ORIGINAL IDOLS BIO
THE MONKEES' MICKY DOLENZ, THE COWSILLS, REX SMITH, BAY CITY ROLLERMANIA,
BO DONALDSON & THE HEYWOODS,
BARRY WILLIAMS "AKA GREG BRADY"
Heartthrobs still rocking after all these years
If you were a teen aged girl in the 1960's or 70's, chances are good you were a fan of one of the acts appearing with the latest retro concert package to hit the global trail, "The Original Idols" starring The Monkees' Lead Singer Micky Dolenz, The Cowsills, Rex Smith, Bay City Rollermania, Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods and host Barry Williams (aka Greg Brady).
It is a convergence that all involved say is intended to be fun and cathartic at the same time. "The one thing that has never gone away over the years is the love of the music," says Dolenz, "I still love going out and singing rock 'n' roll. I really only started doing this solo concert show of mine a couple of years ago, so it's still pretty new and exciting. I do all the big Monkees hits and I do them just as they were recorded. I remain very faithful to the sound of the old records."
The Original Idols set list features over 25 Top-40 hits including Top 10 smashes; "Last Train To Clarksville", "I'm A Believer", "I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone" and "Pleasant Valley Sunday" by Dolenz, "Saturday Night", "Money Honey" and "You Made Me Believe In Magic" from Bay City Rollermania, Smith's "You Take My Breath Away", The Cowsill's "The Rain The Park And Other Things (The Flower Girl)", "Indian Lake" and "Hair" plus the 1974 chart topper, "Billy, Don't Be A Hero" from Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods. Audience members will even be taught to "dance like a real Brady" by Williams who sings songs from the hit TV show, The Brady Bunch. and his own solo recordings.
For The Cowsills, the singing Rhode Island family that made it's debut on The Ed Sullivan show in 1967 and was the real life inspiration for The Partridge Family, it is a return to the stage together for the first time since the death of Barry and Bill Cowsill within a month of each other in early 2006. Brothers Bob and Paul and sister Susan love seeing their fans on the road. "Losing those two was tough especially considering how Barry left us (Hurricane Katrina victim) says Bob Cowsill, but, this is profound to us and I'm just real grateful to this group of people (The Original Idols artists) they are all fantastic to work with. It's great to see all the fans again. It really is like a return to our roots with us doing all our hits and in a way, it's even cooler cause now we can actually spend some time with the fans at the show. Hey, bring the family, because we are!"
The glue that binds the Original Idols is the massive teen hysteria that was created by all of the acts on the bill at their peak. All, without exception, were featured prominently on the pages and covers of magazines like Tiger Beat and �16. The girls who bought those magazines are all grown up now, many with teenagers of their own and this tour promises to take them back to a seemingly simpler time with memories of kissable pin-up photos on bedroom walls, sleep-over parties and the songs they listened to and sang along with over and over again on the radio.
With a lineup that has sold over 150 million records worldwide, there is plenty of opportunity to do it all over again with the Original Idols.
