As Seen On TV

Music’s original made-for-TV act, the Monkees, celebrates its 45th anniversary this summer with a reunion tour. And unlike some other times when Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, Davey Jones (and on rare occasion, Mike Nesmith) have regrouped, there hasn’t been a release of a greatest hits set, an album or some other companion event to enhance the occasion.

But make no mistake, in an era when music is more omnipresent in television than ever, the Monkees’ impact is being felt as strongly – maybe more strongly – than at any time since the group’s original heyday.
Look no further than “Glee,” the hit Fox television series, according to Monkees singer/drummer Dolenz.

“‘The Monkees’ was initially, it was a television show about this imaginary group that lived in an imaginary beach house and had these imaginary adventures,” Dolenz said in a mid-June phone interview. “But all the members of the cast, as it were, could actually sing and play and dance and act. And ‘Glee’ is very similar. It’s a television show about an imaginary glee club that doesn’t really exist. But now I understand they’re on the road. And they all can actually do it. They can all sing and dance and act. So I would say that’s the closest thing that has happened since ‘The Monkees.’”

But of course, it’s not the only current only show that has had parallels to the Monkees TV show, which was a huge hit during its run from 1966 to 1968.
Disney, as Dolenz noted, has “flat out came out and just said publicly” that the original Monkees television series had a major influence on the music-themed shows that have helped launch the careers of Miley Cyrus (in “Hannah Montana”), Demi Lovato, the Jonas Brothers and Selena Gomez.
Still, no other television show has ever quite captured the mix of madcap humor and quality pop music that came together on the original “The Monkees” television show.

Dolenz, who was a seasoned actor by the time of “The Monkees” – he starred as a young boy in the popular television series, “Circus Boy” under the name of Mickey Braddock – recalls having a special feeling about “The Monkees” project after auditioning for the pilot.

“I remember that year (1965), I was up for two or three different pilots that year that were musically oriented,” Dolenz said. “Because of the British invasion and also because of the folk music phenomenon, just because of music in general, there were a few shows that were being piloted that year that had some sort of musical theme.

“But I do remember when I went to the Monkee audition after my first audition, I do remember thinking to myself – and I remember telling my agent at the time – ‘You know, I think this is really going to be a good one. I really would like to get this part,’” he said.
Once “The Monkees” started airing, the show took off. During the show’s three-year run, the Monkees were truly a triple-media threat, drawing huge television audiences, reeling off hit songs such as “Pleasant Valley Sunshine,” “Daydream Believer,” “Last Train To Clarksville” and “I’m a Believer,” and filling venues as a touring act.
The group worked relentlessly, often putting in long hours Mondays through Friday and working weekends as well.

“It was a couple of years of very, very intense work, 10, 12 hours a day doing the TV show,” Dolenz said. “Then I would end up going into the studio at night to record sometimes two or three lead vocals a night. Then we started rehearsing on the weekends for the tour. But I had also had a series when I was a kid, so I was familiar with the filming, the TV process. So that part was kind of easy for me. I was comfortable and very familiar with it. The recording and playing part of it was a little more of a challenge for me.”
The show only lasted until 1968, but the Monkees continued recording until 1970. (They made a film, “Head,” in 1968 – complete with a soundtrack – after the show was canceled; it was co-written and co-produced by Rafelson and Nicholson.)

There have been occasional reunion tours over the years since – including a 1996 outing in support of a new studio CD, “Justus,” that was written and recorded entirely by Dolenz, Nesmith, Tork and Jones.
This time out, it’s just Dolenz, Tork and Jones (Nesmith, who Dolenz said does not like to tour, declined to participate). Fans, Dolenz said, can expect to hear all of the group’s hits, plus a couple of new twists in the shows this summer, compared to past reunion tours.

“This time, we’re doing the entire soundtrack to the movie (“Head”), which we did as a pure cult movie. But it has some wonderful songs,” Dolenz said. “And then we also did a poll. We took a poll on the internet about what songs the fans want to hear that we have not done before in concert. They came back with some very interesting choices. So we’re doing a few of those, too.”