Secrets of a Monkee
Summary: Micky meets his best friends during his darkest hour. Years later, his past comes back to haunt him. Can his friends help pull him back again?
Author's note: Ok, I tried figuring out how to do a line break in between time jumps, but can't figure out how to make do it, so I give up. Shorter chapter, but oh well. Next chapter will jump forward about 4 years. I don't own any of the songs. I know the boys didn't actually write them (mostly :D), etc. all that legal jazz. Anyway, on with the story!
Chapter 4: A New Beginning
"Micky's right," Mike said. "We need a name." They were back at the house, and all in a really good mood. They were sitting down at the table, and Mike had gotten a small notepad and a pen to jot down possible names. Mike tore the top sheet off that already had scribble on it and put it in the middle of the table. Micky took it and folded it up in the shape of a triangle. He wasn't really thinking about what he wanted to do with the paper, but he was too happy to sit still. Mike sat to his left and was lost in thought. Peter sat across from Micky, a large smile plastered on his face. Davy sat to Micky's right, also smiling, but trying to help Mike think of names for the band.
"We've never had a name before," Davy said.
"Yeah, which may be part of the reason we never got good gigs," Mike said tapping the pen against the paper. He jumped a little when Micky flicked the triangle paper across the table like a tiny football. Peter caught it and laughed before flicking it back. "How about The Inevitables?"
"What?" Micky asked, thinking the name sounded incredibly stupid. "No!" he said with a flick of the paper back at Peter, who caught it again.
"What about The Creeps?" Davy asked. "Nevermind." He said before anyone could protest. "I didn't think that one through." Peter laughed and flicked the paper back at Micky.
"Cut that out," Mike said with a slight annoyance. "What about The Turtles?"
"I think that name is already taken," Peter said. Mike looked at Peter, thinking about it.
"Is it?"
"Yeah," Peter said as Micky took the paper and tried sticking it under Mike's hat.
"Don't do that," Mike said flatly when he realized what Micky was doing. But Peter and Davy laughed. "Ok, then what else?"
"Dunno," Micky flicked the paper back at Peter.
"Will you two quit monkeying around for 5 seconds?" Mike now sounded agitated, but Micky laughed in spite of that.
"Hey, how 'bout that?" Peter asked.
"What?" Mike asked.
"What about The Monkeys?"
"Sounds cool, but I don't know." Mike scribbled it on the paper and stared at it. "Doesn't look right." Micky grabbed the paper from him and wrote underneath it "The Monkees" before sliding it back across the table to Mike.
"What about that?"
"It's the same thing, just misspelled, Micky."
"Yes, I realize that. But one of the biggest bands of all time misspelled their name. You know, a little band called The Beatles?"
"I like it!" Davy said. Peter nodded in agreement. Mike thought it over for a moment, before he too warmed up to it.
"So it's settled," Mike said as he circled the name. "We're The Monkees." After that, it was pure pandemonium for the rest of the day, mostly from Micky and Peter pulling more antics including tossing a little stuffed monkey around like a football. Micky finally felt free and open, so he and Peter goofed off until the phone finally rang. Mike was closest to the phone and answered on the second ring.
"Hello?" he said into the receiver before pausing to hear the other person. "Yeah, this is Mr. Nesmith." There was another pause as Mike listened. "Really? Thanks!" There was a long pause and Mike's face flattened a little. "Oh. Ok, sure. Thanks." Mike hung up and turned to face Micky, Peter and Davy who were all listening.
"Was that for the gig?" Davy asked, even though they hadn't expected a call from them so quickly.
"Yeah, we got it," Mike answered. The others cheered. "We are going to play 6 songs, then they are going to do this little awards ceremony thing, then the other band is going to play. But they said they wanted all our songs to be original."
"So no covers?" Peter said.
"But we only have one song," Davy said.
"Peter, didn't you say that you had other songs?" Micky asked.
"Well, yeah, but just a few," Peter said. "I have 2 more that are close to being done."
"Let's see them," Micky said. "Maybe we can finish them up."
"Even if we did, we need 3 more songs."
"There's no way we can write 3 songs AND learn them in a week," Mike said.
"We'll worry about that later," Micky said. "Let's see what you have, Peter."
"Ok," Peter answered and went to his room, returning only a moment later. He set the music down on the table and the other three looked over the first one.
"I like this one!" Davy said.
"And it's got such a great title," Micky teased.
"Hey, I'm not being egotistical there," Peter argued, "'For Pete's Sake' is a very common phrase!"
"I know!" Micky laughed. "I'm just teasing!"
"It's a nice song," Mike said. "What makes you think it's not finished?"
"It just doesn't sound right," Peter said sitting down into the chair. "I think it's too hippy-ish."
"Nothing wrong with that," Micky laughed. "One of my best friends is a hippy."
"Who?" Peter asked, clueless. Micky just stared at him.
"YOU!" Micky laughed.
"Really? I'm one of your best friends?"
"Well, I only have 3 friends in the world, so it's not hard to get that title."
"Maybe you could bring the other two over sometime," Davy chuckled, carrying on with the joke.
"Funny, Davy." Micky said, laughing with Davy, Mike and Peter. "I don't know, Peter, I think it'll sound good," He grabbed the paper and began to sing it. He sang one verse and looked at Peter who looked really happy.
"It does sound good now that I hear you sing it!" Peter said with excitement. "You should be the one to sing it at the show."
"It's your song, Peter," Micky argued.
"Yeah, and I like the way you sing it, so I want you to do it." Micky didn't argue anymore. He respected Peter's wish for him to sing it. They looked at the other song Peter had written. It was a beautiful song called "I Wanna be Free". The imagery in it was beautiful and the music was wistful and simple. Davy really seemed to like it, and when he sang a few bars, his British accent made the song sound captivating. So after deciding Davy would sing this song for their performance, they had chosen 3 out of the 6 songs needed.
"Well, what do we do now?" Mike asked. "We need 3 more songs."
"Well…." Micky said getting up from the table. "I'll be right back." Micky ran over to the staircase, but instead of climbing up it normally, he jumped grabbed the bottom of the railing and pulled himself up and over. Walking into his room, he crossed over to one of the boxed he'd left unpacked. In the bottom of the box were the 5 binders full of songs he had written. He grabbed them and made his way back to the table where the others were waiting for him.
"What are those?" Peter asked.
"Well, these are songs that I have written," Micky answered, setting them down on the table. "Go ahead and look through them and let me know what you like."
"These are all full," Mike said in astonishment.
"How long have you been writing exactly?" Davy asked in equal astonishment, grabbing the top binder and opening it.
"Uh…" Micky thought and Mike and Peter each started flipping through another binder, "I don't know, maybe a little under 10 years. I got my first set of drumsticks when I was 9, and started there. Most of them are really bad, but my mom convinced me to always keep them anyway."
"Wow," Davy said, stopping on one of them. "This one looks beautiful." Micky looked over his shoulder and froze. Of course Davy would have to choose that one. "I think we should do this one."
"I don't know," Micky said, really not wanting to sing that song ever again. He really should have thrown it away.
"It's a gorgeous love song. So different from Peter's. I think it'll be good to have a nice mix of sounds."
"I agree," Mike said. "This one looks good, too. You are very talented." Micky cringed at seeing the one Mike had chosen. Why did Mike and Davy have to pick two of the songs he'd written for her, back when they were still desperately in love? Micky really didn't think he could ever perform those songs again.
"Yeah, this is a really good song," Davy said, taking the song out of the binder carefully and putting it in the middle of the table. "I vote to do this one." Before Micky could grab the song, Mike picked it up and looked it over.
"I agree with Davy," he said. "I vote for this one, too. And I think we should do this one, too." Mike pulled the other one from the binder as well and gave it to Davy. Davy read it over and agreed emphatically. Micky didn't think he could get out of this anymore. But it was up to Peter, who now reached for the songs. Micky secretly hoped that Peter wouldn't like them, but he did.
"These are beautiful love songs," Peter said. "It almost seems like you wrote these for someone."
"I….uh….I did," Micky said, sitting down at the table now, resigned to the fact he'd have to do these songs. They were two of his best songs after all, and it was because he was so in love with her. With a loud sigh, he took the songs from Peter. "I wrote 'I'm a Believer' when I was a sophomore right after I started dating her and 'Sometime in the Morning' I wrote…" Micky trailed off. He really didn't want to go into detail about it. "Later." He said. He looked up to notice the others looking at him with concern on their faces.
"Are you gonna be ok to do these?" Mike asked. Micky sighed again, not wanting to, but somehow thinking he needed to push himself to get completely out of this funk.
"One way to find out," Micky said. He swallowed and started to sing "Sometime in the Morning". He felt a pull at his heart as images of her flowed through his mind. The song was slow and sweet, the perfect love ballad. He had never gotten the chance to sing it to her, but knew she would have loved it. Halfway through, he felt his eyes start to well with tears and his throat caught. He looked up at his friends, who were all looking at him with amazement on their faces. Micky swallowed to clear his throat and pushed forward. He was doing this for them now. The song didn't mean anything anymore. It was just a song now.
"Wow," Peter muttered when Micky had finished.
"You have an excellent voice," Davy added. Mike nodded his own agreement.
"Thanks," Micky said rather sheepishly. "I think I want to change them a bit before we play, though. Make them different. Maybe speed them up a little and make 'Sometime in the Morning' less of a ballad. Also add parts for you guys to do some harmonies."
"Sure," Peter said. "That should sound good, too."
"We still need another song," Mike said, grabbing the binder in front of him again.
"Actually, can I choose the last one?" Peter asked. Micky noticed he had his finger holding place in the binder he had flipped through. Micky recognized it as one of his earliest binders; the one with the worst songs. "I like this one. It's different. Catchy." Peter flipped open to a spot halfway through and laid the binder on the table. Micky didn't immediately recognize it. He could tell it was definitely middle school handwriting, though. The title read "Saturday's Child".
"I don't even remember that one," Micky said, pulling the binder closer to him. Reading over it, he suddenly remembered it and burst out laughing, before sliding it over to Davy and Mike to read. "Oh wow! I haven't thought about this one in a long time! My sister and I actually did this one. Well, kinda. Our neighbor was quite the ladies' man, only his wife didn't find that out for years. My sister and I would see so many girls coming and going, and she joked that he must have one girl for each day of the week. We sat around and started describing them, and somehow that song came out of it." Davy and Peter both laughed; Mike smiled.
"I like it," Mike said. "I think it we should do it."
"I wrote that in 7th grade!" Micky exclaimed. "It can't be that good!"
"It kinda is," Davy said now that he had looked over it.
"Alright, whatever you guys say," Micky got up with his songs to start working on them and adding parts for the others. "Mike, mind if I borrow your guitar?"
"Sure," Mike answered. "You play guitar, too?"
"Yeah, wanna hear a little?"
"Sure!" Peter nearly shouted. Micky laughed; he really did have a passion for music. He would breathe it if he could. Micky grabbed Mike's guitar and sat down. Only one song came to mind in that moment, though. He played the song he had modified a long time ago and used in most auditions he went to in high school: Johnny B. Goode.
"You're good on the guitar, too!" Peter said when he'd finished. Micky smiled, sheepishly again, and thanked Peter.
Over the next few days, the boys practiced Peter's songs until their fingers were almost raw. Micky was also reworking his songs the other three had picked, so that they could all sing. When he finished, he called them over to look at the changes. They all agreed they liked them, and began practicing those as well.
By the time they had to perform, they had the songs down solid. It was a lot of painstaking work and Micky's arms felt sore as the four of them stood in the wings waiting to perform. Peter and Mike had complained about their fingers starting to hurt. Peter even had a blister on one of them. But the money would make it all worth it. Peter looked out into the audience and ducked back in very quickly.
"There are a lot of people out there!" Peter exclaimed.
"Really?" Mike said, pulling back the curtain to get a look for himself.
"How many do you think are out there?" Davy asked.
"Maybe a hundred."
"You guys aren't nervous, are you?" Micky asked.
"A little," Davy said. "I've never played for that many people. Maybe 20 or 30, but not a hundred."
"I have," Micky said. "I played at several school assemblies in high school. Mostly songs they wanted me to do, but I did a couple of my own. My school was huge, too. Probably a couple thousand kids who didn't want to be there."
"I did that, too," Peter said. "For a talent show. Although, I don't think any school in Connecticut has a couple thousand kids. Maybe a couple hundred."
"Yeah," Micky said, giving Davy a reassuring pat on the back. "Once the light hits the stage, you don't even really see them. It's much too bright. I used to think about wearing sunglasses when I perform." Before anyone could say anything else, the announcer started speaking into the microphone.
"Welcome, ladies and gentleman," he started, "to our 4th annual employee benefit awards. As you know, we opened 30 more stores across the country this year and it has all been thanks to you! In order to celebrate, we are going to start off the night with a little entertainment. Please welcome a local band: The Monkees!" All four wandered onto the stage to loud applause. They all exchanged looks saying they were ready once they had all settled into their spots. Mike counted out a beat quietly and they began to play.
The performance seemed to go by quickly for Micky. With the exception of the audition, he hadn't performed for months. He felt the rush of excitement as the crowd applauded each song. He briefly stole glances at the others, who also seemed to be enjoying themselves. It was as if they had been performing for years as a group. Everything flowed perfectly together. All the blood, sweat, and tears they put into learning these songs paid off. After the show, the manager who had hired them even gave them an extra $50 and told them he would keep them in mind for upcoming events. Micky knew this was the start of a whole new life for him. And he loved it.
Ending author's note: Yes, there will be more. These last few chapters have taken place about two years prior to the events of the show and the next ones will take place a few months after the show. They will have been together for four years. And little trivia for you: the band names I came up with were actual names considered by Bob and Bert before they decided on "The Monkees" and yes, Micky really did sing and play guitar on Johnny B. Goode at the audition for the show. Hope you guys like the little bits I threw in there. There was one I threw in last chapter, too. Kudos to whoever finds it! Hint, it's not something technically happened, but I saw it on the made for tv movie "Daydream Believers" and loved it, as did Micky on the commentary track for the movie. Lol.