Davy is so aware of his fans and so eager to give them his time and thoughts that sometimes his fans forget that, first of all, he is a person. He hasn’t always been a Monkee. He may not always be a Monkee. But he always has been and always will be a human being!
Of course, Davy would never come right out and say to a fan “I don’t have time to sign an autograph” or “I’m too busy for you now.” He’s too thoughtful and polite—and too generous with himself for that. He realizes each and every fan is responsible for his being where he is. Each girl who buys a Monkee record, reads an article about him in a magazine or saves up her money just to buy a ticket to her own special happiness, a Monkee concert—he loves her for caring so much.
Has things to say Permalink
Davy will give up hours of his time just to answer questions. Often, on the set, he dashes back to his dressing-room between every scene to talk to someone waiting to interview him. He may be tired, he may have errands to run or lines to work on, but he’s got things he wants to say to the kids and, to him, this is most important of all.
Once Davy said, “I just went through an hour and a half interview but I still want to talk because there are people that are listening, the people who care. I have my own feelings and I will portray them. I want the kids to know how I feel.”
Yet, he has expressed a concern about the situation. But since he’s never going to say it to his fans, since he’s never going to quit giving of himself every time he’s asked, you must try to realize how he feels.
Time to himself Permalink
Try to understand why he has his phone number changed every time it leaks out or why he can’t allow his home address to become known. It’s not because he doesn’t want to talk to you or see you. He’d love to have a full-time job grooving with his fans. But if he did, there would be no Monkee albums or Monkee TV shows or Monkee concerts. At least there would be none with Davy. And what would a Monkee concert be like with only three Monkees—without Davy?
He needs time, like you do, to take care of his house or listen to records or just take a walk along the beach and think his own deep, groovy thoughts. Every day that he films on the Monkees set, from about 7:30 in the morning until 7:30 that night, all his concentration and energy is poured into his part. He is David Jones the Monkee because that’s his job, the job he loves, and he is the true professional.
Davy thinks too! Permalink
“But,” he adds, “as soon as I walk out and get into my car, I’m thinking about the five dollars that’s going to go for gas, or what I’m doing that evening. I’m thinking I’ve got to get home and take the stuff out of the ice box to cook. I think like anybody else does.
“Everybody tries to put performers or stars on a pedestal. They have to do that and that’s groovy. I want them to do it because everybody’s got to have someone to relate to. But as soon as I go home and sit in my house like everyone else in the world or do my little thing, gardening or watering the lawn, please let me do it because I’ve got to do it like you’ve got to do it.
“You know yourself how busy you are when you have to do something on a Saturday morning. Well, when I have to do something, and somebody comes up and wants my autograph, I don’t say no because I care about them. But everyone in the world needs privacy and you have to do your own thing.”
Davy the public Permalink
Also, as much as he loves performing before thousands of fans, sometimes it’s groovy to be on the other side of the footlights, watching his favorites entertain.
“I’m the public when I go and see somebody perform. Then I don’t look at the show as a singer or an artist because as soon as you look at it that way, you get a different perspective of it. You put yourself in the position the singer’s in on stage or on the screen. I’d rather look at it as the public would look at it because that’s what I am when I’m not Davy Jones the Monkee on the TV show. I’m David Thomas Jones, the public.
Learns by watching Permalink
“I watch a TV show like you watch a TV show. If I were to always watch TV as an artist, knowing what I do about filmmaking, I would be constantly looking for shadows of mikes and such. I occasionally go off into a little world and see all that, but then I think ‘No, I can’t look at it like that or say it was badly done.’
“It’s important to just relax, enjoy the show and be the public for awhile. It’s also important because I can learn from seeing the program the way the public sees it. I learn how to improve, to tell a joke the way the public would like to hear it, to interpret it a better way, or maybe put it in better words.”
A good example Permalink
Davy’s fans are always asking for his advice and following his example. But this is not a burden to him, just a responsibility. It only makes him try to be a better person so he can feel he deserves to be looked up to and respected.
And often Davy has to stay away from the public or be protected when he goes out to avoid being mobbed. But does he wish he were freer to do these things? “No, because then I’d be like everybody else. I don’t want to be like everybody else. I’ve got something to say and if the kids listen long enough they’ll hear it.
Only fans can tell Permalink
“I want to entertain. If I haven’t been making people laugh, I hope I’ll be making them laugh ten years from now—or cry or whatever they want to do. The only people that can tell me what I’ll be doing in ten years are the people that are listening to me right now. They’re the ones that let me entertain and let me make people laugh and cry. They’re the ones that control what I’ll be doing years from now.
“If I weren’t a Monkee, if I were a ballad singer and your grandmother dug me, she’s the one who would control it. If the public doesn’t want me in ten years, I suppose I’ll be a bricklayer. I can adapt. But I sure do hope I’m in the entertainment field!”
So, you see, he loves what he’s doing and he wouldn’t trade it all for the world. If you want him, he’s there, ready to sing for you, write songs for you, act and dance for you. And he’s there to sign an autograph or talk to you. But please, if you love Davy, remember he’s a human being first of all, a very hard-working and thoughtful person, who needs some privacy and time of his own to be that person.
