RIP Davy Jones
According to USA Today, Monkees frontman Davy Jones has died in Florida from a heart attack at the age of 66.
Sure, the Monkees were a Hollywood creation. Sort of the Backstreet Boys of their day – formed initially just to be a bunch of cute music boys on television. But, as it turned out, the music they made has proven timeless, and they could really play. It helped that they had some incredible songwriters in their court. From “Daydream Believer” to “Pleasant Valley Sunday” (a sort of ironical topical tune about the impressions-are-everything LA culture), they had no shortage of straight-up good songs.
They scored a number of pop hits in their day and won a few Emmy Awards, continued touring right up through the past several years. Several folks on this site have named them as a guilty pleasure or even an overlooked gem of Americana music, so I thought it required a mention and a nod.
He’s survived by his wife and four daughters.