Exclusive!
A new TiGER BEAT monthly column from us to you… by Davy, Peter, Mike, & Micky
Each month in TiGER BEAT the Monkees tell all about themselves and their lives… in their own words!
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Davy talking Permalink
My first trip to Paris was a total groove! We didn’t work the first two days we were in France so I spent all that time just walking around, and it was so great. The Monkees aren’t known in France because they don’t have the series on TV so I got to walk around and do anything I liked, any time of the day or night.
David Price and I went walking that first night. We went to the Arc de Triumphe and the Eiffel Tower and we ate at a few sidewalk cafes. The night was warm, the stars were out overhead, the river was rushing in the background—it was Paris in the spring. What more can I say?
The next day I didn’t get up till two in the afternoon, and I was the first one up! We were all pretty tired from doing so much walking the night before, and I had been tired before I even got on the plane.
The night before we took off I’d been producing a recording session for my own record company and it had lasted until 3:00 a.m. Then I had to go home and get everything packed for a whole summer away from home we’d be on tour all that time. So I was pretty beat, but it didn’t keep me from digging Paris that first night!
The next day (night?), we went out again. It was the same tourist scene all over again.
I never did get to like French food, and most of the other guys didn’t either, all except Peter. He liked the bread, but for everything else we just sort of missed good ol’ American food. I’ve gotten so used to American food now that I miss it more than English food!
Monday dawned and we had to get to work, and after that I’m afraid we didn’t get to see much of Paris. We only had three days there. England was the next stop!
Tiger Beat Rules
David Jones
Micky talking Permalink
This month I’d like to talk about how much my Indian heritage means to me. I’m one of the many people with a little Indian blood and I’m sure proud of every drop!
It’s not just that the Indians were here before anyone else, that doesn’t mean much at all. The important thing is what the Indians stand for. Lately I’ve been studying a lot about my background and I’ve found that the Indians have very groovy ideas about religion and how people should live together in love.
Since I’ve been looking into my Indian heritage I’ve learned all sorts of new ways of looking at things. It sure does seem different when you really understand things and what they mean, rather than just looking at them from the outside. I’ve checked into Indian religion and music and ceremonials and what each of these means and the knowledge has really added to my life.
I hope you’ve seen pictures of the costume I wore to the Monterey Pop Festival ’cause I’m very proud of it. I tried to get as close to authentic Indian as I could. Everything on the costume meant something, and although I don’t know the meaning of everything on it, I do know most of it.
Because I’ve had so much fun checking into my background I was thinking that maybe you would have fun doing the same thing. It isn’t enough knowing that your grandparents were Scotch or German or Chinese. You have to find out what each of these people stands for in order for it to be fun. And, if you think it would be fun to check into the Indians, whether you’re part Indian or not, well, I think that would be a total groove; in my opinion, the Indians are some of the grooviest people around!
Peace
Micky Dolenz
Mike talking Permalink
Last month I talked to you about success and how you actually can get the things you dream about if you go about it in the right way. I told you to make a list of all the things you think you want and then read the list twice a day, morning and evening. I warned you that you were going to want to change the list a few times, and that was ok just as long as you continued to read it morning and evening. This month I’ll tell you about the next step, but I bet you’ve already discovered it for yourself—haven’t you?
Because you’ve been reading your list twice a day you’ve been thinking about the things on the list a lot more than you usually do. Like when you’ve been waiting in line in the cafeteria or waiting for books to be passed out in English. So, because you’ve been really thinking about the things you want, you’ve probably discovered that you’re already thinking of ways to get them. You’re planning an attack, without really meaning to.
You know, anything you can think of you can get in one way or another if you make it so that it’s the most important thing in the world to you. No matter what it is, there is a bridge from where you are now to where you want to be, and you can build that bridge and use it. At first you’ll probably find that you’ll goof a few times, and things will come up that will try to get you off the track, but remember that the only way to get what you want is to keep going on and on, no matter how many times it seems you’ve come to a stop sign. Stop signs are part of the game, you just have to learn to replan your bridge and then keep on going, no matter what.
It worked for me and it will work for you, too, if you’ll just do it.
Love,
“Honest”
Mike Nesmith
Peter talking Permalink
One of the things I enjoy most about writing songs is that I can start a song from just about anything at all. For instance, when I’m driving to the studio in the morning I might see a boy and a girl going to the beach but instead of looking very happy, the girl looks sad. I’ll start from there and write a song about it on the way to work. By the time I get to the studio I’ll have a good idea of how the song will finally sound. I’ll work on it during the day in odd moments, like when we’re waiting for something on the set.
I’ve written songs about all sorts of things. My favorite things are love and how people treat each other. I think that through my songs I can really reach people with my thoughts better than any other way. If you tell someone something, they only hear it the one time you tell it. But if you make it into a song, they’ll probably sing it over and over and eventually they’ll think about the words. Sometimes I’ve been really surprised myself when I’ve discovered that a favorite song of mine has meanings that I hadn’t seen before. When you discover this, it makes the song so much more fun.
The next time you hear any of my songs listen closely and see if you understand everything I’m trying to say in it. Until next month, Peace.
Peace
Peter Tork
