Here are all the honest answers to those questions you’ve been asking!
Micky Permalink
Q. Name a time when you wished you had your camera ready to take a candid shot.
A. There’s probably been a million times that I would have liked to have had my camera around my neck ready to shoot. This happens most often when I’m working with the guys on the set. They sometimes get priceless looks on their faces or do one-shot comedy bits off camera that are never recorded, but should be.
Q. If you could put together a rock and roll concert, what musicians would you hire to play and why?
A. Well, the Monterey Pop Festival was pretty close to a perfect weekend concert. I would, naturally, make a few changes to my own taste in music, but on the whole my concert would be something like Monterey. Just off hand I’d include the Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Cream, the Beatles and the Monkees. I think it would be a gas to have a big group of musicians just get up on stage and jam.
Q. If you were campaigning for the Presidential election, what would your campaign slogan be?
A. “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.”
Q. What is your favorite kind of pop?
A. I really don’t dig carbonated soft drinks, soda pop, as much as I do fresh fruit juices. I do love popsicles, though, they’re my favorite kind of pop!
Q. When you first met Sam—what did you think of her? Where did you meet her?
A. I first met Sammy at “Top of the Pops” on my first trip to England about a year ago at Christmas. My very first impression was that she was a very warm and sweet person. After had we been talking for a while at “Top of the Pops,” Sam asked Ric Klein and me if we’d like her to show us London. We happily agreed and this is when I got to know Sam better. The more I got to know her what impressed me was that she was so unaffected by what she did. I mean, she knew all the pop stars in England because of her job, but she never broadcasted that fact. She was very down-to-earth and I like that.
Q. In one word, describe Davy.
A. Multi-talented.
Q. If you visited England who would you rather meet—the Queen, one of her guards or some fans?
A. I’d hate to limit myself to just one choice. I think everyone would like to meet the Queen, because it’s such an honor. But I would dig meeting one of her guards and talking to him about his job and find out more of what they do exactly. Last, I just wouldn’t want to miss the chance to meet some fans. Fans are just a bit different in each country, so it’s fun to see why they like the Monkees.
Q. If you could be any kind of animal, what would it be and why?
A. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I would really like to be a dog. Then I could play with You and communicate completely. We have a pretty good form of communication now, just because I love her, but it could be more complete if I was a dog too.
Q. On a cold rainy day what do you like to do?
A. This is when I get most of my work done in my workshop. The reason for this is when it’s warm and sunny, I get lured away to the beach or a picnic or to photograph a million different things. When it’s rainy it’s harder to get out, so I can really concentrate on my latest project.
Another thing I really enjoy doing on a rainy day is writing songs. The grayness of the day when it’s raining somehow makes me very thoughtful and I get many inspirations for songs. It’s groovy just to sit inside the house with a fire burning in the fireplace and play the guitar and create songs.
Q. I saw your concert in St. Louis and thought it was fantastic! Performers are said to pick out one face in the crowd and sing to that face. Did you do this in St. Louis? What is the purpose of this?
A. Sometimes I do pick out one face to sing to and other times I groove on the thousands of faces that are looking my way. The reason a performer sometimes picks out one face is that he can see the emotion being generated in that person’s reactions. But at our concerts almost every person in the room is reacting to what’s happening on stage, so I can look at the whole audience and feel what’s being generated.
Davy Permalink
Q. Of all the songs you’ve recorded, which one means the most to you?
A. I was asked this not long ago and I want to give the same answer I gave then, because I still feel the same. The song is “Hard To Believe.” I’m not only proud because I sang lead on the song, but it’s my title and I wrote the melody and some of the words. It’s really a great feeling to sing a song you’ve written, because so much more feeling can go in to it.
Q. When you go home to England, what do you most look forward to doing?
A. Oh, there are so many things that maybe if I just tell you some of them, you can pick out my favorite thing, because I’m not sure I have one. Most of the things that I love doing when I’m home are simple things—visiting relatives, playing with their children, visiting my old school friends, going to the pubs to play darts, eating British food, seeing the places I used to go and how they’ve changed. I guess if I had to pick one thing that I most looked forward to it would be visiting with my father. Yes, that really means the most to me.
Q. What gives you the most pleasure out of owning your own home?
A. Putting myself into the home. By this I mean I work in the garden, I make my own meals and I entertain my friends there. When I was in an apartment I always knew it wasn’t mine after a certain length of time, so I never went too far in fixing it up. But the house I have now is all mine and I’m always wanting to do something to fix it up even more than it is. I guess you’d say it’s the pride in knowing it’s your own.
Q. What is your favorite day of the week?
A. Sunday. When I was a youngster in Manchester, this was always made a very special day in our family. We would start the day by going to church, then we’d often go off to Woodley, which was a huge park and spend the day there. My mother always made a special dinner like roast beef and roast potatoes. I no longer spend my Sundays that way, but my friends and I always try and make the day special by seeing something new or doing something out of the ordinary.
Q. What is your favorite kind of pop?
A. I really don’t like soft drinks too much. What I really enjoy drinking are different concoctions I dream up with the help of my blender. My current favorite is frozen orange juice with a little milk added, one egg (shell and all) and then it’s blended in the blender. It comes out all frothy and cold and tastes great. And it’s healthful too!
Q. In one word describe Micky.
A. Genius.
Q. What advice would you give someone just starting out in show business?
A. I think the thing that is most important is to set a goal and let nothing stand in your way while you’re reaching your goal. Of course, it’s easy to set a goal and when little hang-ups come up, to figure you’ve set your goal too high. What you have to do is want to reach that goal more than anything else in the world. If you want it that badly you’ll work until you reach it.
Q. What length do you like girls to wear dresses?
A. Whatever length suits them. I love mini-skirts, but some girls just can’t wear them, so they look nicer in a skirt that’s a bit longer. About the new midi-skirts, well, I’m getting used to them. I like them when they’re on a girl with a very good figure to start with and if she wears it as part of a costume-type outfit, like to a club or something. Then it’s like it’s all in fun.
Q. I read somewhere that you were moving to Malibu. Then I read you were staying in your apartment. Are you moving or not?
A. I was thinking about moving to a ranch in Malibu, but I decided against it. About a year ago I moved out of my apartment and moved into my own house, it’s like an English country house, perched very high in the Hollywood hills. I got so attached to the house that I decided I really wanted to stay there. So, no, I’m not moving.
Q. I’ve read that you are concerned about everyone. What do you think has made you this way—your bringing up or being away from your father so much?
A. I imagine that many things have contributed to my being the way I am. My mother was a very thoughtful person and I’m sure I picked much of my feelings up from her. Then leaving home so young and not living with my father taught me that I had to make friends of my own. The best way to do that was to be a friend to start with. I learned over the years that the only way to have sincere, true friends is to be sincerely concerned with what happens to your friends. That’s the way I’ve always felt.
Mike Permalink
Q. You and Phyllis seem very happy together—how did you know she was the girl for you?
A. That is a very hard question to answer, because it’s an emotion you can’t describe. All I can tell you is that when I met Phyllis I had a feeling that I had never experienced before and I was so sure she was the girl for me I asked her to marry me before I ever even asked her for a date.
Q. Did you ever have a rival for Phyllis?
A. Oh, yes! When I first met Phyllis she was going with another guy. This was at San Antonio Junior College. Anyway, I asked her to marry me and she said “no.” Then I began going over to her house whenever her boyfriend wasn’t around. A few months later I asked her to marry me again and she said “yes.”
Q. When the new baby is old enough to fight with Christian, how will you prevent them from doing any fighting?
A. I think one of the very best ways to teach children is through example. I mean I always try and act peaceful when I am home, never raise my voice and things like that. I don’t yell even when I’m disciplining Christian. I just say “Christian, that’s not cool.” And he gets the message. By setting this type of example and by showing Christian how much we love Jonathan, he picks up on that and loves him just as much. This way he really won’t have the desire to fight with Jon.
Q. Do you help pick out your wife’s clothes?
A. I used to more than I do now. When I had more time I would often go with Phyl and pick things out for her. When she goes by herself, she’ll just buy one dress or something, but when I go along I make her buy whole outfits, because that’s what I like to see her wear.
Q. In one word describe Peter.
A. Thoughtful.
Q. What do the words Love and Peace immediately bring to your mind?
A. Immediately, they bring to mind the hope that we will someday live in a world that recognizes the true meaning of those words.
Q. Do you believe there are many changes in store for the Monkees in the near future?
A. Definitely. Look for some changes in our new movie. We have a script, as usual, but we are all contributing ideas every minute and we hope they make it a very fresh film. Look for changes in our records, too, because our tastes are changing all the time and I think this shows in our work. I would like to name some specific changes to show you what I mean, but we are changing in so many directions, it’s just too difficult.
Q. What was it about your wife that made you call her April?
A. That’s something I’ve never even told Phyllis. I did write a song about it, though, and these are the words:
Why do I call her April?
When it really isn’t a part of the game.
Is it because April marks the beginning of spring?
Or is it because she is born in April?
What a lucky day for me!
Or is it because she brings April flowers
Into my lonely memory?
Why do I call her April
When it really isn’t a part of the game?
I simply call her April
Because I can’t remember her name.
Q. Could you describe your new home in one sentence?
A. My home is the place where I feel more relaxed than anywhere else in the world.
Q. Of all the cities you’ve visited on your last tour, which one stood out in your mind above the others and why?
A. There are two cities that stick out in my mind—Dallas and Houston, my birthplace and the town where I grew up. It was really the biggest thrill I’ve ever experienced to return and have all the kids screaming and yell “Hello, Big D” and “Hello home” in Houston. It’s something I’ll never forget.
Peter Permalink
Q. What type of girl do you like the most?
A. I mainly look for girls who think for themselves. This is the most important thing to me. I’ve found that once you’ve found a girl who thinks for herself, the other things like naturalness usually follow. I like atractive [sic] girls, of course, but attractiveness to me is naturalness.
Q. Would you call yourself a hippie?
A. I call myself Peter Tork. Other than that I don’t label who I am or what I am. Anyway, there is no such thing as a hippie. The hippies were buried in a ceremony last spring in San Francisco. All there are now are long-haired Americans.
Q. What is your pet dislike?
A. Interviewers and fans asking silly questions! What are silly questions in my mind?—questions that merely ask for a fact about me. I like “think” questions, where I can tell you how I feel about something and questions that give me a chance to analyze my feelings toward a subject. That way it’s educational for me as well as for the person who’s asking the question.
Q. If you could make one wish, what would it be?
A. To have peace on earth.
Q. Give us some tips on how to get along with the older generation.
A. Be understanding. Like I said in the song I wrote (For Pete’s Sake) “love is understanding.” You expect your parents to be tolerant and understanding of you, but it has to work both ways. You must realize that it’s their “thing” to be a parent or whatever and you’ll probably act the same when you’re in their situation. That’s one way to get along—try putting yourself in their place and see how you react to different situations. You may find you’ll look at things differently.
Q. Do you paint very much?
A. Not much, but some. Lately I’ve been interested in Sumi art, which is a Japanese art form. You must have the paper flat and use a special brush with black ink. You can create some really lovely things and I enjoy expressing myself in that form.
Q. What is your favorite quote?
A. “The earth is permeated with the smell of turpentine.”
Q. What was your first girl-friend like?
A. She was a very quiet, intellectual girl. It was hardly even a relationship like boyfriend and girlfriend. I considered her my girlfriend, but we seldom went out, we always just talked about anything and everything. It was a groovy scene, actually.
Q. When you go to Japan, what will you be most excited to see?
A. Everything. I want to see as much as I can in the short time we will be there.
[Scans by This Lovin’ Time]
