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TL;DR:

  • The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz discussed The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
  • He said the album had an impact on his life.
  • Sgt. Pepper performed a lot better than a Monkees album released around the same time.
A vinyl of The Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'
The Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ | Science & Society Picture Library / Contributor

The Beatles‘ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band went head-to-head against a Monkees album and knocked it roof the top of the album chart. Subsequently, The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz discussed what he thought about this development. He revealed his views of the incident never changed.

The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz discussed why his band got to take control of 1 of their albums

During a 2023 interview with Rolling Stone, Dolenz discussed The Monkees’ album Headquarters. “There’s a lot of stories behind it,” he recalled. “It was the first time they sort of gave us the reins. They didn’t give them to us willingly. We sort of had a palace coup, I guess you’d call it, led by [Mike] Nesmith. 

“I’ll be honest,” he added. “I was quite happy singing the stuff I was singing, getting the hit records, but Nesmith kept saying, ‘We can do this, guys. We can be writing, singing, and playing.'” Dolenz opined The Monkees would not have been able to take control of their own music when they debuted. It was only after playing so many live shows together that they became “a pretty damn good band.”

The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz loves The Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’

Dolenz discussed the public reaction to Headquarters. “This album was huge,” he said. “It went to No. 1. It was on the charts for 51 weeks [sic]. It got kicked out of No. 1 by guess what?” A journalist replied Headquarters had been replaced at the No. 1 spot by Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

“That stinkin’ group,” Dolenz joked. “If you’re going to get kicked out of No. 1, what a way to go,” he said. “Then it stayed at No. 2 just forever under Sgt. Pepper. I’ve always considered that one friggin’ great feather in our cap.”

During a 2014 interview with MusicRadar, Dolenz said Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was one of his favorite albums. He said the record changed his life. He said he was a huge fan of the Fab Four and asked them for an autograph when they met.

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How ‘Headquarters’ and ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ performed on the charts

Headquarters reached No. 1 for a single week on the Billboard 200. It spent a total of 68 weeks on the chart. None of the songs from Headquarters charted on the Billboard Hot 100.

On the other hand, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band topped the Billboard 200 for 15 weeks, remaining on the chart for 233 weeks altogether. It’s the band’s most popular studio album besides Abbey Road. Notably, none of the songs from the album charted on the Billboard Hot 100 either. 

Headquarters will always have a special connection to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Dolenz seems happy about that.

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