Along with The Banana Splits and various old black and white US TV series like Flash Gordon Saturday mornings when I was a kid were about The Monkees.
They were funny, got involved in all sorts of japes (yes, we had japes back then) and had great songs too.
Originally conceived as a US TV programme about a pop group, riding on the wave of Beatlemania, they started having massive hits before the show had even aired and became one of the most successful pop acts of the late sixties.
A couple of years ago my family got me The Definitive Monkees CD for my birthday and it has been a favourite car CD ever since. (There aren't many that we all like!)
Every time I listen to them it makes me feel happy.
I was therefore saddened to hear that Davy Jones* has passed away.
This was their first single and a US number one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUZeZ1e441A&feature=related
This is one of my favourite Monkees tracks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y08ingivLdQ&feature=related
And this is one of their early classics, written by Neil Diamond, whose own take on it is also very good, and later covered by Vic Reeves:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfuBREMXxts
Serious fans would point out that these were all tracks written for them as part of the TV series on which they didn't play. They went on to write and record in their own right and were a pretty talented bunch.
*David Bowie changed his name from Jones because of this.
