The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz Said 1 Everly Brothers Song Made Him Cry
The Monkees‘ Micky Dolenz said one of the Everly Brothers’ songs made him cry. Subsequently, the experience inspired his own live performances. Notably, the Everly Brothers song in question was considered obscene in the 1950s.
The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz really wanted to hear 1 Everly Brothers song during a live show
Davy Jones died in 2012, Peter Tork died in 2019, and Mike Nesmith died in 2021. During a 2023 interview with Rolling Stone, Dolenz was asked if he wants to keep his band’s legacy alive as the last surviving member of The Monkees. Dolenz said this development was so new to him he wasn’t sure what to say about it. He then relayed a memory of seeing the Everly Brothers.
“I remember seeing the Everly Brothers on one of their reunion tours in the late ’80s at the Royal Albert Hall,” he said. “I was a huge fan. I was front row center. I thought to myself, ‘”‘God, are they going to sing ‘Wake Up Little Susie?’ And sure enough, they did.”
Dolenz said the performance had a big impact on him. “I don’t remember if they did any new material,” he said. “All I remember is standing up with the rest of the audience and crying as they sang ‘Wake Up Little Susie.'”
The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz wanted to have the impact the Everly Brothers had on fans
The experience impacted Dolenz’s live performances. “That really stuck with me,” he explained. “After I saw that, I said to my wife at the time, or anybody else who would listen, ‘If I ever go back on the road … ‘This is before the 1986 [Monkees reunion] tour. I had no idea I was going to do it. I said, “If I go back on the road, I’m going to sing those damn songs exactly as they remember them.’ I hadn’t sang them in about 15 years at that point.”
During a 2020 interview with Goldmine, Dolenz also discussed the Everly Brothers’ influence on him. He said he wanted to sing his old hits the way people remembered them. This was so he could see members of the audience crying, singing, and dancing, the way fans did when he went to see the Everly Brothers. He said the Everly Brothers were his first and most significant musical inspiration.
‘Wake Up Little Susie’ was both successful and controversial in the United States
“Wake Up Little Susie” was a big hit for the Everly Brothers. According to The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, the song topped the Billboard Top 100 for one week in 1957, becoming the band’s first No. 1 single. The Billboard Top 100 was the predecessor to the Billboard Hot 100.
“Wake Up Little Susie” stirred some controversy. Record executive Archie Bleyer felt the song implied Susie and her boyfriend were getting intimate at a drive-in theater. Some radio stations banned the song for being obscene. That didn’t prevent it from becoming a national hit.
“Wake Up Little Susie” was a game-changer for the Everly Brothers and it inspired Dolenz’s career.
