Sophia Michaels
The Monkees reached their creative zenith in 1967 on their third LP Headquarters, which marked the first time the made-for-TV band was given complete control of a project, and Micky Dolenz is celebrating the achievement next year with a special tour where he’ll play the album straight through.
The band has also prepared a limited edition 4-CD/7” vinyl Headquarters box set that’ll feature 69 previously unreleased studio tracks. They include backing tracks producer Don Kirshner assembled for a planned third Monkees record he was forced to abandon once the group gained creative freedom, a new remix of the LP, early demos, and other studio outtakes.
“After completing our first tour as a four-piece band in late 1966, Nez perceptively remarked that ‘Pinocchio had become a real little boy,’” Dolenz says in a statement. “By the end of March 1967, Pinocchio had actually become quite a cool little dude (if I do say so myself) with the completion of Headquarters, the first studio album that we had been allowed to create entirely amongst ourselves.”
“Monkee music was great music,” he continues. “Terrific songs crafted by gifted writers and produced by skilled producers. But Headquarters will always hold a special place in my heart. I remember the camaraderie, the collaboration, the enthusiasm, and the occasional creative angst. And I particularly remember lying on the floor behind my drumkit between takes eating sunflower seeds.”
Headquarters has been the subject of previous box sets, including a 2007 collection that featured 84 tracks from the era, but producer Andrew Sandoval took a different approach for this one. “Rather than plunder the previous reissues, the entire three-month period surrounding the creation of Headquarters has been reexamined to offer a deeper view,” Sandoval said in a statement. “The primary goal has not been modernizing or reinventing what is now a legendary work but rather presenting it in the best possible light.”
The Monkees split up in 1971 and reunited many times over the years in numerous permutations, though the four members were rarely all together at once. Davy Jones died in 2012, and Peter Tork followed in 2019. Michael Nesmith and Dolenz carried on the Monkees as a duo and launched a farewell tour last year. They closed it out on Nov. 14, 2021, at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. Nesmith died of heart failure just four weeks later.
“I found out a couple of days ago that he was going into hospice,” Dolenz told Rolling Stone a couple of hours after the news hit. “I knew what that meant. I had my moment then, and I let go. I let go a couple days ago. It’s just good to know that he passed peacefully.”
Dolenz retired the Monkees name after Nesmith’s death, but he did launch a short tour earlier this year called Micky Dolenz Celebrates the Monkees, where he revisited the group’s catalog with members of the touring band. His upcoming tour will feature a complete performance of Headquarters alongside the group’s other hits.
Here are the tour dates.
April 1 – Orlando, FL @ The Plaza Live
April 2 – Clearwater, FL @ Bilheimer Capitol Theatre
April 4 – Virginia Beach, VA @ Sandler Center for the Performing Arts
April 5 – Annapolis, MD @ Maryland Hall
April 7 – Atlantic City, NJ @ Ocean Resort
April 8 – Vienna, VA @ The Barns At Wolf Trap
April 10 – Chester, NY @ Sugar Loaf PAC
April 11 – Huntington, NY @ The Paramount
April 12 – Englewood, NJ @ Bergen PAC
April 14 – Ridgefield, CT @ The Ridgefield Playhouse
April 15 – Beverly, MA @ The Cabot
April 16 – Jim Thorpe, PA @ Penn’s Peak
April 18 – Warren, OH @ Robins Theatre
April 19 – Kent, OH @ The Kent Stage
April 22 – Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre
April 23 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Pabst Theater
April 25 – Niagara Falls, ON @ Fallsview Casino Resort – Avalon Theatre
April 26 – Niagara Falls, ON @ Fallsview Casino Resort – Avalon Theatre
April 27 – Niagara Falls, ON @ Fallsview Casino Resort – Avalon Theatre
