Last Train To Clarksville

     Every once in awhile  we all  revisit  the years of our youth.  Sometimes I wish I could buy a ticket and ride the flashback train when ever I wanted to but that will never be possible.  Those teenage years when everything seemed so fantastic and new are long gone but the memories of those times live on if only in the grandeur of my mind.
     Last week, one of the music stars of my teenage years died.  Davy Jones, lead singer of the musical group the Monkees died unexpectedly at the age of 66.  I hadn't thought about him in a very long time until last year when I attended a wedding where another member of that famous group, Michael Nesmith happened to be the minister for the wedding ceremony.

From Wedding

    I can't say the Monkees were the greatest musical group of that era but they were sure very popular.  The Beatles, Dave Clark Five and Animals were also topping the charts during my teenage years but the Monkees were on the television every Saturday morning so they soon became instant hit for my generation.  The Monkees were a recipe for success from the very beginning. They were a group of lovable guys singing pop music of their time. Chart toppers like Daydream Believer and Last Train To  Clarksville made  afternoons of spinning Monkees 45's on a portable record player seem like I was actually setting in the front row at one of the groups television taping's  but I know it's not 1966 anymore.
     Today, the Monkees music would be called Bubblegum Pop but you sure could not have convinced me of that in 1966.  Somewhere in the nostalgic recesses   of my heart there lies a ticket to that Last Train To Clarksville.  I should probably pull that ticket out a little more often before I hear the  conductor hollower "All Aboard" for the very last time.