This blog is primarily about language, but words take on a special power when they’re combined with music. So I’d like to dedicate this and the next post to two singers who died this week and who both meant a lot to me at different stages of my life.
The first is Davy Jones, an actor/musician who gained international fame through The Monkees.
I was about 12-13 when The Monkees were “manufactured” as an American response to The Beatles. I was B-E-S-O-T-T-E-D with them, the burning question being whether Micky Dolenz or Davy Jones was the hottest (we didn’t use “hottest”, of course, but I can’t for the life of me remember what we did say).
To this day, their songs resonate with me in a way that the Beatles’ never did and never could. They still make me pause and smile, every time I hear them. Here they are, singing “Pleasant Valley Sunday”. Enjoy the song and check out the outfits. Groovy.
The next song I’m featuring isn’t by The Monkees but by one of their members, Mike Nesmith, much later on. So a slight tangent. Here he is, singing the lovely “Joanne”. I hope you enjoy it.
By Marian Dougan