A Piece of My Youth . . .

You have to be of a certain age to understand the sadness I felt this afternoon upon hearing of the death of Davy Jones.  The short, cute, British one.

Truth be told, Mickey was always my favorite, but no one could argue with how cute and how talented Davy was.  First there was Beatlemania, and then, Monkeemania. 

My walls as a young girl were filled with pinups from Tiger Beat magazine - Mickey, Davy, George Harrison (my favorite was Ringo, but I switched to George once Ringo got married - all hope lost at an early age  ;-) ), and Mark Lindsay (from Paul Revere and Raiders). 

It was a different time. Music was mostly happy, or about broken hearts. 



And for me, it's always been about the music.  Melodies, harmonies - I always sang along, and if it had a good beat and we could dance to it, so much the better  :-)  My mom used to love to tell the story of me, in my playpen, dancing to American Bandstand.  It's always been about the music . . .

Monkeemania swept the US and Britain.  I can remember my friends and I playing "Monkees."  I was always Mickey.  Once we got the phonebook out and started random calling, taking a "Monkee Survey."  We got hung up on repeatedly - and when my mom found out, she was not amused.  Phone calls cost by the call back in the day.

They were really the first boy band - manufactured by NBC for a crazy sitcom that lasted only two seasons, but their music . . . it informed a generation.  Here's the one you probably know the best. 



The Monkees.  More of the Monkees. The Birds, the Bees, & the Monkees. Headquarters. Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. - I had them all . . .and have just downloaded a selection of my favorites from iTunes.  Memories of days long gone. 

I'm awfully sad . . .  Isn't it funny how time flies? 

Comments

My friends and I were talking about this on Facebook last night. I imagine lots of similar conversations took place around the US among women of our generation. Another piece of childhood slips away.
A :-) said…
Linda, yes. Makes one really think of the years passing, doesn't it? Been listening to their music all morning on my Pod - they had some of the greatest songwriters ever, writing songs for them, which is, I think why their music continues to hold up so well, even after all this time.

Anyway - still feeling sad, and a little old :-) So it goes . . .
Michelle said…
I just read about this on another blog (no time to watch news here with the lambing). My very first album was a Monkees record. Now you've got ME feeling sad and old! ARGH!
A :-) said…
Michelle, probably the first I actively wanted, too. I know I begged and begged my mom for a tambourine like Davy's. Had it for a very long time.

Congrats on the new lambs :-)

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