This is very late but I want to pay my respects to an icon. You may have heard of the sad and untimely death of Davy Jones. A Manc (I'll try not hold that against him.) he was a Jockey, a musical actor and Ena Sharples Grandson. Off on a tangent my Granddad had footage taken on a Cini Camera of Ena Sharples signing autographs sometime in the 60's/70's at what looked like a church!
I was disappointed that the BBC/ITV didn't even think to honour him by playing all 2 series of 'The Monkees'. Why? Because, I saw a cheap way to get the Monkees on DVD! (I know I'll burn in Hell, unless I accept Jesus then my sins don't matter!) But also because despite their prefab status, they were actually quite good. Whether it was Boyce and Hart or the Monkees themselves they have written some decent songs. Not only that they were very funny. John Lennon I believe said they were a cross between The Beatles and the Marx Brothers. So why no moving programmes around to dedicate to Davy Jones.
In the summer 1977, listening to our Marconiphone Gramophone and wireless. My mother was ironing, the news came over the speakers. Mike Neville (I should check this out......No can't be bothered!) Mike announced Elvis had died!! My Mam was devastated, I didn't get who Elvis was, my brother was asleep in the cot, and my Dad thought..and I quote 'Cliff was better than Elvis, and he was crap.' However BBC2 showed every film and my Mam made me watch everyone, You know what....my Dad was right. Except for 'Jailhouse Rock', 'Love Me Tender' and 'GI Blues' which were OK, the rest were absolute pap.
With that in mind, Davy Jones, deserved a BBC week of dedicated programs, why aren't there repeats of The Monkees. We haven't seen this series since 'The Banana Splits', Play it BBC, play it for Davy.
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Have to agree with you about Davy Jones and the lack of repeats. Can't agree with you about Elvis, though! Yes, his films were crap - just vehicles for his personna, I guess - but what a voice! I'm with your Mum.New comment
Yes, I agree. The Monkees were great! A sort of piss-take of The Beatles if I remember correctly. The first 'manufactured' group.
I'm a Mancunian (well, Salford actually. Adjoining cities but Salford was a city first and got its charter in the 1600s. Now swallowed up by the very pretentious Manchester).
You're right though about no tribute programmes. Why not? The Monkees were a completely new concept - and very talented and funny. Davy Jones was gorgeous.
Thanks for reminding me of this.
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Joy, no argument there. Elvis had one of the best vocals, and I loved his 'Heartbreak Hotel', 'Well that's alright' and 'Mystery Train' era. Even Fat Elvis had some great tunes. It was that period between going into the army and and his 68' comeback that were absolute pants!New comment
JoAnne, I don't think the Monkees were a Beatle piss take so much. In fact they became great friends and John referred to them as a mix of Groucho Marx and the Beatles. The Monkees were a sort of American answer to the Beatles and the writers were heavily influenced by 'A Hard Days Night' However in Peter Tork and Mike Nesmith thay also had the ability to write their own material even though this was against the studio's policy. Dolenz even wrote 'Randy Scouse Git' after a party the Beatles held. They are far from being compared to The Beatles, but they weren't the rubbish pre-fab band they were billed as. Musically they weren't bad.