Will the networks cover Jones' funeral like they did Houston's?

[Mark Giardina]

When Whitney Houston died the cable news networks carried her funeral service live (some for three hours or more) plus the days leading up to that funeral.

Now that Davy Jones has passed with the networks do the same for him? I personally doubt it.

 

[Braves2005]

I really doubt that Davy Jones will get the same treatment as Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse and Whitney Houston. The network paparazzi, entertainment networks, etc. really ate up Jackson's, Winehouse's and Houston's death so it would probably be a blip on the radar with Jones' funeral if there's going to be one.

It will probably be Madonna, Britney Spears, Justin Bieber going first before we have another overboard spectacle like they have done with Jackson, Winehouse and Houston.

 

[firepoint525]

I'm reminded of when Mother Teresa died, about a week after Princess Diana's car crash death. The media was probably shamed into giving Mother Teresa's death more coverage than they otherwise would have, due to going overboard with the Diana coverage. (I seem to recall that Teresa's death was a day or so before Diana's memorial.) I still think that if Teresa had predeceased Diana, her death would have received substantially less coverage than it did.

 

[LKellerIII]

It's amazing anybody would even ask that question. Davy was - from all accounts - a wonderful guy, and it's very sad that he's dead. But Whitney was a HUGE star, and much more recently. Plus, there was ongoing controversy around her life and death which whipped up public interest. Also, Davy died of natural causes, not under "suspicious" circumstances.

There was no big fuss when George Harrison died, and he was one of the Beatles, for heaven's sake.

 

[gregg75]

Ditto. Plus I think that she died in a bath tub was a lot more NEWSY than him having a heat attack.

 

[Nate Wesley]

When Whitney Houston died the cable news networks carried her funeral service live (some for three hours or more) plus the days leading up to that funeral.

Now that Davy Jones has passed with the networks do the same for him? I personally doubt it.

I personally doubt you were really stumped by the question you just posted.

"Yeah, yeah, we know Michael Jackson died under crazy and controversial circumstances. But seriously, where was the big coverage for Farrah Fawcett?"

 

[landtuna]

It's amazing anybody would even ask that question. Davy was - from all accounts - a wonderful guy, and it's very sad that he's dead. But Whitney was a HUGE star, and much more recently.

I agree with everything you said, save one. In the mid 60's the Monkees were at least as huge as WH. Perhaps not as long initially but they did have a big comeback in the 80's. When I came home to the world in '66 every bus and streetcar in S.F. had a picture of the Monkees signature guitar on it and the tweeners were going as wild for Davy as for the Beatles.

It has been 46 years since the Monkees first appeared and at least one of them is still newsworthy. What will be said about WH in the same time frame?

And something that wasn't said.....I would not hesitate to hold Davy up as a good example of what someone in show biz could be in both their public and private lives. I would not do the same for Whitney.

 

[jfrancispastirchak]

Yes, the final curtains dropped on Whitney Houston, Amy Whinehouse and Michael Jackson as all three navigated much grimmer circumstances than Davey Jones suffered. And that's the kind of drama that seems to captivate a clientel of fans ever-distracted and absorbed by the victimology of their idols. Whitney, Amy & Michael were icons, deserving of their status as superstars. Sadly though, they have been memorialized as much for their struggles as for their triumphs, and for that you can thank a gossip-hungry, tabloid-crazed media.

Davey Jones on the other hand served a refreshing course of milk toast, to a society whose media hounds prefer to dine on burned toast. So don't expect to see widespread, eye-glazing TV coverage of his send-off. And that's just fine with me; I would rather remember Davey as the sweet, unassuming and unimposing celebrity that he was, remarkable and memorable only for his triumphs.

 

[landtuna]

There was no big fuss when George Harrison died, and he was one of the Beatles, for heaven's sake.

I was even more shocked at how quiet it was following Frank Sinatra's death.

 

[arnoldevns]

This is such a stupid thread.. but it does cry out for one simple answer: no, and deservedly so. Jones was 66 years old. The fact he died of a heart attack is not really all that surprising. If he had died at the age of 40 and been a big star at the time, then I'd say it would be a very different story.

 

[jfrancispastirchak]

There was no big fuss when George Harrison died, and he was one of the Beatles, for heaven's sake.

I was even more shocked at how quiet it was following Frank Sinatra's death.

I felt the same way, but maybe it was because Ol' Blue Eye's demons were more socially tolerated, ie drinking, womanizing, and even an assualt on an obnoxious newspaper reporter. Pretty unexciting stuff by 1998 standards.

 

[firepoint525]

A better question would be, did Whitney Houston's funeral receive as much coverage as Michael Jackson's memorial? Since I don't have cable (and didn't at the time of MJ's death, either), it would be hard for me to say. But it was my understanding at the time that something like 18 cable networks carried MJ's memorial live. Somehow, I seriously doubt that that many were on Whitney's funeral, especially since it was held at a church, not at the Staples Center.

In comparing Beatle death coverage, George did not receive anywhere near as much coverage as John did, but John was murdered, while news of George's slowly declining health occasionally made news over the last few years of his life. So it was not unexpected when George died, especially when considering that I had heard news a couple of days earlier that he was "gravely ill." It's also worth noting that John was considered the "leader" of the Beatles, while George was always called the "quiet" Beatle.

 

[jfrancispastirchak]

George (Harrison) did not receive as much coverage as John did, but John was murdered, while news of George's slowly declining health occasionally made news over the last few years of his life. So it was not unexpected when George died, especially when considering that I had heard news a couple of days earlier that he was "gravely ill." It's also worth noting that John was considered the "leader" of the Beatles, while George was always called the "quiet" Beatle.

Yes, John was generally acknowledged as the Beatles "leader", at least in the early days. But I personally viewed George as the group's best most accomplished musician. John & Paul were creative as composers, while Ringo had versatile talents as drummer & vocalist. But George was the powerhouse innovative guitarist and lyricist, far more advanced musically than his bandmates.

Still, indeed, John succumbed to a homocide, a much more sensational circumstance to fans and media alike than George's untimely, but otherwise natural death. George passed on in the same manner in which he lived his life, as the "quiet" Beatle.

 

[firepoint525]

Yes, John was generally acknowledged as the Beatles "leader", at least in the early days. But I personally viewed George as the group's best most accomplished musician. John & Paul were creative as composers, while Ringo had versatile talents as drummer & vocalist. But George was the powerhouse innovative guitarist and lyricist, far more advanced musically than his bandmates.
Still, indeed, John succumbed to a homocide, a much more sensational circumstance to fans and media alike than George's untimely, but otherwise natural death. George passed on in the same manner in which he lived his life, as the "quiet" Beatle.

I believe that if Harrison had emerged as a songwriter as early as Lennon and McCartney (and had entered into a three-way songwriting "partnership" with them), that he would have been viewed as an equal to them. Of course, that would mean that nearly all Beatles songs would have had a "Lennon-McCartney-Harrison" songwriting credit, which would mean that songs like "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun" would have featured the same songwriting credits as "Let It Be" and "Revolution." Of course, most Beatles fans know who wrote what. Paul McCartney has said that Frank Sinatra has called "Something" his favorite "Lennon-McCartney" song! ;D

 

[Markxxx]

True, Jones was a middle aged man who died of a heart attack. Sad, yes, but not especially newsworthy.

Contrast with Karen Carpenter, who died in her early 30s. No one really cared much, even though the Carpenters had made a comeback. "Touch Me When I'm Dancin'" made the top 20 and went to #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Contrast that with Whitney or Jackson who were out of the charts much longer.

No drugs or special circumstances, (though Carpenter later became a poster child for anorexia), no coverage.

Music and movies are really about who was recent news when the death occurred.

 

[borderblaster]

I thought Davy Jones got a decent, but not obsessive, amount of coverage. His passing was mentioned on the major newscasts and Dateline:NBC. Radio stations (not just oldies) covered it. Had he been in his 40s as the previous poster said it might have been a bigger deal, and facing facts, Whitney Houston was in the sweet spot of a major ad sales demographic and so were most of her fans.

 

[LKellerIII]

Please don't think I'm criticizing Davy Jones or The Monkees in general. But they were a pop-culture phenomenon almost 50 years ago - for just a few years: not in the 90s like Whitney Houston, or the 70s thru the 2000s like Michael Jackson. I remember it well, I was a teen-ager when the show first aired. While all 4 were musicians (especially Michael Nesmith), they were primarily chosen because they were ACTORS...and Davy received the most attention because he was so cute. The show was fun, but fluffy and silly, meant to be a copy of A Hard Day's Night, and Help.

Though they had a surprising number of hit songs over just a few years, their popularity was not long-lived, and they were not a musical phenomenon, compared to Whitney, the Beatles, or Michael Jackson.

 

[firepoint525]

Contrast with Karen Carpenter, who died in her early 30s. No one really cared much, even though the Carpenters had made a comeback. "Touch Me When I'm Dancin'" made the top 20 and went to #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

I really didn't think that Karen Carpenter got a LOT of coverage when she died, but of course, we didn't have the internet, and all the cable channels, and all the tabloidy "news" magazines that we have now.

 

[bpatrick]

I was 11 when "The Monkees" debuted and in our neighborhood
we all, especially the girls, watched, mostly to see Davy. I wonder
if those same girls, now in their 50s, even care, or how many of today's
11-year-olds even know who Davy Jones was.

This all reminds me of August 1977 when Elvis and Groucho died three days
apart. Elvis's death was headline news: a heart attack at age 42 related to
the abuse of his body over time by pills and excess weight; by contrast, even
though Groucho's "You Bet Your Life" was still in syndication he was 86 and had
not been in good health for years. So the media all but overlooked Groucho's
passing.

For that matter, Bob Hope's passing at age 100 didn't get much coverage either,
and I think it was enough that George Burns accomplished his goal of living to be
100 that the media played down his passing.

 

[landtuna]

Contrast with Karen Carpenter, who died in her early 30s. No one really cared much, even though the Carpenters had made a comeback.

Well, I cared, a lot. KC was/is one of my all-time female favorites and it was a tremendous shock when the news came over the radio that morning in 1983. Like most other AC and soft pop acts though she and Richard weren't acting up, drug users or in constant rehab. They just did their music and lived gracefully. I have never followed the celebrity mags so didn't know Karen had an eating disorder that would eventually claim her life. She was young and lived a clean and sober life. You'd never expect those kinds of people to die so suddenly.

There are only a couple singers who have the kind of voice that is unique and the ability to select songs that fit that voice. Johnny Mathis is one. Karen Carpenter was another. Those two kids from Downey made it bigger than anyone ever expected.