MONKEE MEMORIES
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| Davy Jones dances on stage at the Zinzinnati Oktoberfest in 2000. |
He
was “the cute Monkee.”
In
the mid-1960s, any self-respecting young girl knew Davy Jones was the cute one.
Michael was the serious one, Mickey was the funny one and Peter was the shy
one.
When
the Monkees TV show premiered on Sept. 12, 1966, I was 9 years old and in the
fourth grade at Holy Innocents Grade School. I read an article a few years ago
about the marketing of the Monkees. Their prime target audience? Fourth grade
girls. Guess what? It worked.
While
the TV show seems pretty tame by today’s standards, back in the ‘60s it was
considered fairly outrageous. The wild camera angles and pioneering camera
techniques, strange guest characters, music videos and the oh-so-cool
Monkeemobile were like nothing else on TV. I was hooked, much to the disgust of
my very old fashioned, polka music-loving German father.
I
collected Monkee cards but I never completed the set. I was jealous of a friend
who had a green knit cap like Michael. I thought their apartment was just the
coolest place ever. And I loved their music. At a friend’s birthday, we played
the Monkees “Headquarters” album over and over and over … and never got tired
of it.
And
while I liked all four of the Monkees, it was Davy who made my 9-year-old heart
go pitter-patter. That hair. Those eyes. That British accent.
Sigh…
In
2000, I lived in Dayton, Ohio. Just an hour south in Cincinnati, they have what
is billed as the largest Oktoberfest celebration outside of Munich. So for a
few days the city is known as Zinzinnati, while six downtown blocks are closed
to traffic to accommodate the crowds.
Of
course, it wouldn’t be a proper Oktoberfest without a Chicken Dance, and to
really step it up a notch, Zinzinnati brings in a celebrity to help lead the
crowd in shaking their tail feathers. And as luck would have it, in 2000, that
celebrity was none other than Davy Jones. Davy Jones!!
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| Davy Jones at Oktoberfest in 2000. |
My
husband and kids weren’t quite as enthusiastic. In fact, they were as
unenthusiastic as they could possibly be. Clearly, I had not done my job in
educating my children on music. And my husband…well, he only liked two kinds of
music. Country AND Western.
But
I wasn’t going to let that stop me. If they weren’t excited about seeing Davy,
I had enough enthusiasm for all of them. I was NOT missing this opportunity. So
when we got to Oktoberfest, I took off with my camera and worked my way toward
the stage.
And
that’s how I ended up with a bunch of other 40-something-year-old women,
dancing and swaying, smiling from ear to ear, and screaming “Davy!!” In my
heart, I was 9 years old again, glued to my seat in front of the TV and
daydream believin’ that one day I’d be Mrs. Davy Jones.
On
the drive back to Dayton, my kids were extremely amused and embarrassed all at
the same time about my obsession with Davy. They just couldn’t understand why
their mother would care one bit about the “old guy” doing the Chicken Dance.
“Just
you wait!” I told them. “In about 20 or 30 years you’re gonna go see someone
you like now, and you’ll be just as excited as I was today!”
They assured me that couldn't possibly happen, but I know better. You never forget your first crush. Their hair. Their eyes. That British accent.
Sigh…
NOTE: If you go to this link, http://yfrog.com/oclsgfbj, you can see me in the crowd. Look below the microphone and you'll see a tall redhead with sunglasses. That's me!
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