The Monkees

In 1965, Dolenz was cast inside television sitcom The Monkees and became the drummer plus a lead vocalist within the band suitable for the show. Micky said later that someone at Screen Gems forgot to make contact with his agent to express to him the series was selected by NBC; he wound up studying his new job by reading the announcement in Variety. He has not been then a drummer. He needed lessons even to be capable of mime credibly, but eventually was taught the way to play properly. When The Monkees continued tour in late 1966, Dolenz was competent enough to learn the drums himself.[3] (He learned to play right-handed and left-footed.)

Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, writers of the many in the Monkees' songs, observed quickly anytime brought in on the studio together, a few actors would seek to crack one another up. For this reason, they would often introduce each singer individually. The antics escalated once, until Micky poured a cup of ice on Don Kirshner's head; at that time, Dolenz would never know Kirshner on sight.

As outlined by Mike Nesmith, it turned out Dolenz's voice that made the Monkees' sound distinctive, and in some cases during tension-filled times Nesmith and Peter Tork voluntarily surrended lead vocal duties to Dolenz them selves compositions, including Tork's "For Pete's Sake", which took over as the closing title theme for the second season of the Show on tv.

Dolenz wrote several of the band’s songs and also providing the lead vocals for such hits as "Last Train to Clarksville", "Take a Giant Step" and "I'm a Believer". To your end in the series’ hectic two-year run, Dolenz directed and co-wrote what turned into the show’s final episode.[citation needed]

Despite being even more of a singer than a musician, Micky purchased the important 25 Moog synthesizers, the next Moog Synthesizer ever commercially sold. (The initial two belonged to Wendy Carlos and Buck Owens.) His performance about the Monkees song "Daily Nightly" (written by Michael Nesmith) in the LP, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd., was the 1st usage of a synthesizer over a rock recording. He eventually sold his instrument to Bobby Sherman.