Ex-Monkees Business

Even Monkees fans might not know of a mid-70s reunion involving Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones. With hit songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, they formed pop supergroup, Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart. Two tours brought their music to enthusiastic audiences, but a studio album (and a live record) failed to sell, and the 14-month adventure was soon lost to time. Bill Kopp spoke to Hart, band leader Keith Allison (who died last autumn) and tour manager Christian de Walden.

- By Bill Kopp

After an impressive mid-60s run of hit singles (seven making it to the Top 10 in America, eight in the UK Top 40) and albums (four No 1 and one No 3 in the US and nearly as much success in the UK), The Monkees seemed to drift slowly into oblivion. After two seasons on American television network NBC, The Monkees was cancelled in February 1968. Subsequent albums saw rapidly diminishing commercial returns, and the group lost members one by one; by the time of 1970’s final, contractobligation release Changes, only Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones remained.

But the group’s popularity would endure. In the period after the cancellation of the TV series, The Monkees embarked upon a tour of Australia and Japan. One of the Budokan concerts would be filmed and shown on Japanese television; that run of dates marked the final appearance of the original foursome until 1986. But those dates in Southeast Asia left a lasting impression upon fans.

Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart were already established hit songwriters when they became instrumental in The Monkees’ success, writing several of the group’s biggest hits. After writing, performing, and producing all the songs for the pilot of The Monkees, Boyce and Hart recorded all but the vocals for the group’s first album with their band, The Candy Store Prophets.