...The Monkees TV show debuted 39 years ago.
...The 4 Monkees were put together by producers and didn't know each other before becoming a "pre-fab" band.
...Micky Dolenz, billed as "Mickey Braddock", played Corky in the 1956-1958 TV-Series "Circus Boy".
...Both of Micky's parents, George Dolenz and Janelle Johnson Dolenz, were actors.
...Davy Jones was once an apprentice jockey.
...Mike Nesmith and Davy Jones have the same birthday (Dec. 30th), 3 years apart.
...Mike Nesmith's mother, Bette Nesmith Graham, invented Liquid Paper.
...Micky Dolenz is right handed but plays the drums left handed. (The opposite is true for Ringo Starr... left handed, plays right handed).
...Davy Jones is the sole British lad in the otherwise American band.
...Jimi Hendrix briefly opened for them, but he quit after being frustrated by the "we want the Monkees" chants from the young audience.
...They met their idols, The Beatles. Also, John Lennon was a fan of the show.
...After Peter Tork quit the band in 1968 the remaining three released a couple of albums as a trio. When Nesmith left in 1969 and the remaining two continued as duo and released one more album (1970).
...In 1986 there was a serious re-surge of Monkeemania when MTV re-broadcast most of the original Monkees episodes over a weekend. [I remember it well and still have the videotapes.]
...In 1987 there was a band and TV show of "new" Monkees, aptly named "New Monkees". They didn't last long.
Hi! I came across this blog while researching for a certain subject and was glad to find the text about my favorite rock group, The Monkees. Very good text indeed. A curiosity to be added is that Micky Dolenz was "Micky Braddock", the "Circus Boy".
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Hello, thanks for the comment. Great idea! I have added that and a few more facts to the post. By the way, I met Micky and his mother, Janelle, in the early 1990's. They were at a CD store in Austin, TX where Micky was signing autographs. His mother lived in Austin.
ReplyDeleteGreat Blog! It's funny that you mentioned the New Monkees, because a couple of weeks ago a friend of mine found a site with a couple of their music videos. It sounded pretty good,..for the 80's :)
ReplyDeletewww.intrinsicsmile.com
I just thought you may find it interesting.
Cheers!
Ian
Hello Ian, thanks for the comment. I guess the New Monkees were OK (for the 80's), but the "band-put-together-for-a-TV-show" idea didn't work a second time. Sometimes you just can't beat the originals. But it was an interesting try.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I forgot to mention. I have the New Monkees LP & CD that I bought when they were cut-out (and low priced). I haven't listened to them much.
ReplyDeleteFor Kicks, I did a search on YouTube.com for New Monkees and watched some of their stuff. Much of it was kinda like SNL type stuff.
ReplyDeleteIan