GAY ICONS 8: "ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK"

[PeterRS]

Yes, I know! What has one of the most popular disco numbers of the 1980s to do with Gay Icons? I wonder how many are aware that this song comes from a Broadway musical? "Chess", with lyrics by the chess-loving Tim Rice who in the 1970s had made himself a nice fortune as the lyricist for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Evita" and then later for Disney with lyrics for Elton John’s “The Lion King” and other shows, was one of Tim Rice’s pet projects and very dear to his heart. I saw the musical in its first month in London in 1986. To write the music, Rice commuted to Sweden to discuss it with the ABBA boys, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson. They liked the idea. In the view of many, including me, their music for “Chess” remains one of the greatest Broadway scores of all time.

18 months prior to opening, the producers issued a concept CD with the full cast and the London Symphony Orchestra. This raised expectations for “Chess” to a very high level. Murray Head’s “One Night in Bangkok” became a massive worldwide hit in terms of record sales and radio plays, as did the lovely duet sung by Elaine Page and Barbara Dickson, “I Know Him So Well.” 

Head was well-known to cinema audiences as having been part of the first mouth-to-mouth gay kiss in the John Schlesinger 1971 movie “Sunday Bloody Sunday” when his other party was none other than the almost aggressively heterosexual actor Peter Finch.

Sadly for “Chess”, though, internal Broadway feuding and international rapprochement as Gorbachev's star was rising and the Soviet Union soon to collapse, rendered Tim Rice's book and lyrics about a Cold War love affair set alongside a chess match between a Russian and an American all but redundant. It struggled along in London for three years but then flopped spectacularly on Broadway with a loss of over US$6 million. Some years later Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Aspects of Love", his first post-"Phantom" musical, lost $8 million after it too died on Broadway, thus becoming Broadway's most expensive flop up to that time. This was massively eclipsed by the $60 million loss after “Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark” also collapsed in 2017. That sure-fire hit had become a legendary debacle. Broadway can be an unforgiving beast.

“Chess” also faced a major problem when a much bigger disaster hit the world. Apart from groups of doctors in New York and Los Angeles, no one thought much about HIV and AIDS when it first started on its train of devastation. As more and more information came into the public domain, suddenly gay men in particular started to fear this new illness for which there was no cure. One who contracted it was Michael Bennett, the hugely successful producer/director who had pioneered a revival of the dance musical with “A Chorus Line”. 

Audiences on Broadway and in London adored "A Chorus Line". Unfortunately when the movie version was on the drawing board Michael Bennett turned down the role of director when the producers would not accept the changes he wanted from the stage version. So iconic was the stage musical that many established directors also turned it down. It was only when the producers reached Richard Attenborough whose “Gandhi” had recently won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director, that he accepted. Many felt this was an unwise choice. A very British director for a quintessentially American musical. The sceptics were proved right. The film version was neither a critical nor audience hit.

Tim Rice had loved “A Chorus Line” and was certain that Bennett was the right director to get “Chess” on to the stage. Bennett agreed and started working on casting the show and having very expensive large and unusually tech-heavy scenery constructed. Bennett’s vision was essentially a multi-media show. Some found this odd given that Rice’s book is set in a small Swiss village in the Alps. Then disaster struck. Bennett’s illness had progressed and he was forced suddenly to resign from the production. To take over, Rice was able at short notice to sign the director of “Cats” and "Les Misérables", Trevor Nunn. It quickly became known that Nunn hated the high-tech design, but he had no choice. He had to work within it. 

The show’s first night had the critics divided. Some loved it; others panned it, mostly because they felt the book was a mess. The undoubted star of the show was the then relatively unknown Swedish singer Tommy Körberg who played the part of the Russian in the chess contest. Audiences seemed to like the show but there was no rush for tickets. Allegedly it was the large weekly advertising budget that kept the show running for three years. For its later Broadway run Nunn was retained, but he had the book and some songs rewritten, the show was recast and it had little in common with London.

While the history of “Chess” illustrates the complexity and risk involved in getting a musical from original idea on to the stage, it also illustrates how much the world of entertainment needs musicals. For if Broadway IS New York, now it also belongs to the world. Musicals had always toured internationally, mostly in locally produced versions often quite far from the Broadway originals. When Andrew Lloyd Webber teamed up with the struggling gay London producer Cameron Macintosh, though, a new idea was born: cloning musicals. Macintosh realised that audiences in Sydney, Berlin and Tokyo not only wanted to see a hit show, they wanted to see exactly the same show as audiences in London and New York. 

Thus the musicals' franchise was born. The result: everyone involved in their shows - "CATS" and "Phantom of the Opera" (and let's not forget that Cameron had also produced on his own two other blockbusters, "Les Misérables" and "Miss Saigon") - started achieving profits earlier producers could not even dream about. Some years ago Forbes Magazine estimated Macintosh’s wealth at over US$1 billion – and this was a man who had started his career as a stage hand in one of London’s large theatres with just a dream to become a producer! Years earlier Lloyd Webber had hit the billion mark.

Mackintosh was a visionary in more way than one. When he wanted to take “Cats” to Japan, no theatre owner would give him more than four weeks. This was the custom in Japan for  Broadway shows and no owner considered a western show like “Cats” might play for longer. Mackintosh and his Japanese partner in the show decided to mount it in a large marquee on a vacant plot of land in Shinjuku.  

The first "Cats" tent in Tokyo: Photo by Masanobu Yamanoue

So successful was it, it ran there for two years. When the landowner decided to develop it, Mackintosh just took the show to Osaka, brought it back to Tokyo and then to various other cities. Now it has not only been seen by well over ten million people in Japan, there is a specially built CATS theatre where it continues to run more than 40 years after its first performance. How those theatre owners must be kicking themselves! Worldwide, “Cats” has generated US$3.5 billion in ticket sales – and that number is still rising.

As the relatively recent book "Razzle Dazzle: The Battle for Broadway" by Michael Riedel illustrates, the relationships between theatre owners, producers, directors, PR teams, performers and critics have usually contained far more drama offstage than on. Perhaps less so in its beginnings during the Great Depression when all audiences wanted were bright lights, glitz, glamour, chorus girls - and more chorus girls! Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II changed all that. When the curtain went up on their first collaboration "Oklahoma" in 1943, the audience literally gasped, for this show and four others that followed from the same team transformed the musicals' genre from musical comedy to serious musical theatre, with real story lines and real people living all but real lives. 

A string of great musicals followed, starting with "West Side Story" by the gay quartet of Stephen Sondheim (lyrics), the book by Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein's gorgeous music and stunning choreography by Jerome Robbins.

Others included "My Fair Lady" and "Fiddler on the Roof". Soon thereafter the Dance Musical came to the fore with the brilliant - and gay - Michael Bennett conceiving and directing "A Chorus Line" and David Merrick producing "42nd Street". But as if in a flash Broadway itself was threatened by one of the world’s mega-disasters.

The sexuality of those on Broadway has always been the stuff of gossip. The distinguished British actress Dame Peggy Ashcroft once said, "Of course I knew Laurence Olivier and Danny Kaye were having a long-term affair. So did all of London. So did their wives. Why is America always the last to know?" Perhaps it's the Puritan streak in America that encourages people to look the other way. Those who faced up to reality knew full well that Broadway and the Broadway musical had always relied on gay men and women for its success, and the toll of those who died in the early years of AIDS was horrifically high. It was not just the male dancers and the dozens of boys in the chorus who were dying by the week. Directors like Michael Bennett, actor Tony Richardson, Joe Layton ("Barnum"), song writer Peter Allen, Larry Kert who played Tony in the original "West Side Story" and the lead in Stephen Sondheim’s “Company”, lyricist Howard Ashman, choreographer Michael Shawn, publicist Frank Nathan, set and costume designers - the obituaries just went on and on. 

As my little memorial to all those who died, here is the Anthem with its stunningly beautiful melody from the “Chess” concept album, fabulously sung by the Swedish singer Tommy Körberg whom I saw in the original London production. It was written specifically for his voice and Benny’s smile in the control room at the end says it all! Although this is not a typical Broadway song I believe the melody is a fitting tribute.

After all the crying and all the funerals, the Broadway musical picked itself up. To this day it continues to present some of the finest entertainment in the world. More recent shows are the talk of the town – “The Lion King”, “Wicked”, “Hamilton” and others along with revivals like “Cabaret” at Studio 54 which I saw around 25 years ago with the androgynous Alan Cumming superb as the Master of Ceremonies. 

Before the pandemic, 70% of all New York visitors attended a Broadway show. That equates to more than forty million seats sold - many to tourists! So I salute Broadway and its musicals as my final Gay Icon. Of course there are dozens more. But I wanted to keep the list relatively small. I could have added icons like Bette Midler, Judy Garland, Elton John and even Dame Julie Andrews. As discussed in an earlier post the ‘Divine’ Ms. Midler owes much of her fame to gay audiences. But others can now take over this short series if they wish.

Finally, since much of this post has been about “Chess”, rumours of yet another revision of the show and a return to Broadway have been around for years. Now, Sir Tim Rice has confirmed that it will open this autumn but no further details have yet been provided. Will it open? Once the curtain has risen, will it succeed? No one ever knows. When the curtain rose of the opening night of “Phantom of the Opera” in London, neither composer Andrew Lloyd Webber nor producer Cameron Mackintosh could bear to watch. They were terrified. They spent the evening walking the streets of London. When they returned for the final curtain, they knew they had not just a hit, but one of the greatest the world of musicals was ever to see. But the unforgiving beast that is Broadway did not escape Lloyd Webber. As he stated in an interview in London’s Daily Telegraph, after “Phantom” he wrote six more shows, including “Sunset Boulevard”. All flopped financially! 

 

[BjornAgain]

Had the honor of meeting Sir Tim a couple of times. Once in 2014 when Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat was being performed locally in a Bill Kenwright production, in fact  grabbed a word with the pair of them. Had a family member in the production. Commented that I didn't know there was so much humour in the script.

Couple of other times was in the Shipwrights Arms in Helford where he has his quiet Cornish bolt hole. Just across the creek is Roger Taylor's country retreat, also not far from Mick Fleetwood's UK country gaff. A right rock'n'roll back water, to say nothing of the Rock God WHO's a member of the local sailing club.

[PeterRS]

1 hour ago, BjornAgain said:

Had the honor of meeting Sir Tim a couple of times.

I had the pleasure of working with him when he, along with Elaine Page and Colm Wilkinson, stepped in at last minute in Hong Kong for a gala which was aupposed to be with Danny Kaye. Kaye had just had open heart surgery (during which some believe he was treated with HIV infected blood) and had to cancel. Tim Rice manfully took over and presented one of the funniest shows I have heard interspersed with songs by two of the West End's great singers. It was thanks to him that I was given seats for "Chess" for myself and my young nephew and niece. He is a lovely man with virtually none of the ego displayed by many in the musicals business.

[BjornAgain]

Wow, EP and Colm Wilkinson. His version of Jean Valjean in the original West End production of Les Mis is to me still the best. Saw him early 1986 in the original production. Just Googled to check the date, and found Michael Ball was also in the original cast. 

Also saw EP in Anything Goes in 1989, in a production she co-produced with her partner at the time, namely Tim Rice. This production became notable in later years for John Barrowman's piano playing!

Agree with the ego, not one jot. He is a keen cricketer, and served as President of the MCC in 2002.

[PeterRS]

I managed to see that production of "Anything Goes" at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre in New York before Elaine Page saw it and decided with Tim Rice to take it to London. Patti Lupone was the lead at a time when she really reigned supreme over Broadway. I had dear friends living in New York and often they would arrange Broadway tickets for us all when they knew I would be visiting. That afternoon prior to seeing "Anything Goes", they had taken me to see David Henry Hwang's excellent play "M. Butterfly" with B.D. Wong and John Lithgow. Such a pity that John Lone was badly cast in the movie version. But for me, that was an epic day on Broadway!

Re Ms. Lupone, you may recall Lloyd Webber's troubles after casting her as Norma Desmond when Sunset Boulevard opened in London. This was to be his new blockbuster show which backfired quite spectacularly. Given its history as an iconic movie, the show's American premiere was actually in Los Angeles instead of Broadway with Glen Close as Norma. Patti Lupone had already opened in the original London production and her contract stated she also open as Norma once the show got to Broadway. However, the producers did not like Lupone's characterisation (frankly, nor did I!) and fired her from Broadway. This resulted in a legal batle in which Lupone allegedly walked away with $1 million.

It was then decided that Glen Close move from LA and open the Broadway season. To replace Close, Lloyd Webber staggered everyone by casting Faye Dunaway, an actor who had never sung anything, anwhere! We can teach her how to sing, was Lloyd Webber's refrain. Even as production rehearsals had started, the ALW team were still saying Dunaway would be great. A day or so later they fired her and closed the LA production. Another legal battle ensued with Dunaway walking away with rather nice compensation! Even though "Sunset" ran on Broadway for two years, the total losses on the US productions was estimated by the New York Times to be $20 million.

I did not see Glen Close but heard she was excellent. I believe the best Norma was the American Betty Buckley. 

[BjornAgain]

Never got around to seeing Sunset, but do remember the Faye Dunaway controversy.

AWL has always had a thing for staring named actors in his productions. Went to the opening of "By Jeeves" in April '75, which had David Hemmings as Bertie and Michael Aldridge as Jeeves. Both fine actors, Aldridge especially in the BBC's '79 production of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy as Percy Alleline, or his time in Last of the Summer Wine. But both not recognised for singing or musicals.

My mum was Paul Channon's secretary at the time, who was Shadow Minister of The Arts under Ted Heath. When Maggie took over in February '75 she clean swept all of Ted's ministers, so Norman St.John-Stevas took over. For what ever reason over at AWL's company  (RUG wasn't incorporated till '77), the official invite was addressed to Channon, who thought best not to attend so gave the tickets to my mum. Middle Front row in the circle. Hugh Jenkins as Minister of The Arts was seated off center.

As a 16 year old found the event amazing, as my first ever West End experience. Shame it closed after 38 performances. Show was originally directed by Eric Thompson of The Magic Roundabout fame, as well as Emma. Alan Ayckbourn who wrote the story and lyrics sacked Thompson just prior to opening. He was quoted at the time saying "I think musicals are pretty damn boring".

[PeterRS]

I was hooked as a 17-year old on my first visit to London. The hit show of the day was Lionel Bart's "Oliver" but it was sold out. So I got a ticket for his second show "Blitz". I recall little about the production apart from the enormous stage sets and two huge banks of spotlights all round the front of the Proscenium Arch. Until then, lighting units were basically unseen by audiences. The visual effects were amazing.

ALW also came something of a cropper when he was casting the show which followed "Phantom", "Aspects of Love". It's a much smaller musical and I consider it one of his best. Unlike others which followed "Phantom", it had a moderately successful first run. But without a producer as savvy and experienced as Cameron Macintosh, he had started his own production company within his oddly named Really Useful Company (frequently renamed The Really Useless Company!) As with "Sunset", for the opening London production he made a weird decision by putting Roger Moore, the former James Bond, into the cast. Like Dunaway, till then I think his singing had been confined to the shower. After "Aspects" had been in rehearsal for six weeks in the Prince of Wales Theatre, Moore himself realised that he just could not sing! 

"I was having nightmares of the worst possible kind over this show . . . Once we were in the theatre with an orchestra I knew it would be impossible for me to continue. The only polite way out was to leave while there is still time for them to find someone else". At least he did not have to be paid off!

His understudy Kevin Coulson came out of "Chess" to take over.

[BjornAgain]

8 hours ago, BjornAgain said:

... which had David Hemmings as Bertie and Michael Aldridge as Jeeves. Both fine actors, Aldridge especially in the BBC's '79 production of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy as Percy Alleline, or his time in Last of the Summer Wine. But both not recognised for singing or musicals.

Apologies. Should have checked in more detail. Just read in my movie Db that Hemmings was a star boy-soprano in his youth. In fact, Benjamin Britten wrote the part of Miles in his opera  "The Turn of The Screw" especially for him back in 1954.

[PeterRS]

12 hours ago, BjornAgain said:

Just read in my movie Db that Hemmings was a star boy-soprano in his youth. In fact, Benjamin Britten wrote the part of Miles in his opera  "The Turn of The Screw" especially for him back in 1954.

I knew he had worked with Britten and performed with him in several of his works at Britten's Festival in Aldeburgh. Britten had, shall we say, a 'reputation' with boys but Hemmings always stated that nothing had ever occurred between them other than as composer and singer.

With all your experience of musicals, I wonder which one/s you liked best? Stephen Sondheim's "Company" is almost certainly at the top of my list. I saw it in London with the late, great Elaine Stritch and Larry Kert. A revival of Sondeim's "Follies" in New York is near the top. I loved a National Theatre production of "Guys and Dolls". Unfortunately, we had tickets for the evening after Princess Diana had died. That somewhat tempered our enjoyment. But an earlier NT production of "Carousel" was quite superb, one where an actual carousel is built on stage during the overture. Patricia Routlege singing 'You'll Never Walk Alone" had quite a few in the audience with tears in their eyes.

My list would also include "A Chorus Line", "West Side Story", "Hair" and the Broadway production of "Sweeney Todd" with Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou. Perhaps surprisingly, I aso loved "La Cage aux Folles" with Gene Barry and the incomparable George Hearn - and saw it twice! I had seen the earlier French film and doubted it would work as a musical. I found it gloriously camp, lovingly directed and it has the most amazingly tuneful music by Jerry Herman.

[BjornAgain]

All out favourite is West Side Story, the 1961 Robert Wise directed film. Nominated for 11 Academy Awards and winning 10, it remains to date the most awarded musical of all time. Regrettably I've never seen a professional production, but have 'suffered' a number of school and college productions over the years. Have owned the soundtrack LP, VHS, DVD and BluRay versions over the years, currently have a 4K version. Favorite track is The Overture, just the sheer magic of Bernstein's music. Crank up the surround sound, or the Bose headphones, single malt. Magic.

The film does make changes to the stage version in terms of song order, but I find it flows better. Apparently  Elvis Presley was approached to play Tony, but his management declined (Colonel Tom Parker). Others approached included Marlon Brando, Burt Reynolds, Anthony Perkins, Warren Beatty and Robert Redford. 

Interestingly, Natalie Wood who played Maria, wasn't considered, however when the producers reviewed clips of Warren Beatty from his debut film, Splendor in The Grass, they were more impressed with his co-star Wood, so she got the part. Although Wood's vocals were sung by Marni Nixon, she did sing in later movies, including Gypsy the following year. Marni Nixon was the Hollywood go-to ghost vocalist at the time, covering Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady and Deborah Kerr in that musical we don't mention in Thailand!

I do have a copy of Steven Spielberg's 2021 version, but somehow never got round to watching it.

Another favorite would be Oliver!. Tried to get tickets for the 2008 Rowan Atkinson revival at the Palladium. However Rowan had to back down due to illness, was temporary replaced by Russ Abbot, then formally replaced by Omid Djalili. He was absolutely hilarious. An Iranian born comic playing the part of Fagin. Cameron had a bolt of genius coming up with that. Great staging, infact the production went back to the original stage design from the 1960 version. Rowan replaced Omid, who in turn was replaced by his old Not The 9 O'clock News partner, Griff Rhys Jones.

Never saw the original Cats, but did see the Nicole Scherzinger version in 2014 at Dury Lane. Fantastic production, and as with the original show, a member of the cast remains on stage during the interval for photos or chats. Demeter, played by Zizi Strallen got the gig when I went, Bonnie Langford 's niece.

One show I wish I saw was the Michael Crawford / Sarah Brightman version of Phanton at Her Majesty's. Was working in London, use to walk down Haymarket on my way to Waterloo after a Chinese in Dean Street. Seen other productions over the years, still kick myself.

 

[PeterRS]

I did see Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman a couple of months after "Phantom" opened. Crawford in particular was perfect for the role but I have never really liked Sarah Brightman's voice much. I don't know why but I also never really liked the show! The end of Act 1 with the chandelier is a great coup de theatre, and Maria Bjornson's sets were superb. But I found much of the show quite boring, including the first 20 minutes!

Interestingly Crawford had also been a boy soprano and appeared in a Britten opera. He was considered for Miles in "The Turn of The Screw" but it went to David Hemmings instead.

Yes, I also loved the Robert Wise film of "West Side Story". I bought the soundtrack album and sang the songs for weeks after! Interesting that Bernstein 'borrowed' some small parts of the score from major classical works. He even uses Wagner's redemption motif from his massively long "Gotterdammerung", the last of the four operas in the Ring cycle, for Maria's song "I have a love . . ." I quite like this version from Barbra Streisand's 2nd Broadway album which starts with Johnny Mathis singing the theme.

I had been so looking forward to the Spielberg movie. I assumed there would be some updating but had forgotten that the musical is very much of its time with major redevelopments of much of New York's Upper West Side and the Puerto Rican gangs. The music was great but I left the cinema feeling that something had been missing.

It always amazes me that "Cats" has been such a worldwide sensation. Neither Mackintosh nor Lloyd Webber thought it would be more than a modest success. Then their usual big investors failed to come up with cash as they believed the show would never get them back even their initial investment. It was only financed by small investors and Lloyd Webber taking out a second mortgage on his home to complete the initial financing of £450,000. Anyone investing in the original production would have made a profit of well over 3,500% by now - and the cheques keep coming!

[BjornAgain]

I Googled Götterdämmerung motif, and found a French video explaining how the motif is used throughout the opera, so do concur in terms of I Have a Love.

There's a brilliant documentary I saw a number of years ago with AWL that detailed the history of the Phantom. Also the fact that Hal Prince as director insisted Sarah Brightman audition for the part, even though Andrew had written the part specifically for her as his wife. Interestingly, Sarah has been playing the part of Norma Desmond in Australia for the last couple of years, and is now on tour with the show in China, having played Singapore last month.

Forgot to mention when talking about Oliver! Use to write pub quiz questions years ago (early '90s) for a work colleague who was the quiz master for his pub down in Swindon. "What links Phil Collins, Davy Jones of The Monkeys and Steve Marriott of Humple Pie / The New Faces. They all played the part of The Artful Dodger in the West End."

[PeterRS]

Ah! Poor Davy Jones. The cutest of The Monkees died too early aged 67. I actually met him once. Decades ago in the UK there used to be a touring production every year of J.M. Barrie's "Peter Pan". The year Davy Jones was one of the Lost Boys. Through a friend, a group of us met him after the show and went to his hotel for drinks (I imagine given our youth, drinks of the non-alcoholic variety!). All I recall was that he was great fun and aggressively cute!

Re "Peter Pan", there is an amusing story of one of those annual productions. This one was directed by the former Australian ballet dancer (and a very fine one, I should add), Robert Helpmann - later Sir Robert. At a technical rehearsal, he had by his side at the production desk one of the great lighting designers of the day, Charlie Bristow. At the point in Act 1 when the windows have to completely open to let Peter fly in, Helpmann was not happy with the look of the sky. I should add that Helpmann was very gay and had a slightly fey way of speaking. Bristow on the other hand was aggressively straight and spoke with a deep voice rather like a parade ground sergeant major. Allegedly the conversation went something like this. 

RH: Charles, I think we need to do something about the sky. What would you think about adding some clouds?

CB: Yes, Robert. I think that is an excellent idea. What kind of clouds would you like?

RH: I'm not sure, Charles. What would you suggest?

CB: Well, Robert, I would suggest we need some poofy clouds.

RH: Excellent Charles. Give me some poofy clouds please!

Another story about Helpmann was when he was doing something at the Metropolitan Opera. Walking across one of the large avenues on Central Park South, he was not aware that he had dropped his umbrella. The big burly New York cop on duty shouted after him, "Hey, fairy! You dropped your wand." At this, Helpmann looked at him, picked up the umbrella, waved it in a sweeping movement across his face, and shouted, "Vanish!"

[BjornAgain]

Robert Helpmann, took me a while before the cogs turned and clicked.

The Child Catcher in the Ken Hughes / Roald Dahl 1968 film adaption of Ian Fleming's Chitty-Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang. Remember having nightmares of him, as have a lot children over the years. During the 2002; 3 year run in the West End musical the part was initially played by Richard O'Brien (Rocky Horror Show), with later replacements including Wayne Sleep, Stephen Gately, Paul O'Grady, Lionel Blair, Derek Griffiths and Alvin Stardust! With the exception of Richard, and no offence to the others, but they hardly have a reputation of being scary!

 

[a-447]

The Monkees came to Japan in the late 60's.

I still remember how I almost came in my pants when Davy told an interviewer that he had to have his pubic hair shaved for an operation.

We were all shocked as we'd never heard mention of pubic hair on TV.