The Orange County Register, September 11th, 2006
In the summer of 1966, odd little ads popped up in TV Guide magazine.
“What has 8 legs and swings?” one blurb declared.
“ ‘The Monkees’ is spelled rong!” read another.
All ended with the same message: “See ‘The Monkees’ premiere, Monday, Sept. 12, on NBC-TV.”
More ads followed, as did magazine and newspaper articles and TV interviews, including a “Today” show chat with Barbara Walters.
In mid-August, their debut single – “Last Train to Clarksville” – appeared and quickly started its climb up the charts, and L.A. radio station KHJ ran a contest where winners traveled by train to meet the Monkees in Del Mar – renamed Clarksville just for the day.
All of which meant that by the time the clock struck 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 12, 1966, the Monkees – four little-known actors and musicians – had a name known by millions.
Forty years later, the Monkees – the actors, their characters, the TV series and the songs – are just as loved by their fans.
Dismissed by some as a prefab concoction created to cash in on the Beatles’ image and success, they have endured.
“I think what made them a success initially was not only the tremendous promotion that was put behind them, but also the chemistry between those four individuals,” says Andrew Sandoval, who as a reissue producer for Rhino Music has overseen recent editions of the Monkees’ work on CD and DVD.
“They’re one of the few groups where everyone can name all four members,” he says of Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork.
“The music to me, even more so than the shows, made me a fan.”
Sandoval’s book – “The Monkees: the Day-by-Day Story of the ’60s TV Pop Sensation” (Thunder Bay Press, $19.95) provides a wealth of nuggets like those which kicked off this story.
And as the guy who probably knows more about the Monkees than anyone on the planet, he was happy to share the story of one Monkee’s prefame connection to Orange County.
“Peter got a premonition to come to L.A., and arrived in June 1965,” says Sandoval of Tork’s decision to leave New York for California. “He knew Stephen Stills, who told him to look up his girlfriend, who was working as a waitress at the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach.
“He was staying with her, and coming to the club too many times for free, and so they put him to work, pouring beers and washing dishes and occasionally playing on stage.”
A few months later, when Stills told the producers he wasn’t interested in being in the Monkees – Buffalo Springfield lay in his immediate future – he recommend Tork, who was more than happy to ditch dishwashing for this crazy idea for a TV show.
That’s just one of Sandoval’s many memories of the Monkees. A few weeks ago, we asked you to share yours and here is some of what we heard.
•
It was 1967 and I was madly in love with Davy Jones. My best friend, Karen, was supposedly in love with Peter Tork. One day, we decided to write to them and confess our love.
As I pondered what I would write, I noticed “Dear Davy” at the top of Karen’s letter.
“You were supposed to write to Peter,” I screamed, “Davy’s mine!”
I grabbed her letter and the fight began. Somehow in the scuffle, I stabbed myself with my own pencil. (I still have the black mark on my shoulder.) Needless to say, Davy never got our letters, but Karen and I are still friends.
– Johanna Ellis, 47, Irvine
•
I was about 7 or 8 years old. I remember that I wanted to meet one of the cool, older guys at my grade school whom I heard was forming a band called “Monkees a Go Go.”
I summoned up the courage and asked if I could be his friend, with the ulterior motive of being in the band. He said yes, and at that moment I became Peter Tork. We would practice singing along with the Monkees’ albums in his garage – my cool, new friend was, of course, Davy, which I secretly wanted to be.
What a blast we had! I love listening to their music now because it always takes me back to those simpler days when my only concern was how I could get to be Davy.
– Gary Vyneman, 47,
Newport Beach
•
When I was 9, I was a patient in the Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children in Los Angeles. Micky Dolenz came to see us. I was a fan already and I was so excited I could hardly stand it. When he came, we all had to sit on our beds and wait for what seemed a long time.
When he got to my bed I started crying. He was so much taller in real life and he had a big afro and I was scared! I still have his autographed picture.
– Shanna Goode, 47,
Santa Ana
•
I was 6 when the Monkees hit. My older sister, Erica, and I were hooked and quickly became obsessed. She had a “Monkees”-themed birthday party where the album played nonstop. By the end of the party it had three skips.
Erica “claimed” Davy as hers, so I had to be in love with someone else! Although my true love was Davy, I chose Micky and tried my hardest to love him more than the cuter, more boyish Davy with that enthralling English accent. It never worked. I secretly lusted after Davy and imagined us married.
To this day when I play my Monkees Greatest Hits CD, I remember those days of walking to the drugstore every Tuesday after school to get the latest “Monkees mag” with my sister. I sing along, never having forgotten the words, and the music still makes me smile.
– Wendy Meyer, 45, Irvine
•
I first discovered the Monkees when my family lived in a suburb of Philadelphia. My childhood best friend, Peggy Gooderham, was three years older than I and had a serious crush on Davy Jones.
Our biggest adventure was when our mothers took us to downtown Philadelphia to see the Monkees. I took my portable reel-to-reel tape recorder so we could record the music. When we got home and listened, all we could hear were Peggy and me, along with thousands of other preteen girls, screaming – not one musical note to be heard.
– Susan Sirota, 49, Irvine
•
My husband, Phil, was a Marine Corps sergeant stationed in Da Nang, Vietnam for a year. My infant son and I were living with my parents. The evening news was always filled with the death counts of the enemy and the military. I spent a lot of time worrying because I rarely heard from my husband on a regular basis.
To help me not dwell on the situation, my parents let me watch “The Monkees’ ” premiere. My Dad, who hated rock ‘n’ roll music, actually took a liking to the show right away because it was so goofy that it was very funny. It was a very pleasant diversion after the evening news.
– Sherian McCoy Nuzzo, 60, Tustin
•
Micky Dolenz was my first crush. I was crazy about him. One day my girlfriend and I bought gum from a gumball machine that also had toys. I got an “I love Micky” pin with his picture on it. My friend was jealous! I am 49 years old and I still have that pin and their albums!
– Lise Kohnen, 49, Fullerton
•
Loved their show – it was really a kick. As a young teenager, I thought their car was exceptionally cool.
Nowadays, on occasion, the subject of great concerts comes up in conversations with friends. I sit back and wait for the usual Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors and so on, to be bragged on. Then I toss out: “Yeah. I saw the Monkees in concert at the Hollywood Bowl. Top that.”
The silence is deafening. Then someone usually says he’s sorry for me.
– Scott Moody, 51, Irvine
