I was a bit too young to fully appreciate, hell, even watch The Monkees in their heyday. I was born less than a year before their televsion debut and they were off the air about the time I was fully potty trained.

Although, living in a house filled with a love of television and music I most likely heard and danced to the Monkees as much as I did The Beatles. I can clearly remember watching The Beatles cartoon and singing along. Heck, I even had a moptop haircut, told my Mom I wanted to be Ringo and got my first drum set and LP (Let It Be) for Christmas when I was five. The influence of The Monkees has been around my life for a very long time.

That influence grew and I greatly enjoyed the re-airing of The Monkees on MTV in the mid-80’s. In the past decade I have grown to appreciate The Monkees even more through the eyes of my second wife, Pam. She is a HUGE Monkees fan and I’ve given a few Monkees memoriabilia to her as gifts over the years. We even went to see Davy Jones perform a few years ago and we both are so glad we did. He was quite an entertainer and we enjoyed that day very much.

It makes today a very sad day in our household. In tribute, I’d like to share my favorite Monkees tune with you. It’s the closest to hard rock they ever got and would make a great metal cover tune!

I’ve also included a link to The Monkees biography and a great video tribute.

Thanks for the joy you shared with us all Mr. Jones. Your smile and infectious enthusiasm for life will be greatly missed in this home and around the world.

THE MONKEES: (I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone [Single Version]

http://music.yahoo.com/monkees/biography/

Published by rbtaleman

Heavy metal (fiend/friend?) Writer, frustrat(or), frustrat(ee), decorated U.S. Navy veteran, Husband(twice), father(three times), grandfather(of seven), FM radio veteran, Concertgoer, music collector, muscle car aficianado. Grown up since five. Child since 45. View all posts by rbtaleman