The Monkees

Background:

Micky Dolenz is famous as the drummer of The Monkees, an American rock group assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series of the same name, which aired from 1966 to 1968. Dolenz recorded nine albums with The Monkees from 1966 to 1971, including the hits “The Monkees” (1966), “More of The Monkees” (1967), “Headquarters” (1967) and “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd” (1967). The group also starred in the film “Head” (1968). Without Michael Nesmith, the remaining three The Monkees (Dolenz, Peter Tork and Davy Jones) were reunited for the group's 20th anniversary in 1986 and released the album “Pool It” (1987), their first since 1970s' “Changes.” The group broke up again in 1989 but all four members were reunited in 1996 for their 30th anniversary. They also recorded the album “Justus” (1997), but Nesmith has since permanently left the group. After a short reunion between 2001 and 2002, Dolenz, Tork and Jones began to perform together again in 2011.

Dolenz has also enjoyed a successful career as a solo artist and released the albums “Micky Dolenz Puts You To Sleep” and “Broadway Micky.” He is also an actor, director and producer. While living in the U.K., he directed and/or produced several TV series, including “Pop Gospel” (1979), “Metal Mickey” (1980-1983), “No Problem” (1983), “Luna” (1983), “For 4 Tonight” (1983) and “From the Top” (1985). In 2001, he directed the film “Malpractice.” In addition to “The Monkees” television series, Dolenz starred in the series “Circus Boy” (1965-1957) and guest starred in episodes of “Boy Meets World” and “As The World Turns” (2002). As a member of The Monkees, he was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording.

Dolenz wrote two books called “Gakky Two-Feet” and “I'm a Believer: My Life of Monkees, Music, and Madness.”

Los Angeles

Childhood and Family:

George Michael Dolenz, Jr., who would later be popular as Micky Dolenz, was born on March 8, 1945, Los Angeles, California, to George Dolenz (January 5, 1908 - February 8, 1963), a Hollywood character actor, and his actress wife, Janelle Johnson Dolenz (December 2, 1923 - December 2, 1995). He has three sisters, Gemma, Gina and Debbie. Micky began acting as a child and quickly added music to his endeavors. As a teenager, he sang and played guitar in several cover bands.

After graduating from Ulysses S. Grant High School in Valley Glen, Los Angeles, Micky studied architecture at San Fernando College, but quit in 1963 after his father passed away. He then worked as a mechanic for Mercedes Benz until 1964.

Micky was married to his first wife, Samantha Juste (born May 31, 1944), an English woman he met on tour in the U.K., from 1968 to 1975. The marriage produced a daughter named Ami Bluebell Dolenz (born January 8, 1969). In 1977, he married Trina Dow and their daughters are Charlotte Janelle (born August 8, 1981), Emily Claire (born July 25, 1983) and Georgia Rose (born September 3, 1984). The couple divorced in 1991. Micky married his present wife, Donna Quinter, on September 20, 2002.

King For A Day

Career:

Growing up in show business, Micky Dolenz began auditioning at age 6 and by age 10, had scored his first role as Corky, an orphan who becomes the water boy for elephants at a circus, in the children's show “Circus Boy,” which aired on NBC and ABC from 1956 to 1958. To promote the show, he toured the U.S. with an elephant and was billed as Mickey Braddock. After the show left the airwaves, he focused on his studies.

As a teenager, Dolenz played guitar and sang in various nightclub bands, including The Missing Link, and Micky & the One Nighters. He was entering college in Los Angeles when he was chosen among 400 applicants to participate in the television sitcom “The Monkees,” which followed the adventures of four young men attempting to make it as a rock band. Starring Dolenz, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork, the show debuted on NBC on September 12, 1966, and ended on March 25, 1968. It won Emmys in 1967 in the categories of Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy.

Dolenz released several studio albums with The Monkees. The self titled debut “The Monkees” was released on September 12, 1966, through Colgems Records in the U.S. and RCA Records elsewhere. It rose to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and the U.K. Albums Chart and has been certified quintuple platinum by RIAA. The album produced the No.1 hit single “Last Train to Clarksville,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 on November 5, 1966. The band made their debut live performance in December 1966 in Hawaii. The second album, “More of The Monkees,” followed on January 9, 1967. It too became a No. 1 hit album at both sides of the Atlantic and went quintuple platinum in the U.S. Their second single, “I'm a Believer” (1966), which was included on the album, spent seven weeks in the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 and became the biggest selling record of 1967. It also peaked at No. 1 on the U.K. Singles chart. The Monkees gained further popularity with a highly successful concert tour. With the group's success, Dolenz emerged as a teen idol in the mid 1960s.

Dolenz and The Monkees next released the albums “Headquarters” (1967), “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.” (1967), “The Birds, The Bees & the Monkees” (1968) and “Head” (1968), the soundtrack to the band's first and only theatrical release “Head” (1968), which was written and produced by Bob Rafelson and Jack Nicholson and directed by Rafelson. “Head” became the group's last album to feature Peter Tork until 1987's “Pool It” and the last to feature all four members until 1996's “Justus.” They also released several singles during this period, including “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You” (#2 Hot 100), “Pleasant Valley Sunday” (#3 Hot 100), “Daydream Believer” (#1 Hot 100) and “Valleri” (#3 Hot 100).

After the cancellation of the group's NBC television show, the remaining three members, Dolenz, Jones and Nessmith, launched “Instant Replay” on February 15, 1969. The album peaked at No. 32 on the Billboard 200. Its lead single, “Tear Drop City,” peaked at No. 56 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was followed by “The Monkees Present” on October 1, 1969, which peaked at No. 100 on the Billboard 200. The single “Good Clean Fun” rose to No. 82 on the Billboard Hot 100 but failed to chart in the U.K. In March 1970, Nesmith left the group, leaving Dolenz and Jones to record “Charges” as The Monkees. Released in June 1970, the album failed to chart. After the last single, “Do It in the Name of Love” (1971), the two remaining Monkees lost the right to use the name, but kept touring throughout most of the 1970s.

Following the breakup of The Monkees, Dolenz pursued his music career as a soloist and recorded several singles on MGM Records during the early 1970s. With the help of Peter Tork, he arranged a single called “Easy on You” in 1971. He embarked as a voice artist as Skip in the animated television series “The Funky Phantom” (1971). He also lent his voice to the TV series “Butch Cassidy” (1973, as Harvey), “These Are the Days” (1974) and “The Skatebirds” (1977, as Willie Sheeler). In addition, Dolenz made guest appearances in “My Three Sons” (1972), “Adam-12” (1972), “Cannon” (1972) and “Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law” (1973) and starred as Tod Devlin in the 1974 television series “Devlin.” He revisited the big screen after “Head” with a starring role in the 1972 comedy “The Night of the Strangler,” opposite James Ralston and Michael Anthony. He followed it up with roles in the comedies “Linda Lovelace for President” and “Keep Off My Grass” (both 1975).

In the mid 1970s, Dolenz was reunited with Jones and former Monkees' songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart to hit the road for a U.S. tour. They also toured in Japan, Singapore and Thailand and an album titled “Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart” was released in 1976 on Capitol Records. It was largely ignored by music fans upon its release.

In 1978, Dolenz moved to the U.K. and would stay in the country for about 15 years. Making his directing debut with an episode of “The Monkees” called “Mijacogeo” (1968), he returned to the director's chair to helm the U.K. television series “Pop Gospel,” which lasted from 1979 to 1980. In 1980, he directed some of the early episodes and produced the British television sitcom “Metal Mickey,” starring Ashley Knight. It ran on ITV until 1983.

In December 1981, Dolenz recorded the B.A. Robertsong “To Be Or Not To Be,” a playful tribute to William Shakespeare. The song was released in Japan on January 2, 1982, to coincide with his tour of Japan. Both the single and the tour were successful. Dolenz later launched the CDs “Micky Dolenz Puts You To Sleep” and “Broadway Micky” on the Kid Rhino label.

Back to television, Dolenz directed six episodes of the comedy series “No Problem,” which debuted on January 7, 1983, and created the series “Luna” (1983-1984). He also produced and directed several episodes of “Luna.” Still in 1983, he directed and produced the television series “For 4 Tonight,” starring George Irving, Rachel Bell and Norman Chappell. He then produced and directed the comedy series “From the Top” (ITV, 1985), starring Bill Oddie, Moyra Fraser and Maggie Rennie, and directed the film “Television Parts” (1985) and the TV series “Murphy's Mob” (1986).

With the 20th anniversary of The Monkees approaching, Dolenz, Jones and Tork began touring in 1986. The success of the tour led to the release of the reunion album “Pool It” in August 1987 on Rhino Records. The album charted at No. 72 on the Billboard 200. The first single, “Heart and Soul,” rose to No. 89 on the Billboard Hot 100 while the follow-up, “Every Step of the Way,” failed to chart. To support the album, the three toured for another year.

The early 1990s saw Dolenz provide the voice of Min, Max in two episodes of “Batman” and play Josh Goldsilver in an episode of “The Ben Stiller Show” (all 1992). He then played Bart in the American comedy film “Deadfall,” directed by Christopher Coppola and starring Michael Biehn, Sarah Trigger and Nicolas Cage, and guest starred as Eli Campbell in an episode of “Monty” called “My Dad Could Beat Up Your Dad” (1994). From 1994 to 1995, he voiced Arthur in the animated TV series “The Tick.” During this period, he also appeared in two episodes of “Boy Meets World” and directed an episode called “Turnaround” (1994). In 1996, he portrayed Mayor Mickey Dolenz in two episodes of “Pacific Blue.” Dolenz then played Donny Shotz in the 1997 television film “The Love Bug,” provided the voice of Ralph/Scribble in the TV series “The Secret Files of the SpyDogs” (1989-1999) and portrayed Bernard in the direct to video film “Invisible Mom II” (1999).

On the music front, Dolenz was reunited with Peter Tork, Davy Jones and Michael Nesmith to record the album “Justus,” which was released on October 15, 1996, on Rhino Records. Nesmith soon left again and the three remaining band members continued to tour until 1997. The trio were again reunited from 2001 to 2002 and then 2011.

In the new millennium, Dolenz also directed “Malpractice” (2001), a film starring Gabrielle Carteris, Markus Flanagan and Stephanie Zimbalist. In addition, he guest starred in “The Drew Carey Show” (2001) and “As the World Turns” (2002). In 2007, he was cast as Derek Allen in the horror film “Halloween,” by Rob Zombie. Costars of the film included Scout Taylor-Compton, Malcolm McDowell and Tyler Mane.

In 2005, Dolenz was hired as a morning disc jockey for the radio station WCBS-FM in New York. After leaving WCBS-FM about a year later, he went on tour with his sister, singer Coco Dolenz. In 2007, he joined a touring company active in a revival of “Pippin.”

On August 31, 2010, Dolenz released the Carole King tribute “King For A Day” via Gigatone Entertainment of Sacramento, California.

Awards:
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