Davy Jones
I never watched The Monkees but knew that Davy Jones was the cute little one. I knew that Micky was the drummer. Then there were two other ones. I really came to know who Davy Jones was when he was a guest star on The Brady Bunch.
Davy Jones was long gone from the teen scene by the time I started buying teen magazines. I do remember him very clearly though from an episode of The Brady Bunch. Marcia, being her stupid self, promised the kids at her high school that Davy would sing at their prom. Of course, everything worked out perfectly in Brady land and Davy did sing. Girl, look what you’ve done to me. Me, and my whole world.
The Beginning
David Thomas Jones was born on December 30, 1945 in Manchester, England. His mom died when he was quite young and dad sent him off to be trained as a jockey. He appeared on British soap operas when he was just 11 years old, playing Ena Sharples grandson on Coronation Street. He was in the musical Oliver which appeared in London and on Broadway. Davy was actually on the same Ed Sullivan show as The Beatles on February 9, 1964. He was appearing with the cast of Oliver and got to watch The Beatles from the side of the stage. When he saw all of the girls going crazy, he decided he wanted to do that too. Smart little guy.
Davy was a Monkee from 1965 to 1971. He became a teen idol and a heartthrob and started appearing on the cover of Tiger Beat, Flip, Fave, and 16 magazines. His height is listed as 5’3″ which may have added to his cuteness and appeal to the young girls. Girls went crazy for his cute little boy face and body.
#1 Teen Idol
Yahoo Music named Davy the #1 teen idol of all time in December 2008. I think he’s in the top ten but definitely not #1. What about David Cassidy? Donny Osmond? What about Bobby Sherman? What about Leif Garrett? Shaun Cassidy? I guess it all depends on who wrote the article. I would think Donny or David would be number one, but that’s just my opinion. And it’s not a biased opinion as I wasn’t ever a David or Donny fan.
FYI, another singer by the name of David Jones had to change his name to avoid being confused with Davy baby. That singer? David Bowie.
Sadly, Davy Jones died of a heart attack on February 29, 2012. He had taken one of his favorite horses out to ride when he suffered chest pains. He was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. Jones had been married three times and had four daughters. He was 66 at the time of his death and was the first Monkee to die. I remember how sad people were and how the internet exploded. He seemed like a really cool dude. And he was fun size. Check out my Davy items in my eBay store.