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Here’s what’s happening in the Monkees’ private lives… told to Tiger Beat’s readers in Davy, Micky, Mike, and Peter’s very own words! This month the Monkees tell you all about their exciting vacations!
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Davy talking: Permalink
There’s no place like home. I think you all agree with me about that. Every time I go home to England there’s this special feeling I get down inside. Here’s where my family lives; and even though I love America, here’s where I grew up and made some of my best friends.
This year when I returned to Manchester to visit my father over Christmas holiday, it was reasonably quiet. Last year you remember how many fans came to my father’s cottage and I didn’t want this to happen again this year. Not because I don’t love my fans, but because my father hasn’t been well lately and I didn’t want to upset him.
It was wonderful seeing my father again because he looks fine and feels much better. We had many hours alone together and it was almost like being a small boy again. My father is very happy about the success of the Monkees and he watches every show on the telly. He told me he especially likes it when they put those phony stars in my eyes and they sparkle off the screen. Last summer when I did the concert in London, my father was unable to attend so I rigged up a phone up under the stage so he could hear what was going on. He got quite a kick out of it. I was sure this time that if we were giving another concert now he’d be well enough to attend and this made me feel very good.
While I was home, I got a few nights in with my mates and I also saw Basil Foster, my friend and trainer.
From England I went on to Switzerland where I got my first bit of skiing in. I’ve always loved all sports and from now on I think skiing will be one of my very favorites.
So many of you have been writing me about whether or not the Monkee show will be back on the air I feel that I’d like to give you an answer. Right now, no one is sure. But one thing I can say for sure is that you’ll be seeing us on your TV screen one way or another. We might not do a weekly show, but we’ll be doing something on television for sure. Next month I hope to be able to tell you the whole story.
David Jones
Micky talking: Permalink
C’mon along with me on a groovy vacation. First of all, we were lucky enough to finish filming our 26th segment of the Monkees on December 22nd, just before Christmas. This gave the four of us the first chance for a real vacation since way back last January when I went to Europe and Davy went to the Bahamas.
The first stop for me was at my parents’ home in Saratoga, California. Here is where I really can relax and feel like a little boy again. You know how mothers want to fuss over you and all that. Well, let me tell you that it’s pretty groovy to have a mother and dad like I have. Not to mention my great sisters.
My folks invited Samantha Juste to spend the holidays with us and she seemed to have a great time. She told me our Christmas traditions were very much the same as hers in England. I thought Sam would be lonely for her family in England, but she talked to them on the phone and everyone was very happy.
It’s really different when I’m at my folks’ house because I get to sleep late and there’s never any pressure to do anything. I could tell you all about what presents we got and everything like that, but my sister Coco has a column in Monkee Spectacular and she tells me she has dibs on all that info.
Right after Christmas was over, I headed for Honolulu, Hawaii where Chip Douglas has a house. If you live in one of the colder climates then you’ll flip when I tell you that the weather in Hawaii always stays somewhere in the low eighties and this is groovy for sun bathing, swimming, surfing.
As much as I like to keep doing something every minute, Hawaii is so restful that I just felt like relaxing for a change. It was great to work on a tan and to lay in the sun listening to the radio and records. Believe it or not, I even gained some weight.
After New Years (my date for New Year’s Eve was Samantha) I flew to London for a short visit. This is one city I really dig. I visited Samantha’s parents and some of my old friends that I met on our other two visits to Britain.
Then we flew home to Hollywood where Davy, Peter, Mike and I started working out the songs for our next album. Soon we’ll be working on our first feature film and we’ll tell you all about that next month.
Micky Dolenz
Peter talking: Permalink
WOW! A whole month off with no work in front of me. What to do… what to do…! All year long there have been so many things I’ve wanted to do but couldn’t and now I’ve got four whole weeks to myself. I’m even writing this column first so that I can spend every minute not working.
First, I’m going home to spend some time with my family in Connecticut. We haven’t had a real family reunion for more than a year and I’ve really missed seeing everyone. You know sometimes my family thinks I’m kind of way-out. I mean that the things that I’ve done in life like live at Greenwich Village and become a Monkee aren’t exactly the things parents plan for their son. But my family has always encouraged me to be the kind of person I want to be. They’ve been great!
If you’d like to know what my friends and I do together in the Village I’ll tell you. It’s probably very much like what you and your friends do when they get together. We sit and talk about what we’re feeling as people. We exchange ideas and see what each of us is doing creatively. Lots of my friends are artists, writers, or musicians so it’s important that we see what we’re creating.
Well, those are my plans at this writing, but they may change. That’s the groovy thing about vacations. You never really know when you wake up in the morning what you’ll be doing for sure that day.
Mike talking: Permalink
While Davy, Peter, and Micky were traveling around on their vacations, I stayed home waiting for Phyllis to have the baby. But it was one of the grooviest vacations I’ve ever had.
Hollywood’s a great place to have fun in and so I saw lots of sights around town that I’d never seen before. Phyllis’ family came to stay with us and it was fun showing them our new home. They really loved it and this made Phyllis and me very happy. Phyllis’ sister Joan was really a ball to have around and Phyllis took her shopping in many of the groovy stores around town. Phyllis bought Joan a pants suit at Paraphernalia in Beverly Hills. She looked very cool in it.
Christian had the best Christmas of his life but unfortunately his favorite present was a gift I received. I got a real pin-ball machine just like the kind you see in a penny arcade and now I can’t use it because Christian spends most of his time playing with it.
When we weren’t celebrating the holidays, I worked on a big recording session that I’m doing outside of my work with the Monkees. Like I’ve told you before, music is what I’m most interested in and this album I’m working on now is something that I hope you’ll like as much as I liked putting it together. We used many, many musicians for the recording session and believe me this is an experience I’ll never forget.
As soon as the album’s ready for release, I’ll let you know in this column. By the way I’m running out of things to talk about in this column so how about letting me know what you want me to write about next. Send your letters to Mike Nesmith, c/o Tiger Beat, 1800 North Highland Ave., Hollywood, California 90028. I’ll find out what you want to know and then write about this in my next column.
Mike Nesmith
