2014 MONKEES CONVENTION Coverage! Micky Dolenz! Mike Nesmith! Peter Tork! And--Me!

Just back from the 2014 Monkees Convention in New Jersey! Here is my report, complete with super-rare pics of the fans, merch, events, and the Monkees themselves! A great time was had by all, so look below for a "you-are-there" account of this wild weekend! Click images to enlarge!

Above: Colossal crowds line up at registration booths to start
the show! At times, it was "standing room only" status!

Above: Tons of fans (from around the globe) came armed with 
custom-made shirts, pillows, hats, banners, and throw rugs, 
festooned with personal Monkees-themed event pics!

Above and below: Let's venture into the dealer's room, where lots 
of rare goodies were on display! Dig this cleverly-adorned booth! 
Hardcore Monkees fans will get the gag immediately! Pics below 
courtesy Natalie Panaia!

Above: Another fun fan-produced item found, aimed squarely at super-fans! 
Funny! Who created this? I ain't talking! Utter secrecy! "Secrecy, secrecy, secrecy.."

Above: Custom t-shirts were available at every turn, including these 
gems! Take a close look at the clever detail on these tees!

Above: A talented artist works on an exacting portrait of Michael Nesmith!

Above and below: Scott Murray, the proud owner of this amazing custom guitar
(complete with autographs) shows it off to waves of awed fans!

Above: Another collector displays his "Monkees Gretsch"
guitar model, also emblazoned with signatures!

Above: It's me, with Mike's son, Jonathan Nesmith, one of the
nicest (and most talented) guys you'll ever meet!

Above: There's no need to fear! Monkeeman is
here! Dig this fan's exacting costume!

Above: Another fan in a fantastic custom shirt!

Above: Fans are interviewed for a local magazine piece! Young
and old, guys and girls, black and white, they all have their own 
Monkees-related stories! Note the "Mike Nesmith" proxy (Kristy 
Hoffman) in the background!

Above: At the show, I was asked to sign tons of the covers I drew for 
MONKEE BUSINESS FANZINE, my comics, and (for some reason) the cover 
of Kristy Hoffman's copy of the 1976 MONKEES GREATEST HITS album!

Above: Got to see the Boyce & Hart documentary, THE GUYS WHO WROTE  'EM, put 
together by Rachel Lichtman (who also hosted the screening)! Great film, full of previously 
unseen pics and footage of not only B&H, but the Monkees, too!

Above: Michael Nesmith signs for the fans! Mike was presented with anything
you can plaster a signature upon! Posters, shirts, toys, CDs and LPs, guitars…
He engaged each fan in conversation, and was his usual witty self!

Above: Mike signs the 1967 HEADQUARTERS record album!

Above: Michael adds his signature to a fan's Monkeemobile die-cast! Mike and I
had to convince the fan that the real Monkeemobile was parked right downstairs!

BONUS! Click below to watch Michael sign the Monkeemobile toy!

Above: What did I have Michael sign? This 1996 catalog cover, which already
sports the signatures of the other three Monkees, who signed it at a '96
"meet-and-greet" event in Charlotte, North Carolina! It's bordered by
attached pics of me and the Monkees (and their famed mode of
transportation) from various previous events...

Above and below: Did somebody mention the Monkeemobile was making
an appearance at the show? Here it is, graced by my presence!

Above and below: The Monkees appear live, to accept their award plaques
during their induction into the American Pop Music Hall of Fame! They also used
the occasion to announce a new 2014 tour! "Hey! I've got a drum, Peter has a
banjo, Mike has a--microphone…Let's go on tour!"

Above pic courtesy MONKEES CONVENTION FaceBook page!

BONUS BONUS! Click below to see the Pop Hall of Fame Induction!

BONUS BONUS! During the convention, Michael also presented his amazing "Movies of the Mind" live show, backed by a fabulous band! Click below to see (and hear) one of the most exciting portions of the set, as Mike performs some of the INFINITE RIDER cuts that fans have loved for over thirty years now! Thanks to "Spikedrice" for this and the above video clip!

Above: The Monkees are ready for the awesome onslaught of fevered fans, looking
for their chance to snap a personal pic with them! Photo by David Levin!

Above: The latest chimp off the ol' block? It's me, happy as a clam in
red sauce, caught in a clutch as the "Monkee in the middle!" Micky and
Mike warmly embraced me, as we all shook hands, while Peter broke into
his own rendition of Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al!" Micky: "I call Peter
'irresponsible.'" Wow.

The Monkees Yell "Charge!" 1977 Albert Bigley Original Comic Art!

Another Monkees masterpiece (?) from my youth! Dig this 1977 drawing of "Mikey," Mike, Peter and Davy, as they charge up a hill in complete "foreign legion" garb! Copied from one of the famed 60s Dell MONKEES comic books, you can tell that the 11-year-old me had a long way to go, specifically when it came to capturing celebrity likenesses! Click below to enlarge!

Above: My 1977 drawing (part of a planned "portfolio?"), cribbed from a 1967
Dell MONKEES comic, the only one I owned at the time (along with a small
smattering of Monkees LPs, 8-tracks, and other memorabilia)! I bought the
 comic from a used book and magazine shop, where I regularly gorged on back-issue
superhero comics, and was thrilled to make this find! Who even knew there
were Monkees comics? Note my wonky tracing of the logo, my oh-so-funny 
captions (swiped from daily afternoon reruns of the show), and the odd 
logo featuring silhouettes of the band!

Above: The page from that same MONKEES comic book that 
inspired my pencilled piece! Art is thought to be by Jose Delbo!

Take a BREAK With the Monkees! Rare 1996 Reunion Article and Pics!

When the reunited Monkees (Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones) hit Charlotte, North Carolina on a concert tour stop in 1996, the local free newspaper, BREAK, was there to deliver the inside story of the band to the uninitiated! Tho mostly consisting of cribbed info from the three books (one by Davy himself) on the group that were available then, this long-form article still delivers the abridged story to the local masses, also priming the pump for the Monkees' shows in the area! During this time, the band also made a "meet-and-greet" appearance at the now-defunct Media Play store, and Micky also held a gallery showing of his artwork while in NC! Click each image below to enlarge and read!

Notice how the above heavily-Photoshopped cover indulges in more than a little
sensationalism, in order to grab the eyes of passers-by and potential readers!

The above pic, tho a reunion photo, comes from
the 1986 tour, not the 1996 concerts.

BONUS! Click below to enlarge these two clippings from NC area papers, detailing Micky's art gallery showing while in Charlotte!

BONUS BONUS! Click below to see me, posing with Micky Dolenz, during his 1996 gallery art display event in Charlotte, North Carolina!

BONUS BONUS BONUS! Click below to see rare video coverage of the Monkees' 1996 NC visit! Their concert! Store signings! Micky's art show!

More of the Marvel/Monkees Comics Connection! X-Men?! NOT BRAND ECHH!

I've already established the DC Comics connection to the madcap Monkees here, but didja know the maniacal mavens at Marvel Comics moved to the Monkees manic musical groove? True! Click below to see these late-60s examples of the Monkees being cited in such titles as uncanny X-MEN, and the nonsensical NOT BRAND ECHH!

Above: A look inside 1967's X-MEN #31 reveals the merry mutants enjoying some
downtime at a nearby club called "the Monkees Paw!" By Roy Thomas and Werner Roth!

From 1967's NOT BRAND ECHH #4, the X-Men get the parody treatment, all
while listening to THE MONKEES THEME, played on a convenient portable radio!
By Roy Thomas and Tom Sutton!

This 1967 issue of NOT BRAND ECHH #2 once again "apes" the MONKEES THEME,
to hilarious effect! By Gary Friedrich and Marie Severin!

BONUS! Click here to see another Monkees appearance in the pages of the nutty NOT BRAND ECHH! comical book!

The Monkees! Custom Mego "Action Figures!" Davy Jones! Peter Tork!

Take a look at these colorful and fun custom "action figures" I assembled around 2005! It's the Monkees, created with an eye toward replicating the kind of product the prolific Mego corporation would have produced around the mid-70s, like their STAR TREK, WALTONS, and "World's Greatest Superheroes" line of toys! Click each image below to enlarge!

Above: All four custom MONKEES 8-inch figures, sealed on carefully-crafted custom cards!

Above: Davy was made using a STAR TREK "Chekov" (what else?) action figure!
Tons of molding clay and added accessories were used to craft
the figure, along with lots of sculpting and painting!

Molding putty was used to craft Mike's hair, over a 70s STAR TREK "Bones McCoy"
head. A custom hat was added, then that head was used as the "master mold"
for the final plaster cast noggin! Clothes from the 70s STARSKY & HUTCH Mego 
line were used for his threads!

Peter sports a custom-made psychedelic top, made
from some paisley-patterned material!

Above: The original heads used to create the Monkees! Left to right: "Bo Duke"
was used for Micky, "Bones McCoy" was turned into Mike, and "Luke Duke"
was crafted into Peter!