Remembering Davy Jones

It’s been four years exactly since Davy Jones passed away. It’s an easy date to remember, since it was Leap Day, Feb. 29, 2012.

Davy wasn’t my favorite Monkee, as his ballads could be somewhat schmaltzy. But he was always friendly and good to the fans. Even when someone tried to catch him off guard with a bit of playful teasing (referencing an old embarrassing photo or an obscure song of his that flopped), Davy remained unflappable, willing to go along with the gag, and even share historical insights into that photo or sing the words to the obscure song verbatim.

That’s the Davy I admire, and the Davy I’ll remember.

(BTW, how strange is it that David Bowie — whose real last name was Jones, but who had to adopt a stage name to avoid confusion — died in the very next leap year?)

Here’s Davy’s most famous song, “Daydream Believer.” It was written by John Stewart of the Kingston Trio, his only contribution to the group.

The music video for this is one of several recorded during the summer of 1967 at a studio in Chicago, on a brightly colored set informally dubbed “the Rainbow Room.” (“Pleasant Valley Sunday” was among the other music videos recorded here.)

I love watching the guys clown around in this one, acknowledging that they’re performing to a prerecorded track by goofing off so much that they frequently aren’t playing their instruments.

Thanks for the fun memories, Davy!

‪#‎Monkees50th‬