Davy Jones passing at 66 years old brings up a lot of memories for this fan of the singing group ‘The Monkees.’ Yes, there goes another signpost on The Zeitgeist.
There are a lot of ideas and myths about blacks in the 1960s: that we were advancing the civil rights movement (an idea), that we were poor (a myth), and that all of us liked only black music (myth). This blogger was just four years old when a TV show aired on Saturday mornings that captured his imagination: The Monkees – and for two reasons: the intro song, and the car.
The intro song was iconic for me because as they were playing it, I looked for that one short space in time where they showed the Monkees car ‘The Monkeemobile.’ It was my love for that modified Pontiac GTO that caused me to sit and listen and eventually be able to sing
“Here we come. Walkin down the street. Get the funniest looks from, everyone we meet. Hey, hey, we’re The Monkees. People say we monkee around. We’re too busy singing, to put anybody down. We’re just trying to be friendly! Come and watch us sing and play. We’re the young generation. And we’ve got something to say. Hey, hey we’re The Monkees. You never know where we’ll be found! So you better get ready. For we’re a coming to your townnnn!
I grew up with Davy Jones, Mickee Dolenz, Peter Tork, and Michael Nesmith. It hard to believe they’re in their 60s and 70s – hell, it’s hard for me to believe I’m approaching 50 when my Mom says I’m really 27 (think about it) – but they’re rockers to the end.
As for The Monkeemobile, I begged and begged my Mom to buy one of the toy Monkeemobile kit cars, but she never did. I was too young for it, as I recall. But my Mom, today, reminds me that “You were as big into The Monkees as Star Trek, then.” Yep. And I was all of four years old in 1966; black then, black today.
And to complete that thought, one reason we left Chicago at the time was that I was picked on for ‘talking proper and being white.’ Heck, I just liked The Monkees.
Davy Jones, RIP.
Stay tuned.