I read with immense interest today that the number one teen idol of all time is, wait for it. No not someone called Paul, Bjorn, David or even Justin. No, the number one teen idol of all of the eons of human existence goes to Davy Jones.
Who you ask? No not The Who but the Monkees. Between 1966 and 1968 the Monkees were created purely for an American television program with the idea of capitalising on the Beatlemania of the time. One must say that in that endeavor it was a huge if not short lived success.
The reason for mentioning this fact is that it reminded me of my childhood in Australia and the TV heroes I had at the time. While it was a long list and I have mentioned some in previous posts, I would like to take a few words to pay tribute to the first bass guitarist that I hero worshipped. Now when one thinks of famous bass guitarists the names of Paul McCartney and Suzi Quatro come leaping to mind. But not for me.
The name of Peter Tork is the name that immediately presents itself to me and reminds me of my introduction to the beauty of the electric bass. Albeit, played by a guy with a mop top that defied gravity and any resemblance of masculinity. He did however drive the rhythm of the aforementioned group, The Monkees. And as all musicians know, it is the bass player who is the real musician in a band. That is not to say that Mickey Dolenz, Mike Nesmith and the number one teen idol of all time, Davy Jones, were not great too.
It is just that for the crazy two years that were my only foray into bubblegum music, it was Peter Tork who remains the most memorable.
Thank god Jimi Hendrix arrived soon after and bought me to my senses.
Peter was my favorite Monkee – for purely superficial, girly reasons.
Same here, although he could play a mean guitar.
Truly surprising. Thought for sure it’d be that Justin Bieber kid. I saw Davy Jones perform once on the BBC’s “The One Show”.
I still love The Monkees and their good mood music!
Oh good, a discussion about The Monkees! I’m currently watching all of The Monkees episodes on DVD, and I had the pleasure of going to the 45th Anniversary Tour (before the rest of it was canceled). I owe that fact to my wife, she’s a HUGE Monkees fan–and I am (oddly) truly grateful. I’ll just say also, that even though he’s no longer with the group, I think Mike is probably my favorite. :)
Very much a Davy Jones girl!
A lovely walk through happy childhood days.
Thank you.
Loved the Monkees! Davy was cute, but way overrated musically. Peter Tork was the only actual musician of the group, and you could tell when you watched them. Thanks for the post…loved them all :-)