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Davy Jones dies at 66
Thursday, March 1, 2012 8:11 AM
NIKI2
Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...
Quote:The Monkees had been created to cash in on the Beatles' popularity, and although they never came close to achieving the critical stature of their counterparts, they did carve out a permanent niche in music as what Rolling Stone's Encyclopedia of Rock 'n' Roll has called "the first and perhaps the best of the '60s and '70s prefabricated pop groups." "Of the four actors they hired, Davy Jones was by far the most accomplished as a singer and as a performer. He was really the perfect choice," said Rich Podolsky, author of a biography of Don Kirshner, who was "The Monkees" TV show's musical director. Hundreds of musician-actors turned out for the auditions, but the young men who became the Monkees had no idea what ultimately awaited them. "They had an ad in the newspaper," Jones recalled on NBC's "Today Show" last year, "and then we all showed up." When they put him together with Tork, Dolenz and Nesmith, the chemistry was obvious. "That's it," he recalled everyone around him saying: "Magic." It was a shrewd case of cross-platform promotion. As David Bianculli noted in his "Dictionary of Teleliteracy," ''The show's self-contained music videos, clear forerunners of MTV, propelled the group's first seven singles to enviable positions of the pop charts: three number ones, two number twos, two number threes." The Monkees would soon come under fire from music critics, however, when it was learned that session musicians — and not the group's members — had played the instruments on their recordings. They were derided as the "Prefab Four," an insulting comparison to the Beatles' nickname, the "Fab Four." In reality, Jones could play the drums and guitar. Although Dolenz, the group's drummer on the show, only learned to play that instrument after he joined the Monkees, he also could play guitar. Nesmith played guitar and wrote numerous songs, both for the Monkees and others. Tork, who played bass and keyboards on the TV show, was a multi-instrumentalist. The group eventually prevailed over the show's producers, including Kirshner, and began to play their own instruments. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jbAIhTMYMY2YLQgQUEJnMR29yMSA?docId=d692faf126b3445a9d2dba2225d14d8a
Thursday, March 1, 2012 8:27 AM
HERO
Thursday, March 1, 2012 10:47 AM
MAGONSDAUGHTER
Quote:The Monkees star Davy Jones dead at 66 March 1, 2012........ Jones was a former jockey-turned-actor who soared to fame in 1965 when he joined The Monkees and they embarked on an adventure that included a wildly popular US television show. Jones sang lead vocals on songs like I Wanna Be Free and Daydream Believer. The band was assembled as an American version of the Beatles, with its personnel designed to be the instant stars of an American TV series seeking to evoke the "British invasion" of the US music charts. Auditions for The Monkees attracted about 500 applicants. Jones - who was born December 30, 1945, in Manchester, England - had stylishly long hair and a British accent that helped with his selection. He would go on to achieve heart-throb status in the US. Nonetheless, musical ability wasn't paramount in the casting decisions. While Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork had some musical experience, Mickey Dolenz had been a child actor, as had Jones. In August 1966, the Beatles performed in San Francisco, their last touring appearance for a paying audience. The same month, the Monkees released their first album, introducing the world to the group that would star in the NBC series when it premiered in September 1966. Despite being dismissed as the "pre-fab four" by some critics, the first single, Last Train to Clarksville, became a No 1 hit, and the show caught on with audiences, featuring fast-paced, helter-skelter comedy inspired as much by the Marx Brothers as the Beatles. It was a shrewd case of cross-platform promotion. As David Bianculli noted in his Dictionary of Teleliteracy, "The show's self-contained music videos, clear forerunners of MTV, propelled the group's first seven singles to enviable positions of the pop charts: three number ones, two number twos, two number threes." And though initially the Monkees weren't allowed to play their own instruments, they were supported by enviable talent: Carole King and Gerry Goffin wrote Pleasant Valley Sunday, and Neil Diamond penned I'm a Believer. Musicians who played on their records included Billy Preston (who later played with the Beatles), Glen Campbell, Leon Russell, Ry Cooder and Neil Young. After two seasons, the TV series had flared out and was cancelled. But the Monkeys kept recording and performing and remained a nostalgia act for decades. Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/music/the-monkees-star-davy-jones-dead-at-66-20120301-1u40z.html#ixzz1nts09mm0
Thursday, March 1, 2012 10:51 AM
Thursday, March 1, 2012 10:56 AM
STORYMARK
Thursday, March 1, 2012 11:47 AM
RIONAEIRE
Beir bua agus beannacht
Thursday, March 1, 2012 12:59 PM
AURAPTOR
America loves a winner!
Thursday, March 1, 2012 3:55 PM
Quote:Originally posted by AURaptor: Weird Al Yankovic opened up for them. He was pretty good too.
Thursday, March 1, 2012 5:00 PM
ANTHONYT
Freedom is Important because People are Important
Thursday, March 1, 2012 7:05 PM
Quote:Originally posted by Magonsdaughter: Quote:Originally posted by AURaptor: Weird Al Yankovic opened up for them. He was pretty good too. Alberquerque!!
Thursday, March 1, 2012 7:56 PM
Friday, March 2, 2012 6:57 AM
Sunday, March 4, 2012 7:22 PM
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