The Original

Like most people, I was saddened to learn that Davy Jones, one of the Monkees, passed away this week at the age of 66. I've always felt the Monkees got kind of a raw deal, historically. Yes, they were born out of a casting call to be America's version of the Beatles, but that doesn't mean the music they made was any more or less catchy or that they weren't real musicians. A lot of people didn't know this (including me until about two days ago), but Jones was a Tony-nominated actor when he joined the Monkees. That just goes to show you, the issue of being taken seriously as a musician when you come out of a TV show has been a problem for a lot longer than we seem to think. And believe me when I tell you that when it comes to pop music, there have been plenty of acts which were created out of the minds of some TV executive, were a lot more manufactured than the Monkees and most of them didn't have nearly the musical chops that the Monkees did, they just hid their origins better. Frankly, as long as the music is good, who cares where a musical act comes from?

Also, I feel like the Monkees get over-looked for how much they influenced musical. All you teeny-bopper girls out there should remember that bands like New Kids On The Block, N*Sync, Backsteet Boys and 98 Degrees never come into existence without the Monkees breaking the mold. Not to mention all the singing shows we have now, which are the direct result of the Monkees showing that Americans were willing to accept musicians they meet through their TVs. (Please note, since I can't stand any of the things I just listed that I never said they were a good influence.) I'm also not trying to say that the Monkees were one of the greatest bands of all time, far from it, I just think history shouldn't judge them as harshly as it has. Put in that position most musicians would have taken the same opportunity. Anyway, I'm sure you can guess who the song is from this week. (Jees, if this trend keeps up we're going to have to rename this segment the "Dead Musician Of The Week.") Normally I would be against picking a group's biggest hit for the Musical Interlude, but I wanted to make sure I picked a song with Jones doing the vocals.

[Sidebar: Holy crap, they used to spend zero money on music videos. I feel like this was one take and took exactly as long to film as the song lasted. Seriously, if this was the best they could do for the band which was created specifically for television I shudder at what the other bands' music videos must have looked like.]