‘The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz Admits He and John Lennon Raised ‘Holy Hell’ With The Hollywood Vampires
After The Monkees ended as both a band and a television series, Micky Dolenz spent several years exploring other aspects of the entertainment business. However, he remained a staple of the Hollywood nighttime scene due to a longtime friendship with Alice Cooper. Their recreational softball team turned drinking club became the legendary Hollywood Vampires. This eclectic band of musicians held court at Hollywood Rainbow Bar and Grill, raising what Dolenz called “holy hell” with a group that included John Lennon and Keith Moon.
Who were The Hollywood Vampires?
The Hollywood Vampires members included some of the greatest musicians of the 1960s and 70s. These musicians included Alice Cooper, Harry Nilsson, Micky, Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, and John Lennon. Alice was the President. Bob Brown, Alice’s publicist, was the Treasurer.
The group met in an attic space in the Rainbow Bar and Grill on Sunset Strip in Hollywood. The idea was to drink excessively, and the night’s winner was the last one standing. A sign still exists in the area reads, “The lair of The Hollywood Vampires.”
Micky once said the group raised “holy hell” in the early morning hours of 1973 and ’74 until “ungodly hours.” However, he insists the group was a softball team that helped the community before their late-night debauchery at a Hollywood hotspot.
Micky Dolenz recalls his time as a member of The Hollywood Vampires
In an interview with Goldmine, as reprinted by the blog Nights with Alice Cooper, Micky explained the group’s origins. The Hollywood Vampires were a softball team that played on weekends for charity. He and his next-door neighbor in California’s Laurel Canyon, Alice, came up with the idea.
“I started the Hollywood Vampires with Alice Cooper. (Harry) Nilsson and (John) Lennon joined shortly after that,” Micky explained. “Alice had this idea of starting a softball team to play on weekends for charity. We played some serious softball locally against the fire department, the police department, boys’ clubs, and record labels.”
He continued, “It turned into an informal league that raised a little money, got good press, and everybody loved it. We had a great Hollywood Vampires softball shirt and cap with a big V on it. We played hard. It was Alice and myself, with [Monkees member] Peter Tork as our pitcher. He was very good.”
However, the Hollywood Vampires eventually morphed into a legendary group for reasons unrelated to sports. “We would hold court at the Rainbow until ungodly hours, true. There was a private area where we congregated, drank an ocean of booze, and raised holy hell. It was after the softball games.”
The group included a who’s who of entertainment industry members for many years
Membership in the club was simple; you just had to outdrink all the other members, reported the Hollywood Bar and Grill’s official Facebook page. In the documentary Alice Cooper: Prime Cuts, he spoke of how The Speakeasy and Tramps were the places to be in London. However, in Hollywood, the in-spot was a bit different.
“There was a little loft at the Rainbow Bar and Grill in LA (W. Hollywood); they only had that for the club. It included myself, Keith Moon, Ringo, Micky Dolenz, and Harry Nilsson. It was that crowd, every night, those same people. Every once in a while, John Lennon would come into town or Keith Emerson, and they would be honorable members of the night. They still have a plaque there at the Rainbow, where it says ‘The Lair of the Hollywood Vampires.’”
Additional members were Keith Allison (Paul Revere and the Raiders), Saturday Night Live star John Belushi, T-Rex’s Marc Bolan, Jack Cruz, Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake & Palmer), Beatles roadie Mal Evans, songwriter Bernie Taupin, The Eagles’ Joe Walsh, and artist Klaus Voormann.
