My Life with The Monkees (Part 2)

By David Price

Exclusive: Here’s your very own report on the intimate lives of your faves by their closest friend and constant companion.

About the author: David Price is Davy Jones’ personal stand-in. He works with the Monkees every day on the Screen Gems’ set, and he travels with them when they go on tour, taking charge of their equipment. David’s 22-years-old and loves his work. Who wouldn’t! He’ll be keeping TiGER BEAT readers tuned in to all the private activities of the Monkees.

Wow, did we (me and the Monkees) have a wild weekend! We did everything from shooting tin cans to watching Micky Skate through the lobby of our hotel!!! But let me start at the beginning of our amazing weekend…

I arrived in Phoenix on a Friday morning. Just as I got to the hotel where we were staying, Mike pounced on me, shoved me into a car and said, “Come on, we’re gonna go shoot tin cans this afternoon.” The camera crew from the TV show came along (Davy had invited them to come on the tour). We stopped first at a shopping center where Mike bought two rifles and a pistol. Then we hopped into a jeep and went about ten miles out of Phoenix, found this giant garbage dump and started shooting.

Davy scratched Permalink

Meanwhile Davy and Micky went horseback riding. When they came back, was Davy a mess! He never did admit that he’d fallen off the horse, but he sure was dirty and scratched up!

Micky spent the rest of the day roller skating through the hotel. Yes, I said roller skating. You see, one day a few weeks ago, he appeared at the studio on skates and he’s hardly taken them off since! While we were in Phoenix, he skated around the pool (and narrowly avoided falling in!) and signed autographs until dinner time.

After Davy had washed up, he ran around outside the hotel (really it was more like a motel, out in the open) and invited the girls who got through the tight security to have a Coke with him.

Micky the farm expert Permalink

After supper, we went to the local radio station KRUX and the Monkees took over one of the disc jockey’s shows for two hours. They did the whole show—they chose the records (mostly Beatles) and just tied up the dj and threw him (gently) on the floor!

Mike and Micky did their hilarious Farm Report. It’s this weird routine that Mike’s been doing as long as I’ve known him. He sits there and recites this long list of unbelievably boring food prices. Then he says, “Now for our letters to our farm expert.”

That’s Micky—Mike reads these ridiculous questions like “What can I do about my chickens? They just walk around listless and sit in their nests and don’t do anything.” Then Micky will say, “Well, Mrs. Pumpernickel, your chickens are dead.”

Fans interviewed Permalink

Then they interviewed the fans that had come to the station to see them. Micky loved the whole thing—secretly he wants to be a disc jockey!

About nine o’clock we all went back to the hotel. Davy invited about 30 or 40 fans into his suite to have Cokes.

After everyone had something to drink, he walked around introducing himself to each one and had them introducing themselves to each other, until the whole room was ringing with, “Hello, I’m… who are you?”

Peter spent the day with a boy who played banjo. He was one of the first fans to get into the hotel and he and Peter just sat and traded ideas and all.

Micky speechless Permalink

In between entertaining fans, Davy drove outside Phoenix to look at this famous architect’s home. He talked with him for a long time and met the apprentice architects that study there. Micky went out Saturday morning and came back speechless—he was really impressed!

At 10:30 everyone went to bed. We did want to go out on the town, but security was such a problem that we had to forget it (but we made up for it in San Francisco!)

Saturday was spent getting ready for the concert. The boys slept late, which means they had about eight hours sleep instead of two or three. After noon, they went to check out the stage, to make sure that all the equipment was there and working—they always do that.

Davy scratched again Permalink

Peter played his banjo until it was time to leave. Davy borrowed a motorcycle and came back dirty and scratched, just like he did after the horseback riding. The security officer who had to go with him was a bit dirty and mad, too!

All the boys were worried about the Phoenix and San Francisco concerts—they were the biggest yet and were complete sell-outs. The hour before the concert, they spent phoning people and thanking them.

The concert was fantastic, which is getting to be the usual procedure! Davy’s numbers were the most popular. Mike was glad to see that his “Sweet Young Thing” was a big success. A lot more fans fainted, if that means anything! All in all, they were very pleased cause they had met so many of their fans and got to perform for even more!

New game Permalink

After the concert we flew to San Francisco, where again we had a whole floor of rooms. The boys invented a new game—I think Micky calls it War. Anyway, you pretend that each door as you walk down the hall is guarded by enemies and you have to either shoot them first or crawl underneath to avoid getting shot yourself! He and Davy spent hours playing it.

Mike disappeared the minute we arrived. We didn’t see him until we went to the famous night club, Basin Street West. He was leaving just as we went in!

Davy the crew and their wives that he had invited along to dinner and to the club to see Jefferson Airplane. Well, he wanted to see the Airplane, though most of the crew was more interested in Dizzy Gillespie! After the last show, the two groups had a jam session. It was a mind-blower!

Meeting fans Permalink

Earlier when we got to the hotel there were so many fans, we just ordered about a million cases of soft drinks and invited them all up. The boys had a great time meeting them—they always do. It’s one of their favorite parts of the business.

The next morning, after not too many hours of sleep, we tried to go to the Cow Palace to check out the equipment and the stage, but there were too many fans there. The Cow Palace people were already letting them in, so the boys had to duck down to avoid getting mobbed, cause we were in the only limousine—who else would be arriving in one?

Micky dropped by the radio station that was sponsoring the show, KFRC, claiming that he didn’t have a ticket to get into the concert! When they finally found him one, we left for the concert, which was another fabulous sell-out. There were over 15,000 fans there! Except for there being so many more fans, the concert was just like all the rest—great. Everything went smoothly and we flew home directly from the show. Back to Hollywood for a few hours’ rest and then back into the TV studio to shoot more Monkee business for you!