Come along with Lynne on the Monkees’ tour of America and share the whole gang’s excitements and adventures!
Greetings! It’s me, Lynne, again—and I’ve just finished the most fantastic “event” of my life (or anybody else’s, for that!). My big event, of course, was being one of the guests on the Monkees’ show during their summer tour of America. Because you all couldn’t be there with me personally, I want to share some of my happy experiences with you through the pages of 16.
We traveled on a private DC-6 with a huge Monkee emblem painted on the outside of it. We had our own captain and crew, all of whom were thoroughly capable and completely charming. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them—on behalf of the Monkees, myself and the Sundowners, Jimi Hendrix and all the rest of the gang—for being so wonderful to us.
Micky—assistant “hostess” Permalink
Lynda, our hostess, got a helping hand from Micky Dolenz, who volunteered to become her assistant. Micky helped to serve food and drinks for every meal—and he did an excellent job. Can you imagine what it’s like to look up and see Micky Dolenz leaning over you, asking, “Coffee, tea or milk?”
When we were in Miami Davy, Peter, Mike and Micky gave up all a tremendous surprise. They rented a gorgeous 71-foot cruiser, loaded it with 30 of us “Monkee show people”, and we all put out to sea for a whole day of fun and laughter together! It was the Monkees’ way of thanking us. Don’t you think that was very nice of them?
Monkee “dream boat” Permalink
Our dream boat was packed with every kind of food imaginable and enough soda pop to float a navy. Of course, everyone tried to get a great tan in one day, and among us we used up about a gallon of suntan lotion! Davy spent most of the trip snapping away with his Instamatic. Peter chatted up his various guests. Micky indulged in endless sing-alongs with the Sundowners, and Mike relaxed in the cabin below deck.
In Miami, we stayed at the beautiful Eden Roc Hotel. It’s very elegant. Micky and Peter went about carrying a tape recorder, which played all their favorite rock ’n’ roll hits. Can you imagine how startled some of the older guests were when the elevator door opened and they saw two or three Monkees there doing the shing-aling while the music blasted away?
“The lost supper” Permalink
Every town we hit was a groove and each was memorable for one reason or another, but Buffalo, N.Y., became unforgettable because of the supper we almost lost. After a strenuous but exciting day of meeting the mayor and doing guest shots on WKBW-Radio, we all congregated in our “Courtesy Suite” at the hotel. We made a great list of sandwiches and drinks, and phoned the list to room service.
“Hey,” Davy said about 40 minutes later, “I think some bloke has intercepted our supper!”
Everyone agreed, and my manager, Carol West (who took all the pictures on these two pages, by the way), and I volunteered to go out on a sandwich-and-soda search party. After calling room service, who insisted that our order was “on the way”, questioning the elevator operator and roaming around the halls, we decided to look on the stairs. And guess what? On a landing two floors below us was our supper! There were two large serving tables covered with untouched sandwiches and drinks—apparently abandoned by our lost, strayed or stolen waiter!
Carol and I maneuvered the two tables into the elevator and got it up into the “Courtesy Suite” just as the whole gang was about to collapse from starvation. When we walked into the suite Peter, Mike, Davy and Micky led the rest of the troupe in a round of applause. Before Carol and I could take a bow, everyone dived at the food!
I wish I had more space to tell you all the funny adventures that came my way on this magical Monkee tour. I’ll continue with my story next month. So stay tuned to 16 and I’ll see you then. P.S. The December issue of 16 goes on sale October 19.
