They Made a Monkee out of Me

That was the title of Davy Jones' tell-all autobiography from the '80s.



Shortly after Jones died from a heart attack at the age of 66 on Feb. 29, Peter Tork bade a fond farewell to "the Manchester Cowboy" in a statement on Facebook.
Micky Dolenz had a sleepless night the previous night, which he took to be a sign that something very bad was going to happen.
Heck, even Maureen "Marcia Brady" McCormick had something to say.


Mike Nesmith - who's looking especially grandfatherly these days - posted a very thoughtful and heavy metaphysical response on Facebook:

Michael Nesmith

All the lovely people. Where do they all come from?
So many lovely and heartfelt messages of condolence and sympathy, I don’t know what to say, except my sincere thank you to all. I share and appreciate your feelings.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.
While it is jarring, and sometimes seems unjust, or strange, this transition we call dying and death is a constant in the mortal experience that we know almost nothing about. I am of the mind that it is a transition and I carry with me a certainty of the continuity of existence. While I don’t exactly know what happens in these times, there is an ongoing sense of life that reaches in my mind out far beyond the near horizons of mortality and into the reaches of infinity.
That David has stepped beyond my view causes me the sadness that it does many of you. I will miss him, but I won’t abandon him to mortality. I will think of him as existing within the animating life that insures existence. I will think of him and his family with that gentle regard in spite of all the contrary appearances on the mortal plane.
David’s spirit and soul live well in my heart, among all the lovely people, who remember with me the good times, and the healing times, that were created for so many, including us.
I have fond memories. I wish him safe travels.
Check out this equally interesting e-mail conversation that Nez had with Rolling Stone.
While it's a no-brainer to pick "Daydream Believer" as one's favorite Davy song, what's kind of amusing in this video is Nesmith's indifferent body language. Maybe the rock hipsters that he mentioned in the interview were getting to him at the time?


But even the holier-than-thou hipsters don't have a discouraging word to say about Davy Jones, who had homes in both Florida and Beavertown, Snyder County.

Found them on Facebook?

As the saga of what to do with 311 W. Main St. in Lansdale continues, there's a growing movement to the tune of 1,000+ petition signatures to turn the place into an all-ages music and arts venue.
The ethos behind it is to recapture the excitement of Lansdale's local music scene from the '90s. The long-gone Jumper's, near the Acme in Towamencin, was the epicenter of it, and since has been replaced by the VFW and the Third and Walnut.
It was definitely one of those you-had-to-be-there things. While I was not there, those who were can run down a laundry list of bands of local and international renown that have played shows in and around Lansdale.
Derek Calhoun of Boondocks Booking, and the originator of the Lansdale Local Facebook page, said at one of the 311 W. Main Street Task Force meetings that booking bands that young people will come to see will be easy.
While it remains to be seen if there's a viable business plan to get the building up to code and have such a venue survive long term, one glance at Lansdale Local and you notice that there is indeed a scene.
The next biggie at the VFW at 805 W. Second St. is $2 Bill Fest on Feb. 18 with an Animalhaus CD release party and bands Run For It, Troublesome, Stoked on Being Pumped, Bottom Feeder, Pleasant Living, Rough Justice, Get Railed, Dugout and Early Flight Home.
There's also info. on local music shows in Quakertown Feb. 23 and March 10 in Red Hill.
Social media's a beautiful thing, isn't it?