Micky Dolenz: Dolenz Sings R.E.M.
An album review of the latest EP by the last of the Monkees…
Micky Dolenz
Dolenz Sings R.E.M.
7a Records Ltd.
It didn’t seem so long (five years now) that I saw The Monkees in concert; well, Dolenz and Mike Nesmith. It wasn’t much longer after that Dolenz was the last man standing.
A couple of years later, Dolenz paid tribute to his former bandmate by singing a selection of his tunes, it was Nesmith after all that was the great songwriter of the band. But Micky was a great singer, and had often been the one singing Nesmith’s songs, particularly in the reunion years. He nailed the brief. His brand new solo album one of the finest of his career, and one of the best things in the extended Monkees catalogue.
Well, his follow-up isn’t quite as strong, but you wonder how it could be. It is, also, just nice to see him working, and sounding good enough to be working. And it’s also a quirky second entry into the Dolenz Sings series. Here’s Micky singing R.E.M. It’s only an EP, and I wonder if it would have bedded in better as a full album?
Things start promisingly enough with the version of Shiny Happy People, a song I’ve never liked, beyond its initial pop-blast when it hit radio stations in the early 90s. But Dolenz lends a legit 60s lens to the day-glo pop of that late 80s/early 90s retro-vibing time. It’s like he’s the special sauce the song was always looking for.
And Radio Free Europe is a move to the opposite end of the R.E.M. spectrum, and another knockout for Dolenz. Man On The Moon is another song I haven’t always loved, though it’s remarkably stronger and better than Shiny Happy. But Dolenz doesn’t get inside the song in a way he should, and it’s always felt like a slightly un-coverable tune, like R.E.M. did the best and definitive version, whereas there are other songs in their impressive catalogue that do beg for alternative versions. It’s fine. he does okay, but this needed to be stronger on a short-run such as this EP.
Next and finally we have Leaving New York, one of the only standout songs on one of R.E.M.’s weakest albums. And standout is relative. With so many other songs to pick, I’ve no idea how this ended up here. It’s okay, and would have hidden itself well in a full album that might also have included Country Feedback and Fall On Me and Drive and Nightswimming - and, come to think of it, I would have just liked a full cover of a full R.E.M. album. But hey, we’re lucky to still have Micky, and to have him sounding so good.
So this absolutely gets a pass. And if you’re wondering if it’s worth your time, well it’s simply not a whole lot of time to spend, so yeah, sure, why not eh.