Micky Dolenz

All Music Guide:

Best known for his role as the lead singer of the Monkees, Micky Dolenz is also famed as an actor and director. Dolenz was born in Los Angeles to George and Janelle Dolenz, both show business people themselves. By the age of six, Dolenz was already doing screen tests, and by the age of ten, he had landed his first role as Corky on Circus Boy. He toured the country with his elephant "Bimbo" promoting the show, which lasted only three years. During his teenage years, he had seriously begun to develop his musical chops. He was the lead singer in many nightclub bands, including Micky & the One Nighters, which played a lot of Rolling Stones and Jerry Lee Lewis tunes. It was during this period that he recorded his first single, "Huff Puff/Don't Do It," but the record was not released until 1967.

In 1965, he was chosen from 400 applicants to be a member of the Monkees. He was originally hired as the drummer, but eventually became the lead vocalist. Along with Davy Jones, Peter Tork, and Michael Nesmith, Dolenz became a teen idol in the mid-'60s and sold more than 60 million records. The Monkees released a movie and two more albums after their television show ended in 1968. By 1970, it was Dolenz and Davy Jones who were touring and performing concerts to promote the group.

Dolenz used his fame as a Monkee to further his directing career; he had directed one of the Monkees episodes and several television commercials. He directed several spots for NASA explaining the benefits medicine has received from the space program. The spots featured such famous people as Charlton Heston, Jesse Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Whoopi Goldberg, and Willie Nelson.

With his distinctive voice, Dolenz pursued a career doing voices for cartoons, appearing on such Hanna-Barbera shows as The Funky Fantom and The Scooby-Doo movies. During this time he also worked on a solo music career, producing such hit singles as "A Lover's Prayer" and "To Be or Not to Be." In 1975, Dolenz teamed up with songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart and ex-Monkee Davy Jones to produce an album and perform on tour. He began touring alone and promoting his solo career singing Monkees tunes and his own singles.

In 1978, he moved to the U.K. to further pursue his acting and directing careers. He starred in the musical The Point and made his directing debut with Story Without a Hero. He stayed in the U.K. for many years, directing such programs as Fernwood Tonight, with Martin Mull, and Luna, a story about a girl living in the future.

With the Monkees' 20th anniversary approaching, Dolenz, Jones, and Tork began touring in 1986. Because of the success of the tour, they recorded an album, released two videos, and toured for another year. When Dolenz returned to the United States, he also returned to his own solo career, resuming touring on his own. He produced several children's albums, including Micky Dolenz Puts You to Sleep, a collection of '60s music produced as lullabies, and Broadway Micky, a collection of Broadway show tunes. His book I'm a Believer: My Life of Music, Madness and the Monkees recounts his life as a Monkee, as a director, and as a solo performer. He toured again with Peter and Davy for the 30th anniversary of the Monkees, which lasted until 1997. In 1998, he returned to his directing career and the other side of the camera.

During the first years of the new millennium, Dolenz had cameos in As the World Turns and The Drew Carey Show, along with doing voice work for The Powerpuff Girls, which led to a number of voice gigs. In 2005, he joined WCBS-FM as their morning DJ, spending a year there and then turning toward the road and stage in 2006, touring with a revival of Pippin in 2007. Dolenz returned to recording in 2010, releasing the Carole King tribute King for a Day -- his first album in 15 years -- in August. Two years later his audio scrapbook of cover songs, Remember, was issued featuring tunes from The Beatles, Harry Nilsson, Chuck Berry and The Monkees.

Wikipedia:

George Michael "Micky" Dolenz, Jr. (born March 8, 1945) is an American actor, musician, television director, radio personality and theater director, best known as the drummer and lead vocalist of the 1960s rock band The Monkees.

Life and entertainment career [edit]

Dolenz was born at the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital (now Cedars-Sinai Medical Center), Los Angeles California, the son of actors George Dolenz and Janelle Johnson.

Circus Boy [edit]

Dolenz began his show business career in 1956 when he starred in a children’s show called Circus Boy under the name Mickey Braddock. In the show, he played an orphaned water boy for the elephants in a one-ring circus at the start of the 20th century. The program ran for three years, after which Dolenz made sporadic appearances on network television shows and pursued his education.

He also played guitar and sang with obscure rock and roll bands, including one called The Missing Links. Dolenz went to Ulysses S. Grant High School in Valley Glen, Los Angeles, California, and graduated in 1962. In 1964, he was cast as Ed in the episode "Born of Kings and Angels" of the NBC education drama series, Mr. Novak, starring James Franciscus as an idealistic Los Angeles teacher. Dolenz was attending college in Los Angeles when he was hired for the "drummer" role in NBC's The Monkees.

The Monkees [edit]

In 1965, Dolenz was cast in the television sitcom The Monkees and became the drummer and a lead vocalist in the band created for the show. Micky said later that someone at Screen Gems forgot to contact his agent to inform him the series was picked up by NBC; he wound up learning about his new job by reading the announcement in Variety. He was not at that time a drummer. He needed lessons even to be able to mime credibly but eventually was taught how to play properly. By the time The Monkees went on tour in late 1966, Dolenz was competent enough to play the drums himself. (He learned to play right-handed and left-footed.)

Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, writers of many of The Monkees' songs, observed quickly that when brought in to the studio together, the four actors would try to crack each other up. Because of this, they would often bring in each singer individually. The antics escalated until one time Micky poured a cup of ice on Don Kirshner's head; at the time, Dolenz did not know Kirshner on sight.

According to Mike Nesmith, it was Dolenz's voice that made the Monkees' sound distinctive, and even during tension-filled times Nesmith and Peter Tork voluntarily turned over lead vocal duties to Dolenz on their own compositions, such as Tork's "For Pete's Sake", which became the closing title theme for the second season of the TV show.

Dolenz wrote a few of the band’s songs as well as providing the lead vocals for such hits as "Last Train to Clarksville", "Take a Giant Step" and "I'm a Believer". Towards the end of the series’ hectic two-year run, Dolenz directed and co-wrote what turned out to be the show’s final episode.

Despite being more of a singer than a musician, Micky purchased one of the first 25 Moog synthesizers, the third Moog Synthesizer ever commercially sold. (The first two belonged to Wendy Carlos and Buck Owens.) His performance on the Monkees song "Daily Nightly" (written by Michael Nesmith) from the LP Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. was one of the first uses of a synthesizer on a rock recording. He eventually sold his instrument to Bobby Sherman.

Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart [edit]

Thanks in part to reruns of The Monkees on Saturday mornings and in syndication, The Monkees Greatest Hits charted in 1976. The LP, issued by Arista (a subsidiary of Screen Gems), was actually a repackaging of a 1972 compilation LP called Refocus that had been issued by Arista's previous label imprint, Bell Records, also owned by Screen Gems.

Dolenz and Jones took advantage of this, joining ex-Monkees songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart to tour the United States. From 1975 to 1977, as the "Golden Hits of The Monkees" show ("The Guys who Wrote 'Em and the Guys who Sang 'Em!"), they successfully performed in smaller venues such as state fairs and amusement parks as well as making stops in Japan, Thailand, and Singapore. They also released an album of new material as Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart (they could not use the Monkees name for legal reasons).

Nesmith had not been interested in a reunion. Tork claimed later that he had not been asked, although a Christmas single (credited to Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones and Peter Tork) was produced by Chip Douglas and released on his own label in 1976. The single featured Douglas's and Howard Kaylan's "Christmas Is My Time of Year" (originally recorded by a 1960s supergroup, Christmas Spirit), with a B-side of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" (Douglas released a remixed version of the single, with additional overdubbed instruments, in 1986). Tork also joined Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart on stage at Disneyland on July 4, 1976, and also joined Dolenz and Jones on stage at the Starwood in Hollywood, California in 1977.

Post-Monkees musical career [edit]

After the television show ended and the band broke up, Dolenz hoped to continue a solo recording career and released several singles on MGM Records (and its subsidiaries) in the early 1970s. In 1971, Peter Tork helped arrange a Micky Dolenz single, "Easy on You"/"Oh Someone".

Dolenz released the B.A. Robertson song "To Be or Not to Be" on December 31, 1981. The song is a playful tribute to the works of William Shakespeare. The flip side was "Beverly Hills", written by Dolenz. The single was released to coincide with Micky's tour of Japan. Both were very successful. The single is Jam Records J-8112B. Dolenz also released 2 CD's on the Kid Rhino label, Micky Dolenz Puts You to Sleep (containing Dolenz chosen songs originally released by many major artists, given a "dreamy" touch too) and Broadway Micky (Dolenz singing choice Broadway standards).

In 2005, after leaving WCBS-FM, Dolenz went on tour with his sister, singer Coco Dolenz. On August 31, 2010, Dolenz released his first album in over 15 years via Gigatone Entertainment of Sacramento, California. Titled King for a Day, the album is a 14-track tribute to legendary songwriter Carole King. Dolenz also appeared in an event called "myRecordFantasy with Micky Dolenz" August 2–4, 2010 giving fans the opportunity to audition and perform on this album. The event was recorded and adapted to a reality series entitled myRecordFantasy, the trailer of which was released August 31, 2010. His latest album, 2012's Remember, is made up of covers of 1960's and 1970's rock and pop ballads.

Post-Monkees television and film career [edit]

After the Monkees television show ended, Dolenz continued performing providing voice-overs for a number of Saturday-morning cartoon series including The Funky Phantom, Partridge Family 2200 A.D., Scooby-doo, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids, Devlin and Wonder Wheels (from The Skatebirds). Dolenz provided the voice of Arthur in the first season of the animated series The Tick. Dolenz also played one of Alan Matthews' bandmates in the sitcom Boy Meets World, and later joined Davy Jones and Peter Tork in episode eight of the 3rd season (titled "Rave On"), although they did not play themselves. In 1972, Dolenz played Vance in the murder mystery film Night of the Strangler. Dolenz provided the voice of Two-Face's twin henchmen in the two-part episode "Two-Face" on Batman: The Animated Series. In a September 2006 radio interview, Dolenz reported that he is the current voice of Snuggle the Fabric Softener Bear.

Dolenz played a near-sighted bus driver in the March 1, 1975 multi-rated versions (X, R, and PG) US comedy film Linda Lovelace for President. This was Linda Lovelace's last film and a failed attempt by her friend, producer David Winters, to capitalize on her popularity to cross over to main line films. Other recognizable actors making guest appearances in this film included Scatman Crothers, Joe E. Ross, Vaughn Meader, and Chuck McCann.

1977 saw him performing with former band-mate Davy Jones in a stage production of the Harry Nilsson musical The Point! in London, playing the part of Arrow, Oblio's (Jones) pet dog. After the show’s run, he remained in England and began directing for stage and television, as well as producing several of the shows he directed. In 1980, Dolenz produced and directed the sitcom Metal Mickey, featuring a large metallic robot with the catch-phrase "boogie boogie."

In the early 1980s, Dolenz directed a stage version of Bugsy Malone, the cast of which included a then-unknown 14-year-old Welsh actress named Catherine Zeta-Jones. From 1983 to 1984 he was responsible for creating and producing the British children's television show Luna.

Early in the development of Batman Forever, Dolenz was a contender for the role of The Riddler, which ultimately went to Jim Carrey.

In June 2006, Dolenz played Charlemagne at the Goodspeed Opera House for the revival of the musical Pippin in East Haddam, Connecticut. He also toured in that role. In 2007, he appeared in Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween as Derek Allan, the owner of the gun shop where Dr. Loomis (played by Malcolm McDowell) buys a gun in his search for Michael Myers. On April 25, 2007, Dolenz was featured on American Idol on the "Idol Gives Back" episode when the show filmed celebrities singing and dancing to "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees. Dolenz participated in the 2008–09 season of CMT's "Gone Country," competing against fellow celebrities Sheila E (who eventually won), Taylor Dayne, George Clinton, and Richard Grieco.

On January 29, 2011, Dolenz appeared in the Syfy Channel movie Mega Python vs. Gatoroid alongside Debbie Gibson and Tiffany.

MTV re-ignites Monkee Mania [edit]

In 1986, a screening of the entire Monkees television series by MTV led to renewed interest in the group, followed by a single ("That Was Then, This Is Now" reached number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S.), a 20th Anniversary Tour, a greatest hits album and a brand new LP, Pool It! in 1987. The group's original albums were reissued and all hit the record charts at the same time.

Since 1986, Dolenz has joined the other ex-Monkees for several reunion tours, most recently in 2011 and 2012 with a series of concerts in England and two tours of the United States, and has toured extensively as a solo artist. He has continued to direct for television both in the United Kingdom and the United States, and had occasional acting gigs, including roles in the TV series The Equalizer and as the Mayor on the cable TV series Pacific Blue.

In 2009, Dolenz inked a deal to record an album of the classic songs of Carole King, titled "King for a Day". The album (released on Gigitone Records) was produced by Jeffrey Foskett, who has worked extensively with Brian Wilson and played on Wilson’s 2004 Grammy-winning version of SMiLE. King’s songs "Pleasant Valley Sunday", "Sometime in the Morning", and "The Porpoise Song (Theme From Head)" have emerged as signature songs from The Monkees. As of February 2010, he was appearing on stage in London in 'Hairspray with Michael Ball.' The show also went on tour and had a successful run in Dublin, Ireland during November 2010. In 2011, he rejoined Tork and Jones for An Evening with The Monkees: The 45th Anniversary Tour. Jones' sudden death in February 2012 led to Dolenz and Tork reuniting with Michael Nesmith for a 12 concert tour of the United States in November and December, 2012.

WCBS-FM [edit]

On January 10, 2005, Dolenz replaced Dan Taylor as the morning disc jockey at oldies radio station WCBS-FM in New York. On June 3, 2005, Dolenz celebrated his 100th show with a special morning show at B.B. Kings. In an ironic and controversial twist, that was also his last regular show at the station; at 5:00 PM, WCBS-FM announced that the station would replace its oldies format with a "Jack" format, and fired all of the station's on-air jocks.

However, WCBS-FM had since returned to its oldies format on July 12, 2007, with Taylor reassuming his role again as the morning disc jockey the following day. Several months later, Dolenz was invited back afterward for him to do his long postponed 101st show, and his final in-studio appearance there at the station, by guest hosting on a three-hour broadcast stint during its Sunday evening New York Radio Greats program on February 3, 2008.

Personal life [edit]

Dolenz has been married three times and is the father of four daughters. In 1967, while in the UK on tour, Dolenz met future wife Samantha Juste, a co-presenter on BBC TV's pop music show, Top of the Pops. They married in 1968 and had a daughter, Ami Dolenz (b. January 8, 1969), an actress particularly active in the 1980s and 1990s. Dolenz and Juste divorced in 1975.

He married Trina Dow in 1977. The couple had three daughters: Charlotte Janelle (born August 8, 1981), Emily Claire (born July 25, 1983), and Georgia Rose (born September 3, 1984). They divorced in 1991. Trina Dolenz has become a couples therapist (still using her married name). Dolenz married his third wife, Donna Quinter, in 2002.

Dolenz answered "no" when asked whether he believed in the existence of a God, adding "God is a verb, not a noun." Dolenz has studied for a Bachelor of Arts degree with the Open University in the UK.