The Monkees: The E! True Hollywood Story

[mickeymouseclubfan]

The year is 1965. Lyndon Baines Johnson, age 55, is U.S. President; British Musicians, led by The Beatles, are invading America one by one; and aspiring filmmakers Bob Rafelson & Bert Schneider, under the banner Raybert Productions, conceive a situation comedy pilot called "The Monkees."

In early 1965, Raybert pitched the concept to Schneider's father, Abe, the then-current President of Columbia Pictures; on April 16, 1965, Screen Gems, the TV division of Columbia Pictures, bought the concept and gave the go-ahead to shoot a pilot for "The Monkees."

The following Fall, on September 8, 1965 (50 years ago this month), nearly 500 young adult men auditioned for "The Monkees," and among those who auditioned, but were passed over, included Danny Hutton (future founding member of Three Dog Night), Harry Nilsson (singer/songwriter), Steve Stills (future member of Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash) and actor/songwriter Paul Williams, along with future film composer Van Dyke Parks and a slew of real bands including The Wellingtons (who sang the "Gilligan's Island" theme song), all of whom Raybert felt were too old.

Of those 500 who auditioned, 4 were hired to become America's answer to The Beatles: 22-year-old Robert Michael "Mike" Nesmith (born on December 30, 1942 in Houston, Texas, USA); 21-year-old Peter Halsten Thorkelson (born on February 13, 1944 in Washington, D.C., USA), soon rechristened professionally Peter Tork; 20-year-old George Michael "Micky" Dolenz, Jr. (born on March 8, 1945 in Los Angeles, California, USA); and 19-year-old David Thomas "Davy" Jones (born on December 30, 1945 in Manchester, England, UK).

According to the "E! True Hollywood Story" episode centering on "The Monkees," Davy Jones, at age 19, was the 1st cast member hired--and the only one who NEVER auditioned for the show.

Before being cast, each individual had careers in Showbiz before "The Monkees" began filming.

Mike was a songwriter under the pseudonym Mike Blessing (among others, Mike wrote the song "Until It's Time For You To Go" that was a hit record for Buffy St. Marie and later covered by Neil Diamond); Peter was a successful folk singer in Greenwich Village right after Bob Dylan left for greater fame; Micky was a child actor who already had a hit series from ages 11-13, "Circus Boy," under his belt (and was the son of the late actor George Dolenz); and Davy was a jockey in England.

In addition, Davy also had an off-season career on Broadway, making his American TV debut on a short-lived revival of "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" with Merv Griffin as host and originated the role of the Artful Dodger on the Broadway show "Oliver!" in addition to his being a Jockey.

The pilot episode, titled "Here Come The Monkees," was filmed in November 1965 at Sunset Gower Studios in Los Angeles, California; despite being the lowest-tested pilot ever, in January 1966, execs at NBC gave "The Monkees" a 26-episode Season-long Commitment.

Soon afterwards, also in January 1966, Davy Jones, at age 20, married Linda Haines, a fact that was kept secret until January 1968; the marriage, resulting in Davy's 2 oldest daughters, would eventually end in divorce in 1975.

Despite being married, Screen Gems execs sent Davy on Publicity Dates with a number of his Studio Colleagues including Sally Field and fellow British singer Lulu.

8 months later, on September 12, 1966, "The Monkees" made their network TV debut on the NBC Television Network and became an immediate smash with teenage girls all over America.

In August 1966, "The Monkees" released their 1st single, "Last Train To Clarksville," which immediately became #1 on the Record Charts--well over a month before the series' debut.

Despite the records selling and the series being a hit, as a group, "The Monkees" fought hard for control over the music--and eventually won in February 1967 after Don Kirshner was fired from Columbia/Screen Gems; the 1st "band" album, "Monkees HeadQuarters," was released in May 1967.

Although the "Monkees HeadQuarters" album started at #1 on the Album Charts, it was quickly dethroned the next week by The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album, leading "The Monkees" as a group to go back to having Session Musicians play Instruments and the actors providing the vocals.

The next "Monkees" album, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd. featured no less than 5 Mike Nesmith tracks (4 of which he provided lead vocals on), including "Daily Nightly" (lead vocals provided by Micky Dolenz with the Moog Synthesizer provided by Jazz Musician Paul Beaver), "Love Is Only Sleeping" (though Mike Nesmith actually wrote the song while recovering from having his real-life Tonsils removed, he sold the song to Barry Mann, who was credited with writing the song along with Barry's wife Cynthia Weil despite the fact NEITHER wrote a single note of the song; Paul Beaver also played the Moog Synthesizer on this track), "Don't Call On Me," "Salesman" (written by Craig Vincent Smith) and "What Am I Doing Hangin' Round?" (written by Michael Martin Murphy).

"The Monkees" was very popular, both on TV and on the record charts; however, the popularity in both cases was very short-lived, as NBC canceled "The Monkees" in February 1968, during the making of the cult movie "Head." The final original episode, "Mijacogeo," aired on March 25, 1968.

After 2 years, 58 Television Episodes, 6 Albums, 11 Top 40 Hits (including 3 #1's) and a Movie, Mike Nesmith, Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones faded into oblivion--until reruns of "The Monkees" began airing on MTV on February 23, 1986 with a weekend-long "Pleasant Valley Sunday" marathon; that Fall, Nickelodeon began airing regular reruns of "The Monkees."

The reruns eventually led to 2 successful reunion albums, both released by Rhino Records: "Pool It" in 1987 and "JustUs" in 1996; the "JustUs" album was a first for "The Monkees," as they not only played their own instruments but also wrote and sang lead on all of their own songs.

The success of "JustUs" was followed by a 1997 reunion telefilm, "Hey Hey It's The Monkees," aired only once in February 1997 on the ABC Television Network and produced by Rhino Television.

The special proved to be one of the final times "The Monkees" appeared as a quartet on TV and in Concerts; in the early morning hours of February 29, 2012, Davy Jones, age 66, was riding his horses on his Indiantown, Florida ranch and was a Vegetarian who Exercised Regularly Every Day and was a Marathon Runner in addition to his teenage career as a Jockey when he started complaining of Breathing Problems; 911 was subsequently called to the Ranch, but by the time he arrived at the nearest Hospital an hour away in Stuart, Florida, Davy Jones, 66 years young, was dead.

Davy Jones died of a Massive Heart Attack at age 66 on February 29, 2012. On a personal note, I felt, at least for a few days afterwards, ashamed of myself for having been a life-long "Monkees" fan since I first started watching the show via MTV Reruns; meanwhile, the Surviving Trio of "The Monkees" have been touring since 2012 throughout North America (including Mike Nesmith).

A private funeral for Davy was held in early March 2012 with only immediate family in attendance; he was soon cremated with his Ashes scattered to England along with his late parents Doris & Harry.

In 2009, Peter Tork, then aged 65, was diagnosed with a Rare Form of Tongue Cancer called Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma; thankfully, Peter is in remission and is still with us at age 71.

Reruns of "The Monkees" continue to shine on Antenna TV, where the series has aired since 2011; in addition, Rhino Home Video has released all 58 TV episodes of "The Monkees" on DVD, and I'm proud to admit, on a personal note, I have all 58 episodes on DVD, as well as 2 on VHS Tape.

In loving memory of Davy Jones, I give you now, attached to this forum, "The Monkees" pilot episode, titled "Here Come The Monkees" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRw304BkMYs)

[Coffeecup]

I didn't know Davy was married so early on. Wow!!. I remembered I collected bubblegum cards of actors of the show during the time the show was on the air.

[Bonniegirl]

When will this be on???