[Critique Group 2] FW: Article from Arizona Republic Online Things To Do Online Section 2021 09 16

[Valerie Moreno]

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Original Message: 
From: NFB-NEWSLINE Online <publications at nfbnewsline.net>
To: VALERIE MORENO <spiritwind at pmpmail.com>
Subject: Article from Arizona Republic Online Things To Do Online Section
2021 09 16
Date: 
17 Sep 2021 07:03:56 -0500

'John Lennon got it': Micky Dolenz reflects on the Monkees' proper place
in music history   It's been 56 years since Micky Dolenz showed up to
audition for a TV show inspired by the Beatles film "A Hard Day's Night" in
response to an ad in the Hollywood Reporter seeking "4 insane boys, age
1721. 

He got the part. 

Now, he and Michael Nesmith, the singer-guitarist he met at a wardrobe
fitting for the pilot, are headed to Phoenix on a farewell tour. The
Monkees play Celebrity Theatre at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 19. 

"It's time," he says. 

The death of Davy Jones in 2012 brought the three, at that time,
surviving Monkees back together for a string of well-received reunion tours
and the recording of their most successful album since the '60s, "Good
Times! 

The album's release in 2016 was timed to the 50th anniversary of the hit
TV show. 

Dolenz and Nesmith toured as the Mike and Micky Show in 2018. A year
later, they lost another Monkee, Peter Tork. 

At that point, Dolenz says, he and Nesmith decided, "We can't just keep
going out there as the Two-kees. 

The Monkees' television show only lasted two seasons, a total of 58
episodes. 

But the castmates quickly grew into the role of actual bandmates, while
the show itself enjoyed a healthy second lease on life in syndication with
an MTV revival in the '80s expanding its reach to a new generation. 

"If you look at the Monkees as any sort of traditional organic group, it
won't make sense," Dolenz says. 

He likens it to  "Glee," the Fox television series that ran for six
seasons starting in 2009. 

"That show was about an imaginary glee club but the cast can do it all,"
Dolenz says. "They can sing and act and dance. That's what 'The Monkees'
was. A show about an imaginary group that lived in this Malibu beach house
that wanted to be the Beatles. 

They just happened to turn into something bigger as their first four
albums topped the charts while spinning off singles as timeless as "Last
Train to Clarksville," "I'm a Believer," "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit
You" and "Daydream Believer. 

"The fact that we eventually ended up on the road playing huge concerts,
Nesmith always said it was like Pinocchio becoming a real little boy,"
Dolenz says, with a laugh. 

"But obviously, the producers had that in mind. Otherwise, they wouldn't
have bothered to have people that could sing and play and act and do it
all. They would've just hired actors. But they didn't. 

Dolenz takes great pride in noting that John Lennon once compared them to
the Marx Brothers. 

"John Lennon got it," he says. "A lot of people of got it. We were this
musical, comedy singing act that goes on stage and does it all. 

The fact that it all started with a casting call has made it difficult
for detractors to appreciate the Monkees and their music at face value  as
a band that cut a string of classic records while inspiring a generation of
young fans. 

"To some degree," Dolenz says, "I don't blame them. 

After all, by 1966, the year "The Monkees" made its debut as a Monday
night lead-in to "I Dream of Jeanie" on NBC, rock 'n' roll was being taken
very seriously. 

"To many people, rock 'n' roll was not meant to be funny, not meant to be
lighthearted," Dolenz says. 

"It was political. It was socially aware. In the '50s, it was hip to be
funny and sexy. In the '60s, it turned into something very different. And
the Monkees came along and basically said, 'We're just tryin' to be
friendly. It's in the theme song. 

To Dolenz, that song drew a line in the sand. 

"It was about acknowledging that young kids at that time, they didn't
want to get involved in politics or any of that (expletive)," he says.
"They just wanted to sing and have fun. And that is essentially what the
Monkees presented. 

In 1966, Dolenz says, with a laugh, the only time you saw young kids like
them on television, it was because they were being arrested. 

"And the Monkees come along and say, 'Look, it's OK to wear bell-bottoms
and have long hair. It doesn't necessarily mean you're committing crimes
against humanity.' 

Dolenz was up for roles in at least three music shows when he landed the
part of the Monkees' drummer. 

At the time, he was going to school to be an architect. 

"I was gonna fall back on showbiz if I couldn't make it as an architect,"
he recalls, with a laugh. 

He could tell from the start that "The Monkees" was a very different
prospect than those other shows. 

"I thought, 'Wow, this is a good one,' because the producers, Bob
(Rafelson) and Bert (Schneider), were very young for Hollywood producers.
Not much older than I was. I thought 'This is really kind of cool.' 

It was obvious that they were doing all they could to make the most of
Beatlemania. 

"But the brilliance of their concept was 'The Monkees' was about this
band that really wants to be the Beatles but we never were  not on the
television show," he says. 

"It was that struggle for success that endeared it to so many people. It
was speaking to all those kids out there around the world that were in
their basements, in their living rooms. They were trying to be famous. 

A year after the show went off the air, the Monkees started splintering
when Tork became the first to leave, citing exhaustion. Nesmith quit in
1970 to focus on his solo music. Jones and Dolenz made one final album as
the Monkees, "Changes," before bringing that first chapter of the story to
a close in 1971. 

They reunited several times throughout the years, including all four
members on occasion. 

Jones' final outing as a Monkee was the 45th Anniversary Tour, which
Nesmith did not join, a year before his death. 

In 2018, Nesmith told the Republic,  "Davy's passing was the key factor"
in bringing him back to Monkees in 2012 for the first time since a U.K.
tour in 1997. 

Dolenz recalls the first reunion after Jones' death as difficult. 

"It was tricky," he says. "It was emotional. It was a lot of things. But
we debated about it. We said, 'How do we do this? How can we possibly do
this?' 

Then, they asked the fans what they should do. 

"The general consensus from the fans was 'We really want to see you
again. We understand that Davy's not there, but we want to hear those
songs. And let's face it. In concert, it is all about the songs. 

Four years after that reunion, they gave those fans their first new batch
of Monkees' songs since 1996's "Justus" album. 

Dolenz says of "Good Times! ," an album produced by Fountains of Wayne's
Adam Schlesinger, who died last year of COVID-19, "I think it's one of the
best albums we ever did, frankly. And so much of that goes down to Adam
Schlesinger. God love him. May he rest in peace. 

In addition to Schlesinger, the album features songs by Andy Partridge
(XTC), Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie),  Rivers Cuomo (Weezer), Noel
Gallagher (Oasis) and Paul Weller (the Jam) among others. 

"That's always been the case with the Monkees," Dolenz says. "Incredible
songwriters. 

Speaking of songwriters, his latest solo effort, released in March, is a
collection of songs by a writer he's always admired, Michael Nesmith. 

"I think he's one of the greatest poets, greatest songsmiths in his genre
from the get-go," Dolenz says. "He was always the one that was writing
these incredibly beautiful songs. 

He got the idea for "Dolenz Sings Nesmith" from his old friend Harry
Nilsson, who cut an iconic collection of Randy Newman songs, titled
"Nilsson Sings Newman," in the '70s. 

"I mentioned it to Nez and he loved the idea," Dolenz says. 

He and Nesmith have always been tight. 

"We've always had a wonderful relationship," Dolenz says. 

"It's like siblings. I was introduced to Mike and Davy and Peter one day
at a wardrobe fitting. Because that's the first thing that happens when you
get a pilot. And we just hit it off immediately. If you understand that,
then everything else about the Monkees makes a lot more sense. 

When:  7:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 19. 

Where:  Celebrity Theatre, 440 N. 32nd St., Phoenix. 

Admission:  $40-$204. 

Details:  602-267-1600, celebritytheatre.com. Proof of full vaccination
or negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of the event required. 

Reach the reporter at  ed.masley at arizonarepublic.com  or 602-444-4495.
Follow him on Twitter  @EdMasley . 

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today. 

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