Five "Interesting" Facts About The Monkees Or How Davy Jones Almost Became Patty Duke

I recently spent a couple of weeks barricaded in my family compound/bunker reading two books about the sixties tv show/rock n roll band, The Monkees. Both books, "Monkee Business" by Eric Lefcowitz and "Total Control" by Randi L. Massingill, were fascinating reading. Now I realize that 99% of the world has no desire to read even ONE book about The Monkees and yet, I have read two. I am not sure what exactly this may say about me, but perhaps the words "pathetic" and "sad" come to mind.

In the fourteen days I was holed up reading about the

prefab four, I imagine quite a few of you were doing such constructive activities as, rotating your tires, attending all-important committee meetings, changing the oil in your lawn mower, writing your Congressperson to enact social change and flossing. I would like to thank all of you who did the heavy lifting. Without you, I would  never have been able to spend a fortnight lounging around and reading about a fifty year old pop band. For this, I will always be grateful.

To try and fool myself into believing that my recent activities were not a complete waste of time, I have decided to wow and fascinate you with a list of interesting facts I learned from my recent historical study of the made for tv rock n roll band.

"INTERESTING" FACTS:

--Peter Tork was invited to audition for the show after Stephen Stills (Yes, THAT Stephen Stills) was rejected by the producers because of his receding hairline. Before leaving the studio, he was asked if he could recommend anyone who resembled himself but had better hair. Stills advised them to contact his friend Peter Tork.

--Michael Nesmith's father abandoned the family when he was a very young boy. As a result, he lived in extreme poverty through most of his childhood. However, during his teenage years his mother, who was working as a secretary in Dallas, invented Liquid Paper (ie. Whiteout). She eventually became a multi-millionaire.

--Both Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith recorded a lead vocal track for "Pleasant Valley Sunday". Instead of picking one or the other to use on the final recording, the producer mixed both voices together. Although, on record it sounds like one voice, it is actually both voices overdubbed together.

--For many years, Micky Dolenz was the voice of Snuggles, that annoying fabric softener tv commercial bear.

Snuggles aka. Nicky Dolenz

--Before he became a Monkee, Davy Jones was set to star as a pair of identical cousins (one American and one English) on a prime time television show. At the last minute, however, the studio decided to change the main characters

from two male cousins to a couple of female cousins. "The Patty Duke Show" went on to be  a hit tv series for a few years in the sixties.

There you have it. While you were doing your duty and contributing to society, I was shirking my responsibilities and picking up completely useless information on a pretend rock n roll band from the nineteen-sixties. Ain't life grand?

Don't forget, The Monkees are currently touring and just released a new album called, "Good Times". Although it seems impossible, they actually sound happier than they did in the sixties. "Our Own World", one of the standout tracks on the album, is so upbeat and jangely it makes "I'm A Believer" sound like a funeral dirge. Take a listen for yourself.