Q&A with Micky Dolenz

Jul 04, 2009 (The Baltimore Sun - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- TORK | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- It's been more than 40 years since Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork -- collectively known as The Monkees -- took America by storm with a popular network television series and a string of No. 1 albums and singles. Although the series about a fictional rock band was canceled in 1968 after just two seasons and The Monkees as a recording act were done in 1970, they did not just fade away. Three members of the group reunited for a highly successful tour in 1986, and they also toured at various times in the 1990s and even as late as 2001.

Dolenz, who played drums and sang the majority of The Monkees' hits, still tours as a solo artist. He is scheduled to perform at The Dundalk Heritage Fair at Dundalk Heritage Park on Sunday at 8 p.m.

I conducted a phone interview with Dolenz, 64, Friday.

Tell us about the set list for the shows you are doing on this tour.

I do all of the big Monkees hits, of course. I sang most of them. So I do all the big hits and I do them in their entirety. I think you sort of have this unspoken bond with an audience when you're in a position like I am. They're there to hear those hits and I know that. I give them all that, and I try to keep pretty faithful to the intent of the original song and the style, even the tone of the instruments. Now having said that, peppered within all the big Monkees songs, I'll tell some stories. For instance, I'll tell a story about meeting the Beatles in London in the '60s and going to some of the Abbey Road recording sessions, and then I'll sing a song that I actually heard them recording. Or I'll tell the story of Jimi Hendrix when he was our opening act after I found him at the Monterey Pop Festival, and then I'll do a Hendrix tune.

How often are you playing shows at this point?

Oh, it's all over the place. First of all, it depends on if I'm even available for these kinds of shows. I only started doing solo shows in the mid-90s. I did Monkees reunion shows, but never solo shows. I started doing it a little bit in the mid-90s, mostly for fun. The thing I've been doing mostly over the last few years is musical theater -- Broadway, and national tours of big musical shows like Grease or A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. I did Aida, an Elton John musical, in New York and on tour; a revival of Pippin on a national tour; I'm currently in negotiations for a show possibly in London. And at one point I was a radio disc jockey in New York for six months. So during those periods of time, I don't tour at all. In other years, I'll be going out at least every weekend for a couple shows.

What are the crowds like that come out to see you play? I'm guessing you get a lot of people in their 50s who grew up with The Monkees, but do you see younger people at the shows as well?

Yeah, as a matter of fact, I see up to three generations. As you say, of course there are the original Monkees fans, and then there also are the children of those Monkees fans who became fans either through their parents or in 1986 when we had that huge revival. And then those fans have passed it on to their kids. I often find young kids who are fans, either through their parents or the Internet or DVDs of the television show.

Are you working on any other projects?

I'm currently doing a Carole King tribute album called King for a Day on Gigitone Records. I think it will be released in August.

Some of your former band mates don't seem to be entirely comfortable with being known primarily as a member of The Monkees. What are your thoughts on it as it relates to you, and do you think being a member of what was initially a made-for-TV band limited your opportunities after The Monkees first broke up?

That's a good question. I feel very blessed to have been a part of it. We wouldn't be having this conversation right now and I wouldn't be doing this concert if it wasn't for The Monkees. I know that, you know that and the fans know that. If I had done nothing else in my life - if I had not gone to England and been a very successful director and producer of films and television; if I had not done these musicals; if I hadn't come back to the states and directed shows like Boy Meets World and movies for Lifetime -- I might not feel the same way. I do know people, and not just other members of The Monkees, that are in a similar situation where this is the only arrow in their quiver. I can see how one can get very frustrated, because you try to redefine yourself, and that's typical within our business. You strive very hard to become successful and then when you do, the success sort of takes off without you. It's very difficult to alter the path of that. Don't get me wrong; I have been very, very frustrated at times when I've wanted to go off in a particular direction or be considered for something, and I know the only thing they're thinking is, "Who's the guy who 40 years ago used to be a wacky drummer?" But, like I said, I just feel blessed and very proud to have been a part of it. It isn't the only thing I've done in my life, and I know that and the people that are important to me know that.

There have been several Monkees reunion tours over the years. Do you think there will ever be another one?

I have learned never to say never, because every time I say it's never going to happen again, it does. But having that said, it's important to understand that it really isn't up to us. After the show was canceled and the TV company folded, there never was a Monkees organization. Every time we have gotten back together, it has been through the auspices of a third party -- some agent or manager or whatever - that has tracked us all down and made separate deals with us and asked if we want to get back together. So it really depends on if someone is willing to do that. It very well could happen. There aren't any firm plans, but someone is always talking about it. There's not a day or month that goes by that someone doesn't call me or I hear a rumor that somebody's trying to put something together.

Do you still keep in touch with Davy, Mike and Peter?

Not on a day to day basis. I've been in touch with Peter recently because as you may have heard he's had a cancer episode [Note: Tork is being treated for a rare form of cancer that had been found on his tongue]. Mike is almost like a hermit [laughs]. Remember, from my point of view, The Monkees was a television show about this imaginary group, and I was playing the part of the wacky drummer. That's always the way I've looked at it.

Why do you think The Monkees' music has had such enduring appeal?

It had an awful lot to do with the songwriters. I almost dedicate my concert show to the songwriters that I had writing for me, because I was blessed to have people like Carole King, Neil Diamond, Harry Nilsson, Paul Williams, Carole Bayer Sager and David Gates -- all these incredible songwriters that were part of The Brill Building, which was part of Screen Gems Music Publishing, which was the music subsidiary of Screen Gems Television, which produced The Monkees show. So they had access to all these incredible writers and all that material.

For more information about Dolenz's performance at The Dundalk Heritage Fair, go to www.dundalkheritagefair.com.

To see more of The Baltimore Sun, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.baltimoresun.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Baltimore Sun Distributed
by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email
tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax
to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave.,
Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

More News:   Market Updates | Stock Alerts | All Trading News | Stock Index