Skip to main content

TL;DR:

  • Micky Dolenz said two of the lyrics from The Monkees’ theme song capture the group’s legacy.
  • Dolenz said both child and adult fans of the Prefab Four told him how the band affected them.
  • The group’s theme song appeared on an album that was successful internationally.
The Monkees’ Davy Jones, Mike Nesmith, Peter Tork, and Micky Dolenz near a poster
The Monkees’ Davy Jones, Mike Nesmith, Peter Tork, and Micky Dolenz | James Jackson/Evening Standard/Getty Images

The Monkees‘ Micky Dolenz discussed how the Prefab Four would be remembered. Subsequently, he said the band’s legacy could be found in their theme song: “(Theme From) The Monkees.” Notably, the song appeared on an album that became an international hit.

Micky Dolenz discussed the lyrics of The Monkees’ theme song

During a 2016 interview with Yahoo! News, Dolenz was asked how he wanted the Prefab Four to be remembered. “Well, I don’t have any control over that,” he replied. “I guess it’s in the lyrics of the song: “‘We’re too busy singing to put anybody down,’ and ‘We’re just trying to be friendly.'” For context, Dolenz was quoting “(Theme From) The Monkees.”

Subsequently, Dolenz discussed the group’s fans. “I constantly get people come up to me — old fans, the original fans from the ’60s, from the ’80s — and there’s a common theme: ‘I was having a real tough childhood and you guys made me happy,'” he said.

Micky Dolenz said The Monkees’ television show had the ability to take fans ‘out of reality’

Dolenz suggested adult fans also shared stories with him. “Or, ‘We got divorced or this and that and poverty and stuff, and I looked so forward to that Monday night when you took me out of reality,'” he recalled. “So The Monkees in some small way did that.”

Dolenz discussed the appeal of the Prefab Four. “You couldn’t help but feel good and have fun and laugh, and the songs were happy and the themes were happy and nobody’s fighting or hating or killing each other,” he said. “That is such a common theme that I hear when people come up to me.”

Related

How The Monkees’ Theme Song Was Supposed to Make Them Seem Like the Marx Brothers

How the theme song and its parent album performed on the charts in the United States and the United Kingdom

“(Theme From) The Monkees” was never a single, so it did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. The tune appeared on the group’s album The Monkees. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for 13 weeks. It remained on the chart for 102 weeks in total.

The Official Charts Company reports the theme song did not chart in the United Kingdom. On the other hand, The Monkees topped the U.K. chart for seven weeks. It lasted a total of 37 weeks on the chart.

“(Theme From) The Monkees” wasn’t a hit — but it contains the band’s legacy in a nutshell.

Best in Entertainment