFG bed team (I will not include names here, for brevity’s sake, but I love you all!)

large grove of trees. I had never heard of a “Car Boot” sale, but quickly learned that people had donated items to be sold to raise money for the David T. Jones Equine Memorial Fund (DJEMF). We strolled around, and purchased items, as we waited for Davy’s daughters to arrive at the event. When they finally arrived to begin selling their DJEMF merchandise, and to meet fans, we presented Annabel with a very large birthday cake from the PFG. Annabel was so astounded, that she stood speechless for several minutes, shyly pulling her T-shirt up over her mouth, and smiling from ear to ear. She said that nobody had ever given her a personalized birthday cake before! We were so happy to see how much she enjoyed it!

Next was a wonderful concert, with Monkees tribute bands, and members of the Davy Jones and Monkees back up bands. Jody and Anthony had to miss most of this, as they had to go assemble the bed at the race track several miles away. At the end of this concert, the statue of David was unveiled, but it was only a prototype, because the actual statue has to be redone. Then it was time to go to the bed races! After we arrived at the racetrack, we looked over all of the beds that the teams had worked so hard on. There were 6 teams, including “Davy’s Dangerous Daughters”!

As we prepared for the event, there was also a drag race going on, so it was quite noisy! Different people from local media came around to interview everyone about how they made their beds, and how everyone had met. Then, it was time for the race! The teams raced two at a time,

Early Saturday morning, we set off for Beavertown, where there would be a breakfast at the community center to benefit the firehouse, a memorial concert, and a statue unveiling.

After enjoying a delicious breakfast, and meeting more PFG friends, we posed for pictures in front of the Beavertown Post Office, and then walked back to the fairgrounds, which is a huge field in back of the firehouse/ community center and post office.

Davy’s house and grounds is adjacent to this property, sheltered behind a 49

Monkee Shines and the PFG made the first cut! Our bed pushers gave it their all, and our cheerleaders encouraged them and cheered them on. We were all so proud to be a part of this, in David’s memory. We came in third, and that was an amazing accomplishment!

Afterwards, we posed for more pictures, including ones with the Jones girls, who are the sweetest, most generous young ladies you would ever want to meet. Then we went to enjoy a lovely dinner, at Davy’s favorite diner down the road, and stopped at the church which David was planning to convert to a museum/theatre. Some of us continued on to a benefit con-

cert by the Blue Meanies back at the firehouse. We all slept well that night, exhausted but very happy with ourselves, and went our separate ways in the morning, promising to keep in touch with our new friends.

After returning the next day to Jody’s house, I got an extra treat before leaving on the train to go home. I got to meet “George”!! Thank you so much to Jody and Anthony, for making it possible for me to attend, and to all of my new friends! I will never forget this lovely weekend, and I hope to return next year

This is a “prototype” of the statue Of David being sculpted by Chuck LaMark

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Bedsigns and Bluebirds – a View From Across the Pond

By Andrea Gilbey Andrea cheering for Team PFG in England

It was a week or so later that another conversation led round to the subject of a number plate for the bed, and I suggested “PFG 7A”. (I know now that if you suggest an idea in PFG you’d better be able to follow through!) The idea was popular, so I set to making it out of foam board, craft foam and card.

Next came a 6 o’clock alarm that would never ring, (because it was made of cardboard!) and I found myself elected Team Artist. A sick bag for David Levin, our rider, a team sign, and a bluebird mascot quickly followed. You will have seen the photos of these in this and the Spring edition of the newsletter.

A conversation in which people wondered whether we might get extra points for having a “real” David in our bed resulted in an arrowed “100% David” sign, to attach to the poor, long suffering man’s crash helmet! Busy job, being team artist!

Whilst clearing out a cupboard I also found some teddy bear accessories, which I thought perfect for Miss Mollie McMonkee Jones, a little lady with her own Facebook page who was won by Jerri Keele in Cindy’s Scentsy auction, and some for Jody’s “adopted” teddy bear, George, who our dear David left with his “little sister” to look after.

These were safely packed off to Jerri, so Miss Mollie could present them to her intended at Beavertown. The story of this “cuddly toy” romance will been told elsewhere.

I

hadn’t been a member of the PFG Facebook group very long, and was not yet a paid up member of the fan club, when the bed race was first mentioned. Being several thousand miles away in England, and a newbie, I just quietly “liked” the post and kept an eye on the comments and chat.

It soon started getting interesting to a born crafter like me! Jody Proetta announced that her husband was going to make the bed, and she was going to make a coverlet for it. I offered to make some crochet purple flowers to stitch to the cover, and Jody jumped at the idea.

They were light and easy to send in the post, and I liked the idea of having something I’d made on “our” bed.

On a whim, a few weeks later, after Cindy posted a video of “your personal penguin”, I knitted a 3” high penguin & posted a pic, Cindy immediately suggested that Miss Mollie and George the bear should have one each, so off they

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hear that the Jones Girls wanted to keep the bed absolutely topped it off.

But. The bed race wasn’t just about the bed, or the race, it was about the fabulous team spirit, love and co-operation that built up during the preparations, and the welcome our team received from the Jones Girls on the day.

Like Topsy, it just “growed”.

It was such a great feeling to sit in front of my screen, wearing my Bed Race Team shirt, and see the photos coming through of our beautiful purple bed, with all Jody’s lovely painted slogans, and Velcro Nieves’ beautiful prints, and knowing that people thousands of miles away were seeing things I had made. To

Things like this really do make the world a smaller and warmer place.

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