The Monkees were the first thing I really liked as a kid. I remember watching them when they were on Nickelodeon in the late 80s and thinking, "That Davy Jones is awesome!" I swore I would marry him someday. However, my dreams would soon be shattered when the Monkees came to town and I saw that he was an old guy, and not the young boy with stars in his eyes. I still have a vivid memory of him giving away a coat on Nickelodeon to a little girl who won the contest that I had been trying hard to win. The coat was too big, and he said that he had a daughter her age and she liked big coats. I thought, "Wow, he has a daughter my age?" He was 66 (about twice my age) when he died today of a heart attack.
In the 90s when they did their reunion tours and conventions and the Internet was so new and so fun, I hooked up with a bunch of Monkees fan, my first Internet friends, and followed the band around the country. From fancy LA stadiums to hole in the wall bars, I saw lots of shows. I ended up doing a little on the web for them (it was my first foray into Web publishing, which became my real job for a long time after). In those years (actually, just 2), I talked to Davy a lot. He was a nice guy. He could be demanding and had the personality of a true celebrity, but he was also a nice guy. I often wondered what would have became of him if he hadn't been a "washed up child actor." I was also often surprised at the effect he had on people. Wasn't he from the 60s? Why did people still care? They did.
I just saw Davy in June of last year with the Threekees (the loving name for the group of the three Monkees). He was bouncing around the stage, looking as fit and trim as ever. He was a bit worse for the 10 years of time between when I saw him last, but I quipped that he would be around forever. It was the other two that looked the worst. Shortly after I saw him, all further performances were canceled. I was glad I made the trip, joking to my friends, "It'll probably be the last Threekees tour ever, unless Nez decides he wants to do a final tour then we'll have one show."
I guess it will be. RIP Davy. You probably didn't remember me from the 90s, but I'll remember you. I'm glad I made it to one more show.
