Happy Birthday, Micky Dolenz!

Last week, I posted on the anniversary of Monkee Davy Jones' death. Today, let's observe the birthday of fellow Monkee Micky Dolenz, who is one of the two surviving Monkees (along with Michael Nesmith, following the death last year of Peter Tork).

Micky Dolenz was born George Michael Dolenz, Jr., in Los Angeles on March 8, 1945. He had a career as a child actor in the 1950s, starring in a show called Circus Boy. My mother told me that I watched this show, but I don't remember it. I was only 4 and 5 years old at the time. Dolenz' stage name at the time was Micky Braddock. By the time he tried out for the Monkees almost ten years later, he had gone back to the Dolenz name.

Micky sang lead on the Monkees' first two hit records, "Last Train to Clarksville", written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, and "I'm a Believer", written by Neil Diamond. Boyce and Hart wrote a whole bunch of songs that the Monkees recorded, including the theme song to their T.V. show. On the  show, he appeared as the band's drummer. When the group members won the right to play their own instruments, he continued as such, even though his initial desire was to be a guitarist.

In the late 1960s, the Monkees were not highly regarded by many of the people who wrote about rock music. I think that this was partly due to their fanbase at the time mainly being female and in their early or pre-teens. But about twenty years later, they were finally recognized as being early examples of music videos and reality TV, even though their shows were scripted. Many of their songs have become classics, including both of their "Believer" songs, the other one being "Daydream Believer", on which Davy Jones sang lead. Many have been covered by other artists over the years. "I'm a Believer" has been featured in at least two movies. The Monkees' original version was in the 1999 film Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. A remake by Smash Mouth and a partial performance of the song by Eddie Murphy's donkey character were highlights of the 2001 motion picture Shrek.

In recent years, Micky has done a lot of touring, sometimes as part of Monkees reunions, sometimes own his own, and sometimes as part of package tours, such as the Happy Together tour. In his solo and package tour shows, his finale has been "I'm a Believer". He introduces it by telling the younger audience members that he, "did it before Shrek."

But the Monkees are still not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Has their early bad press remained to haunt them?

Here are some of his most memorable Monkees songs:

"Last Train to Clarksville":

"(I'm not Your) Steppin' Stone", written by Boyce and Hart, which was the B-side of "I'm a Believer" but was also a hit record:

A solo version of "I'm a Believer" from the 21st century:

Neil Diamond has done his own version of this song. In fact, he has recorded it in three different styles. Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart had a brief period of recording success in the late 1960s building upon their work with the Monkees. Following that, the two of them toured with Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz as Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart.