#monkees fans

[thislovintime]

Onstage in Philadelphia, 1967. Photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

“Out front [of the Civic Center Convention Hall in Philadelphia], thousands of fervent young bodies pushed avidly against each other, police and any passing black limousine hoping for a glimpse of the four men. Why? ‘Because I LOVE them,’ moaned 15-year-old Dee Darey, of 9220 Horatio Rd. ‘They’re so great. They’re my favorites. The Beatles? Oh, they’re so out, very below. They make a different impression.’ ‘Yeah!’ bellowed another girl behind her, ‘they turned into a bunch of nuts.’ […] ‘[The Monkees are] beautiful, they’re talented and they’re cute,’ said Pat Bookford, 14, of 7649 Elmwood Ave., tossing her long brown hair decisively. ‘And,’ said Janet O’Neill, also 14, of 7651 Elmwood Ave., ‘they don’t scream like some other dumb groups.’ ‘Yeah,’ said Pat, ‘the Beatles — they grew beards and mustaches and got creepy.’ ‘I still like them, though,’ said Janet. ‘I think the psychedelic bit is boss.’ The crowd grew and grew. Now and then one scream would rise above the others. ‘[Davy] Jones is gorgeous!’ ‘Peter Tork has a dimple!’” - article by Judy Oppenheimer, Philadelphia Daily News, July 24, 1967

[nakedpersimmon]

Samantha Juste Post #2: Lady's Baby

This is a photo of Samantha with her daughter Ami, who is wearing a panther costume for Halloween that Samantha made for her.

We almost always hear Samantha discussed as being Micky's first wife, but less so about her role as a mom. Making this costume for Ami is just one example of the love and kindness Samantha showed as a mom, along with providing a calming oasis for Ami in the midst of the swirling chaos that was being married to Micky Dolenz in the 1970s.

What do you think it would've been like to trick-or-treat at Samantha and Micky's house?

(Photo originally sent in to @psychojello via a Monkees fan who met Samantha and Micky in the '70s.)

[ive-just-begun-to-care]

Weird question: favorite thing a Monkee can do outside the world of entertainment (e.g., Davy rode horses, Micky built a gyrocopter, etc.)?

Reblog with your answers!

[thislovintime]

At the Red Carpet Inn in Charlotte, North Carolina, July 11, 1967. Photos 1 & 2 by Elmer Horton, photo 3 by Micky Dolenz.

“Peter Strums, [Micky] Signs As Pam Pardue, Left, And Lisa Breland Watch” - The Charlotte News, July 12, 1967

“The two girls [who won a radio contest to meet The Monkees] don’t say much besides ‘Hello’ so Mike asks them question about how they won the contest and then signs the autograph books and pocketbooks pushed toward him. He talks about ruining the pocketbooks while he is signing them then says: ‘You won’t an hours worth of shopping to be mad if I leave now? I have [to].’ Next Peter Tork comes in. But Peter doesn’t just enter the room. He bounces in, the string of little bells around his neck tingling. He is grinning and he has a guitar swung across his shoulder. Barefoot, he has on white bell bottoms, a suede shirt and a necklace of beads and shells. He’s got a good heart, that boy. He is in there upholding the Monkees’ image for humor and candor and trying to entertain the two girls. He talks — to everybody in the room — the photographer, the girls, his manager, me. ‘Hi, welcome. Do you play the guitar? I can tell you do. You are looking at my guitar.’ He plays several songs, sings and whistles, but when one of the announcers claps he stops playing and says: ‘Don’t do that. You separate us by applause. You make me the performer and you the audience. You applaud and you’re saying, "Oh, that was very nice. What else can you do?" Who needs that? ‘You shouldn’t applaud. You should just join in and dig. Just glow. I pick up on glows.’ About that time David Jones enters. He’s cute but unbelievably tiny, wearing only a blue bathing suit. Without any introduction he walks over to the two girls, says hello and sticks his hand out for the autograph books. Lastly comes Micky. All grins, he is introduced around the room. […] Micky is the Monkee that really thrills them. He’s the general favorite and obviously number one with little Lisa […]. She can’t take her eyes off him but still doesn’t have much to say. So Micky and Peter begin singing together, Micky is still smiling and Lisa and Pam […] are still acting hypnotized when the mini-dressed PR girl tells me, ‘I’m sorry. They have to go to rehearsal..’” - article by Kay Reimler, The Charlotte News, July 12, 1967 The teen magazine clipping photo 3 is from explains that Peter’s beads were given to him by George Harrison.

[thislovintime]

A fan named Cathy meeting Peter Tork in 1967; photo via Cathy's blog.

"While most girls loved Davy, I had a 15 year old girl true love for Peter.

In 1996 I saw them again (minus Michal [sic] Nesmith) on their Reunion Tour while living in Reno, Nv. Davy was wearing a cast on his leg and had to sit on a stool a good bit of the time. But I didn’t care. I was 16 years old again and being taken to another place and time by the Monkees and their music.

[...] I was head over heals [sic] 'ga ga' for Peter Tork of the Monkees. Most girls loved Davy but I loved Peter. Jimmy [sic] Hendrix commented on several occasions that Peter was the 'most talented one of the Monkees.[']

My mother knew that Peter was my obsession. She knew someone with the record label and was able to get the address to his home. We got in her dark green convertible MGB and drove up into the Hollywood Hills. She said she had a surprise for me. We pulled up in front of a really cool house and parked across the street. She told me this was the home of Peter Tork. She said I could go up to the door and ask for him autograph and to take a picture with him.

I was terrified….a pretty common state for me …but even more so that day. I froze. My mother was annoyed and finally coaxed me out of the car. I followed her across the street. She knocked on the door. Terror…Panic…What if I pass out or say something really stupid.

We waited. A young woman came to the door (in a white bikini bathing suit-not underwear.) My mother told the young woman that it was my 16th birthday and what we wanted. She invited us in. She took us into the room where Peter was on the phone. He stopped and listened to what we wanted. He talked to me for just a minute. I was too terrified to talk. I must have said something, but I am still not sure what it could have been. My mother took some pictures and Peter gave me hug. I couldn’t speak. This picture is the only one I have. Claudia kept this one and gave it to me when she found out I didn’t have them any longer. The other pictures and the postcard with his picture he autographed for me were lost during my 'drinking days.'

So that is the saga of my 16th birthday. It was truly a summer of change for me. For the first time, I was away from the tight-fisted control of my grandmother and my alcoholic grandfather. I started the school year with a new-found courage and belief that I was just maybe a little bit special." - Cathy, Cathy's Voice Now, February 29, 2012 [x]

[thislovintime]

Fan photos of The Monkees (chatting with, and signing autographs for, fans) at Oaks Motel, in Greensboro, North Carolina on July 12, 1967. The first three color photos are from an old eBay listing; the fourth color photo is by Kate Muraski (via Forsyth County Library NC Collection); the first of the black-and-white photos is by a fan named Jamie, and the other two seem to be from this same day as well.

That same tour...

"A young girl in a blue bathing suit nervously stepped forward requesting an autograph. Peter signed: ‘Love, Peter Tork’ and drew a flower. ‘I dig flowers,’ he said. ‘I always put a flower after my autograph, because it’s more gentle that way. But that doesn’t make me a flower child or a hippie. No one can call himself a flower child. ‘I also wear beads all the time now, any beads, colorful beads,’ said Peter, who attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., from 1959 to 1963. Then he settled back in the deck chair to read a ‘Peanuts’ book — out loud.” - article by James Beaumont, The Des Moines Register, August 7, 1967 (x)

[thislovintime]

In New York City, July 6, 1967; footage via NBC News Archives.

“[Peter] gets frightened by mass adulation and likes to be a private person.” - Davy Jones, Flip, September 1967 “Yeah, that [being mobbed by fans, and sudden fame in general] was a little difficult. I didn’t get it then — what it was all about and why things went the way they did. I get it now. It took me a long time to put it into some kind of order that I could deal with. I basically figure now that American kids — well, Euro-American kids — of all stripes were severely repressed. I mean, all cultures repress their people to some extent, and I think ours does just as good a job as any. [laughs] Particularly in the ‘60s, they were so severely repressed because those were the children of people who grew up in the ‘40s; it was World War II, post-war peace and prosperity.These are the people who raised these kids, and they expected: ‘We did right in the world, so we can tell you what to do.’And nobody as paying any attention to the kids. The post-war head mindset was losing its steam, but nobody noticed. That’s why they went into Vietnam; they thought they were fighting another war to end all was. But it really was just some people saying, 'Well, it’s our turn to fight. We wanna fight a war. We wanna lead a war.’ It was just the next half-generation screwing up. So along come these freedom-looking kids (The Monkees) on this television thing, whose idea was to project freedom and fascination and danger and adventure and fun and music.It was enough to make you just lose your little heart. So these kids who screamed at us — basically it was out of their repression toward their dream of freedom, which we stood for. They didn’t know it at the time. We didn’t know this at the time. Nobody knew this. It was way beyond any information. But this is what happened, I think. All I knew was that they were screaming and wouldn’t shut up and I was playing music, and I thought I was a hot musician!” - Peter Tork, Asbury Park Press, July 9, 1999 (x)

[thislovintime]

In London, January 1968; photo by Ron Howard/Popperfoto/Getty Images. (Took the liberty of flipping the mirror image the correct way.)

“Peter is one of the most wonderful people in the world. He’s so dedicated to his work, and I admire his quick wit and his gentleness. He deserves all that the world can give him in prosperity, luck and a future of happiness. Peter is a special gift to humanity and I’m proud to be in his generation of love! Dyan H. Portland, Me.” - Monkee Spectacular, December 1967