Mike Junior No. 2 Permalink
Mike’s first son, Christian, who is now three years old, is already getting used to the idea of having a brother around the house. Jonathan, Mike’ Jnr. No. 2, was born at 10:45 pm on February 4th. in the Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, Los Angeles. He weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and is supposed to look very like his dad. I wonder if Mike named his baby after his very good friend British D.J. and TV compere Jonathan King?
Busy Davy Permalink
None of the boys have had much spare time since they started shooting their first major feature film. But, Davy just managed to get some more improvements to his home completed before the first day of shooting. He has been worried so much by sightseers that he has had a fence with an electric gate installed around his house.
Peter’s visitors Permalink
The Monkees seem to play host to a tremendous number of English pop people these days. Peter Tork has recently been entertaining Jimi Hendrix at his house. Staying there at the same time was American drummer, Buddy Miles, who plays and also sings for the Electric Flag.
Valerie’s history Permalink
The boys’ new single “Valerie” which will be released on March 23rd is a number which the Monkees have been performing frequently on stage during the past year.
They first recorded the song, which was written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, at the end of 1966. They re-recorded it in the middle of 1967 and eventually, after over a year’s work polishing and perfecting it, they finally decided it was ready for release. The ‘B’ side is “Tapioca Tundra” by Mike Nesmith.
The boys next L.P. “Birds, Bees and the Monkees” will be released in April.
Changes Permalink
Shooting on their first big film, which has provisionally been entitled “Changes”, started on February 19th and is due to last between 30 and 40 days. All the interior shots will be filmed in the Hollywood studios, but there will also be plenty of location work on the Pacific beach, in the desert and in many other places. Japan has been cancelled as a location and also for a concert tour for the time being. But the other tour dates are still pretty firm.
Film producer Permalink
Micky has been shooting lots of 16 mm film recently. He says it’s mainly experimental stuff just to see how it comes out. Chief actress and star has usually been Samantha.
He has also brought up some more property around his already large estate. And right now builders are busy installing a swimming pool, which is more of a necessity than a luxury in the semi-tropical Californian climate.
Mike sells L.P. Permalink
Mike has sold the rights of his L.P., “Wichita Train Whistle” to the Warner Reprise label. So, it’s very likely that Pye, who have the rights to the Reprise label in this country, will be releasing it over here very shortly.
