The Monkees: Classic or Dud?

I saw Jones in 1990 in a local production of "Oliver Twist" in which he played Fagin.

RIP Davy

Not gonna lie, I disliked "I Wanna Be Free" and "The Day We Fall In Love" so much as a kid.

But this one is just great:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKKjTNorf38

RIP Davy, you were a huge and important part of my childhood.

this one deserves to be here -- davy wrote this one, neil young plays guitar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6cpo_5lMWs

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17214430
davy jones rip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOI-SDYGviM

Always liked their version of "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" later covered as well by various punk and hardcore bands. RIP, 66 is too young.

RIP Davy... Doesn't he deserve his own thread?

aww RIP

:( RIP

was a fan at 6, and residually since. So long.

Huge fan as a kid, amazed as an adult how well their best songs survive their moment.

eesh, USA Today obit says Jones sang lead on i'm a believer. COME ON.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/obit/story/2012-02-29/obit-monkees-singer-davy-jones/53304196/1

Not only that, but Radio 2 just marked his passing by playing "I'm A Believer." Sigh.

Still, I always thought wee DJ would be the last Monkee to go rather than the first. RIP small man from Manchester...I wrote about the Monkees twice on my number one albums blog; their debut http://nobilliards.blogspot.com/2009/07/monkees-monkees.html and the follow-up http://nobilliards.blogspot.com/2009/07/monkees-more-of-monkees.html

Though "Daddy's Song" from the Head soundtrack is probably Davy's best Monkees performance. He'll be much missed.

obit says Jones sang lead on i'm a believer

Apparently they had Tork listed as Peter Tosh, too!

Classic on several levels. But especially in Davy's honor.

RIP Davy. Thanks for being an important part of a still ridiculously underrated band.

My least favourite Monkees, but Cuddly Toy, Daddy's Song and, of course, Star Collector are stone cold classics. I'll even forgive you for singing The Day We Fall In Love.

I know "Porpoise Song" is mostly Dolenz, but Davy knocks it out of the park (or off the bridge, as it were). Probably my favorite Monkees song.

Surprised how sad I am about this...Saw the Monkees in May last year in London, and hoped they'd come back to Europe.

It's sad.

I just didn't expect to hear of any of them passing for quite some time.

Looking forward to spending 10 or 15 minutes on this with my class tomorrow. (Should not be interpreted as "I'm glad he died.") The creation of the Monkees is such an amazing story when placed in the context of the Beatles, and I think I can make the kids understand when you fast-forward to Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, etc.

aw, this is sad. what a great band.

my wife was and is a monkees obsessive and is devastated. i can only imagine what will happen when nesmith goes :(

One thing I'm clarifying as I figure out what I want to play tomorrow is that almost every Monkees song I love was sung by someone other than Davy (mostly Mickey). But I did find one of his that's in my pantheon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnMuwzm7kw4

When Nesmith goes....I don't even want to think about that.

He was a great Nilsson interpreter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0emLj0d66DQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ornP4eeCyBI

A young Alice did ask "Did he marry that girl?" after seeing that bit in "Head"

this is *AMAZING*
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jarviscocker/2011/01/monkees-manufacturing.shtml

wow. RIP

Isn't Nesmith as rich as a czar?

heir to the whiteout fortune
smart investment moves too iir

this is *AMAZING*
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jarviscocker/2011/01/monkees-manufacturing.shtml

― piscesx, Wednesday, February 29, 2012 6:01 PM (26 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah, that is good.

one of the weirdest things about the monkees is bert schneider (RIP) and bob rafelson. there's something both haunting and just really ebulliently (sp?) funny about these dudes creating the show/band and then going on to make art films and eventually produce a scatching documentary about the vietnam war. it's both completely of its time and kind of exceptional.

I have very good memories of watching the Monkees show reruns in the summer of '86 at the height of their comeback.

Then they released "That Was Then This is Now."

a little harsh but hey that was Spitting Image in the 80s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJUG8G00HQY

So many great Davy tracks on the classic albums - "When Love Comes Knocking at Your Door," "Hold on Girl," "Forget That Girl," "I Can't Get Her Off My Mind," "Early Morning Blues and Greens," "Hard to Believe."

I agree

Forgot about "Dream World" from The Birds, the Bees, and the Monkees. That's a nice tune.

how does this not get a brand new thread?

RIP

Love the way Mike drops his head like the Rock-afire Explosion at the end of some kid's quarter at the end of that "Cuddly Toy" clip.

Also originated the Axl Rose dance.

RIP Davy... Doesn't he deserve his own thread?

Abso-fucking-lutely. I love the Monkees and, even though he could be an irritating little bastard, Davy is a definitely a big part of that. He always seemed so youthful and full of beans/himself that it's odd that he's the first one to die. RIP Davy.

Morrissey is recording a tribute with that very title.

"Davy was
the first of the gang with a cane in his hand
and a top hat held high
the first of the monkees to die..."

(with full respect, and RIP obv)

Mike Nesmith on his Facebook page:

All the lovely people. Where do they all come from?

So many lovely and heartfelt messages of condolence and sympathy, I don’t know what to say, except my sincere thank you to all. I share and appreciate your feelings.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.

While it is jarring, and sometimes seems unjust, or strange, this transition we call dying and death is a constant in the mortal experience that we know almost nothing about. I am of the mind that it is a transition and I carry with me a certainty of the continuity of existence. While I don’t exactly know what happens in these times, there is an ongoing sense of life that reaches in my mind out far beyond the near horizons of mortality and into the reaches of infinity.

That David has stepped beyond my view causes me the sadness that it does many of you. I will miss him, but I won’t abandon him to mortality. I will think of him as existing within the animating life that insures existence. I will think of him and his family with that gentle regard in spite of all the contrary appearances on the mortal plane.

David’s spirit and soul live well in my heart, among all the lovely people, who remember with me the good times, and the healing times, that were created for so many, including us.

I have fond memories. I wish him safe travels.

"Daddy's Song", "Star Collector", "Here Comes Tomorrow", "Early Morning Blues & Greens", "Daydream Believer" all fabulous, plus his persona on the TV programme was remarkably non-sickening. Plus, how strange was it that he had an actual charting single a full year before the Monkees debut?

RIP Davy

http://open.spotify.com/track/0tnt3gxEkh3cK3zO95is7f

love this song so much

http://open.spotify.com/track/49EoBTPBSmPUeRmPTJsIBX

this one, too

Admittedly finding good Dayy songs is not easy, but they are there. See "You an I" upthread.

Always loved "Shades of Gray", unique combination of Davy + Peter's voices ... must admit Peter's vocals make me well up on that one (bit like Florian Schneider's on "Radioland")

There are a ton of good Davy songs!

There's a lot of bad ones too, his good/bad ratio is the lowest overall