Monkees is the craziest People Magazine

From: Stefanie

The new issue of People magazine that went on sale today, (March 26th issue
with Russell Crowe on the cover) has a very small picture/article about the
Monkees. It reads:

“Another year, another Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction (this one on
March 19) and another snub for the Monkees, one of America’s original boy
bands. But singer Davy Jones isn’t moping. “I don’t sit around pondering
why,” says the British-born Jones, 55. Instead he’s working on plans to op=
en
a museum of rock memorabilia in a 200-year-old converted church near his ho=
me
in Beavertown, PA. “I’ve got so much stuff,” says Jones, including a signe=
d
Les Paul guitar and a collection of gold records. Meanwhile believers can
catch Jones and bandmates Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork on a 20-city reunion
tour beginning this month.”

There are actually 2 pictures. One if of Micky, Davy and Peter with a
caption that reads “A tour for Jones, Dolenz and Tork (Mike Nesmith balked)=
;
a likely home (left-a picture of the church Davy is making into a museum) f=
or
their legacy.

Stefanie

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: Heather Allman
From: “Mark Thompson”
From: “Sergio R. Lopez”

Ran across this article at time.com…enjoy!

heather

http://www.time.com/time/sampler/article/0,8599,102808,00.html

Hey, Hey, They Were the Monkees

The Monkees defined the adolescence of the ’60s, after the awakening but
before it got heavy. With the release of a fine new compilation, TIME.com’s
Jonathan Gregg considers their legacy
BY JONATHAN GREGG

The year 1966 was an interesting time in pop music. The Summer of Love
hadn’t yet made the youth revolution – and its inevitable commercialization
and polarization – official, but the good vibes were already there to be
enjoyed by anyone who was paying attention. Following the Beatles’ cue,
musicians were savoring a climate of experimentation with the new paradigm
of self-contained performing and songwriting units – a business model that
the big labels hadn’t yet figured out how to fully control and stifle with
accountants. But at the same time the Brill Building-type songwriters for
hire, which included the finest pop-music talent America ever produced, wer=
e
still cranking out songs by the yard in a last-gasp bid for teen
immortality. The time was ripe for a na=EFve and yet monstruously successfu=
l
hybrid, and Bob Rafelson knew it.

Rafelson, a jack-of-all trades hipster at Hollywood’s fringes, and his
partner Bert Schneider, decided to assemble a made-to-order rock ‘n’ roll
band to star in a TV show. Rafelson claims he’d thought of it before “A Har=
d
Day’s Night,” but whatever the case, the success of the Beatles movie, with
the ur-rock video montage of “Can’t Buy Me Love,” greased the skids in a bi=
g
way. Rafelson found himself deluged with applicants for the band, turning
away the likes of Steven Stills before settling on the four lads who would
succeed beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. As the implications of his project
began to sink in – namely, that it could be huge – Rafelson and company
(i.e., Don Kirshner, later the man behind the Archies, a band that couldn’t
talk back) realized they had better come up with some real tunes, and turne=
d
to the best American songwriting talent money could buy.

What they got from Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, Carole King and Gerry Goffin=
,
Neil Diamond and others was a repertoire that any “real” band would envy,
rivaling that of any ’60s pop stars. It wasn’t heavy, but brother was it
tuneful, and fun. What’s more, the made-up combo more often than not sang
the hell out of their hits, and eventually demanded more control over their
destiny (exit Kirshner) and began to play and write their own songs, some o=
f
them quite decent: They woke up, but for a short while the dream continued
anyway, and they got to become the real band their critics had savaged them
for not being.

It couldn’t last, and it didn’t. The Monkees’ golden age ended,
appropriately, with the concept carried to its logical extreme, a Bob
Rafelson and Jack Nicholson film called “Head” that was essentially about
the destruction of the group. The Monkeees were not a Woodstock kind of
band, and most definitely not a post-Altamont proposition. But for a brief
span, they were a bona fide phenomenon, a brilliant, opportunistic creation
that somehow also managed to encapsulate the giddy, innocent sincerity of
the mid-’60s.

Who better but the archival geniuses at Rhino to give the Monkees their due=
;
indeed, it would take a curmudgeonly soul to find a harsh word for this
exhaustive – and later on, truth be told, exhausting – anthology of their
work. Music aside, the package is terrific, with an extremely entertaining
and informative bio; extensive liner notes chronicling the genesis of each
tune, with quotes from the band members and producers (one of them Chip
Douglas, the brother of Jon Voight, who went on to write “Wild Thing” in 15
minutes, making a fortune that surprised him most of all); and breakdowns o=
f
each session, including the musicians and producers. (Bet you didn’t know
Neil Young played with them.)

And at least for the first two of the four CDs, it’s obvious why the Monkee=
s
were as big as they were. These are great songs, pure and simple – two word=
s
that describe them perfectly. The “Monkees Theme” works just like the strol=
l
down the street whose rhythm inspired its composition, a nice-guy “We’re th=
e
Jets”; “Last Train to Clarksville” is a guitar-driven thing of pop splendor=
;
“I’m a Believer” and “A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You” remind us what a
distinctive stylist Neil Diamond was before he descended in the
bathos-sphere with “I Am, I Cried” and “Longfellow Serenade.” And “I’m Not
Your Stepping Stone” simply rocks.

And are just the straight uptempo numbers. If the tune’s your thing, you
won’t find much bigger hooks than “Daydream Believer,” and “Pleasant Valley
Sunday” has a breezy, lovely Carole King melody; social commentary never
felt so un-preachy. They didn’t play much on the early stuff, but Mickey
Dolenz could really sing, and when they finally did start to play their own
instruments, the difference wasn’t all that noticeable.

The Monkees also presaged the advent of country rock, notably in Mike
Nesmith’s compositions and their wonderful cover of Michael Murphy’s
deceptively simple-sounding “What Am I Doing Hanging ‘Round?” There are als=
o
ample pleasures to be derived from lesser-known songs; the Monkees came fro=
m
the era when albums were supposed to be more than just filler to put around
singles, and for the most part they delivered.

For a while, anyway. Disc Three marks the end of the ’60s hits, and while
its often skirts the edges of silliness, it’s surprising how consistently
listenable it is, especially “Porpoise Song,” the failed single from “Head,=
“
and Nesmith’s contributions. It also features a live cut, “Circle Sky,”
which lays to rest any doubts about their viability in concert. Nesmith’s
nasal vocals nothwithstanding, his efforts are about the only redeeming
feature of the final disc, a somewhat grimmer prospect that includes
late-’60s meanderings – and more of Mickey Dolenz’ inane flights of fancy
than any sentient being should be forced to endure – along with some
ill-advised harder rock material from their various latter-day incarnations=
.

But it’s hard to get mad at these guys. Apparently, they rarely did at each
other, and if it was more obvious on TV, that good-naturedness somehow come=
s
through on record as well. The last two tracks find the full foursome back
together in 1996 (Nesmith had long refused to participate), playing their
own songs and instruments, and even if it’s long past the point of
relevance, it has a certain wistful sweetness. Indeed, there’s a fundamenta=
l
decency, wit and charm in evidence throughout this collection that so
completely transcends the Monkees’ prefab origins, and those of their
modern-day counterparts – New Kids on the Block, anyone? – that it’s a
pleasure to be able to recognize them as their own men. They deserve it.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: Katie

Hello!!
I went to the House of Blues concert in Orlando, Florida. I was dressed=

as Mike and my mom made me a green hat with buttons. During a song that
Davy was singing he came right over to us and pointed at me. After
intermission I had a friend throw it on stage for me. Davy picked it up and=

put it with the rest of his props. If you see a green hat with buttons at
one of the concerts it’s mine! Please e-mail me and tell me what happened.=

The House of Blues wouldn’t allow cameras!!!
canyoudigit13@earthlink.net
Peace, gleeb, and the Monkees,
=
Katie

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: “Ana”

Hello Everyone,

I attended the Westbury Show March 11th. I have to say, i’ve seen them,
together and alone several times, and never have I been disappointed, but
this time it was just incredible, I was lucky enough to have 5th row aisle=

seats (thanks to my best friend in the world) I was on the aisle that they=

entered and exited it from, so every time I turned around one of them was
walking by me and shaking my hand, my family pretty much had to scrape me
off the floor by the end of the show. I just had such a great time, they
were incredible as usual. They just put on such a great show!!! I don’t
usually email you, but I am on your mailing list, and I just had to share
this with everyone, my friend took some great pictures, see his link
below. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Ana

http://www.chench.com/monkees/

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: “Emily Brown”

I’m back from my concert!!! Ok let me try and recollect the day for you…
I got up at like 8 Tuesday and got ready. My friend and her mom came and
got us and we went and got our other other friend Emily in Birmingham. On
the way up there, we called the radio and requested some Monkees songs
since we were going to the concert, and they put us on the radio! When we
finally got there, like 45 min. before it started, we knew we were in
trouble cuz of all the cars that were ahead of us, waiting to get in to the=

concert. We got out, and I had to wait on my dad outside to come and pick
something up that we had to bring for him. So… that kinda didn’t help us=

any, cuz there were no good seats left. I saw all these people coming in
bringing their records and stuff for them to sign, and I didnt know we
could bring the stuff in!! I left my records and magazines in the car!! We=

waited forever for the show to start, and the ppl were getting kinda
impatient. Then they finally had Natural come out and start it up. Oh my
gosh, let me tell you!! They are really cute! (Not as cute as the Monkees
though!) And that group is really really good!! They play their own
instruments, can sing, and dance (you know, like boy bands do). It was soo=

awesome! After they got through, we waited for about 15 MORE minutes for
the Monkees to get out there, and the bands started playing a Monkees
medley, and ppl were screaming!! Then… they came out there doing their
Monkees walk, and we were just freaking out!! Everyone started rushing the=

stage, and we went down there too! We fought for a spot up there and got..=

FRONT ROW CENTER!!!!! There was nothing in front of the stage trying to
keep you away from it. We were like right up under them!! We were screaming=

the whole entire time, like after anything they said, and before and after=

every song. When they would get quiet, we would yell stuff at them. Like
one time when Davy was telling everyone to shut up, (he was j/k and stuff,=

probably cuz we were all screaming at 50 y/olds), Mallory says, “Hey Davy!=

Hey Davy!!” and he says, “Wha??” like he’s trying to sound annoyed, and she=

says, “CUTE pants!!” and he smiles and says, “Thanks very much. Now shut=

uuuup!! ” and he was laughing. He could so tell that we were obsessed with=

them LOL cuz I would either be screaming or like in shock just staring with=

my mouth open. And one time when he was doing either “Girl” or “I Wanna Be=

Free” he saw me staring at him and he just looked at me and smiled. Maybe
it was just me, but I saw stars in his eyes!! LOL Seriously I did!! And he=

reached out and held my hand when he goes, “I wanna hold your hand, walk
along the sand..” And then he held my friend Emily’s hand too! I had tears=

in my eyes!! After he did that, Micky came out there talking about how Jimi=

Hendrix opened for them back in the day. He was imitating the little kids
that came to see them.. “Daddy, why is that man setting his guitar on
fire??” “Oh, um, cuz he’s cold son” “Well daddy, why is he peeing on it??”=

“I don’t know, watch the concert!” LOL and he said “did anyone know that he=

opened for us??” and we started screaming and he looked at us and said, “Oh=

whatever! You werent even born!! Your parents werent even born!” lol And
then he started playing pueple haze and we were acreaming and dancing and
then we held MICKY’s hand (hahahaha Elizabeth!) and it was Emily Simon’s
turn to get all in a daze. lol Then Peter came out and played something by=

Bach on the piano, and it was really good! Then he sang a song, and we were=

freaking out. My sister help up a poster she made that said, ‘PETER- STILL=

FINE AT 59!!” and he started laughing and said, “You really think so??” and=

blew her a bunch of kisses. Then he held hands with us (notice a trend
here?? LOL). Sleepy and DHMF(internet friends of mine) were up front too
and Sleepy started moving her finger, you know, like the international sign=

for “Come here” LOL and he got all flirty with it, and started doing that
to her and acting like he was gonna pull her up on stage. (heehee) One
time, Davy was singing, and I just sighed and did my hand to my chest, in
shock, (Davy saw me, of course) and I looked over at Peter and he saw me do=

that too and he started laughing at me! Oh, and while Davy was singing (I
think it was “She Hangs Out”), he accidentally spit on me!! LOL Now, with
anyone else, I’d be grossed out, but this was DAVY’s spit!! LOL
hahaha Davy couldnt get us to be quiet, cuz he would say stuff and ppl
would turn it around to mean something else and the crowd would start
screaming louder! We (me, Emily, and Mallory) were screaming and holding
our hands up there so they’d touch them, and Davy started mimicking us,
waving his hand and stuff! It was soo funny! then he said, “I bet you can
see straight up my nose from where yall are (talking to us) and the people=

behind us started screaming lol Then they all came out there and sang some=

stuff, and they were all talking to each other and we were still screaming,=

and he said, jokingly, “Those girls down there on the front row wont be
quiet!” (smiling at us) and said, “They need a good lashing!” and of course=

the older women started screaming. LOL and he was like, “I cant say the
right thing, ever!” hehehehe Of course, there were some rude people there
This woman standing next to me was sooo drunk, and she was dancing all
around pushing me over, even though she had plenty of room! She was rude to=

my friend Ashley, then she started yelling at me, telling me to move out of=

her way. So.. I made my sister swap with me, cuz I knew Mallory could stand=

up for herself. lol Well, I think I’m gonna skip forward to near the end of=

the show, during Daydream Believer, when Davy did his “Davy Dance” and we
all started screaming (they all can dance very well!!) and I started doing=

the Davy Dance too! Natural came out while they were doing that, and so
they were holding or hands (these guys range from 17 to 22) and they were
even cuter up close!! I think they’re probably gonna get famous. At the end=

of the show, Davy started grabbing ppl’s hands and he grabbed ours and
looked at us and said, “Thanks for coming”. Then Micky got everyone’s hands=

again and then.. Peter came over there and KISSED my sister on the cheek!!!=

And then he saw me, and I guess he could tell we were related and…… HE=

CAME AND KISSED ME!!!!!! Oh my gosh!! I started screaming and hugging
mallory and Emily, and then Sleepy came over there and said, “Did he just
do what I think he did??” I was screamed, “Yes!!” Then, the drummer gave my=

sister a drumstick, and Mallory reached up there and god Micky’s bottled
water!! (we own Micky Germs!!) DHMF, Sleepy, Emily Simon, and I all got
our pics taken together, then one of the cute guys from Natural came out
and we started talking to him and asking if they were all doing autographs.=

He said for us to go to the side door and they might all come out. So we
went to go and get a shirt, of course they would only have X-Larges. So we=

got a picture, in case we were to get an autograph. As we were going out,
this girl came up to me and said, “Are you Emily??” and I said “Yeah” and
she said, ” I talk to you on the internet!!” It was this girl from Alabama=

that I talked to earlier on anther yahoo chat. (I was looking at all the
Monkees clubs, and saw a bunch of ppl from Alabama on one, so I decided to=

post) After I talked to her, we went out and were gonna wait for them to
come out. I asked the security gueard really nicely if he thought they were=

gonna sign autographs. He just looked at me and smiled and said, “Very
small chance” and I said, “Is that a maybe??” and he just laughed. We left=

without their autographs, but so?? We touched them, THE MONKEES!! I have
got some really good pics!! I cant wait to get them developed!! Oh, and I
think I broke my finger or something during the concert, cuz I accidentally=

hit it on the side of the stage, and it started swelling really bad. Oh
well. SOUVENIR!!! LOL This is pretty much all I can remember (since I was=

just in total shock at them being in the same room as me, breathing the
same air.. LOL) I am STILL in shock! I don’t think I’m gonna recover! If
you want to see pics from the Atlanta concert, you can go to this website..=
.

http://www.monkees.is4u.de

Go to the part that says, “tour 2001 pics” My friends and I are in alot of=

the pics! We have all have on red shirts. I have straight blonde hair and
was on the front row. Now I can prove that I was there!! Please dont take
the pics though without permission from the webmaster, I think they are
copyrighted.

~*~*~Emily~*~*~ (a.k.a. monkeemily)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: “Rob White”

I saw the show in DC last night. Hoo & Zan were there front & center. As
always, it was terrific watching them having fun! This is my 5th show in 15
years and I thought it was the best yet. The mix of songs was great (five
from HEAD!) and the acoustic songs in the middle (What Am I Doin Hangin
Round was cool) was fun. They did a lot of Nez stuff, which I really
appreciated. The crowd was totally digging them & it seemed that Peter was
having the time of his life! I brought 3 women who had never seen the boys
and they were flabbergasted. They now want to see Peter play solo! They wer=
e
amazed that Davy looked almost the same as 1967! He still needs a bro,
however. I did not see Peter’s blonde girlfriend (who was at the 930 Club a
couple of years ago). Did they split-up? If so, too bad.

I am so tired this morning (4.5 hours sleep).

Robbie White

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: Shirley Steffey

Hey Hey Monkees
My daughter and her friend and I attended your concert at the 9:30 Club on
Wednesday, March 14. It was great, what we got to see. Unfortunately,
during the concert on daughters friend and I were struck by a flying beer
bottle. Needless to say, we were both stunned by this. We had to leave th=
e
floor and seek medical assistance. The club supervisor, Raphael and the
medic, Jim were both very kind, but we still missed a large part of the
concert. The worse part was that a guy standing next to us turned around
and congradulated the guy that hit us with the bottles, and said we deserve=
d
it. Fortunately he was asked to leave the club, because that type of
behavior was unacceptable. My daughter and her friend drove all the way
from Ohio to DC just to see you guys. It was such a let down that this had
to happen. I have attended dozens of concerts, and have never, ever been
hit by anything. The girls were just so excited about seeing you. I just
wish it had been a better experience. One of you may have see the girls.
They were waiting outside when you left in the white van, it was the dark
haired girl sitting on the stool, and the blood standing next to her. But
at least they got to see you for a while. Thanks again for the concert.
Maybe next time will be better. They’re hoping that you’ll be appearing in
Columbus, Ohio, that’s were they live. We’ll see.
Sincerely yours,
Shirley Steffey

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: Steven Fustero

Brad,

Had a great time Wednesday night at the 9:30 Club
in Washington, DC watching the Monkees perform just
about everything in their repetoire.

I had never bought the “Head” album, but the new
CD is terrific. I only bought it after
going to Wednesday’s concert where the boys
did about three of the tunes from the HEAD track.

Peter played great lead guitar and Davey and Mickey,
well, they were Davey and Mickey.There was alot
of excitment in the air, the guy three Monkees were
great and I think they fed off the crowd pretty
well.

The place was packed and there were actually Monkee
groupies there. Yes. Young girls twenty years of age
hoping to touch the guys.

Anyway, they did one encore and really got the crowd
going. Hey, hey, the Monkees were very loved Wednesday
night in DC. It was a blast.

A fun time had by all.

Highly recommended.

Go see them.

SF

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