Remembering Davy and Stuff

The wife and I spent a large part of the past weekend watching the Monkees marathon on Antenna TV.  Antenna TV is the second worst broadcast tv channel available, the first being THIS.  But since Antenna has been running the Monkees, we have been watching.

The schedule was every episode from both seasons then their movie (Head) late Sunday.  I couldn't wait, noting that I had never seen Head.  My wife remarked she had, about four times.  I suggested that I watch and she practice.  This was followed immediately by a large amount of tea coming from her nostrils.  For some reason I usually end up wearing a lot of what she drinks.

Like the Beatles, there will be no reunion.  Mike never really toured with them so even the touring Monkees are done as we know them.

I have vague recollections of watching the Monkees when I was little.  I remember enjoying the show but being bothered that they were lip-synching.  I might have even had a little Monkeemobile but that was quite a while ago.  As reruns came up, I watched.

In addition to Davy, we lost Ronnie Montrose over the weekend.  He was a talented guitarist for whom Sammy Hagar sang at one point.  All this loss has got me to considering the inevitable numerical end of this sequence.  In other words, they're dying off at the old end and we're not replacing them on the young end.  This will eventually leave us with no one.  Seriously, are we going to know, hear, or care when Coldplay dies?

Where is our next Led Zeppelin?  Jimi Hendrix?  Even the Monkees?  Yes, we have mountains of prefabricated product at our disposal and that's what they are: disposable.  This is the inevitable conclusion of record company greed - where everything is product, everything is the same, and the Great Unwashed doesn't know the difference.  Turn on your tv and watch.  Or better yet, turn it off.

Rolling Stone magazine once said Kurt Cobain was the next Hendrix.  This was the precise moment I gave up reading Rolling Stone forever.

We might want to consider bodyguards and live-in physicians for Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and others, in our own self-interest.  Mister Page might not relish someone bursting into his mansion and demanding he undertake a serious health regimen but hey - we're buying his stuff and we need to watch over our investment.  It's purely out of love.

At least we still have the Rolling Stones.
Sort of.

RIP Davy Jones

DEVELOPING:
Davy Jones (The Monkees) died today at 66 from a heart attack.

$*#@

Dammit.
I love the Monkees.  They might be partially responsible for me playing guitar.  I love the show and recently started watching it again in reruns on broadcast tv.  The tunes and the humor still stand.

LINKS

My local NBC affiliate has a piece from 2009.

Antenna TV will be running a Monkees marathon on Saturday, featuring their movie Head, as well as each episode of the television show.

CNN

FOX

E! Online

Wikipedia

The Monkees should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

USA Today

Rolling Stone - the Cute One

From the other Monkees:

Band mate *Peter Tork* said on Facebook, "It is with great sadness that I reflect on the sudden passing of my long-time friend and fellow-adventurer, David Jones. His talent will be much missed; his gifts will be with us always. My deepest sympathy to *Jessica *and the rest of his family. Adios, to the Manchester Cowboy. Peace and love, Peter T."

"I am in a state of shock," band mate *Micky Dolenz *said in a statement. "Davy and I grew up together and shared in the unique success of what became The Monkees phenomena. The time we worked together and had together is something I'll never forget. He was the brother I never had and this leaves a gigantic hole in my heart. The memories have and will last a lifetime. My condolences go out to his family."



FROM MIKE:

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.

Perhaps now Davy can share a laugh with Hendrix about their ill-fated tour.