The Talented "Loafy," Carrier of the Monkees Flag
Tribute to a great Monkees sideman, Dave "Loafy" Alexander + Saturday Matinee Music Video "My Love" by Davy Jones feat. "Loafy"
SATURDAY MATINEE MUSIC VIDEO “My Love (She Means Everything)”
Between 1993 and 2003 Davy Jones and I worked on 40 of his original songs. Most of the work was recorded and issued on 3 albums, the best known being JUSTME and JUSTME2 (refracting on JUSTUS, the 1996 Monkees reunion album).
David and I had a give-and-take communication on the arrangements—sometimes he’d let me run wild with tempos and instrumentation, other times he had a song mapped out and I simply topped it off. His eclectic tastes went into country to r’n’b to Latin styles, and we sat in his den with the stereo, analyzing glam, British rock, Europop, and old school Britpop. Many of the songs were new while some were songs he started in 1968, designated for The Monkees but not used. While Mike Nesmith was the dominant songwriting Monkee, Davy took a close second for the number of songs he submitted on their albums.
"My Love" (a newer DJ song) was inspired by Electric Light Orchestra and “Hurricane” Smith. This is one of my personal favorites and features key members of his road bands: myself, Aviva Maloney (sax, vocals), and two people no longer with us, the late well-remembered Jerry Renino and Dave “Loafy” Alexander—whose birthday was yesterday (9/22). When I made this “My Love” video for I intended for Dave and Jerry to have significant face time.
Dave was a proud flag-bearer for all things Monkees (not to mention Beatles; Dave ran a Boston-based Beatles tribute band called Glass Onion). My friendship and work history with him began in 1994, and (for 19 years) we intersected on Monkees spin-off gigs (including Davy’s first symphony pops concert in 2005). When I first met Dave, he had hair like a male Rapunzel. Davy needed a quick-study keyboard player for his band + an upcoming Brady Bunch musical tour. Jerry (then Davy’s music director) found Dave and introduced him as “the perfect person for the job,” arriving with bonus skills on guitar, ukulele, and very strong vocals. It helped that Dave had the temperament of a gentle giant, which was tested as he was often the brunt of Davy’s jokes—from the “short/tall man” vignettes (“I can see right up your nose”) to the Archie & Edith routine that always killed audiences. Then there was Dave’s spot-on Meatloaf parody, which may or may not explain why Dave’s nickname was “Loafy.”
In time Dave became deeply imbedded in touring with The Monkees and with solo Micky Dolenz, and Dave took the Monkees songbook to heart.
Speaking of heart, Dave and I had many confessional conversations, and there are stories about him that range from hilarious to unbelievable (they’re still talking about the “Lefty & Loafy gig” in Green Bay WI). Yet even when he was living on the edge in private, he was always on point for the music. I could count on his uncanny memory for musical details, and there was no guile or competitiveness with him. Sadly he passed away in summer 2022.
Meanwhile, heavenly HB Dave and thank you for always making me feel like a brother. See you on that great stage in the sky.
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