I'm taking another minute to remember Davy Jones...
By now you probably know that Davy Jones has died. You remember him from The Monkees and– of course– from his cameos on The Brady Bunch. It’s safe to say that Davy Jones was a teenage heart-throb in his day… and that’s got me wondering, Why wasn’t there the massive media blitz for a solid week regarding Jones’ death?
Must be that he just wasn’t on par excellence with Whitney Houston, whom I will always love (but didn’t blog about because it seemed that everybody was already doing so). Here we are, only a couple days after Davy Jones’ death, and it seems like old news. How can this be? I’m thinking that perhaps in the UK, they are mourning more than we are here. Perhaps this is a continental thing.
But honestly, no matter on which side of the pond he was singing, with just that one word, “Girl,” Davy Jones instantly captured the hearts of every girl. He could easily have meant to include three legged dogs, too, right?
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There must be a million humans out there who remember the song “Daydream Believer.” I noticed that the media outlets played a ten-second-or-so clip of the song when they mention Jones’ death (before going to commercial). Here on the Internet, I found something pretty cool for you –one of Jones’ last performances of this classic favorite. The man making the video starts singing at 2:20, but so do all the other humans– and so should you:
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In the comments on the above video, you will find the following quote from Davy: “You know there’s more good in the world than there is bad. If you can find where it comes from and it’s understanding. You shift through that clutter to find the heart and soul of the matter. Be respectful of each other, change the way you look at things, and the things you look at will change. Always think from the end that everything you do effects somebody else.”
I could not independently verify that quote, but if it’s his, then it looks like Jones was a fan of symbolic interactionism. I don’t know if he knew that or not. What he did know how to do, obviously, is play the tambourine. Really well. Here’s an example:
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And, finally, if you’re jonesing for Jones’ awesome accent, then here’s a radio interview that he did with WOC Talk Radio before he left us…
ada.mae.compton 
Great post; I was shocked to hear about Davy’s death. Wow, 7th grade, probably my first album. It’s a different sort of shock when it is someone from your teen years and it is natural causes like this; makes you realize that you are on the far end of middle age—that is huge.
Thankfully, my parents are still with us and in decent health, so that wake-up call is still (I hope not for a long time) to come.
What a great quotation! And I will come back when I have a bit more time to enjoy the music.
I saw the Monkees in person only once, in the early ’90s, I think, on Long Beach Island, N.J.—at The Tides, for those who know of it. Awesome.
My condolences to Davy’s family and friends.
Ada Mae, thanks for bringing back the memories.
Ooooh, so awesome that you got to see the Monkees! What great memories those must be! Thanks for the comments!
Tall person was a big fan of The Monkees. He syas thank you for your lovely tribute post.
My person liked The Monkees a lot too. We’ll miss Davy Jones.