Why did Mickey Dolenz turn down Frank Zappa?
Playing alongside Frank Zappa demanded top-tier musical prowess. While Zappa himself never took things too seriously, his music was consistently among the most technically demanding in rock history. Known for seamlessly traversing genres based on artistic choices, personal feelings, or simply to challenge listeners, Zappa’s repertoire was no easy feat. Despite collaborating with a plethora of talented musicians over his career, Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees declined the opportunity to tour with the eccentric rock icon.
Then again, thinking that The Monkees and Frank Zappa have anything in common is like comparing apples to advanced chemical biology. Considering how much Zappa dealt with music that wasn’t supposed to be for radio, how the hell was an artist like Dolenz supposed to find his way into the band after singing songs like ‘I’m A Believer’?
Because, lest we forget, the band didn’t typically play their instruments on their first handful of records. While Dolenz could certainly play, his role was to simulate drumming most of the time whenever they came onscreen, turning songs like ‘Last Train To Clarksville’ into something that wouldn’t look out of place next to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones on the charts.
Given his status as a rock star, though, Dolenz would find himself rubbing arms with some of the biggest names in the business. He had usually mingled with Brian Wilson when The Beach Boys were making Pet Sounds and was even invited to Abbey Road Studios when The Beatles were making Sgt Pepper, being among the first people to hear the completed version of ‘A Day in the Life’.
As Zappa was making his own strange tunes on albums like Hot Rats, he was still a major fan of The Monkees’ TV show and had thought of having Dolenz work with his band. Even though Dolenz said that he was incredibly honoured that someone like Zappa would think of him, the higher-ups quickly said that that was never going to happen.
When discussing his stint with Zappa, Dolenz remembers studio heads butting in, telling Forbes, “Of course, I was incredibly flattered, like ‘Oh my God!’ But he said that I’d have to get out of my recording contract with RCA because his band was going to record. So I called the record company, and basically they said, ‘Absolutely not. You still have two albums to fulfil.’ So I told Frank, but there was definitely a part of me that was relieved”.
Then again, anyone would have probably been relieved to have gotten out of such a deal. As much as being a member of Zappa’s band may have gotten a few respected nods of approval from musicians, it was no easy gig for anyone to join, with legendary guitarist Steve Vai remembering that the guitarist gave him a hard time when he started performing.
For all of the chops that Dolenz did have, though, the label was probably looking at the image of The Monkees and making sure that everything was kept squeaky clean. Dolenz may have been able to play his ass off and entertain teenagers on TV, but it might be hard to take him seriously when he was playing songs like ‘Peaches en Regalia’ on his off days.
