by JEFF NEAL Davy Jones’ New York City Buddy
BAM!! RRRING!! It sounded like the door was breaking down—like the Charge of the Light Brigade!!
It was a cold Sunday night in mid-October last year. It was 8:30 P.M. and the “dream weekend” of all time had just ended. I had seen Davy Jones every day for the past three days—and I was on Cloud 100! We had finally left Davy an hour ago in downtown New York City—and had just arrived home, exhausted but happy.
Davy’s “gang” Permalink
Normally, a weekend is supposed to be fun-time, but when David Jones (and the rest of his gang) is in town—it’s just too super-mindblowin’-groovy to put into words! In case you don’t know it, Davy and I have been buddies for four and a half years—we met when we both were playing in the Broadway musical Oliver! Friday morning, October 20th, my mom, dad and I went to pick up Davy at the airport. He was flying to New York because that night was the opening of his fabulous boutique, ZILCH I—at 217 Thompson Street!
We had a marvelous day and spent most of it touring and cruising around Greenwich Village, where the store is located. At about four o’clock in the afternoon, Davy went back to his hotel to dress for the opening and we all went to the boutique. By this time, over two thousand screaming kids had gathered in front of Zilch! When Davy arrived with his friends—who included Peter Tork, David Pearl, Sally Field, Gloria Stavers, Lynne Randell, Gary Stevens (WMCA Radio) and yours truly—all heck broke loose! Finally Davy and his gang were forced to leave because of the over-enthusiastic fans. I mean the plateglass windows of the boutique were about to crack!
Saturday moring there was again such a huge crowd at Zilch that the “customers” were allowed to enter only five at a time. And to add to this hectic scene, Davy—surprisingly—walked in! You should have seen the stunned look on the faces of the girls in the store! On Sunday morning, Gloria shot a fantastic, exclusive picture layout of Davy in all his groovy gear for 16 Magazine. (It ran in the February issue—hope you saw it!) When the layout was finished, Davy took us all to lunch.
After lunch it was time for Davy and his friends to return to their hotel to pack and get ready to go to JFK International Airport, where they would hop a jet back to L.A. As I parted with Davy in front of the hotel, he told me there was a 50/50 chance that he would stop by my house in Long Island on his way to the airport. I felt that this was a little too much to hope for so, rather than be deeply disappointed, I made up my mind not to expect Davy and his friends.
“Mice in the hall” Permalink
It was a restful Sunday evening—blissfully quiet—and I started to do my homework, trying not to daydream about the weekend I’d had. Suddenly, I thought I heard a noise in the hall. I looked at my mom, who said, “Don’t get excited, Jeffrey. It’s just some mice.”
And all at once—BAM!! RRRING!! BAM!! RRRING!! It sounded as though our door was about to be broken down! The bell was being rung a-mile-a-minute and someone was banging loudly on the door. For a split second—Mom, Dad and I were genuinely frightened. Finally, Dad opened the door and—POW!!
It was like the Charge of the Light Brigade! The door was hardly open when in tumbled Davy Jones, David Pearl, Sally Field, Gene (Davy’s chauffeur)—and even a smiling security guard! Well, I don’t have to tell you that your home can be instantly changed from a quiet retreat to a ring-a-ding circus within minutes when the Jones boy is in town!
We all greeted each other like long-lost friends, and the refrigerator was “raided”! It was an amazing spectacle. The gang made themselves completely at home and stripped the inside of the refrigerator bare in less than ten minutes! While all this was going on, Sally (with the help of my mom) was “raiding” the china closet—and soon there was a spread on the table fit for a king, not to mention a Monkee and his friends.
Davy started with roast beef on a bagel (with cream cheese), washed down with a bottle of soda. There was some left-over lamb in a little dish and Davy kept that all to himself. After giving up the battle of the lamb chops, David Pearl settled for roast beef, bagels, potato salad, cole slaw and a large glass of milk. The chauffeur and the security guard held up their end quite adequately. In fact, the only one who did not join in the food “raid” was dainty Sally Field!
When everybody had finished the main course, Sally produced a tray of raspberry parfaits, jelly sandwiches and coconut chocolate puffs. Davy and David had sprawled to the floor by now, and though they were still eating they decided that it was time to watch TV.
Davy’s sing-along! Permalink
“Hullo, everybody!” Davy suddenly exclaimed. “What’s on TV?” And soon we were watching Walt Disney’s Wonderful World Of Color. The story was about the Old West, and as the horsemen galloped through the sagebrush, Davy jumped onto the arm of an overstuffed chair and rode off with the cowboys—just like he used to do five years ago when he lived with us!
“Maybe you can fly” Davy called over his shoulder to Sally, “but you can’t ride like this!”
Suddenly, from nowhere my mom produced ice cream and peaches (which she knows is Davy’s favorite dessert) and the whole eating binge started all over again! The gang got tired of TV and next “raided” the piano.
After giving us a five-minute rendition of Chopsticks, Davy settled down to play the chords and I to play the melody of I Wanna Be Free. Before we knew it, everyone joined in and we were all harmonizing(?) on Davy’s most famous Monkee song. After our “sing-along”, Gene told us that it was time to leave for the airport. Everyone bundled up and we all went downstairs together. Just as he was about to get into the car, Davy turned to me and said, “Hey, I have an idea”—and with no explanation, he grabbed my hand and off we ran!
Actually, he knew exactly where he was going and I soon found out. It was the bakery, one and a half blocks away. Davy bought two pounds of raspberry cookies for himself and two pounds of coconut chocolate puffs for the rest of the gang. Two teenage girls walked into the bakery and bumped smack into Davy! They backed away—mouths and eyes stretched wide open with surprise—and stood there stunned, while Davy bowed politely to each of them and then ran off.
Gene was pacing the sidewalk by the limo when we got back to the car. When he saw Davy, a look of vast relief swept across his face. “Man, I thought we had lost you for a minute,” Gene exclaimed.
“Not me, sonny,” chirped Davy. And extending his hand, he said, “’Ere, have a cookie.”
For some reason, this broke everyone up—and the gang closed the limo’s doors, waved a happy good-bye and sped off into the darkness, leaving me (and you) once again tired but happy, exhilarated and impatiently waiting for Davy’s next visit!
