Many years ago (okay, maybe not that many) I was first introduced to the Monkees. Not actually introduced like, "Here, meet Micky," but I mean I was... well, exposed I guess. Now, this is not exactly how this stuff happened. I don't have a photographic memory, but I'll do my best to get the main idea across.
The year was 1987 (or close to it). I was about three years old. I was in Greensboro North Carolina, visiting my father's family.
My favorite thing in the world was hanging out with my uncle Tim. He was about fifteen (how times flies, he's 28 now!). He humored me quite a bit, for which I am endlessly grateful. I still have some very fond memories of getting to be with him. Of course, being a teenager (I understand entirely ;-), he often went out with friends, and that left me wondering what to do.
Well, now what? I decided to watch cartoons on T.V. I really liked "Inspector Gadget," except, that was not on right then. What was on however, was that show that Tim liked, "The Monkees."
I decided that since Tim liked this show, I should watch it. I hadn't really payed all that much attention to it before, but I really had nothing else to do, so why not? I didn't really understand it. I liked the music though, and that guy with the warm smile who sang the most. I thought his name was Peter, I wasn't sure though. One of them was definately named Peter, because they kept saying that, but I wasn't exactly sure which one, so I just assumed the one I liked the best was him. The one who was most confusing to me was the one who was always wearing a snow hat. It looked like the ones that mom always made me wear in the winter time so I didn't get sick. I didn't like this guy because he was obviously what Uncle Tim would call "not all there." Why on earth would somebody who lives on a beach wear a winter hat all the time, even indoors? He was definately a weirdo.
I laid down on one of grandma's big blue footstools and watched the show for what seemed like forever. It was kind of boring, but there was something about it that made me keep watching (aside from the fact that Uncle Tim liked it). I liked their house too, it was neat. After the show was over, my cartoons came on, and I pretty much forgot about "The Monkees."
I went home after about a week, and before long, Tim mailed mom two tapes. He made them. One was for mom, and one was for me. I loved my tape, and listened to it constantly. "Your Auntie Grizelda" was my favorite song on the tape. I was not sure how I knew, (Tim must have told me), but I was sure it was by The Monkees. I liked that song, because I remembered watching the show.
One day, probably in 1994, I was digging around in the spare room of the house, and I stumbled on to the long-lost tape Uncle Tim had made for me. I was thrilled to find it, and when I listened to "Your Auntie Grizelda" I cracked up. Those rediculous sound effects were a riot! My mom told me that it was Peter singing. I immediately thought of the boy with the big friendly smile, and I decided I was interested in this group. Another song on the tape was "Gonna Buy Me A Dog." Mom informed me that the Monkees sang that one too. It made me laugh even more than "Your Auntie Grizelda." The voice that made jokes in the background sounded like Uncle Tim. "That's Davy" said mom. "Davy Jones." I learned that my mother had loved The Monkees as a child, especially Davy. I was intrigued by this, and asked lots of questions.
One night, I was watching "Wings" on T.V. Peter Tork was guest starring on the show that night. I was excited, expecting the guy I'd liked the most as a little kid. Instead, I realized I'd been a tad mixed up. The real Peter looked nothing like I remembered. I found that I still liked him, but who had been the guy I'd liked as a little kid?
Not long after, I started seeing a bunch of Pizza Hut commercials with one of those Beatle guys my Uncle Bill (my mom's sister's husband) liked so much, and three of The Monkees. "Where's the guy in the hat?" I wondered, and "which one was it I liked so much?"
Then one night I was watching "Boy Meets World" and the three Monkees from the pizza commercials were on there. I didn't know it at the time, but the one at the drums was the one I had loved as a little girl.
After a few months, I bought a tape of the Monkees. I went to a music store in the Millcreek mall in Erie Pennsylvania, and bought the groups debut release, "The Monkees." I liked the fact that it had the theme from the show. I played it in the car, loving it. When the third song came on, I was totally captivated. It was a beautiful song, and that voice! It was the sweetest voice I'd ever heard! "Mom?" "Yeah?" she answered. "Which one is this?" She smiled. "This is Davy." I showed mom the tape cover. "Which one's Davy?" I asked. My mother pointed to the extremely handsome one in the front. "Oh" I said. "Yeah, you're right. He's really cute." A Davy-Lover is born... Uncle Tim heard of my interest in the group, and he compiled a tape of "the best of The Monkees" for me, with all his favorites on it.
In 1996 I was listening to one of the tapes from Tim on my walkman in the car. Mom and I were on our way to the Millcreek mall again. For some mystical, magical, reason (fate?) I suddenly took off my headphones just in time to hear that The Monkees, yes THE MONKEES were going to be at a concert in Erie! I immediately started to beg my mother to take me, and much to my surprise and delight, she agreed. I began to shout/sing "I'M GONNA GO SEE THE MONKEES! THE MONKEES, MONKEES, MONKEES!" over and over until my mother told me to shut up. She stopped for awhile at a garage sale, and I took the opportunity to continue my chanting.
When we got to the mall, I was totally buzzing. We went to a department store (Kaufmann's? Sears?) and my mom tried to buy the concert tickets from a lady at a desk. The lady appologized, and said that the ticket machine was broken. I freaked out. I was so excited, now this silly wench says the stupid machine is broken? I was about to suggest that they bust into the dumb thing and get the tickets out that way, when the lady said that mom could call over the phone for them. She told her who to call, and suggested that she do it the next day to be sure to get decent seats. Mom thanked her. I was still worried however, because we were going to go to visit my Aunt and my cousins in Ohio the next day. Oh the torment! What would we do? I actually started to cry, and mom told me not to worry. We could call from the car phone in Jeff's (my stepdad) car. WA-HOO! My excitement returned, and I babbled about how cool the concert was going to be all the way home. I spent that evening outside, riding my bike around listening to "I Wanna Be Free" over and over. I decided I had to bring roses for Davy. Hey, why not? It worked on Rod Stewart, from him I scored a handshake. The next day, I went to visit my Aunt. Mom ordered three tickets over the phone in the car. I was still buzzed. After I got home from my Aunt's, I realized I forgot my "best of" Monkees tape in Ohio. The months until I got it back where unbearable.
The tickets came in the mail. The concert would be on July 14th. On July 13th, I got a pleasant surprise in the mail. I had sent Harrison Ford a birthday card, and that day, on his birthday, I got a picture of him with a printed autograph. Huh, I thought that was awesome, boy was I in for a surprise....
The next day, I woke up early (9:00 A.M. is early for me in the summer) very excited. I got ready to go. When we left the house, we went to the store to get some roses. A red one for Davy, and two whites for Peter, and that other guy ;-) Then we went to the Warner Theatre in Erie. I was a little disappointed because cameras weren't allowed in the building....DARN!
The concert was great...aside from one of the most humiliating moments of my life. Several girls had gone up on stage to give the guys flowers, and I went to ask a security guard if I could do the same....well, at least I thought he was a security guard. He said I could, but I learned later that he worked for the theatre, not the band.
During "I Wanna Be Free" I swallowed my nervousness and ran up on stage. Much to my horror, Davy and Peter happened to pick that moment to do the finale to the song...on the other side of the stage. I stood there like a dork, not knowing what to do. Micky, whose name I'd finally learned, gave me a big sympathetic smile, and if I had it to do all over again I'd have dashed over there, gave him the flowers, and hugged him. Unfortunately, I was too scared to think, and got hauled off the stage by a real security guard. It was horrible. I was so embarrassed I cried like a baby. Well, after all, I was only twelve.
The next morning I felt strange. I couldn't explain it. It was like a weird combination of depressed, lonely, excited, and peaceful, all in one. I was only sure of one thing. I was hooked on The Monkees. This feeling would come to me after every important Monkees experience of my life from that day forward. Davy had been wonderful, and I was in love with him. Peter (the real Peter Tork) had been adorable. I'm not sure, but it looked like he had tears in his eyes during "Shades of Gray", and when some girls yelled "We love you Peter!" he grinned and shouted "Oh, I love you too! I don't care who you are, I love you too!" Micky Dolenz had been absolutely hilarious. It turned out, he was the happy Monkee with the big friendly smile that I had remembered best. He told great jokes. He joked about the guys getting older. "The girls throw panties, and their mothers throw Depends!," and he did a great impression of Jimi Hendrix playing guitar. Of course, at the time, I had no idea who Jimi Hendrix was. Don't worry, I figured it out, and I'm glad I did. When a few girls up on the balcony had shouted "Hey Micky you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind. Hey Micky! Hey Micky!" He teased "Hey, who's singin' that? I'm supposed to be singin' here!" To this day he has the most amazing voice I have ever heard.
I bought some videos of the TV series. After watching the videos, Michael Nesmith, the man I had always thought of before as the "wierdo" in the hat, started to interest me more. I started to think he was kinda cool, and I liked his songs, even "Sweet Young Thing." I watched the videos constantly, and managed to get my little brother hooked on them while he was visiting. I still didn't have the Monkees tape that Tim had made back from my Aunt's house yet, so I just listened to the other one I'd bought. I missed that other tape. Especially my favorite song on it. "Daydream Believer" was the first song on the tape. It was funny, the first time I listened to the tape I never made it past that first song. I'd loved it so much I just kept rewinding it over and over. I didn't make it past that song until a week after I'd had the tape.
When I was visiting him, Tim gave me all of his Monkees tapes. He had moved onto cds. He gave a solo tape of Michael's as well, "The Newer Stuff".
When I went home, my life was still far from going back to normal. I came home to a brand new computer that Jeff had bought. He also had gotten the internet. I was fascinated by it. I searched for Monkee-related items on the web, and made lots of friends in chat rooms that were for Monkees fans. I discovered that Michael Nesmith was now known as "Papa Nez". I read part of his book on the internet, and loved it. I met lots of awesome friends on the internet who, to this day, I love like family. Ah, life was good, all because of the Monkees. Then, school started....
I told my friends about my new love of all things Monkees, and managed to drive them nuts. My good pal Baylee had seen my Monkees episode videos, and heard my tapes, and she started to really like the group. Another close friend of mine, Andrea, was tolerant of my constant Monkee babbling, but she didn't get it yet. Then one weekend Andrea came up to my house to spend a night. I had bought lots more Monkees videos by then, and before Andrea left, she was brainwashed. She decided she liked Davy the best. Baylee decided she was partial to Peter. I, of course, liked Nez, and we figured that if we could find a friend who liked Micky the best, we would have it made.
One day, on a whim, I e-mailed pictures of the Monkees to my friend Corey. Corey e-mailed me back, and said she'd liked the Monkees' music since she was a kid. She said she thought the picture of the one with the curly hair was adorable. He was gorgeous, she said. I was thrilled. I told her I thought she had good taste. Micky is gorgeous. I talked to Andrea and Baylee, they thought it was a fine idea, so, "would Corey like to be the fourth?" we asked. Corey said yes.
On July 27th, after staying at grandma Laura's apartment in Columbus Ohio :-) my mom brought Baylee to Cleveland, and Tim and I drove to meet them. We went to the Palace Theatre, and I saw Davy, Micky, and Peter again. This time, Baylee and I got pictures, good ones too. The show was wonderful. The guys told hilarious jokes, and did lots of funny things, but there was something different from the last time. The guys didn't seem as happy, and their cheerfulness seemed forced. Peter was obviously in a bad mood. I didn't realize these little things until I got home though, because I was too excited to think about the downsides. After the show, we waited outside the theatre where the limo pulled up. We were pressed against the limo. Micky and Davy got in, and Baylee got a great picture of Davy getting into the car, while I peeked in the window at Micky, and a red-headed girl who was with him. Where was Peter? To this day, that is a mystery to us, but less than a year later, Bayle & I would make up for our lack of Tork (heehee) in a big way.
That year, us four girls Monkeed around together at school, and at my occasional parties. Everything was groovy. Around my birthday, talk began among the group of going to see Davy at the Dublin Ohio 4th of July celebration. My mom agreed to take us, and Tim said he'd go along. The plans were made.
We found out that the week after the Davy concert, there was another Monkee going to be in Ohio. Peter Tork, and his brother Nick Thorkelson were playing at an auditorium in a Chautaqua style gate community called "Lakeside." I wanted to go, bad. Tim didn't think he'd be able to go that weekend, so that ruled out plan "A". Plan "A" was that my three girlfriends and I would go with Tim and mom to see Davy, then I would stay that week at grandma Laura's house, and Tim and I would go see Peter. I was sad, because I wouldn't be able to see Peter. So close, yet so very far away :-) Well, on to plan "B" um, except, there was no plan "B". Drat!
Then, a week before the Dublin concert, mom talked to me about the Peter show. We thought about it, and it occurred to both of us that the chances of actually getting to meet Peter would be much greater than those of meeting Davy, because of the different situations. Also, Peter lives in California, while Davy lives right in Pennsylvania. Davy would be close again, probably in the near future, and Peter might not be out East again for quite a long time. I made the final decision, and I went for Tork at Lakeside (gosh that sounds funny, doesn't it?).
On the morning of July 11th 1998, us girls, and mom set off in one car, while my stepdad Jeff hauled the gear in the other car. We drove to Lakeside, which took about 3 ½ hours. When we got there, we drove past the hotel we had reservations in. "Hotel Lakeside." Suddenly, Corey said something like "Is that Peter?" or maybe it was "That guy looks like Peter" it doesn't really matter which I guess. We all looked at the guy walking casually down the sidewalk. He had on black jeans, a red shirt, and a black vest. A very "Peterish" outfit. He wasn't facing the road so we couldn't see his face. We just stared, hoping. The hair looked like Peter's, but we all doubted that it was him. Then, the man turned around, and I totally lost it. I screamed "OH MY GOD! IT IS PETER! IT'S HIM!" or something to that effect. I knew that face. That was one of my idols, there was no mistaking it. The car exploded with noise. All four of us girls were screaming and waving. Mom even stared. It was a very spiritual moment for us
After that, us girls went up to wait in line at the auditorium, and Jeff and mom waited at the hotel. At the hotel, my mom talked to Peter's brother, and Peter's girlfriend's sister. She was getting "connections" that would prove very useful later. When Peter came back to the hotel after rehearsal, mom snapped a quick picture of him and Nick.
When we went in to get our seats, us girls went to buy souvenirs. I bought a "Stranger Things Have Happened" T-shirt, and a "Two Man Band" (Peter Tork &James Lee Stanley) cd. When I got back to my seat, I realized that the cover of the cd was cracked. My mom went to see if she could exchange it for one that wasn't cracked. She asked Peter's girlfriend Mary Jo. Mary Jo said something like "Yeah, that's Peter. He packs worse than I do. He put them in his suitcase." YIKES! Mom mentioned to her that the trip was a birthday present for me, and asked if Peter was going to sign autographs. Mary Jo said that backstage passes would be thrown out into the crowd during the show.
A few minutes later, Mary Jo came over to us, handed mom a backstage pass that was good for two people, and said "Happy Birthday." I was soooo excited.
The show was great. I got most of it on audio tape, and we took pictures. I couldn't stop thinking about what we were going to do afterwards.
When the show was over, mom and I went to get in line to go backstage, when a nice lady who worked for the theatre said Baylee could share her pass. The other girls knew that Peter was Baylee's favorite, so they were o.k. with it. We went back when it was our turn. We were so nervous and happy. At first I didn't even see him. I saw his brother Nick sitting on a table. Then I looked down, and there he was. There was one of my idols, sitting casually in a chair. I stared. Mom walked over to him, and she gave him her "Last Train to Clarksville" 45 cover. She said "It's been a long time." He smiled, and said something like "Yeah, seventy-seven cents for a record" and autographed it for her. Nick signed it too.
She told Peter, "This is my daughter...fourteen." I think she was a bit nervous too, cause she sounded like a dope ;-) He smiled at me, and said "Hello Daughter Fourteen." I doubt he knew how close I came to fainting in his lap. I said "Hi." Baylee and I showed him the huge glitter covered "WE LOVE YOU PETER!" sign we'd made. We offered it to him, and he smiled politely and said "Well I can't use it, and I'm not going to put it on my wall." I was so embarrassed, but it was funny. He signed my "Stranger Things Have Happened" cd cover "To Tessa, Love Peter Tork.," and the pictures Bayl and I had gotten enlarged at K-Mart "For Tessa (hers was "For Bailee" but she didn't care) Love Peter Tork." I touched his fingers. Then we went out to get the girls, and Jeff.
We found out that Corey had once again done us a great service. She had gotten Peter's half-finished bottle of "Veryfine Apple Cranberry" juice from a theatre employee. We got Andrea's STHH shirt signed for her, and a nice girl took Corey's "Greatest Hits" Monkees cd backstage, and Peter signed it for her, but he spelled her name "Cori," oh well. We were so happy, and truly buzzed. All we could think about was Peter, Peter, Peter. Back at the hotel, I held the door for Mary Jo, becase her hands were full. She and Peter were staying right down the hall from us. WOW.
The next day, us girls got up early, and scouted out the territory, searching for a glimpse of the man who had stolen our hearts the night before. Finally, mom said it was time to check out, and we had to accept the fact that we weren't going to see him again. The four of us went into the hotel to go to the bathroom. Andrea and Corey went in, and Baylee and I followed. Suddenly, I got a strange feeling. Something told me I should wait outside the door. I looked at Baylee, about to tell her to come with me, when she said that she thought we should wait out in the hall. I gave her a grin, and we went back out.
We noticed that Mary Jo was in an office talking to some people. After awhile, my mind started to wander (it often does), and I started to look around the hall. I wasn't paying attention to the corner, but thank the good Lord above that Baylee was. All of a sudden I heard her say "Hi" to somebody. I knew it wasn't just any somebody, because she said in a squeaky, high pitched voice. I looked to see who she was talking to and nearly passed out right then and there from shock. "Hi" I squeaked. Peter must have found our shock amusing, because he smiled at us, made a funny face, and immitated our high pitched squeals with a "Hi!" of his own, and then he casually strolled around the corner, and we haven't seen him in person since.
Right after he turned the corner Andrea and Corey came out of the bathroom, and Bayl and I half tackled them. I don't remember what exactly we said, but Corey tells me I said "Guess what..." and she said "You didn't!" We told them who we'd just encountered, and, of course, they were ready to kill us. We must have been really freaking out, because Mary Jo came over and gently, but firmly said "Give him a break, o.k. guys?" or something like that. I told her that we'd only been standing by the bathroom, and we'd had no idea he was going to pass us. She seemed to understand, and then she went in the bathroom. We really weren't stalking him...we were just excited. I hope we weren't too frightening ;-)
Before we left, Jeff informed us he'd had an encounter of his own. He'd been at the desk checking out at the same time Peter was checking out. The lady had told Peter he owed fifty cents for phone calls (isn't that goofy?). Peter smiled at Jeff, and started digging through his pockets. Jeff was about to loan him two quarters when Peter finally found a wadded up dollar bill in there. He must be about as organized as me. That just goes to show that being disorganized isn't so bad. Peter is a musical genius who can do amazing things with instruments, but apparently he has a heck of a time keeping track of his stuff.
We drove home. I was satisfied, but depressed. It was quite a feeling, that knowledge that at any time I could run into one of my very favorite celebrities, and it wasn't easy to give it up. It took a long time to get used to the fact that I have no chance of catching him in the hall outside of my bathroom.
At the beginning of 1999 my Monkee future looked pretty empty. Nez announced two book tour dates, and I couldn't go to either one of them. I did however, get myself another autograph. I had those ones from Peter, and I had a signed copy of Micky's autobiography, and I got a copy of Nez's newly released novel "The Long Sandy Hair of Neftoon Zamora" that is signed "To Tessa, Love Michael Nesmith, Dec. 2 ,1998."
I finally got all four autographs when I bought Davy's at eBay. By that time Baylee and I had planned our next Monkee adventure. We were going to see Davy in Moon Township, near Pittburgh.
We ended up having a fabulous time at the concert. Davy looked and sounded better than I'd ever seen him. He put on a great show, even though he'd had a stressful day, with troubles flying up from Florida. It was amazing how the fans reacted. I felt like I had somehow been transported back to the Monkee-Mania days of the 60s. Teenage girls were crying and screaming, and their mothers were doing the same.
I'd made a glittered sign that said "We Love You Davy" on it, and he saw it and smiled at me. Baylee looked at me and said "Eye contact! I saw that!" It was pretty funny.
Someone gave Davy flowers, and he took some of the tissue paper off and wadded it into a ball and tossed it at Aviva the sax player. She tossed it back, and he kicked it into the crowd. I'll give you one guess as to who caught it...hehehe :-) I plan to keep it till the day I die.
Occasionally he would lean down to grab the hands of people in the crowd. I was once again lucky. I got shoved around a bit, and didn't manage to stick my hand out until he was walking away, but when he noticed me he came back and grabbed my hand and gave me a great big smile. Of course, I started to bawl. Baylee and I did a lot of that during that show. I gave her my spot to stand by the stage, and when he started grabbing hands again she got her turn.
When he left the stage I set my sign on the corner of the stage. A little girl came and picked it up to take with her, which I thought was cute. Making a big glittered sign has been a tradition for me since the Cleveland concert. Sadly, I didn't bring the sign in at Cleveland. It was awesome...it was the best one I've ever done. I drew a giant Monkee logo on posterboard (and let me tell you, it is not easy to draw that thing that big!), and Baylee and I glittered it together. I still have it, but I doubt I'll ever be able to use it, as it doesn't look like the guys will ever tour together again.
After the show we went to the reception. Davy had said he wasn't going to come to it because he was too tired, but the announcer guy said that Davy had said that because of the fan reaction, he just had to come and see us all. We were instructed not to ask for autographs, but Davy started signing things anyway. The story of my meeting him is on the other page.
Well, aside from getting a few emails from Micky (and I've been amazed at every one), I haven't had anymore Monkee adventures. Davy quit the Teen Idol Tour, but Micky is taking his place. I haven't seen Micky solo yet, and I am hoping he'll come up this way. I'd give my right arm to see him live again. His voice in concert made me cry both times I saw him because it's so powerful. As I said on the other page, nobody but Justin Hayward can come close to his voice, in my opinion.
I still cling to the hope of maybe getting to see Nez someday as well. I know the chances of that are fairly slim, but I won't give up.
As it stands, my favorite singer, and in my opinion the best dressed Monkee
My favorite Monkees song is "That Was Then, This is Now" because of Micky's voice on it, and because of the fact that after hearing it for the first time (at my first Monkees concert) I loved it so much that I memorized most of the words.
That song live is truly amazing.
My favorite Monkees episode...that's a tough one. I like "The Frodis Caper", "Fairy Tale", "Hillbilly Honeymoon", and "Wild Monkees". I'd say those are my favorites, but I haven't yet seen an episode I didn't like.
6/3/00
I have some money saved up, and am desperately hoping that I can go see Micky this summer...wish me luck! Maybe I'll get to meet another Monkee! Even If I don't
though, just getting to hear Micky live again will be great.
I've already got two sets of concert tickets for other artists this summer, so if I add Micky into that, I doubt I'll get my mom
will be willing to drive me anywhere else...but hwo knows, maybe Davy or Peter will come close enough that I can see them again.
Once Davy opens up his museum in Beavertown I wanna get out there to see that. It's not really all that far from me.
OCTOBER 10th, 2000
Well, last night two very close friends of mine, Baylee and Andi, went with my mom, my stepdad, and myself to see Davy Jones in Fredonia, NY. Baylee and I were fortunate enough to get to see and meet Davy last year, and although we were sure he would put on another great show, we both figured we'd better not get Andi's hopes up, or our own, for any extra perks. The chances of having the fantastic luck we'd had last time were pretty slim, so we decided not to think too much about it, and just go to enjoy the concert.
Baylee and I wore our matching Davy shirts, and I had on a blue and white string of love beads that Baylee and I had made together two years ago. We'd originally intended to either mail it to Davy, or give it to him at a concert but we hadn't ever done either.
When we arrived we went to our seats, us girls in the front row, and my mom and stepdad three rows behind us. I'd never gotten to sit front row at any kind of Monkees event, and I was *really* excited about it. We were off to the right side a bit, but we knew it wouldn't matter much. The view was fantastic, and we were all freaking out waiting for the show to start. We noticed that we had a perfect view of some of the backstage area from where we were sitting, and we were hoping he'd come out that way.
I got to thinking, and I decided that I'd take off the love beads and hang on to them in case I got an opportunity to give them to him.
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