On his own since he was fourteen, Davy truly knows where it’s at!! AND… lucky us! He specifically asked FaVE to pass along just for you, all the outasite things he’s learned along the way.
You’ve got to be the luckiest, happiest girl reporter in the entire world! You’re going to see your most fave person, Davy Jones, and, if possible, interview him! You’ve been warned that there’s no one busier than he is. And you realize that all the time you may get is enough for only a short “Hello”. But even that will be more than worth the difficulty and hoping and praying you’ve gone through to get this outasite appointment arranged!
You’re all prepared with a set of questions, just in case your mind goes blank when he looks at you. And you’re worried whether you’ll be able to ask them intelligently when he’s there in front of you, speaking in that beautiful English accent and looking at you with those deep, expressive Davy Jones eyes!
But your excitement blots out all your worries. When you arrive, Davy’s nowhere in sight. Oh great—what if he’s not going to even be filming this afternoon! But never fear—he’s always on the job! Soon he appears, all ready for the camera, dressed in his super-gorgeous East Indian coat, some black and red pinstripe pants, and suede boots. Your first thought—he’s got to be the grooviest-looking, best-dressed guy anywhere!
As you watch him act, you find yourself thinking more about Davy as a person. Suddenly, his looks don’t matter anymore. The energetic, professional way he works himself into his part without wasting a second—that’s just one of the things you notice about Davy right from the start.
Davy’s alive Permalink
He seems to have some kind of inner motor that never runs down, even when he’s laughing and joking around with the other Monkees and the crew. He’s so alive!
He’s been told that you’re waiting, so he sends a smile and a nod in your direction that lets you know he’ll give you the first minute he can spare. While you’re waiting, your mind starts wandering—wondering about all the things in Davy’s past life that have led up to this groovy day. You know quite a lot about his background from reading about him and talking to people who know him.
When Davy was a school boy in a small English village, he was practically the littlest kid in the neighborhood. He came from a close but not-very-rich family and everyone pitched in to help out at home. He and his sisters and parents had some good times together, but his life was very ordinary and calm most of the time, consisting mostly of school and work.
It didn’t seem to others that he had much going for him. They thought he’d just end up working in the local garage and never leave his home town. He’d marry a local girl that he’d gone to school with and settle down forever, raising a nice, ordinary family like everyone else he knew.
David Thomas Jones was in just that situation not so very long ago. Yes, it seemed he didn’t have much going for him… or did he?
Davy’s different Permalink
Friends who really knew Davy, like those closest to him, felt that there was something different about him. At first glance all they saw was a smaller than average boy who, at fourteen, weighed only seventy-eight pounds and stood four feet seven.
But as he grew, they saw a sturdiness and energy come upon him that radiated outward to touch everyone. Some even noticed that there was a determined, sparkling in his eyes, and a smile of confidence that captured everyone’s heart.
Once his friends got to know the inner person, that’s when they knew for sure that Davy was super-special. The qualities that count such as intelligence and stamina and drive were evident in the way he attacked any work that had to be done; in the way he was always busy, never sitting still. From the time he was very young, he always had to be do-doing something.
And Davy never seemed to be afraid of anything. He was always the first one to try something new of all the neighborhood kids. If he was afraid, he did a good job of covering it up and seemed to have all kinds of courage and faith in himself.
What’s more, he had a faith in God, too. They could tell by little things, like his kind concern for animals and his unselfishness toward his family. It also showed in the way he always seemed to accept the things that happened to him with a confidence that it all would work out for the best.
But what they didn’t know was, he had the whole world within his grasp. He had what was needed to reach the stars—ten tons of talent, the ability to recognize all this potential, and more go-getting ambition than twelve people put together! Maybe no one could put their finger on what that something different was, but Davy knew and that’s all that was needed!
Opportunity struck and he was ready for it! In fact, he went out to meet it! And now, just a few years later, he’s famous, he’s rich, he leads a very groovy life.
But, most important to him, he now has the chance to tell the whole world how he feels about things. Who would ever have thought that you’d be helping him do it?
Of course, these are your own ideas, based on what you’ve read and heard and figured out about Davy. But, still… if you can just talk with him, maybe you’ll find the key to his groovy life.
“Let’s talk!” Permalink
Suddenly, you’re jolted back to reality by a soft, “Hello.” You’re no longer in England, but back on the set in Hollywood with Davy Jones standing before you.
“Let’s go talk!” he says and off you go toward his dressing-room. On the way, you’re saying to yourself “This young man is the child I was thinking about a few moments ago only now he’s seven years older, he’s met and mastered all kinds of challenges, and he’s accomplished so many wonderful things.”
When you settle down in the soft, deep easy chair in his dressing-room, Davy begins talking to you in his warm dreamy voice, and any uptightness you may have felt before, suddenly vanishes! You realize that he has things to say to you and he’s going to say them, so you just relax and let him talk.
Davy’s confidence in our generation Permalink
“The kids of today are going to be the voters of tomorrow, so they have to be cool right now! They’ve got to know what’s happening, everybody should know where they’re at. And I have so much confidence in our generation.
“Two years ago the kids asked me questions like ‘What’s your favorite color?’ and ‘How many hours of sleep do you get at night?’ Now, just two years later, they are asking me things like: ‘What would you do if you wanted to go steady and your folks wouldn’t let you?’ They are so much brighter at a younger age than ever before. They’re realizing things in their own minds and they think with their own minds.
“Of course you’ve got to listen to your parents. If your mother or father tells you to do something, you do it because they’re your mother and father. And then when you’re older and you have your own say, you can do things your own way, as long as it doesn’t hurt them.
“You can give all the love and respect to your parents that you owe them and still have time to grow and figure out things for yourself.
“Just realize that you can make it on your own. In England you leave home and start going to work when you’re fourteen or fifteen years old. Here, I laugh when somebody tells me they’re twenty-five years old and they’re still going to college. Since I left home and was on my own so early, it seems to me that everybody should realize where they want to go earlier.
Now, I don’t put college down. I think everyone should go. But it’s best to learn everything in college as soon as you can, then get out and use what you’ve learned. I didn’t really learn in school because I wanted to get going. I wanted to get out there and not tell people what I knew but tell people what I felt. That’s the most important thing.
“I felt I was asleep for too long, leaving home when I did at only fourteen. It takes different people different lengths of time to realize where they want to go. It all just depends on your environment, the people you were brought up with. It takes you time to realize where you’re at.
Reach out Permalink
“If you can’t answer a question or you don’t want to do this or that, everybody’s always saying ‘What are you running away from?’ The best answer to that is ‘I’m not running away from anything. I’m running to something. I’m reaching out there and grasping something. I don’t know what, but I’ll figure it out when I get hold of it.
Decide when you’re young Permalink
“My father earned thirty dollars a week and supported six people on that. I’d be doing the same thing if I were still in England. My buddies, my best mates who I go home to every year, are still doing that. They’re working on the cars and as garage attendants because that’s what they want to do and that’s cool. I admire them for doing that and they’re happy. But you have to decide what you want while you’re young.
“After you’ve had your schooling, get out there and go!—and don’t be afraid! When I left home I cried myself to sleep for three months—every night—because I’d never even slept next door at the neighbor’s house. But I wanted to do it—to get out and improve and that’s what’s important. For some people it comes older, some younger.
“At fourteen and a half I was ready. I was three and a half months thinking about it and crying, but now I realize that it was necessary. You’ve got to prepare yourself because you have to be ready when the right opportunity comes along. You won’t have a big, lucky break and become an overnight success. That rarely happens and doesn’t last.
“You’ve got to prepare yourself, and work at it. Even if you don’t know where you want to go, you can start finding out just by taking the first steps.
“Just go meet the world thinking that you want to make your parents more proud of you than you would have if you’d stayed home and been like them. I don’t mean break your back proving that you’re better than them or you can make more money.
Aim high Permalink
“Just keep the thought in mind that you’re ready to learn about people and life, to make your own decisions and really accomplish something. You’ve got to shoot for the stars because whatever you want to do in life you can do if you shoot!”
There! Without even asking him, Davy has given you his secret to a groovy life because he thinks it’s important for everyone to know about it. He has said all he wanted to get off his chest for the moment and it’s time for him to go back to work.
He’s given you more of his valuable time than you had ever hoped for. And you know it’s because he cares about people enough to help them out in whatever way he can. He feels if you take his pointers to heart, a super-groovy life lies ahead of you.
On your way home, you carefully go over what you’ve learned from Davy. You know his simple ideas work. They’re the same ideas that almost every successful person has held to. Davy’s success is sure proof that his philosophy works for him and that it will work for you, too!
So just gather up your courage and take off. You’ll make some wrong turns in the road, you’ll even trip over many obstacles. But just get back up again, brush yourself off and keep going, strengthened by your courage and faith. That’s what Davy’s done and look where he’s at! And what’s more, look where he’s going!
