I now have in my possession the first season DVD Box set of THE MONKEES!!!!!
Lisa & I stayed up late last night watching their Kellogg’s Rice Krispy commercials and the pilot episode in which Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart sang the songs. Sitting there, I was transported back to that Spring day in 1986 when MTV reran the Monkees episodes back to back for 24 hours. I remember I had just finished watching an episode of Tales from the Darkside that I taped on my Betamax player. As the tape reround, I clicked through the TV channels landing on MTV. The vision of DAVY JONES filled the screen and I was instantly smitten. At that moment, I ran into my father’s office, locked the door and tuned his tiny little Sony TV set to MTV and that is where I stayed, all night long. About midway through the marathon, once I was able to keep the fellows straight (Mike wears the green hat, Peter is the dumb one, Davy is dreamy and Micky is silly) I made the decision that although Davy was my favorite, our relationship would never work out mainly because he is 5 foot 3 and at 12 years old, I was very nearly 6 feet in height. My new love would be Micky Dolenz– someone I could look in the eye! Strangely, the thought that these men had grown up and on never once entered my pre-teen mind. Obviously I was a practical girl, just not very realistic. For the next couple years my life revolved around taping every episode and watching it 100 times. I owned every record or cassette tape I could get my hands on and at night as I laid in bed, I dreamt that Micky would come into my bedroom, stand at the foot of my bed and sing “I’m a Believer” just for ME! I don’t know at what point but eventually my love of the Monkees diffused. I still loved them, of course, but the passion wasn’t there anymore. Then a few years ago, when I turned 26, I realized I was now older than the Monkees were in their heyday. I felt so old. What happened to me? The Monkees were no longer in my life and I missed them. Soon after, they seeped back into my heart and their songs once again became the soundtrack of my life. My love of the Monkees was reborn… just without the overt fanaticism.