Monkees Singer Davy Jones Dead at 66 From Heart Attack

[The Straight Story]

9:55 AM PST -- A rep for Davy tells TMZ the singer died from a heart attack this morning.
-------------------------------------------------------

Davy Jones -- lead singer of The Monkees -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

An official from the medical examiner's office for Martin County, Florida confirmed with TMZ they received a call from Martin Memorial Hospital informing them that Jones had passed away.

Jones is survived by his wife Jessica and 4 daughters from previous marriages. He was 66-years-old.

Jones joined The Monkees in 1965 ... along with Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork ... and together they churned out a bunch of hits including, "Daydream Believer," "Last Train to Clarksville" and "I'm a Believer."

http://www.tmz.com/2012/02/29/davy-jones-dead-monkees/

[trumad]

1. Wow---that sucks.

RIP Davy

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[warrior1]

2. wow

RIP Davy.

[hifiguy]

3. RIP Davy

Loved the Monkees show when I was a kid.

[deutsey]

4. Aw man.

RIP, Davy.

I actually met him once briefly. Got his autograph. "The Monkees" was my favorite show when I was a kid.

Thanks, Davy, for bringing so much music and laughter to my childhood.

[Hissyspit]

5. Damn, he just gave a concert here a few months ago

and I could have met him, but could go at last minute.

[flamingdem]

6. nooooooo

not Davy. That's sad, he died young. Long live the Monkees.

[RockaFowler]

7. No, not Davy

He lives around here. We've done interviews with him and he's just as lovely in person. I'm so sad

[Ready4Change]

8. Dang.

Just a few months ago I renewed my appreciation of many of 'The Monkeys' songs. For a long time my opinion of them was tainted by thoughts that they were Beatles copy-cats. Then I listened and realized that I really liked a whole lot of their songs.

Yet another example of how you need to appreciate what you've got while you've got it. Rest in peace, Davy.

[zipplewrath]

9. RIP

For those who don't know who we're talking about:



Probably the first "boy band" ever created.

[southernyankeebelle]

11. Well there are other groups like the 4 Seasons, The Beatles and many more

[zipplewrath]

20. Those were "real" groups

The Monkeys were truly a "created" band. Some of their early work didn't even feature their own playing. They were a "made for TV" band that broke out into an actual, recording, original music, band. But starting out, they were as real as "The Partridge Family", and I think Cassidy already had a music career then. God knows Shirley Jones did.

[calimary]

54. I remember when they cobbled that band together.

Davy Jones actually had musical theater experience. Michael Nesmith was a musician in his own right and later became the father of the music video - he produced the first one ever. Peter Tork was a folkie, friend of Steven Stills, who'd actually auditioned for the job and was told he was too old - so he recommended his friend. Mickey Dolenz had been a child actor.

I remember when I first heard "Last Train to Clarksville" the summer before "The Monkees" hit the airrwaves. We'd all read about the upcoming TV show, and we all knew this was a TV show about fictional rockers who really weren't musicians. I remember marveling that they'd all learned to play so quickly to have a hit on Top-40 radio so soon! "Whaaa? By 'The Monkees'? Gee, I thought they didn't know how to play..." I think it was Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart and friends who were actually on the record.

They did soon become a band because they had to be able to tour and play live. So they learned. "The Monkees" TV show paved the way for a lot that MTV later did. It was a riff on "A Hard Days Night" and "Help," taking the same kinds of wild, fun, madcap romps set to music that those films did, and put them on the small screen. Silly little bit of cultural fluff that actually turned out to be something of a pioneering effort for rock on video.

[zipplewrath]

59. Dangerously funny

Sounds like you might like the book "Dangerously Funny" about the Smothers Brothers. Interesting to see the arguments they were having, considering where TV went. The brothers were "ahead of their time" in many ways. They were the precusor in some ways to Laugh-In. It's hard to understand just how "cutting edge" they were looking back now.

[calimary]

61. Sounds like I would, indeed. I LOVED "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour."

Loved the Smothers Brothers - in whatever form they presented. Tommy Smothers once did a riff on the rarest fur in the world - bumblebee fur. And that made me laugh for the next three days!

[spanone]

62. it was actually the famous A-team of musicians from L.A 'the wrecking crew'

that played the instruments on the records...

great documentary......

http://wreckingcrew.tv/

[southernyankeebelle]

64. Now I see the point.

[southernyankeebelle]

10. RIP Davey you will be missed.

[eShirl]

12. !

[napkinz]

70. John Lennon loved the show

He compared them to the Marx Brothers.

[MADem]

13. Jesus that's young--and made more freakish by the fact that he always looked even younger than his

stated age.

Shows to go that we never know how long we'll last. Take every day for the gift it is...

[xchrom]

14. May Peace be with his family and friends. Nt

[joeybee12]

15. NO!

God, that's sad...way too young.

[Kahuna]

16. Awww. RIP Davy. I enjoy watching...

Davy and the boys every weekend on THIS TV. I LOL!

[Lint Head]

17. I really hate this. I pray for his family.

Trivia. Jimi Hendrix was the warm up act for The Monkees when they played Charlotte N.C. the first time.

Oliver Twist

[11 Bravo]

28. I didn't see this before I posted down thread. I saw Hendrix and the Monkees in Charlotte.

(I think it was '67.)

[Blue_In_AK]

55. I was remembering that earlier.

I guess every musician or group has to warm up for someone before they make it big. I saw an unknown Led Zeppelin in 1968 as the warm-up band for Spirit and Vanilla Fudge. Who??

[cbdo2007]

18. We'll miss you Davy!! RIP

Bad year for music!

[catbyte]

19. Bummer!

Although I had a crush on Peter.

Diane
Anishinaabe in MI & mom to Leo, Sophie, Taz & Nigel, members of Dogs Against Romney, Cat Division
"We ride inside--HISS!”

[demtenjeep]

69. I always liked Micky

But Davey was sweet

[LibertyLover]

21. Oh how sad -

I loved the Monkees as a young teen. Micky was my favorite, but I liked them all. The show was a hoot and not your normal sit-com by any stretch of the imagination. Their music was good to. Like another poster up-thread I recently started listening again to my old albums and realized that they weren't bad musicians or songs at all. I actually went to two Monkees concerts, one in 1967 or so in New York City out at a tennis club of all places, and more recently in 1988 at the Meadowlands. I have to say that I always thought Peter would be the first to go, between the, uh, hard living in the 60s and 70s and more recently, cancer. Oh well, Davy, you're with your mom now. RIP.

[Blue_In_AK]

22. The cute one -- damn it.

Only a year older than me. RIP, Davy.

[uppityperson]

56. Davy was the cute one indeed. RIP Davy.

[Swede]

23. 66 is too young.

RIP Mr. Jones.

[sellitman]

24. Another part of my childhood is gone.

Rest In Peace Sir.

[11 Bravo]

25. I saw the Monkees in Charlotte, NC, in the late 60's. I went primarily to see Jimi Hendrix ...

who believe it or not, opened for them; but I wound up actually enjoying the Monkees as well. They didn't seem to take themselves too seriously and they looked like they were having fun.

on edit: RIP Davy

[NNN0LHI]

26. I can remember when Jimi Hendrix was the opening act for the Monkees concerts

Must be getting old.

Don

[NoGOPZone]

27. RIP Davy

He had stage and screen credits even before the Monkees and may have become a star even if it wasn't for the show. Thanks for the memories, Davy.

[PCIntern]

29. Crapola...he's dead and I'm getting old...

He was just a kid all those years ago...

[KaryninMiami]

30. So sad. I grew up with the Monkees- watched every show at least once!

Had every album- still probably can remember the words to most of their songs. Very sad indeed.

[calimary]

48. I did, too. Very neat Michael Nesmith tribute 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.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

31. R.I.P. Davy

Watched them on TV as a kid. Mortality sucks.

[Canuckistanian]

32. Oh, no

He was far too young. I watched every episode when I was a kid and had every album.

RIP, Mr. Jones.

[felix_numinous]

33. Wow did he pass today?

Yesterday Daydream Believer came on the radio and I was singing along with it and remembering first grade---I hadn't heard this song in years....now today I hear this. So sad.

[TBF]

35. Apparently had a major heart attack in his sleep overnight -

he was only 66.

[lumberjack_jeff]

34. Crap. n/t

[shcrane71]

36. That's so sad, and he wouldn't have even gotten Social Security under the new retirement age.

Poor guy.

[FredStembottom]

37. Loved, loved , loved that show!

I was already all music, all the time by age 7 when the Monkees debuted. I remember all the older kids scorning them (before the show's 1st episode) as Beatles rip-offs - which they were. But the show was just too different and funny from anything else on TV - especially kids TV.

Everyone just went nuts for that show.

Remember Monkees trading cards? If you collected them all you could put a puzzle picture of their (still) incredibly cool car together using the back sides.

I'm a little shocked by this..........................

[Sparkly]

38. I'm probably two years older than you

and remember the Monkees as something of a safer, comfortable alternative to the Beatles, who were just starting to seem scary to pre-teens (drugs, Yoko Ono, the Maharishi, whatever). And of course, Tiger Beat and TV were all about the Monkees -- they were the new thing.

We all claimed a "favorite Monkee" just like we'd done with the Beatles.

A year or two later we were all back to the Beatles, anyway.

[FredStembottom]

75. You sparked a forgotten memory for me, Sparkly

How scary I thought the Beatles had become when their "performance" on Ed Sullivan became a film. Strawberry Fields. They had beards! And peasant clothes! And did weird things to that old piano.

I just wasn't ready.

[Sparkly]

80. Exactly!

I don't remember that performance, but I remember the gasping about how they were going "bad" and getting into drugs... All seems so innocent now.

(P.S. - My sisters and I wrote on the attic walls in chalk, when we were kids. To this day, the old house shows "I Love the Beatles" with Beatles X'd out, and "The Monkees" written in...!!)

[flexnor]

39. poor Marsha

it's ALWAYS about Marsha!

[MorningGlow]

43. Okay, this made me laugh

I haaated Marsha because she got to kiss Davy on the cheek!

[flexnor]

45. i liked marsha

because all guys did

[MorningGlow]

46. It was the ironed hair, wasn't it?

[flexnor]

47. no, it was everything about her...

even a football in the face couldnt hide her beauty

[MorningGlow]

52. Oh my nose! n/t

[hifiguy]

53. Yup. Me too.

[aquart]

40. RIP, pretty one.

You brought great delight and I hope it earned you a happy life and an easy death.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

41. I just found out via a post by my sister on Facebook

There goes another piece of my youth. RIP, Mr. Jones, and thanks for the memories.

[MorningGlow]

42. No, no, no!! :( :( :(

I was supposed to marry him. I've known it since I was 6.

The first time I went to England, in '86, my friends and I went out of our way to see a production of Godspell at this ratty old theater because Davy was playing Jesus. This was before the Monkees reunion tours/revival, and yet the balconies were filled with screaming women clutching bouquets to toss to him at the curtain call. Even when the Monkees were "out", they were never really "out."

Oh--and he was fantastic as Jesus. Of course.

[flexnor]

44. the Monkees were, in a way, ahead of their time

they were actually a great group, but had trouble gaining acceptance because they were 'corporate manufactured' by ABC television vs being spontanious talent like the beatles. but it didnt make the music any less pleasant, people just thought it was less 'genuine' ie 'fake', and people werent completely ready for this in 1966

ABC put together the best talent money could buy, and actually did a great job, they put the band together in components, with the best writers, musicians with a TV presntation layer

it was like answring the 'fab four' with a 'prefab 4'

[napkinz]

67. "ahead of their time"

speaking of which, did you see their movie HEAD?

I think so many are overlooking that film they did in 1968.

[flexnor]

74. saw an interesting interview with 'Mickey' tonight on pierce whats-his-name

along with being sad about the loss of a close friend, he gave some insight about the orgins of the show

he made no bones about it being 'a TV show about a garrage band trying to make it big, but never quite making it'

(the rest is my interpretation) that's what it was - no more, no less. in that context, they were no more fake than batman, the flying nun, or 'That Girl' (none of them were really the role they played, either. For that matter, Adam West isnt really the mayor of quohog). but in the creation of such a show by very shrewd TV execs, they put together the best resources of writing, musicians and stage presence, that they created something that went at the top of the charts in real life - and still holds up today. they really nailed the carefree mood of 1966 in the music

and that's where the controversy about the 'fake' or 'pre-fab 4' comes from, it had never knowingly been done in the 'rock-n-roll' era.

but it had been done in genras past, big bands and singers like sinatra and peggy lee had a front line singer, singing songs written by someone else, and played by lessor known professional musicians all the time, and people thought nothing of it (ok, well they didnt have anyone pretending to play)

quite simply, execs trying to emulate the succes of the beatles 1964 'Help' adapted for TV and get it on the air before the style passed (correctly) felt they could create what they were looking for, faster than they could find and aquire it

the fact that it was going head to head on the charts is what dredged up it's unconventional orgins, ironically, being a corporate creation made them the most unconverntional of all

most stuff on the air was put there by corporations anyway - the only differnece with the monkees was, they were created, not found

[FredStembottom]

77. Nice summation, Flexnor.

n/t

[flexnor]

81. thanks - 'The Archies' was a demonstration of Don Kirshner's contribution

after exec Don Kirshner had a falling out with the Monkees, they parted ways, The Monkees pretty much flopped, and Kirshner blew star power into a cartoon made from a 1940s comic book, (giveing the characters a garage band) and topped the chart with 'Sugar Sugar' by 'The Archies' in 1969, while the Monkees had exited the charts. Let face it - anyone who could make a hit (even a 1 hit) band, 'performed' by animated cartoon characters out of a comic book has talent

The Monkees were just kids, you cant blame them for lacking the sophisication to fully understand what they were and what they werent, nor can you blame a talented professional like Kirshner for running out of patience if he felt he wasnt being treated with respect

But music was undergoing a style change that might have been difficult for a band with that image and structure to navigate, so it may have been for the best

[LadyHawkAZ]

49. :,(

When I was 5, I was gonna marry him...

[Lone_Star_Dem]

50. When I was a kid I watched reruns of their tv show.

He was only a year older than my mom. Damn.

[AtomicKitten]

51. He was hot stuff when I was in the eighth grade.

[Irishonly]

57. RIP

[sinkingfeeling]

58. Sad.

[AnneD]

60. I loved them all....

but he was my fav. I loved the Monkees. Yes they were hobbled togather, but they were good and talented in their own right. I loved the Beatles too, but in their own right.

I knew where I was every Thursday at 6:30 when I could. The Monkees, The Brady Bunch, and Star Trek, and Night Gallery. Strange combinaton, but then I cut my TV teeth on Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, Hitchcock Presents, and Perry Mason.

Sad to hear the passing but glad it was peaceful.

[Ship of Fools]

63. My first heart-throb...gone...RIP, Davey.

[napkinz]

65. Davy Jones on the Brady Bunch

&feature=related

[LiberalAndProud]

66. That's sad news.

(ref to previous response)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002364865#post5

[Honeycombe8]

68. Oh, no. He looked so healthy when I saw him in on TV not too long ago. 66 is so young.

How sad.

[Raine]

71. Another piece of my childhood gone, he was way too young

R-I-P Davy

[undeterred]

72. AW, he was my favorite... singing "shades of gray"

Or pretending he was singing. Whatever, he was cute.

[sarcasmo]

73. Here we come, walking down the street.

[BootinUp]

76. Wow, thats too young to go, I always

liked Davey. RIP man.

[Catherina]

78. Oh no :(

Thank you Davey. You were my first love. Thanks for making my childhood brighter. Faretheewell.

[napkinz]

82. the second version was from the Brady Bunch Movie (the parody)

nt

[MrMickeysMom]

79. I'll miss you, Davey Jones...

And, always hear your voice singing "Daydream Believer"... RIP.