DAVY JONES:DESPITE THEIR debt to The Beatles, The Monkees were one of the most successful and loved pop groups of the late 1960s. They comprised three Americans and one British member, Davy Jones, who has died after a heart attack, aged 66.
The independent producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider came up with the idea of a television series featuring the antics of a pop group that would issue singles and albums in tandem with the show. Auditions were held in Hollywood for “four insane boys”, and Jones was one of the first in line. He was eventually chosen, along with three Americans: Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith were accomplished rock guitarists, while Micky Dolenz, like Jones, had been a child actor.
Clearly inspired by The Beatles, and in particular their 1964 film A Hard Day's Night, The Monkees quickly climbed the television ratings in the US after the show's launch in 1966. The misgivings of critics were partly assuaged by the quality of the songs provided for the group by the cream of New York's pop composers, including Neil Diamond and Carole King.
Each Monkee was given some personality traits, with Jones playing the cheeky chappie, with an accent that most Americans could mistake for Liverpudlian.
The accompanying singles were equally successful and there were six million-sellers in less than two years. Lead vocals were shared, with Jones giving his best performance on Daydream Believer, composed by John Stewart, from the 1967 album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn Jones Ltd.
This was to be the artistic and commercial peak for the group, as the second television series attracted fewer viewers. The band's attempt at artistic freedom, The Birds, the Bees the Monkees(1968) impressed neither critics nor record buyers. The group made an ambitious anti-war comedy film, Head(1968), but soon afterwards they began to fall apart. Both Tork and Nesmith left in 1969, leaving Jones and Dolenz to record the final album, Changes, in 1970. The group was finally dissolved in 1971.
Jones was born in Openshaw, near Manchester. He showed early talent as an actor and at 14 he was chosen to join the cast of the TV soap opera Coronation Street. He later pursued a career as an apprentice jockey, but returned to the stage after successfully auditioning to take over the part of the Artful Dodger in Lionel Bart's musical Oliver!
In February 1964, a "Brit" edition of The Ed Sullivan Showincluded the cast of Oliver!alongside The Beatles. Jones later told an interviewer that the adulation that greeted the Fab Four gave him the ambition to become a pop star.
In 1987, MTV broadcast the original series, albums were reissued and Jones, Dolenz and Tork played a series of concerts. A new album, Pool It!appeared in 1988 and a further tour took place shortly afterwards. A 45th anniversary reunion tour went ahead last year.
His third wife, Jessica, and four daughters from his two earlier marriages, survive him.
David Thomas Jones, born December 30th, 1945; died February 29th, 2012