Several weeks later, the summer had progressed as had the show and it’s ratings. The fact was, The Monkees were a hit. Everybody knew their name and wanted a piece of them. Girls screamed for them everywhere they went, and a quiet moment was hard to come by.
All of this plus the added stress of rarely spending time with each other put a strain on our otherwise perfect relationships.
After the four guys finished doing an episode of the TV show they would rush off to practice their instruments so that one day they would not need to have studio musicians. They prepared for their up coming concert tour and the making of their next album.
The fact that they were not allowed to play their instruments on the record upset them deeply. Mike took it especially hard. He felt very strongly about his music.
I tried to comfort him one day a few months after we met. “It’s okay, Mike,” I said, “Your true fans will stand by you. Soon you guys will be able to play your instruments great, and you’ll surprise all the critics.”
“I guess so,” Mike agreed half-heartedly with a shrug.
“I know so, now let’s go do something fun.”
“Like what?” He asked.
“Ummmm.” I hemmed and hawed. “Let’s go shopping!”
“Okay.”
We rounded up the others and headed off in the Monkee mobile and the VW Beetle to the local mall. The Monkees had to wear disguises because they were so popular. We all laughed at how funny they looked, but were glad we could shop in peace.
We bought some really groovy clothes and some new records. We all loved the Beatles and so we got the new Revolver album. When we got home and listened to it we were amazed. It was unlike anything we had ever heard before. “I just love Paul’s voice…” I gushed when Eleanor Rigby played from the speakers.
Mike gave me a dirty look.
“What?” I asked. “Don’t you like it too?”
The other girls and I agreed that the Beatles were fab. “Do you think you could introduce us to them?” We asked.
“We’ve never met them yet ourselves, but maybe someday.” Davy told us.
We pouted.
“You will just have to be satisfied with meeting one famous rock band.” Micky delared.
“Okay,” We decided.
The next day Shawna and Peter were having a fight. I guess Shawna had snapped at him about something. She can get rather snippy for no reason.
Peter wasn’t taking it. “All right, let’s have it out in the open. You're ugly. You're an ugly person. Ugly, ugly...ooh are you ugly. Nobody likes you, least of all me. Nobody likes you at all.”
“Well if that’s how you feel about me I’m leaving.” With that Shawna packed her bags and left. Mike and I were in the living room watching I Dream of Jeannie when Shawna stormed out the front door without even a backward glance. “What’s wrong with her?” We asked ourselves.
Peter was the next to stomp down the stairs. He came into the living room and declared, “Shawna and I just had a fight, I told her she was ugly and she said she was never coming back.”
“Good!” I exclaimed. “I never liked her anyway, always minding everyone else’s business and picking petty arguments.”
“But I thought you liked Shawna1?” Mike asked, confused.
“I did, but a lot of the time she isn’t very pleasant to be around and I don’t feel like putting up with that anymore.”
“Me either!” Peter decided. “I’m not going after her. Let her find some other poor innocent guy to torture with her smelly feet.”
I laughed and told them about the time I had a gym locker next to Shawna and how awful her sneakers smelt. “I had to hold my breath the whole time, or else risk gagging to death!”
Just then Jill and Jamie trotted in. They had heard us laughing and wanted to know what all the fuss was about. Peter filled them in on Shawna’s leaving. I reminded Jamie about Shawna’s stinky sneakers.
“Oh I remember those, they were rotten!”
Jill started laughing and said, “Remember the time in gym class when Shawna did a sit up and farted?”
“Oh my gosh, yes! And no one would have known if hadn’t said, ‘Shawna! Did you just fart?!’ I thought she would have killed me!” We all roared. Peter was now completely cheered up and we all settled down to watch the rest of the TV show.
After our vacation ended a couple of months ago we decided to stick around and move in with the Monkees at their pad. Clarksville was only about two and a half hours from where we lived. We went home to visit sometimes on the weekends.
One weekend we invited the Monkees along to meet our parents.
My mom couldn’t understand why Mike wore his wool hat in the house. It was over her head. My parents liked Mike though and were very hospitable. Jamie’s dad was nice to her and Davy at first, but then he caught them kissing in the bathroom and kicked them both out of the house. Jamie went back the next day while he was at work and got all of her stuff. Jill’s mom and stepfather were glad to see her, and glad to see her involved with someone who was positively influencing her. Micky had encouraged her to get her GED and to go to college.
While we were home we decided to show the Monkees around our town. We showed them the Stewart’s store, the Variety store and the Country Spot Restaurant. Needless to say, they weren’t very impressed.
Because Jamie got kicked out of her dad’s house she and David stayed with me. My parents were more than happy to have her. Peter stayed at Jill’s house, and we steered clear of Shawna’s neck of the woods. We had heard it through the grapevine that she was now pregnant with our old friend Kyle’s child. We always knew that they would end up together. In high school they used to fight like they were husband and wife.
Jamie, Jill and I were sad to hear that Shawna would be reproducing.
The next Monday it was back to the grind for the Monkees. They were working on finishing their second album, More of the Monkees. This album was basically to cash in on their success. All they really did was the singing on the songs. Davy walked in with his maracas hoping he could at least shake them on a couple of records. But no, the producers decided it would be best if they had professional maraca shakers. Davy was crushed. Jamie comforted him between takes. Peter wanted to play his guitar; Micky had learned some drums and practiced in front of the producers. He asked if he could play the drums on one song. They replied that on this album they were having studio musicians, but that perhaps on a future album they could play some of the instruments. While they weren’t happy with this response, they couldn’t exactly argue. They finished about six of the songs that day and had to return at 9 the next morning to polish off the rest.
Unlike Yoko Ono, Jamie, Jill and I did not feel the need to be in the studio with them everyday. It was September 1st, and we decided to sign up for courses at the local Community College, CCC (Clarksville Community College.) I was going to major in Business and Jamie wanted to be a lawyer, so she decided to major in Liberal Arts. Jill took a class to get her GED. She had quit high school during her senior year, moved in with her friends and experimented with drugs and alcohol. She got counseling before it was too late; however, and now is doing fine.
Our first day of classes was to be September 8th. We were quite nervous, but thankfully we all had a lunch break at the same time and could eat together. I also had Writing 1 class with Jamie. After classes we did our homework and then hung out with our boyfriends. At CCC we met another girl named Denise and we all became fast friends. We brought her over to the pad for a visit one day and Peter couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. She was very pretty.
“So Peter, do you play the guitar?” She asked him one night while we ate a delicious dinner that Jamie had made.
“Why yes I do.” He replied. “Would you like to hear me play sometime?”
“Yes, I would love to.”
Peter played Denise a few songs on his guitar after dinner. They decided to go to a bar afterwards. They came in at 3 the next morning drunk. All of the ruckus woke Mike and me up. I was now sleeping in the other twin bed that was in his room. It was not ladylike in the 1960’s to sleep in the same bed as your boyfriend, even if you weren’t having sex. I was ladylike, unlike Jill who took Micky to bed the same day she met him!
Anyway, we went downstairs to see what was going on. Peter was carrying Denise around on his back (she only weighed about 100 pounds) and they were singing the old Buddy Holly tune, “That’ll be the Day” and laughing. Mike and I giggled. Peter put Denise down reluctantly. They were too wired to sleep so stayed up on the sofa and listened to the new Revolver album. They particularly liked the psychedelic "Tomorrow Never Knows." They fell asleep on the couch and slept until late the next day, which was a Saturday.
*~ Hope you enjoyed the chapter that took me years to write! :) Hopefully it won't be too long before you can go on to the nonexistent Chapter Five ! ~*
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