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♫ Walk out. ♫
Girl don’t you walk out.
We’ve got things to say.
Talk out.
Let’s have it talked out,
And things will be okay.
Girl,
I don’t want to find
I’m a little bit wrong.
You’re a little bit right.
I say,
Girl,
You know that it’s true.
It’s a little bit me, (a little bit me)
And it’s a little bit you.”
That was Davy Jones, lead singer of the rock band, The Monkees. He was an English, stage-trained actor and singer. The other Monkees included Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, and Micky Dolenz. Usually, bands are created by themselves. The Monkees were different.
In 1965, the Beatles had done two very successful films, “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Help”. The next year, two American television producers decided to make a television show about a rock group. The producers advertised for musicians and singers, and chose each member of the band. They called the show “The Monkees”.
“The Monkees” was very successful. Each Monday night for two years, people watched their rock band get into funny situations, and sing two to three new songs per show. The shows looked like early music videos.
“The Monkees” won an Emmy award. The band was fun, and their songs were fun. They had No. 1 hit songs with “Last Train to Clarksville”, “Daydream Believer”, and “I’m a Believer”.
♫ “I thought love was only true in fairy tales, ♫
Meant for someone else,
But not for me.
Love was out to get me.
That’s the way it seemed.
Disappointment haunted all my dreams.
Then I saw her face.
Now I’m a believer.
Not a trace of doubt
In my mind.
I’m in love.
I’m a believer.
I couldn’t leave her if I tried.”
Davy Jones became a heartthrob. Teen girls loved his boyish good looks and his sense of humor.
Because they were a “television” rock group, some critics didn’t like their work. Carole King, Gerry Goffin, and Neil Diamond wrote songs for them. Neil Young tweeted recently, “It was a thrill for me to have them (the Monkees) record some of my early songs.”
After the show ended, the group worked together on and off. They made a few albums, and Jones did some concerts.