Micky Dolenz On The Monkees, Their Music & The Story Behind Their Success

The 1960s were an incredible time for music. There was Elvis, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, the Beach Boys, and so many other groups and artists who made an indelible mark on pop culture.

And in the midst of it all, there were the Monkees.

Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, and Davy Jones, first came together as the cast of a TV show (which aired from 1966 to 1968), then later became a real band. They recorded a collection of chart-topping songs and would end up touring all over the country. Some of their most memorable hits included “Last Train to Clarksville,” “I’m a Believer,” and “Daydream Believer.”

Today, nearly six decades after their popular TV show first hit the airwaves, Dolenz is the group’s last surviving member. Reflecting back, he attributes their success, in part, to amazing songs written by talented writers like Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, Neil Diamond, John Stewart (of the Kingston Trio), and others.

“I sang most of the leads and it’s not difficult when you’re singing great songs,” Dolenz says with a laugh.

(Dolenz sang lead vocals on “Last Train to Clarksville and “I’m a Believer,” while Davy Jones sang lead on “Daydream Believer.”)

“So, the songs had a lot to do with it. And as far as the TV show goes, it really resonated with kids,” he continues. “Through the years, the show has stood the test of time because the humor wasn’t topical or satirical. It’s the same reason you can watch old episodes of The Honeymooners or The Marx Brothers, because it still works.”

The magic of the show also had a lot to do with how well Dolenz, Nesmith, Tork, and Jones worked together. Dolenz says while they didn’t know each other beforehand, producers spent a lot of time during the audition process to find four young men from different backgrounds who had chemistry.

“During the casting process I remember we did scene work and scene study. The screen tests themselves were part of the casting process. They mixed and matched us. I remember doing a scene with Davy and the reason that probably stands out is because he and I had a lot in common. We’d both acted and been in the entertainment business for a while.”

Jones had acted on TV and Broadway while Dolenz got his start as a child actor in a TV series called Circus Boy. The show aired on ABC from 1956 to 1958.

Dolenz says once he, Nesmith, Tork, and Jones were cast and shooting began, everything clicked very quickly in terms of acting and comedic timing. They also became good friends.

As the TV show progressed and they started seeing success with their music, they began working together as musicians so they could take their show on the road. They went on to play for packed venues full of frenzied fans and even had some familiar names open their shows.

“Jimi Hendrix was our first opening act,” Dolenz recalls.

It was Dolenz who saw Hendrix perform elsewhere, recognized his talent, and worked to get him to join them on the road.

When their TV show went off the air in 1968, it ended things for the Monkees, for a while. Over the next two decades they would all go their separate ways. Dolenz, who had an interest in directing and producing, headed to England for an acting gig, got married, and stayed there, doing a lot of behind-the-scenes entertainment work for the next 15 years.

Interestingly enough, one of his early directing projects involved a very young Catherine Zeta-Jones.

“I wrote a musical adapted from a movie called Bugsy Malone,” Dolenz explains. “I directed it in the West End in London. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the movie, but it was all young kids, and she was one of the first Tallulahs which is one of the characters in the show.”

In 1986, nearly two decades after The Monkees ended its TV run, MTV began airing re-runs of the show.

“The show hadn’t been on the air for almost 20 years, so once they did that, it relaunched interest,” Dolenz says.

It introduced the guys and their music to an entirely new generation.

At the same time, Arista Records released a single by Dolenz called “That Was Then, This is Now” which quickly moved up the Billboard charts. The Monkees reunited, headed out on a brand-new tour, had a greatest hits album, new music, and released all of their earlier albums.

In the years that followed, Dolenz toured as a solo artist, as well as with his fellow Monkees, in different combinations. He says they like brothers and it’s difficult now that the others are gone. Jones died in 2012, Tork in 2019, and Nesmith in 2021.

And yet, Dolenz carries their memories and their music everywhere he goes. He often appears at Comic Cons events and is always happy to talk to those with fond memories of the Monkees. He’ll be appearing at a Comic Con event in Nashville, Tennessee this weekend.

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“I always have fun at those things and look forward to seeing all of the fans,” he says.

He also maintains a busy tour schedule. In December alone, Dolenz will be doing shows in Connecticut, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Northern Virginia.

“I tour, not a tour like six months without stopping,” he says, “but I’ll fly out and do two or three shows, come home, then head back out again.”

At 79, he’s still enjoying the entertainment business and says he chooses his projects with the same guidelines he’s followed throughout most of his career.

“I don’t do anything unless it’s going to be fun. People ask me how I choose projects and it’s always by the material. And that’s true whether it’s a song or a script or acting or singing or directing. It all starts with the material. I’d rather be directing a great little film than singing a crappy song.”

It’s a process that seems to have worked pretty well, so far.

(For more on Micky Dolenz or to check out his tour schedule visit: www.mickydolenz.com)