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| Micky Dolenz and me. |
That year I began writing articles for Newsday, our local Long Island newspaper. I was a kid editor for Newsday's kid-friendly column, appropriately titled, Kidsday. Pat, the editor in chief who ran the column, knew how crazy I was for the '60s bubblegum group, The Monkees. Every time we spoke, I'd beg him to hook me up with concert tickets.
I wasn't just a fan of The Monkees. I was insanely obsessed with them. I attended conventions. I ran a quarterly fanzine (my dad helped with the printing and mailing) with over 160 members. I had every album, magazine, photo, collectible, you name it, I had it! I had every episode of The Monkees show taped at least twice on VHS. I knew the lines to every song, every episode and their movie Head.
One fateful day, Pat called and said my wish was finally about to come true. Sure, he could offer me second row tickets to their Jones Beach show, but I'd have to earn them. Ugh. How? "We need you to interview them!" Pat said nonchalantly. I nearly passed out. My first big assignment. They were my most favorite band at the time next to Howard Jones and Tears for Fears of course. Wow!!!
The only Monkee who agreed to the interview for whatever reason, was Micky Dolenz. This was fine by me, Micky was my favorite member of The Monkees. I asked Micky questions about himself he was surprised I even knew about. I gave him a handful of things to autograph for me and asked him for a hug. I was sure it would forever be the best day of my life. In some ways it was the best day of my childhood life. As an adult, my wedding was the best day of my life.
24 comments:
Awww, that's so cool!!!
Very cool, Ally!
Micky was my favorite, too!!! Wow, I'm sitting here in awe. A brush with fame....and fame I like, to boot!!!
Weirdest coincidence ever, my BF just went to jury duty yesterday and facebooked that she had jury duty with the Micky Dolenz! LOL! Crazy world! BTW, We live in Ventura CA, he must be a county resident too!
that is so awesome!!! he was my fave, I had a big crush on him :-)
He's my favourite too! I love the Monkees. When I was little I'd watch them every Tuesday night on the BBC after school. I wanted to marry all of them I believe until I found out they were my parents' age and well...ew. Of course the show was old even then and I was watching old reruns but I didn't know that! :)
Come on, between you and me, you have this pic on your shelf opposite your wedding picture right? lol
That is really awesome.
Wow, cool cool cool! I have always been a Monkees fan...I always thought of them as the American version of The Beatles. How happy you looked!
lucky you! i love the monkeys! when i was growing up we would all rush home from grade school to watch their tv show.
That is pretty cool.
Mike Doland (was that his name?) was always my favorite. He seemed so tall and aloof. I heard he was the one with the most actual music talent. I always felt a little bad for him for that. But not really.
Mike Nesmith! His mom invented white out.
That is SOOO cool!! I always thought he was the cutest Monkee too. Meeting an idol is really neat.
Cool! Although I always had a crush on Davy Jones.
The Monkees.... wow... you totally trumped my Penn & Teller story.
well played.
also, i'm totally jealous.
You've had such an exciting life, Ally. That's a cute picture too.
xoRobyn
Now that must have been such an awesome experience, especially at 13!!!
So cool! Must have been a wonderful thing to experience. Thanks for sharing. You write so well, it makes me feel like I was there, too.
I used to think we was sooo cute! at 13 I would have been to daffy to talk, drool at him but not talk
That's awesome. I have a fascination with the Monkees. I love that Micky Dolenz also directed 2 eps of Boy Meets World, and guest starred in two others--he played an old high school friend of Cory's dad. (Peter Tork played Topanga's hippie dad, and Davy Jones once guest starred as a random guy.)
Officially jealous
That's a crazy gig for a 13-year-old. How very very cool!
That's amazing! Davy Jones was my favorite until I realized he was not a cute boy with a bowl cut but in fact an aging man with a mullet. I've since moved on to Peter Tork.
And to tie in with the school supplies post, I totally have a vintage Monkees lunchbox! It's pretty spectacular. I mean, not as spectacular as meeting Micky Dolenz, but I'll take what I can get.
So you were a pretty good reporter. You brought back the story. Good picture too for your memory book.
That's awesome! I write for the Patch (owned by AOL Media) and have had the opportunity to cover many book signings at a local bookstore and have thus met quite a few celebs. Jane Seymour was sweet, as was Julie Andrews. And as a side project, I also had the chance to do a phone interview with Ann M. Martin, my favorite childhood author. Interviewing your favorite celebs is great, isn't it! :)
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