MICKEY DOLENZ OF THE MONKEES TALKS WITH WEEKENDER ABOUT THE BIRTH OF A REAL BAND

 

MICKY DOLENZ said that The Monkees “didn’t develop in the traditional way.”

True enough. There aren’t a whole lot of bands that were picked by a casting agent, and fewer still that were put together for their onscreen TV skills rather than their sound.

Yes, The Monkees were created to take advantage of Beatlemania, and yes, they were criticized for being pawns of the corporate entertainment industry.

But I think there are reasons to question this conventional wisdom about one of the most maligned, and most popular, 1960s rock bands.

The first reason happened in Hawaii in 1966. That was the beginning of The Monkees’ first live tour. Dolenz said it was “maybe the first time the four of us stood on stage.”

He remembers being nervous and excited.

Three of the four original members will play Wolf Trap this Sunday. Perhaps fittingly, they will play after a two-night stand by Rain, a Beatles cover band.

Dolenz said that Mike Nesmith calls the concert in Hawaii the moment when Pinocchio became a boy.

It was a risky proposition. Before that moment, The Monkees’ music was made under the thumb of managers, record labels and TV producers.

And it was extremely successful.

There was much success after that live debut–”Pleasant Valley Sunday” and “Daydream Believer” were still to come. But that first taste of creative freedom unleashed a very interesting beast that eventually spawned the psychedelic film “Head.”

“It was almost like there were two bands,” Dolenz said.

He pointed to the album “Headquarters” as the one that captured the shift. It was the first album The Monkees wrote and recorded mostly on their own.

It spent one week at the top of the charts before The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” knocked it off.

Unlike most rock bands, The Monkees found their voice in public. That awkward formative stage usually happens in garages and basements and high school gyms, away from the ridicule of future fans.

In a way, The Monkees took their creative frustrations and funneled them into song. It was a display of punkish bravado that proved rock is a wonderfully accessible medium.

The group was also a harbinger of the sort of cross-platform entertainers we see today.

“All the cast members could sing and play and act,” Dolenz said.

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