Davy Jones

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Biography

David Thomas " Davy " Jones (30 December 1945 – 29 February 2012) was an English recording artist and actor, best known as a member of The Monkees .

Early life

Davy Jones was born at 20 Leamington Street, Openshaw , Manchester, England, on 30 December 1945. At age 11, he began his acting career, appearing on the British television soap opera Coronation Street , which was produced at Granada Studios by Granada Television in Manchester. In 1961 Jones played Ena Sharples ' grandson, Colin Lomax , the second year Coronation Street was broadcast. He also appeared in the BBC police series Z-Cars . After the death of his mother from emphysema when he was 14 years old, Jones rejected acting in favour of a career as a jockey, apprenticing with Newmarket trainer Basil Foster. He dropped out of high school to begin his career in that field.
Pages 68-72, 75. This career was short-lived however, as though Foster believed Jones would be successful as a jockey, he encouraged his young protégé to take a role as the Artful Dodger a production of Oliver! in West End of London|London's West End , a move which consequently changed the course of Jones' life forever. In turn, Jones cared for Foster in his later years, bringing him to the United States and providing financial support for his mentor.

Early acting and recording career

Foster was approached by a friend who worked in a theatre in the West End of London during casting for the musical Oliver! . Foster replied, "I've got the kid." Jones was cast and appeared to great acclaim as the Artful Dodger . He played the role in London and then on Broadway and was nominated for a Tony Award . On 9& nbsp;February 1964, he appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show with Georgia Brown (English singer)|Georgia Brown who was playing Nancy in the Broadway production of Oliver! . This was the same episode of the show in which The Beatles made their first appearance. Jones said of that night, "I watched the Beatles from the side of the stage, I saw the girls going crazy, and I said to myself, this is it, I want a piece of that."

Following his Ed Sullivan appearance, Jones signed a contract with Ward Sylvester of Screen Gems (then the television division of Columbia Pictures ). A pair of American television appearances followed, as Jones received screen time in episodes of Ben Casey and '' The Farmer's Daughter (TV series)|The Farmer's Daughter .

Jones debuted on the Hot 100 in the week of 14 August 1965, with the single "What Are We Going To Do? " The 19 year old singer was signed to Colpix Records , a label owned by Columbia. His debut album David Jones , on the same label, followed soon after (CP493). On 1967 the album was issued in the UK, in mono only, on the Pye Records label (NPL 18178).

The Monkees

From 1966 to 1971, Jones was a member of The Monkees, a pop-rock group formed expressly for a television show of the same name. With Screen Gems producing the series, Jones was shortlisted for auditions, as he was the only Monkee who was signed to a deal with the studio, but still had to meet producers Bob Rafelson 's and Bert Schneider 's standards. Jones sang lead vocals on many of the Monkees' recordings, including " I Wanna Be Free (The Monkees song)|I Wanna Be Free " and " Daydream Believer ".

The NBC television series The Monkees was popular, and remained so in syndication. After the band disbanded in 1971, Jones reunited with Micky Dolenz as well as Monkees songwriters Boyce and Hart|Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart in 1974 as a short-lived group called Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart .

A Monkees television show marathon (" Pleasant Valley Sunday ") broadcast on 23 February 1986 by MTV resulted in a wave of Monkeemania not seen since the group's heyday. Jones reunited with Dolenz and Peter Tork from 1986 to 1989 to celebrate the band's renewed success and promote the 20th anniversary of the group. A new top 20 hit, "That Was Then, This Is Now" was released (though Jones did not perform on the song) as well as an album, Pool It! .

Monkees activity ceased until 1996 when Jones reunited with Dolenz, Tork, and reluctant member Michael Nesmith to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band. The group released a new album entitled Justus (album)|Justus , the first album since 1967's Headquarters (album)|Headquarters that featured the band members performing all instrumental duties. It was the last time all four Monkees performed together.

In February 2011, Jones confirmed rumours of another Monkees reunion. "There's even talk of putting the Monkees back together again in the next year or so for a U.S. and UK tour," he told Disney's Backstage Pass newsletter. "You're always hearing all those great songs on the radio, in commercials, movies, almost everywhere." The tour (Jones's last) came to fruition entitled, An Evening with The Monkees: The 45th Anniversary Tour .

Post-Monkees career

In 1967, Jones opened his first store, called Zilch, at 217 Thompson Street in the Greenwich Village section of New York City . The store sold "hip" clothing and accessories and also allowed customers to design their own clothes.
After the Monkees officially disbanded in 1971, Jones kept himself busy by establishing a New York City-style street market in Los Angeles called "The Street," which cost him approximately $40,000. He also collaborated with musical director Doug Trevor on a one-hour ABC television special entitled ‘’Pop Goes Davy Jones’’, which featured new artists The Jackson Five and The Osmonds .

Despite his initial high profile after the end of the Monkees, Jones struggled to establish himself as a solo artist. Glenn A. Baker , author of Monkeemania: The True Story of the Monkees , commented in 1986 that "for an artist as versatile and confident as Jones, the relative failure of his post-Monkees activities is puzzling. For all his cocky predictions to the press about his future plans, Davy fell into a directionless heap when left to his own devices."

In 2009, Jones made a cameo appearance as himself in the SpongeBob SquarePants episode " SpongeBob vs. The Big One " (his appearance was meant to be a pun on Davy Jones' Locker ). Other appearances include Sledge Hammer! , Boy Meets World , Hey Arnold! , The Single Guy (where he is mistaken for Dudley Moore ), and Sabrina the Teenage Witch in which he sang " Daydream Believer " to Sabrina ( Melissa Joan Hart ). The continued popularity of his 1971 Brady Bunch appearance led to his being cast as himself in The Brady Bunch Movie . Jones sang his signature solo hit "Girl", with a grunge band providing backing, this time with middle-aged women swooning over him. Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork also appeared alongside Jones as judges.

Jones also returned to theater several times after the Monkees. He appeared in several productions of Oliver! as Fagin, and also co-starred with Micky Dolenz in Harry Nilsson 's play The Point at the Mermaid Theatre in London in 1978.

In 2001, Jones released Just Me , an album of his own songs, some written for the album and others originally on Monkees releases. In the early 2000s he was performing in the Flower Power Concert Series during Epcot 's Flower and Garden Festival, a yearly gig he would continue until his death.

In April 2006, Jones recorded the single "Your Personal Penguin", written by children's author Sandra Boynton , as a companion piece to her new board book of the same title. On 1 November 2007, the Boynton book and CD titled Blue Moo was released and Jones is featured in both the book and CD, singing "Your Personal Penguin". As a result of the collaboration, Jones became a close friend of Boynton.

In December 2008, Yahoo& #33; Music named Jones the "Number 1 teen idol of all time". In 2009, Jones was rated second in a list of 10& nbsp;best teen idols compiled by Fox News .

In 2009, Jones released a collection of classics and standards from the 1940s through the 1970s entitled She .

Personal life

Family life

Jones was married three times. In January 1968 he secretly married Linda Haines. Their marriage was kept out of the public eye for nearly 18 months, and when made public, in June 1969, caused a considerable backlash for Jones from fans accusing him of deception. Jones later stated, in Tiger Beat magazine, "I kept my marriage a secret because I believe stars should be allowed a private life." Jones and Haines had two daughters: Talia Elizabeth (born 2 October 1968) and Sarah Lee (born 3 July 1971). The marriage ended in 1975.

Jones married his second wife, Anita Pollinger, on 24 January 1981, and also had two daughters with her: Jessica Lillian (born 4 September 1981) and Annabel Charlotte (born 26 June 1988). They divorced in 1996, during the Monkees’ 30th Anniversary reunion tour.
Jones married for a third time, on 30 August 2009, to Jessica Pacheco, a Telemundo television presenter. The two remained married until his death.

Horse racing

In addition to his career as an entertainer, Jones' other first love was horses. Training as a jockey in his teens, Jones later said "I made one huge mistake. When The Monkees finished in 1969–70, I should have got away from Hollywood and got back into the racing game. Instead I waited another 10 years. Everyone makes mistakes in life and for me that was the biggest." He held an amateur rider's licence and rode in his first race at Newbury Racecourse|Newbury for trainer Toby Balding .

On 1 February 1996, he won his first race, on Digpast, in the one-mile Ontario Amateur Riders Handicap at Lingfield Park Racecourse|Lingfield . Jones also had horse ownership interests in both the U.S. and the U.K., and served as a commercial spokesman for Colonial Downs racetrack in Virginia. In tribute to Jones, Lingfield Park announced that the first two races on the Racecard|card for 3 March 2012 would be renamed the "Hey Hey We're The Monkees Handicap" and the "In Memory of Davy Jones Selling Stakes" with successful horses in those races accompanied into the Winners' Enclosure by some of The Monkees' biggest hits. Plans were also announced to erect a Commemorative plaque|plaque to commemorate Jones next to a Araucaria araucana|Monkey Puzzle tree on the course.

Death

On the morning of 29 February 2012, Jones was found seated in his car complaining of chest pains and having difficulty breathing. He was rushed to Martin Memorial South Hospital in Stuart, Florida , where he was pronounced dead of a severe myocardial infarction|heart attack due to atherosclerosis .

Reaction

The news of Jones' death triggered a surge of Internet traffic, causing sales of The Monkees' music to increase dramatically. In a feature on Inside Edition , host Deborah Norville related that she was once president of a Monkees' fan club.
Guitarist Michael Nesmith stated that Jones's "spirit and soul live well in my heart among all the lovely people." In a March 8, 2012 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Nesmith stated "For me, David was The Monkees. They were his band. We were his side men." Bassist Peter Tork said, "Adios to the Manchester Cowboy", and speaking to CNN, drummer/singer Micky Dolenz said, "He was the brother I never had and this leaves a gigantic hole in my heart". BBC. Retrieved 1 March 2012 Dolenz claimed that he knew something bad was about to happen and said "Can't believe it.. Still in shock.. had bad dreams all night long." Dolenz was gratified by the public affection expressed for both Jones and the Monkees in the wake of his bandmate's death. "He was a very well-known and well-loved character and person. There are a lot of people who are grieving pretty hard. The Monkees obviously had a following, and so did (Jones) on his own. So I'm not surprised, but I was flattered and honored to be considered one of his friends and a cohort in Monkee business."

Monkees co-creator Bob Rafelson commented that Jones "deserves a lot of credit, let me tell you. He may not have lived as long as we wanted him to, but he survived about seven lifetimes, including being perhaps the biggest rock star of his time."

Brady Bunch co-star Maureen McCormick commented that "Davy was a beautiful soul." She says that he "spread love and goodness around the world. He filled our lives with happiness, music, and joy. He will live on in our hearts forever. May he rest in peace."

Yahoo& #33; Music commented that Jones's death "hit so many people so hard" because "Monkees nostalgia cuts across generations: from the people who discovered the band during their original 1960s run; to the kids who came of age watching 1970s reruns; to the twenty- and thirtysomethings who discovered the Monkees when MTV (a network that owes much to the Monkees' influence) began airing old episodes in 1986."

Time (magazine)|Time magazine contributor James Poniewozik praised the Monkees' classic sitcom, and Jones in particular, saying "even if the show never meant to be more than entertainment and a hit-single generator, we shouldn’t sell The Monkees short. It was far better television than it had to be; during an era of formulaic domestic sitcoms and wacky comedies, it was a stylistically ambitious show, with a distinctive visual style, absurdist sense of humour and unusual story structure. Whatever Jones and The Monkees were meant to be, they became creative artists in their own right, and Jones's chipper Brit-pop presence was a big reason they were able to produce work that was commercial, wholesome and yet impressively weird."

Mediaite columnist Paul Levinson noted that "The Monkees were the first example of something created in a medium& nbsp;– in this case, a rock group on television& nbsp;– that jumped off the screen to have big impact in the real world."

Funeral and memorials

On Wednesday, 7 March 2012, a private funeral service was held at Christian Cross|Holy Cross Catholic Church in Indiantown, Florida . The three surviving Monkees did not attend in order to not draw more attention to the grieving family. Instead, the group attend memorial services in New York, as well as organizing their own private memorial in Los Angeles along with with David's family and close friends. There was also a public memorial on 10 March in Beavertown, Snyder County, Pennsylvania|Beavertown, Pennsylvania near the church Jones had purchased and had intended to renovate.

Discography

Albums

Date	Label/ Catalogue #	Titles	Billboard Top Albums	Cashbox	Notes
1965
1967	David Jones
June 1971
January 1978
June 1981
March 1982

Singles

Date	Label/ Catalog #	Titles (A-side/ B-side)	Billboard Top Singles	Cashbox	Notes
February 1965
July 1965
1965
1967
May 1971
June 1971
October 1971
November 1971
January 1972
1972
1973
May 1978
May 1981
June 1981
March 1982
December 1984
1987

Books

They Made a Monkee Out of Me , autobiography (print book) by Davy Jones, Dome PR, 1987, ISBN-13: 978-0961861407.

They Made a Monkee Out of Me: Davy Jones Reads His Autobiography , (audiobook), Dove Entertainment Inc (November 1988).

Copyright Citations

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