About the author: Neko Chohlis is 22 years old. He’s a close friend of both Davy and Micky. In fact, he’s known Micky for over five years, and it was through Micky that Neko met Davy Jones. Neko and Davy spend many hours together each week. They manage to play pool together and also go to the beach as often as possible. In the coming issues of TIGER BEAT, Neko will be bringing you other stories about Davy.
Davy Jones once said to me, “The secret of success in my line of work is to make the audience feel that they are a part of the act. If you project this feeling well enough, you get their entire attention and you are able to entertain them because you know they will be listening.”
I’ve known Davy for a little over a year. He is one of my very best friends, and a real friend he is. There are a lot of different sides to Davy Jones, probably the most prominent is his consideration for others. I get the feeling sometimes that he looks out for others more than he is looking out for himself. Davy would do almost anything I would ask of him, within reason, of course.
Generous Permalink
He is extremely generous with his money because he looks at it this way: “I have the money now; if you had it you would do the same for me.” If he didn’t feel this way, he wouldn’t do half the things he does.
One night while leaving a restaurant in Hollywood where Davy had picked up the check from our table, he also picked up the tab from a table where two girls we knew were sitting. He had no particular reason for doing this, it was just something he felt like doing. This is the way he is sometimes. He is always taking Charlie Rockett, David Pearl and me away for the weekend. Sometimes we go to Palm Springs or Laguna Beach or just about anywhere he feels like going at the time. The Monkees recently went to Canada for a weekend concert and Davy took me along just because he wanted my company on the trip. I feel he really wants to share his fame and fortune with his friends—or even sometimes with people he doesn’t even know. He has told me before that if any time I need financial assistance I should come to him and he would do whatever he could to help. Dave likes people of all sorts. If you ever get to meet him you will find this is true.
Kindly deeds Permalink
Davy, besides being generous with his money, is also generous with himself. If he has a sick friend in the hospital, he might pay him a visit or, if this isn’t possible, would call him on the telephone. He recently took time off from work to visit someone in the hospital whom he had never met before. He had been told of this girl who was very ill and that she was one of his devoted fans. I believe his reasoning is that it never hurts you to be kind to all people. It is just as easy to be nice as it is not to be nice.
A little girl I know had just turned eight years old and Davy was her favorite Monkee. As a favor to me and another man I know, he called her on the telephone on her birthday. I don’t think she has ever come down from the cloud she was on. Then, a few weeks later, he invited the same little girl down to the set at the studio to watch them film the Monkee show. As a result, this eight year old girl will probably never forget Davy Jones because he has warmed her with his kindness and thoughtfulness of other people. It is too bad that he can’t do things like that for everyone. I know he would like to but time just doesn’t permit it.
He’s a star Permalink
One thing that really seems to bother Davy is the fact that people think that one night he went to bed, and woke up the next morning a star. There wasn’t any overnight fame, it took hard work for six long years. The thing that kept him going was a strong will to work and he worked hard. You have to set a goal within yourself which you must achieve in order to become a success. When you reach this goal in life you have not only become successful in the eyes of other people but also in your own eyes. If you work hard at what you like to do best and have a will and determination, you will succeed. If you think positively, postive [sic] things happen. This is the way I believe Davy thinks.
Another thing that seems to bother Davy is the fact that people sometimes forget he is only human and has very little time of his own in which he can relax. You and I have much more time we can call our own than does a person like Davy Jones. He works ten to twelve hours a day filming the Monkee show at the studio. Then there are the recording sessions that often go into late at night. When there is time, there are the concerts throughout the United States.
Fans and autographs Permalink
We often don’t realize what real freedom we have. We can walk down a street and probably only see a few people we know. If Davy walks down a street, he can’t go ten feet without someone asking for his autograph. It’s not as if he doesn’t like giving autographs, it’s just that sometimes he would like to walk peacefully down a street without stopping to sign his name or talking to some of his fans. Usually when this situation arises, because he is the kind of person he is, he stops anyway and gives his autograph and talks to people and the same thing happens over and over wherever he goes. It is a pity that people won’t leave him alone once in a while. There will probably be a time when he won’t even be able to leave his house. Then you will only be able to see him on television or playing a concert. If you could place yourself in Davy’s position for just a moment, you would be able to see what a person goes through being a star. The very little freedom a star really has.
Rich and famous Permalink
I am sure a lot of you have asked yourself if Davy has changed since he became famous. Actually we all change from day to day and therefore we really don’t notice that we ourselves have changed. We all have basic standards by which we live. If we become rich and famous this will not change the basic patterns we have set for ourselves to live by. Davy is still basically the same, and the only really big change is that now he is rich and famous. He still likes people as most of us do, he still has the same friends, so that nothing has really changed. Davy doesn’t feel that just because he is a big star now he has to forget all of his old friends or that he has to be thoughtless with people. He wants to be liked by all people just as you and I would like to be. Sometimes we can be liked and sometimes people don’t give us a chance to be liked. If you met Davy walking down the street and you said “hello” and he did likewise but didn’t stop to chat, would you say he was conceited because he didn’t stop and talk to you? We all say hello to people every day but how many times do you ever stop to talk to them or they to you? You don’t condemn people for not stopping to talk to you. So, why should any of you condemn a person you don’t even know just because he is a celebrity?
Davy, to me, is one of the greatest persons I’ll ever meet. I wish all of you could know him as I do and as other people know him. We all know this isn’t possible because there are hundreds of thousands of fans but there is only one Davy Jones.
I’ll end with a saying I once heard that sums up Davy’s thinking: “Be nice to people you meet on your way up because there is a chance you could meet them again on your way back down”.
