Yuku free message boards

www.newsday.com/entertain...-headlines

He's a believer
Peter Tork defends the Monkees' viability for Rock Hall of Fame
BY JOSEPH DIONISIO
joseph.dionisio@newsday.com

April 18, 2007

'So you better get ready," shouts the theme to the Monkees' 1960s TV series, "we may be comin' to your town!" Unless, of course, your town is Cleveland.

Peter Tork - whose band Shoe Suede Blues visits East Setauket and Patchogue this week - says the Monkees merit consideration for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but one man opposes their induction.

"The only person ... holding a grudge is Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone," says the former Monkee. The magazine editor "has never written a gracious word. He personally has the veto power to keep us out."

How does the band - whose Emmy-winning show aped the Beatles' film "A Hard Day's Night" - rank against other inductees? Neither the Animals, the Rascals, the Lovin' Spoonful, the Dells, Del Shannon, Frankie Lymon nor Black Sabbath have more Top 20 singles than the Monkees' 10. Ratings aside, classics such as "Pleasant Valley Sunday" have aged better than the likes of Shannon, whose "Hat's Off to Larry" seems laughable as Hall justification.

Bands as disparate as the Sex Pistols ("Steppin' Stone"), Run-D.M.C. ("Mary, Mary") and The Church ("Porpoise Song") have covered Monkees' songs. Even Radiohead's "Go To Sleep" eerily channels Micky Dolenz's vocals.

"I'm convinced that Micky is one of the great singers of our time," Tork says. "He's always been something of a genius."

One notable fan is Michael Stipe, who reportedly vowed to bar R.E.M. from the Hall until the Monkees got in. Stipe declined comment, but in 1994 he did tell Rolling Stone that "The Monkees ... meant a lot more to me" than the Beatles. R.E.M. was finally inducted last month.

Wenner - who didn't reply to an interview request - allegedly denounces Tork, Dolenz, Davy Jones and Mike Nesmith for not playing their own instruments on the band's first albums.

In this "American Idol" era, when acts are "manufactured" like toasters, fewer critics crucify the Monkees for being a TV show that spawned a band. So have they faced an unfair standard? Were they, in fact, a "real" group?

"I've not heard the slightest murmur about the Monkees being fake," Tork, 65, says from his Connecticut home. "Everybody's forgotten it, except Wenner. He's been vicious."

One Rolling Stone reporter, Tork says, wrote a glowing story crystallizing their merits. But before publication, Tork adds, "The writer said, 'Jann took my article, gutted it and rewrote it to [bury] you.'"

Backed by producer Don Kirshner's songwriting stable - Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Neil Diamond, Neil Sedaka, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart - the band unleashed four straight No. 1 albums and three chart-toppers. They eventually penned their own catchy pop, albeit with less chart success.

"George Harrison used to say he wished his best songs were as good as the worst of Lennon-McCartney," Tork says. "So, we used to hope our best songs were as good as the worst of the Brill Building."

Tork's fame, however, is more about musicianship than songwriting. So said Jimi Hendrix, who called him the most talented Monkee. The guitarist opened several Monkees' gigs, including a '67 show at Forest Hills' West Side Tennis Club. Was his compliment accurate?

"I'm not sure it's quite true," says Tork, who plays guitar, banjo, piano and bass. "I'm far and away the best-trained musician, but I'm in awe of all three [Monkees]. Jimi meant that I was the most [receptive] to his kind of music."

Tork's new album - Shoe Suede Blues' "Cambria Hotel" (sold at cdbaby.com) - stars guitarist Richard Mikuls, bassist Arnold Jacks and drummer Jeff Olson. The band's name doesn't reflect Elvis, so much as a less fractious era in radio.

Besides a bluesy "Last Train to Clarksville," its hidden gem is an Indian violin-laced "For Pete's Sake," aka the show's closing theme. The album has medicinal value, Tork suggests.

"People listen to dance music like taking aspirin: to shut down the pain," he says. "But the blues puts you back together. Like penicillin, it's therapeutic. If I can bring a microscopic bit of that feeling ... my career's in good shape.

The Monkees today:

DAVY JONES, 61 ... the lone British Monkee

His fame led David Bowie (originally David Jones) to change his name ... Tony nominee for "Oliver!" in '60s ... he and Dolenz had little musical training before the series' NBC debut on Sept. 12, 1966.

MIKE NESMITH, 64 ... aka Wool Hat

He wrote Linda Ronstadt's "Different Drum" ... video pioneer who paved the way for creation of MTV ... his mom, Bette Nesmith, invented Liquid Paper in the '50s Skipped most Monkee reunions, and keeps little contact.

MICKY DOLENZ, 62

Earned TV success as child star (1956's "Circus Boy"), director ("Boy Meets World")... auditioned as Fonzie on "Happy Days" and Riddler in '95's "Batman," but voiced Two-Face in a Bat 'toon ... son of actor George Dolenz former DJ at WCBS/101.1 FM.

www.stamfordadvocate.com/...-headlines

Ex-Monkee Peter Tork sings the blues at benefit for homeless shelter

By James Lomuscio
Special Correspondent

Published April 27 2007

NORWALK - Peter Tork made daydream believers last night out of about 300 supporters of the Norwalk Emergency Shelter.

The former Monkee, from the hit 1960s TV show about a pop band, headlined the shelter's annual "Planting the Seeds of Hope" gala at Continental Manor. The event is the shelter's major fundraiser of the year, and it aimed to raise $150,000 for homeless services in the city.

"There are always charities that we would like to help," Tork said while waiting to perform. "And the concept, the reason, the motivation for this one speaks for itself. Isn't it clear that there is a need?"

David Cudiner, shelter board chairman, got Tork to perform through his friend David Fishoff, who had promoted the Monkees' reunion tours. The Monkees disbanded in 2002.

"Without this type of fundraising, we certainly would not be able to help the homeless," said Carole Antonetz, executive director of the 95-bed shelter. "This helps with our operating expenses and goes directly to the homeless, helping them to get back on their feet again."

The shelter has an annual $2.12 million budget funded by the state Department of Social Services, the federal government and the city of Norwalk.

Randy Napoletano, shelter board member in charge of fundraising, said the shelter's goal goes beyond providing emergency food and shelter, "but getting them into some kind of counseling and housing."

"Your typical homeless person today is no longer just the patient out on the street," said Napoletano, a vice president at Norwalk Bank & Trust. "It's families, people you probably know."

Affordable housing, he added, which is being incorporated into many of Norwalk's redevelopment projects, will be a major factor in stemming the rise of homelessness among families being priced out of Fairfield County.

"Norwalk has done a great job pushing to get affordable housing, and we've always been above the state curve," he said.

Still, he said, the need persists, making fundraising a priority.

Although the reason for the gala was a sobering one, Napoletano added: "We want people to have fun in the process of raising money."

Silent auction items included dinners at local restaurants, cigars, tickets to Red Sox and Yankee games, artwork and musical instruments, including a bass guitar signed by Tork.

Tork said his repertoire for the evening would include some Monkees hits, as well as songs he plays with his new band, Shoe Suede Blues. He said the group "started out as a little blues band for charity groups in Southern California" before going national. At noon today, the group is scheduled to perform at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Tork's hometown.

Copyright 2007, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc

www.townonline.com/maynar...x457497914

Maynard - He may not monkey around much anymore, but former Monkees band member Peter Tork is still creating plenty of music.

Along with his blues/jazz band, Shoe Suede Blues, Tork is performing a free concert at the Maynard Public Library on Monday, July 2, to celebrate the librarys one-year anniversary at its new location.

Tork said hes not sure how he originally discovered Maynard, but said he has been playing at the Sit nBull in downtown Maynard off and on for years now.

In an interview, Tork talked at length about his love of and passion for the blues.

When I play the blues, I am where I want to be, he said, calling the blues comforting, [like] good, sticky mom food.

Despite his career in pop music, Tork said hes always played the blues a little bit.

Shoe Suede Blues, which Tork formed about 10 years ago in California, was originally a blues jam band. They have two albums Saved by the Blues and Cambria Hotel, which came out in February and tour the country for about 20 weeks a year, according to Tork.

The band plays several Monkees songs at each performance, mixing the pop in the songs with a bit of blues.

We do a version of Last Train to Clarksville that is so slow and slinky it brings a whole new meaning, Tork said.

Performing Monkees songs is great fun, Tork said, but in terms of pure music, its the blues he prefers.

The Monkees were formed in 1966, specifically for a television show of the same name. Tork, along with Mickey Dolenz, Davy Jones and Michael Nesmith won out over close to 500 hopefuls. The band enjoyed meteoric success in the mid-1960s before fading to black in 1970. Since then, there have been various reincarnations, the most recent in the late 1990s.

A petition to induct the Monkees in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame is currently circulating online, signed by approximately 3,000 people, there is a at Torks Web site, petertork.com.

Tork said there is a bit of controversy surrounding the petition because how the Monkees came to be.

Just because [we] were manufactured doesnt mean [we] dont deserve it, he said.

Tork placed most of the blame on Jann Wenner, the editor and publisher of Rolling Stone magazine who has a great deal of control over nominations. He has no right to control [the nominating process], said Tork, calling the delay abuse of power.

Quick to point out that it was important to keep any talk of the Monkees and the hall of fame in perspective, Tork said there are real, important issues in the world today, pointing to the violence in Darfur, Sudan as an example.

Though they havent performed together in years, Tork said he is still in contact with his old band mates. The last time he saw Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones was about six months ago at a funeral for a former member of the Monkees backup band.

It was the first time they had seen each other for several years, he said. Micky and I send e-mails from time to time.

Tork moved from California about three years ago and currently lives in Mansfield, Conn., in the house his parents bought when he was 13.

It [was] just too good a house to let go, he said