George Michael Dolenz Jr. was born in Los Angeles, California on 8 March 1945, and by the age of six he was already doing screen tests, landing his first recurring role as Corky on the TV series 'Circus Boy' at the age of 10. He toured the country with his elephant "Bimbo" promoting the show, which ran for three years, but when he reached his teens he started to develop an interest in music. He sang lead with a number of club-level rock bands, including Micky & The One Nighters, who specialized in covering The Rolling Stones and Jerry Lee Lewis songs, and it was during this period that he recorded his first single, 'Huff Puff'/'Don't Do It', although the record was not released until 1967. In 1965 Dolenz was cast in the TV series 'The Monkees', beating out over 400 other applicants for the role, and while he was initially meant to simply play the fictional group's drummer, his vocal skills meant he became lead singer on many of their songs. Along with Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork, Dolenz became first a TV star and then a rock & roll idol, as the fictional band had smash hit singles with 'Last Train To Clarksville', 'I'm A Believer', and 'Pleasant Valley Sunday'. They released nine albums, and sold over 60 million records worldwide, with 'The Monkees' TV show lasting two seasons, followed by their cult feature film 'Head', before they finally broke up in 1970. Dolenz was always interested in working behind the camera as well as acting and music, and he wrote and directed one of the final episodes of the TV series, but he kept a foot in the door of the music industry by cutting a handful of solo singles for MGM Records, as well as one 45 with producer Michael Lloyd under the name Starship.
He stepped back into music in 1976 with the album 'Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart', in which he and Davy Jones teamed with Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, who wrote and produced many of The Monkees' most memorable tunes. The album and subsequent concert tour received favourable reviews but attracted few paying customers, and in 1977 Dolenz travelled to England to appear in the London production of 'The Point', a stage musical based on Harry Nilsson's 1971 concept album. While he expected to stay in London for three months, he ended up staying for twelve years, establishing himself as a successful director in television and the legitimate stage. 1993 saw Dolenz publish a memoir, 'I'm A Believer: My Life of Music, Madness And The Monkees', and as plans were set in motion to celebrate the Monkees' 30th Anniversary in 1996, the original four members reunited to cut the album 'Justus', with all the material written and performed by the group. While the foursome planned an international concert tour in support, Nesmith bowed out after a run of shows in the United Kingdom, and it marked the last time the classic line-up would work together. In 1998, Dolenz brought out a solo album titled 'Demoiselle', which presented his original demos for eight songs he had written in the '90s. Although he will always be most remembered for his distinctive vocals on many of the Monkees' hit singles, his attempt at a solo career both before and after The Monkees has remained largely unappreciated, and so to put that right here are all the singles and b-sides that he recorded between 1965 and 1983. It includes both tracks recorded in 1965 by Micky And The One Nighters, which were later released as two separate split singles in 1967 to cash in on his new-found fame, as well as one joint single with Davy Jones in 1971, and the one under the name Starship, long before Jefferson decided to use it.
Track listing
01 Huff Puff (single as Micky And The One Nighters, recorded 1965, released 1967)
02 Don't Do It (single as Micky And The One Nighters, recorded 1965, released 1967)
03 Do It In The Name Of Love (single with Davy Jones 1971)
04 Lady Jane (b-side of 'Do It In THe Name Of Love')
05 Easy On You (single 1971)
06 Oh Someone (b-side of 'Easy On You')
07 Unattended In The Dungeon (single 1972)
08 A Lover's Prayer (b-side of 'Unattended In The Dungeon')
09 Johnny B. Goode (single as Starship 1972)
10 It's Amazing To Me (b-side of 'Johnny B. Goode')
11 Daybreak (single 1973)
12 Love War (b-side of 'Daybreak')
13 Ooh She's Young (single 1973)
14 Love Light (single 1979)
15 Alicia (b-side of 'Love Light')
16 To Be Or Not To Be (single 1982)
17 Beverley Hills (b-side of 'To Be Or Not To Be')
18 Tomorrow (split single with The Bugsy Malone Gang 1983)
