Micky Dolenz is asked to reach back to the 1960s and recall the fame of the Monkees.
“I’m probably not the right person to ask,” says Dolenz, appearing in a music-storytelling show at The Strat Theater at 8 p.m. Friday. “I am as surprised as you are at how big it was. We had no idea back then, with no social media and music and TV not being distributed so widely.”
The touring show is titled “Micky Dolenz: Songs and Stories.” Dolenz, the last surviving member of the Monkees, has an ample supply of both.
To the uninitiated: The Monkees were a dual phenomenon during the days when AM radio ruled rock, and three networks dominated TV. “The Monkees” prime-time NBC show ran from 1966-’68, winning an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy series, registering strong ratings in the first season before sputtering in the second.
Named for the prime-time series, their first four albums went to No. 1 in 1967, setting a Billboard record that still stands for top-selling albums in a calendar year. “I’m A Believer” was the best-selling single for all of 1967. “Last Train to Clarksville” and “Daydream Believer” also went No. 1.
Jimi Hendrix opened for the Monkees for four dates on tour in 1967. Their trippy, 1968 film “Head,” became a cult classic.
Dolenz was hired for the show as an experienced, widely skilled entertainer. As a kid, he appeared on the TV series “Circus Boy” and was a guest-star on many TV series. His dad, George, was an accomplished actor who played the title role on the prime-time show “The Count of Monte Cristo.”
Dolenz says that the Monkees recording and touring activity strayed beyond the original vision for the show.
“It wasn’t a band. It was a television show about a band, an imaginary band,” Dolenz says. “We lived in this Malibu beach house, which was a set on Columbia Studios lot. And it was the adventures and the story of this band who wanted to be America’s answer to The Beatles, but we never made it.”
But they owned the fabulous Monkee Mobile. And that beach-front residence spoke to success.
“If you watch the show, we never even got a job,” Dolenz says. “Which does beg the question of how we could afford a Malibu beach house. But that’s Hollywood, right there.”
The Monkees burned bright, and fast. By the end of the ’60s their appeal waned and members splintered. Dolenz, who joined Jones as the band’s singer, immersed himself in music projects and theater, moving for a time to England.
“Davy and I did a little bit of recording and touring. But then, I moved to England, around 1975, which is kind of typical after having big success,” Dolenz says. “When you do that, you’re not necessarily the queen of the hop anymore.”
The Monkees remained popular in syndicated re-runs. The original members were pursued for a 20-year reunion in 1986. The initial idea was a brief summer tour.” “I had no idea even how to even get in touch with Davy and Peter. Mike, I’d been in touch with,” Dolenz recalls. “But I talked to my wife – we had three little kids at the time – and she said, ‘You know, it would be fun.’”
The revived band headlined such venues as Six Flags, Disney World on a hot-selling summer series. MTV officials became interested in renewed interest and invited the band to perform.
“The response was huge,” Dolenz says. “It was the first time I went, ‘Whoa. Oh my god.’ I was shocked. That six-or-eight-week tour turned into a three-year tour that is still going on, to this day.”
Some of the Monkees’ life lessons have survived the decades, and Dolenz is now the band’s lone ambassador.
“I think it was the struggle for success that has endeared us to all those fans, and still speaks to kids today,” Dolenz says. “I feel blessed to have been part of something like that. I was one of only four entertainers, singers, actors, musicians, who were cast in the show. And I’m grateful for it.”
Book it
Oscar Goodman made his annual Super Bowl bet at Westgate SuperBook on Friday afternoon. Former SuperBook VP Jay Kornegay, now a consultant with the company, shepherded Goodman’s wagers: The Eagles at plus-1, and over 47.5 yards on the longest field goal, $75 on each for $150 on the line.
Goodman had wanted to parlay three picks off the board, including one wager that’s not even on Westgate’s prop list (involving a member of the Chiefs and a superstar entertainer, and their possible plans to start a family).
The ex-mayor threatened to call the Gaming Control Board to make this bet happen. Instead, he sipped from an oversized martini glass (next to a regular-size martini glass) and said, “Go, Eagles!” because he’s originally from Philly. It’s all good karma for the birds.
May we recommend …
A superior jazz hang at 3 p.m. Feb. 23: The 35th Annual Joe Williams UNLV Jazz Scholarship Concert at Ham Hall. UNLV Chair of Jazz And Commercial Music Chair Dave Loeb leads the performance, along with trombone great Nathan Tanouye as co-conductor, in honor of Black History Month.
UNLV’s jazz program has won 50 Downbeat Magazine awards, voted on the jazz community’s leading pub. Clint Holmes, Don Cunningham, Laura Taylor, Gary Fowler, Jo Belle Yonely, Lara Smith, Miss Melanie Moore and Patrick Hogan are on the bill. Comic great Pete Barbutti is guest emcee.
