I’m a Believer, by Martha Thomases – Brilliant Disguise

Davy Jones was not my favorite Monkee. My affections wandered, but I loved Mickey Dolenz the best because he was The Funny One. I also liked Peter Tork’s sweet face, and Mike Nesmith’s smarts.

So Davy was not my favorite. Still, I liked him a lot. Like so many of us who were young teens in 1966, I adored The Monkees and The Monkees.

Not that I was a teeny-bopper. Oh, no! I was a deep and sensitive soul, with a record collection that included Simon & Garfunkle, Leonard Cohen, and, well, Herman’s Hermits. Guess which one of those was the first act I saw live?

Jones’ death feels very much like another nail in the coffin of my youth and, like so many Baby Boomers, I intend to make a big deal out of it. People die all the time; this isn’t the first untimely death of a pop star. Still, if you don’t count accidents (Buddy Holly, Ricky Nelson)’ stupid drug deaths (Janis, Jimi, Morrison, Cobain) and plain old rotten luck (Joey Ramone), this is an early marker. We are starting to die of natural causes.

At the time, the accusation against The Monkees was that they were a marketing stunt, not a real band. They didn’t write their own songs. In hindsight, this is ridiculous. They were actors cast in a television shows about a band. They were under no more obligation to be a real band than the cast of Star Trek had to be the crew of a real space ship. Still, at the time, they were considered inauthentic.

How I loved them!

They were cute (they had hair and makeup people and also wardrobe). They were funny (they had writers). They weren’t mean to me (they were on television, filmed in Los Angeles, not Ohio). In short, they were an excellent way for a young girl to take another step towards romantic relationships. Maybe they would never notice me, but I had a much better chance with then than with Dick Grayson. At least The Monkees were non-fiction.

Several years ago, I worked at an event attended by Mickey Dolenz. Unlike so many people who have been famous and think they still are, he had absolutely no attitude. When I took him to his seat, I was tongue-tied (hard to imagine, I know), but he graciously pretended not to notice. A few days later, I had to call him to follow-up on some bit of business, and he was completely charming, if a touch disappointing in the political opinion he expressed.

Around the same time, I had to call David McCallum for the same story (although he had not been at the event- I would have had a heart attack). “I hate to tell you how awe-struck I am,” I told him (for those of you who only know him from NCIS, he was Ilya Kuryakin of the Man from U.N,C.L.E., generally considered to be the cute one).

“Be careful,” he said. “You’ll give away your age.”

Since I rarely wear make-up, don’t dye my hair and certainly haven’t had any cosmetic surgery, I think that secret got out a long time ago. Still, as long as there is video, my thirteen year old self will still be around.

Thanks, Davy. You made my life so much easier, just when it was toughest.