I love The Monkees. They’re a top-five band for me, so you can imagine how excited I was to talk to Micky Dolenz. The last man standing from the original group, Micky has been incredibly creative during the 2020s, releasing albums and EPS of new material that demonstrate that his classic voice is still in amazing shape. His latest EP, Timeless, features songs written by Paul Westerberg and Andy Partridge, among others.
As well, 2026 is the 60th anniversary of The Monkees, and the folks at Rhino Records have been giving us fans lots of releases to dive into, including The A’s and B’s of The Monkees, the Made For TV soundtrack, and now a reissue of the band’s iconic self-titled 1966 debut album. Meanwhile, Micky remains a steady touring artist at 81.
It was a pleasant valley Tuesday when I dialled up the one and only Micky Dolenz for an illuminating chat about his music and The Monkees.
Andy Burns: Hey, Micky. It’s Andy Burns calling. How are you?
Micky Dolenz: Great. You’re calling from where?
Andy Burns: I’m calling from Toronto. Are you still good to talk?
Micky Dolenz: I’m in the airport waiting for a flight, so it’s a perfect time.
Andy Burns: We’ll just jump into it. It’s the 60th anniversary of the Monkees, and we’re gonna get to that. But the first thing that I wanted to ask you about is, you’ve got your new EP, Timeless, out. It’s a really wonderful listen, and I was wondering how that all came together.
Micky Dolenz: Well, typically, the CDs that I’ve done over the last number of years, in fact, decades, as a solo artist, someone will come to me. In this case, it was my social media guy, who had a lot to do with putting together Good Times, the last real Monkees album, and Christmas Party, the Christmas album, and just basically said, “I think you could do an EP,” and he had already gotten interest from writers. As you probably know, you’ve obviously done your homework, since the beginning, since the ’60s, we, the Monkees, and then me as a solo artist, have been blessed with the greatest songwriters. I give an enormous amount of credit to songwriters in my show. I talk a lot about songwriters because I have always given them an enormous amount of credit. Because when you start with a great song by Neil Diamond or Carol King or Harry Nilsson, Paul Williams, David Gates, you know, those are the early ones; it’s kind of hard to screw them up. It starts with that, and that’s been sort of continuous.
On Good Times, we had great writers, Noel Gallagher, Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie. On Timeless, it was co-produced by Sam Hollander and John Hughes, but again, people just started sending (songs). Paul Westerberg from The Replacements, Andy Partridge of XTC- just all these amazing writers. Then my job becomes very easy. I just have to sing, and that’s what I do. I don’t get involved after the initial song choices, keys, and arrangements. I had one of the songs on Timeless rearranged because I wasn’t quite comfortable with the particular feel that it had. Still a great song, but I just wanted to do it in a slightly different way.
I did an album, Dolenz Sings Nesmith, and an R.E.M. EP, and the only thing I insisted on was that the songs weren’t just flat covers; they had a life of their own. On the R.E.M. CD, Christian Nesmith, Michael’s son, did an incredible job of reimagining—that’s what I call it. We didn’t do any covers on this particular EP, but I think they all came out really, really great. As a singer, I decided years ago- decades ago that I’m not a producer. I play a little drums, a little guitar, but I don’t insist on that. I don’t arrange. I say to my producers, “Just think of me as Frank Sinatra, and you as Quincy Jones.” (laughs) I should be so lucky to be Frank Sinatra, but that’s my attitude. I’m a singer, and I obviously choose the songs, but after that, I look to a producer, which, in music recording, is similar to a director in film and television, for guidance, help, and ideas. And that third eye, that third ear hears things that I might not. That’s how it happened.
Andy Burns: You mentioned Dolenz Sings Nesmith and Dolenz Sings R.E.M., which are really, really fantastic albums. You have been very busy this decade creating new music. Are you surprised you still have the desire to actually go into the studio and do something new? Do you like being in the studio?
Micky Dolenz: I love it. I love the studio process, and it’s what I do. What can I tell you? It’s my job, and I don’t really know how to do anything else. I love being in the studio. I do love performing live. I’m not crazy about travelling. As you’ve probably heard, what we say is they pay us to travel. We sing for free. Right now, I’m in an airport again, and if that’s the job, I look at it. That’s the hard part. The shows are easy.
Andy Burns: One of the things that I love about the creativity that you’ve shown over the last six or seven years is that you could continue to just sing live and people would love it, but you’re not only going in and creating new music, but you’re also creating really, really good music. I think of that version you did on Dolenz Sings R.E.M. of “Leaving New York,” which came out on an R.E.M. album that wasn’t particularly lauded at the time, and you managed to find your way into that song.
Micky Dolenz: I’ve got to give a lot of that credit to Christian Nesmith. Because again, after we went through all the R. E. M. stuff, many, many tunes, he knew my feelings about the reimagining. And at a certain point, when we had a short list of tunes, I said, ” Listen, Christian, go away and play with these for a while and see what you come up with. Which are the ones that you think you can reinvigorate? That you can give them a new life.” He came back with some ideas.
Andy Burns: I think about your generation of musicians coming up. There weren’t rock musicians to sort of look to who were in their sixties, seventies, or eighties. No one was doing the job you do now, and many of your peers still do and still love it. Are you surprised that you still have that desire to hop on a plane or hop on a bus to perform, or is that just, again, is that the job?
Micky Dolenz: It’s the job for the most part. I’ve been in the business for seventy years, since my first television series. My parents were both in the business, both singers and actors. My mom played piano, so it’s just following in my father’s footsteps, which is what we used to call it. Now they call it nepo baby – I think it’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. We used to call it following in your father’s footsteps, which so many people do in many different industries, just standard practice. But that’s basically what I did. My parents were very down-to-earth about it. We didn’t live the typical Hollywood celebrity lifestyle. We lived out on ranches with horses and chickens. Very down-to-earth. My father was from Italy, right off the boat. Didn’t take any shit. My mom was from Texas, and again, didn’t take any shit. So I just grew up in the business and kind of took it for granted. But, to be honest, I never ever had that burning desire that you see in movies and musicals, you know, “I wanna be on Broadway!” I never had that, which I think in the long run probably served me well because I think it probably helped me get through the disappointment of rejection, which is constant in this business.
I was not so deeply invested. I never trained, really, in acting or even singing. Well, I sang with my mom since I was three or four. I guess that’s training. She taught me and my sister how to do harmonies, but not like in a class. So that’s the long answer to your question. It’s what I do, and it’s how I make my living.
Andy Burns: We mentioned off the top, it’s the sixtieth anniversary of the Monkees. There have been so many Monkees reissues this year. There’s The A’s and B’s of the Monkees. There’s the Made for TV soundtrack. It’s the 10th anniversary of Good Times, which remains one of the greatest Monkees albums of all time. And now the deluxe edition of the debut album, which you’ve contributed liner notes for. There’s so much Monkees music out there, all this stuff that you worked on that people comb over. Are you surprised at how much interest there remains in the band’s catalogue in all its different ways?
Micky Dolenz: Not anymore. Here’s a short story. After The Monkees went off the air, I started a career as a director, and I went to England by coincidence and got lucky, and started directing for the BBC. What started as a three-month trip turned into almost 16 years in England, directing successfully in TV, films, commercials, music videos, everything. During that period, I never did any singing, no Monkee business. And after a while, people started referring to me as Michael Dolenz, the producer-director. Until ’86, when we had the reunion, and it was only supposed to be a six-to-eight-week reunion, just for fun. And it turned into three years of reunions, very successful. At that time, with the incredible reception we received in ’86, that is when I went, “Whoa, this thing had legs.” And then I actually started being asked to talk about it, and I did my due diligence and my homework, and that’s when I started putting together the talent of the songwriters and the scriptwriters of the television show and the premise and, at that point, I realized again that it takes a village. That I and the other three of us and other guys had had a lot to do with it, of course, but there were so many other people. Again, writers and directors and producers. Now, looking back, no, it doesn’t surprise me.
The Monkees 60th Anniversary Deluxe Edition is available from Rhino Records.
You can keep up with Micky Dolenz online at his official website, where you can also order his new EP, Timeless.
