The Monkees' Micky Dolenz Tells All on Wild Nights with John Lennon, Twinning with Elton John and Touring at 80 (Exclusive)
Screen Archives/Getty; Scott Dudelson/Getty Micky Dolenz, the last surviving member of The Monkees, is celebrating his 80th birthday with a national tour blending iconic songs and wild behind-the-scenes stories He recalls unforgettable moments with legends like John Lennon, Elton John and Jimi Hendrix — including introducing Lennon to the Moog synthesizer Despite decades in showbiz, Dolenz says the one piece of advice he'd give his younger self is simple: "Get a good lawyer" "MADNESS!! AUDITIONS," read the ad that raninDaily Varietyon Sept. 8, 1965. It called for four "insane boys" who "have the courage to work." The hundreds of young hopefuls it attracted couldn't have known it, but the notice was a casting call for what would becomeThe Monkees. Part TV show, part pop hit factory and part live performance troupe, they ran amok across the late '60s cultural landscape like a Frankenstein's multimedia monster. Sixty years after that fateful ad, The Monkees phenomenon is still very much alive. Their legacy is lovingly carried on by Micky Dolenz, the group's sole surviving member following thedeath of Michael Nesmith in December 2021. (Peter Tork died in February 2019, andDavy Jones in February 2012.) This year he's gone above and beyond, demonstrating his "courage to work." After turning 80 in March, the voice behind smashes like "Last Train to Clarksville," "I'm a Believer" and "Pleasant Valley Sunday" is hitting the road this summer with hisSongs & Stories tour. It's a celebration of beloved Monkees classics peppered with anecdotes from his singular life in music, ranging from parties in L.A.'s Laurel Canyon alongside fellow legends like Joni Mitchell, Jim Morrison and David Crosby, to his eyewitness account of The Beatles at work on the 1967 masterpieceSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Fans who can't make the show can pick up hisnew live album, recorded last year at The Troubadour, the iconic Hollywood venue just off the Sunset Strip where he once passed time with buddies like John Lennon, Alice Cooper and Harry Nilsson. These rowdy nights helped give rise to one of his favorite phrases, a sort of personal mantra that he used for hisrecent photo memoir:"I was there ... and I'm told I had a good time!" Dolenz spoke to PEOPLE about his tour, his milestone birthday, his friendship with The Beatles and life after The Monkees. NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty I had a feeling something was going on, but nothing on that scale. It was just supposed to be myself, my kids and a few friends at a dinner at a local restaurant. Then we made a left turn instead of a right and I went, 'Oh s---, I got a bad feeling about this!' But it was absolutely unbelievable. It was a wonderful, wonderful party, with all kinds of great people. A lot of people from all over the world submitted clips for a little personal video greeting. It was a big [birthday], you know … There was lot of good stuff and alotof good vodka. I invented it! It's Tito's Vodka on the rocks with literally two or three drops of St-Germain and muddled orange left in the glass. I tried it years ago and everybody loves it. If you order it in a restaurant, bartenders invariably will put too much St-Germain and it becomes too sweet. The trick is to literally take two drops. I've always been chatty in my shows over the years. I've done little segues between some of the songs. For years, I wouldgo into 'Johnny B. Goode'out of nowhere. I loved doing the song, but I noticed people would look up at me and be like, 'Why is he covering an old Chuck Berry tune?' That's when I started to tell the story. Before The Monkees I had a band called Micky and the One-Nighters. It was a cover band, like everybody had. We used to do 'Johnny B. Goode,' and that was my audition song forThe Monkees. That was the song that got me the gig. So I'd tell that story, and the song would get a much better reaction — because then it was like, 'Whoa.' I'd tell other stories, like seeing Jimi Hendrix in New York City and inviting him to open for The Monkees. My music director and I were both pleasantly surprised by the reaction. I have stories with Elton John and Stephen Stills, and some others up my sleeve. And with all these stories, the punchline, so to speak, is the song. No, not really. I've tried so much different material over the years. It's all about the audience, as far as I'm concerned ... You know, I'm not the kind of artist who's gone down the path of reinventing. At least musically. We've all seen it happen with big acts. I've been to concerts for big acts who have a lot of nostalgic hit tunes and they don't do 'em. Or if they do, they do it with some contempt. Like, 'Oh, I guess you want to hear this piece of s---.' After The Monkees, I wanted to direct and produce. So I moved to England and started a production company. [While I was there], my wife at the time heard that the Everly Brothers were getting back together, and this was their premiere reunion at the Royal Albert Hall. I was a huge Everly Brothers fan — big influence on me. I remember going, and I thought, 'God, I hope they do all their old hits.' Y'know, because you never know … And of course they did. And I'm in the sixth row center standing up, crying, [singing along]: 'Here he comes, that's Cathy's clown.' There was nothing about The Monkees on the horizon, but I remember thinking at the time, 'If I ever go back on the road with The Monkees, I'm gonna make sure I sing those hit songs as they remember them.' No medleys, no changing the groove. I'm not gonna do 'Last Train to Clarksville' reggae or something. I've stuck with that to this day. It's all the same arrangements. I haven't even changed the key on the big ones. What I discovered is that as long as the audience knows they're gonna get that stuff, then you can do almost anything you want. I've done enough other things [besides acting and music] in my life, like directing and producing — very successfully. Not a lot of people know about it, but it meant a lot to me because it happened right after The Monkees. I went to England to do a play in London; Harry Nilsson's musical,The Point. This is about 1975. I brought my reel of stuff — I'd directed an episode ofThe Monkees— and met a director's agent. That was what I was looking to do afterThe Monkees.I wasn't really pursuing any recording or acting. I knew I wouldn't get an acting gig. I mean, I think I went on one audition afterThe Monkees. I went in and they said, 'What are you doing here? We don't need any drummers!' Scott Dudelson/Getty AfterCircus Boy, I went through it, too. I went to a couple of little auditions as a 12-year-old. I walked into one and they immediately said, 'Circus Boy!' That's typical in his business. [I knew] that was par for the course. I've been in the business my whole life. I grew up in a showbiz family and I heard the term 'typecasting' before I could walk. My dad was an actor and he was a bit typecast as a swashbuckling romantic lead in sword-fighting movies, likeThe Count of Monte Cristo. I remember hearing stories about Clayton Moore as The Lone Ranger and George Reeves as Superman. And, you know, it can end up very tragically. One of the greatest Shakespearean actors in the world was [Star Trek's] Leonard Nimoy. [He would always say] 'I am not Spock.' You strive to make it that big [where you have a recognizable character]. You work your ass off, you know? I was born into it, but a lot of people coming from out of town would be like, 'I wanna be a star!' You try to get that big part and that big name — and you do. And then post your big success, it can create problems. But my point is I'd already been through it afterCircus Boy. I'd already had a hit show — a big one in the '50s — on NBC. We filmed on the same lot thatThe Monkeesfilmed on. The same stage, in fact! It was 10 years almost to the day after myCircus Boyaudition that I went up forThe Monkeesat the same lot. And I remember driving through the gate and the guard was same freakin' guard that had been there 10 years before! He said, 'Hey Micky! I heard you got a new show!' It does. In my show I talk about spending two years there one night with Harry [Nilsson] and John [Lennon] and Alice [Cooper] and all those people. It was the 'go-to' place. That was where we went all the time. Doug Weston was the impresario, and he helped introduce Elton John, Buffalo Springfield, Neil Diamond, Linda Ronstadt. Just an incredible list. It was a wonderful place. Do you know my Elton John story? Yes! My friend said, 'You gotta come see this kid. He's this great singer-songwriter from England.' So we went down to the Troubadour. My wife at the time had just got back from England. She was English, so she'd go back and forth and she'd always bring me these great clothes from Carnaby Street and all that stuff. [This time] she brought me this great T-shirt. It was a reproduction of the the Andy Warhol [silkscreen] of Marilyn Monroe — the multiple images that he did. I wore that to the show and my friend said, 'Come over to the afterparty at my house and meet Elton.' So I go over there and Elton John's in the kitchen leaning up against refrigerator, drinking a beer … wearing the same T-shirt. And, I swear to God, he takes one look at me and he goes, 'Oh f---!' And he never forgave me. No, thank God! I don't know how I missed it. I was just lucky, I guess. I could have been. I was there every day. Maybe I was working out of town. I have no idea. But thank goodness I wasn't there. Yeah. Well, the first Beatle I met was Paul [McCartney], the night before at dinner at his house. I'd gone over to England to do a press junket, just myself. As it turned out, a publicist got involved and made it a 'Monkee Meets Beatle' thing at Paul's house for dinner. Just me, him and Martha the sheepdog. Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty He invited me to Abbey Road [studios] the next day. I don't even know if he told me the name at the time, but they were working onSgt. Pepper. I just about peed in my pants, but I'm trying to be cool. I got all dressed up thinking … I don't know what I was thinking. [laughs] I guess I thought it was gonna be some sort of Beatlemania fun-fest freakout psycho-jello happening thing. So I got dressed up in paisley bell bottoms and tie-dyed underwear and my glasses and beads and hair. I looked like a cross between Ronald McDonald and Charlie Manson. I walk in and, well … there's nobody there! I was like, 'Where are the girls?!' It was just the four guys sitting there under fluorescent lighting, like my high school gymnasium, in the middle of the day. John Lennon looks up and says, 'Hey Monkee Man, you want to hear what we're working on?' From then on he called me Monkee Man. That's right! There was a big party I had. Harry suggested it. [He said,] 'Listen, you have a big house — great party house. John's coming to town. Why don't you throw him a welcome to L.A. thing when he arrives?' They were great friends already. I said, 'Great!' And sure enough we had a party. My wife was an incredible hostess. Beautiful, formal. Not your chips-and-dip-Doritos-and-guacamole-sitting-on-the-floor typical '60s party. This was like a freakin' buffet. It was gorgeous andeverybodyshowed up. I don't even remember! My wife at the time, Samantha — she's passed — would remind me that once somebody asked me if I ever met Jim Morrison. I said, 'Well, I saw him perform at The Whisky [a Go Go club]. I remember seeing him play with The Doors, but I don't know that I ever met him.' And my wife says, "Micky, he slept on the living room floor forthree daysat our house!' I'm like, 'Oh, really?' Richard Creamer/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Yes! But anyway. Sure enough, John's there, of course. Everybody's there. And I had the Moog synthesizer. It was a really incredible instrument. Very unique and very, very difficult to really [play]. It was monophonic, so you could only play one note at a time. But it made some great sounds. And I remember I set John up on it and he sat there doing flying saucer sounds for like two hours. It was fun, but it was a tough instrument to perform with. But I used it. I was the first one to use it on a pop-rock tune, if I'm not mistaken. I think so, yeah. 'Daily Nightly' and 'Star Collector.' Get a good lawyer. I amnotkidding. I won't say much more except this: Have you heard the term 'unconscionable bargain'? How about the phrase 'pact with the devil'? Faust? You know the musicalDamn Yankees? I'm doing one calledDamn Monkees! 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The Monkees' Micky Dolenz Tells All on Wild Nights with John Lennon, Twinning with Elton John and Touring at 80 (Exclusive) Screen Archi...
