Nardwuar: Who are you?
Mickey: Don't you know, why are you interviewing me if you don't know?

Oh well, just for the people out there who wouldn’t know.
Ah, my name is Mickey Dolenz, what’s yours?

My name is Nardwuar.
Hi Nardwuar, how are you?

O.K. Now Mickey you were involved with that famous rock’n’roll group, right?
Yes, that is true. Actually, it was a television show about a rock’n’roll group.

It has been said you don’t want to be known as a Monkee anymore, is this a valid statement?
No, it’s not, I’m not in the group anymore but I am very proud of what I did and I had a great time and it was very successful. I’m solo now.

And your here in Vancouver, B.C., shooting a fun game show called, Crazy Talk?
Ah, no, Acting Crazy. It’s basically just Charades.

Is that the main reason you’re in Vancouver?
Yeah, I came out just to do the show.

Have you ever done game shows before?
Not many, but I like Charades. It’s a good game. You gotta be quite bright.

How do you feel that you fit this role? Why did they ask you Mickey?
'Cause I’m a celebrity.

A rock’n’roll celebrity?
Depends on your point of view I suppose. Some would say yes, some would say television celebrity.

Me being from Vancouver, B.C, Canada, how come I don’t know a hell af alot about the Monkees? Were they syndicated in Canada?
I have no idea, it’s probably just because you’re to young. But when you grow up maybe you’ll learn.

Did you quit the Monkees?
Yeah, I went solo about two years ago.

And before that, when the initial Monkees broke up, how did the group disband?
It wasn’t a band, I already said this once.

Sorry.
Listen carefully now. It was a television show about a band. So when the show went of the air, the SHOW went of the air. It’s like Leonerd Nimoy and William Shatner didn’t hang around together, you know, after beaming each other up.

What happend then, did you forge new ground in movies.
I became a film and television director.

What stuff can people see that you have done?
Nothing really here, I was working in England - exclusively in England - for fifteen years.

On Monty Python material?
I worked with some of the guys on Monty Python. I didn’t work on that particular show but I worked with Mike Palen and Terry Jones.

Does the name Linda Lovelace bring any memories back to you, Mickey?
Yeah, we did a movie with Linda Lovelace in the seventies. It was an attempt to try and legitimize her as a comedian. It wasn’t a porno film, it was a comedy. There were quite a few comedians in the film.

Was this a daring movie for you, Mickey Dolenz, a television and screen star to partake in? I mean being seen with Linda Lovelace! Did people react harshly to your exciting scenes?
No, cause the movie (Linda Lovelace For President) didn't do that well. It was quite funny. It was an attempt to make a comedian out of her.

Has jealousy ever played a part in your life?
No.

You've never been jealous about movies or parts you've missed, like for example not being cast as the "Fonz" in Happy Days. What's the story behind that?
I was up for it as an actor, to play the part of the Fonz, but Henry Winkler was excellent casting for that I think. I would have cast Henry instead of myself if I was the producer.

Did you even know he was auditioning or was it at a totally different time?
No, it happend to be exactly the same day. He says he remembers meeting me but I don't remember meeting him.

Before The Monkees did not Mickey Dolenz have a real live T.V. show?
Yeah, I did a series when I was a kid called Circus Boy.

Has that aired recently, or are there any plans for it on home video?
No, I dunno why. I suppose they must have a problem with the rights or something; because they havn't put the show back on the air.

Did you come from a family of established artistes? Vaudville entertainers?
Artists not artistes. You talk funny.

I talk Canadian; It's the land of Clam Chowder and Ice.
Artistes?!? Yeah, my father was an actor.

Who were the Missing Links?
That was my band before the Monkees.

Could they be classified as a wailing punk garage band, a la The Standells?
Yeah, we were a bar band. We did top 40. Yeah just a Rock'n'Roll band.

What ever happend to the other members of the Missing Links? Have you kept up with them?
Naw, havn't talked to therm in years and years. It's been a long, long time.

What if anything did the Links put out?
We ahh.... I one record out but it wasn't with the Missing Links. Yeah I had one or two records out as a solo artist before the Monkees.

You've heard of the Plaster Casters, eh?
Yeah, those two girls in the sixties that used to go around taking Plaster casts.

"Moldings"
Yeah, yeah

There's that ugly rumour - they said Peter Turks of the Monkees' plastic molding was right up there with Jimi Hendrix.
That's true.

So that is a true rumour?
Naw.. it's a contradiction in terms son. Get your grammer right.

What would you like to be known as now a days?
Oh, the singing director probably.

Recently operation Dessert Storm caused a lot of commotion. Any feelings regarding the Gulf crisis Mr. Dolenz?
Well, I wasn't a big fan of Sadam Hussein, so I don't have any complaints. What about you?

Ugh, I was really wondering, wasn't Head, that luxurious, that hard hitting, that big movie you Monkees did , sort of an anti-war film?
Yeah, part of it was, Yeah. It was an anti-Veitnamese war movie.

And now with the Persian Gulf War, would that mean that if the Monkees were around today, they might have made a movie like Head, possibly about the Gulf Crisis?
No I doubt it, there isn't much of a counterculture today.

Do you feel you would have still made Head if you felt the way you do now? In other words, have Rock'n'Rollers gotten more conservative, like Jerry Lee Lewis wearing ties nowadays, and not being with sixteen year old girls-
No, I think you have to take each case in point. The Vietnamese war was and I still believe, and most people do, unjustified. The Persian Gulf probably was... (pause)

And, finally, thanks for the time, do you know who the Prime Minister of Canada is?
Afraid not.

Later Mickey
Goodbye.