photo #1802727

I was browsing my album library last night, found this, and thought I'd do a story on it. Of course, you all know Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones from The Monkees, and you're probably also familiar with Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. What some of you may *not* know, is that Boyce and Hart were affiliated with The Monkees as writers and producers. Christian DeWalden, a publisher and producer friend of Bobby Hart, was interested in organizing a Monkees reunion. Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith were invited to join, however, Peter had decided to leave the music business altogether, in fact, no one even knew where he was, and Mike had refused to even talk to them, much less consider reforming the group. So, this group ended up being Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. The Monkees logo was under copyright and unavailable to them, so they had decided to form the group under their own names. The group had made it's public debut at a performance July 4, 1975 at Six Flags over America in St. Louis, Missouri under the name, 'The Great Golden Hits of the Monkees - The Guys Who Wrote 'Em and the Guys Who Sang 'Em". The group had also toured the States for a year before also touring the Far East, having the distinction of being the first American band to play Thailand. At an appearance at Disneyland July 4th of 1976, Peter had joined them on stage for a guest appearance. Also, later in the year, Peter had reunited with Dolenz and Jones in the studio to record "Christmas Is My Time Of The Year" b/w "White Christmas". It was a limited fan club issue. With the aspiration to capitalize on the popularity of The Monkees as well as that of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, Capitol Records had offered a recording contract. However, the sound they had gotten, was an updated version of The Monkees, and I guess that isn't exactly what Capitol had in mind. Yes, there were mostly new songs.. but also some cover songs. Many had even considered this to be a Monkees reunion album! Many of the vocals are performed by Micky and Davy, with backing vocals by Boyce and Hart. Occasionally, however, Boyce and Hart do take the lead take the lead.. such as on Bobby's, "I Love You (And I'm Glad That I Said It)". Unfortunately, when this album was released, it saw very little appreciation from music fans, and I don't know why. It's a pretty good album! As I understand it though, the album didn't make a dent in the charts. It was also reissued on CD.. I believe in 2005. In mid 1976, Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart had filmed a television special called, "The Great Golden Hits of the Monkees" which had showcased the guys doing musical numbers and comedy skits. By March of 1977, though, DJBH had called it quits and everyone had gone their separate ways. While Tommy and Bobby had gone back to their songwriting careers, Micky and Davy continued touring, backed by Micky's sister, Coco and a backup group called, The Laughing Dogs. In September, 1977, Micky and Davy had returned to England to begin rehearsals for Harry Nilsson's "The Point". In the mid 80s, and again in the 90s, they had teamed up with Peter for the Monkees reunion tours, and in 1996, Mike had joined for the Justus album. Justus is the Monkees eleventh studio album. It was recorded in celebration of their 30th anniversary and released on October 15, 1996. It was the first Monkees album since Head was released in 1968 to feature all four Monkees. Additionally to their occasional Monkees reunions, Micky had also done cartoon voice-overs, appeared on stage and television, and worked behind the camera as a producer and director. Davy had toured and made various television and stage appearances. After DJBH had broken up, Boyce and Hart had written songs for several cartoon TV shows including Scooby-Doo and Josie and the Pussycats. They had also worked individually, with Bobby writing for movies, and Tommy had moved to England to work with songwriter Richard Hartley for such artists as Meatloaf and Iggy Pop. He'd later returned to the States and had written a book, "How To Write A Hit Song And Sell It". Micky and Davy had later reformed the Monkees on an off and on basis throughout the Eighties and Nineties, Then on a sad note, on November 23, 1994, Tommy had committed suicide in Nashville at the age of 55. He had shot himself to death. His wife, Carolyn, had found him dead in the living room of their home. He had left a note, but police would not reveal its contents.