Davy Jones
1945-2012 |
Ricky Nelson was the first Teen Idol launched by a TV show. His Dance Party is here. |
I will go out on a limb, though, and suggest that Davy Jones was the first superstar Teen Idol ("Superteen Idol"?).
After his death earlier this week (at the shockingly young age of 66), several media outlets displayed polls which put Jones at the top of a list of All-Time Teen Idols. Again, I wouldn't quibble with that, as I remember the frenzy which greeted his arrival in the national consciousness in 1966.
Jones was the first of the four guys to be cast as a Monkee, primarily due to his being under contract to the studio producing the show. But he came by his celebrity honestly, I think, as he had legitimate performance credentials before ever being cast in the TV sitcom which made his career.
Davy spent some time on Brit soap Coronation Street. |
Jones won a Tony nomination as Oliver's Artful Dodger. |
(Coincidentally, while appearing on Broadway, Davy and his castmates from Oliver! performed a medley of songs on The Ed Sullivan Show, you can see that grainy clip here. The date was February 9, 1964, and was also the first appearance of The Beatles on American television. Davy watched the crowd go wild for the Fab Four, and thought, "I want some of that.")
Vivienne Martin played Nancy to Davy's Dodger. They were both replacements in the long-running Oliver in London. Davy went to Broadway, playing opposite Georgia Brown, who became the iconic Nancy. |
Their first album spent 13 weeks at #1. |
In their later years, reunion tours disolved into egotistical bickering. |
The Monkees never recorded a Christmas Album. This is a compilation of holiday tunes sung by members of the group at various times in their careers. |
I remember watching The Monkees during its initial two-year run, and everybody at school had their favorite Monkee.
Davy always had a vaudevillian vibe about him. |
In 1967, The Monkees won the Emmy as Best Comedy Series, beating leading contenders Bewitched and Get Smart. |
The reunion tours always fell apart. Davy and Mickey formed their own tour, with Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, who wrote several Monkees hits. |
Davy, Mickey, Peter, and Mike. Their onscreen chemistry was undeniable and infectious. |