Legendary band’s last living member reflects on debut single 60 years later
Micky Dolenz, the last surviving member of The Monkees, is looking back on the band's debut single "Last Train to Clarksville" as it approaches its 60th anniversary.
Dolenz, who was the drummer and one of two main vocalists for the famous band, reflected on the chart-topping hit in an Instagram post on Wednesday, Aug. 27.
"Hard to believe, but "Last Train to Clarksville" first rolled out this month back in 1966. It was our debut single, and I was lucky enough to sing lead," Dolenz, 80, wrote.
"We didn't know what to expect, but by November it had climbed all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Not a bad way to kick things off," he wrote. "Looking back, it's amazing how that little song helped launch everything that followed."
In addition to being the single that introduced The Monkees to the world, "Last Train to Clarksville" was the lead track off the band's self-titled debut album, which also topped the charts.
While the song "sounded like a pop tune on the surface, it was actually written as a subtle commentary on the Vietnam War...a way to get a protest song on the radio without it being banned," according to Dolenz.
Songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart crafted the lyrics to tell the story of a soldier's farewell to his girlfriend before deployment, with lines like "I don't know if I'm ever coming home," which took on new meaning in the context of the Vietnam War.
Dolenz, who began his entertainment career as child actor "Mickey Braddock" on the 1950s series Circus Boy, continues to maintain the band's legacy following the deaths of his bandmates Jones in 2012, Tork in 2019 and Nesmith in 2021.
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