The real story of the Monkees, straight from surviving member Micky Dolenz

In a three-hour conversation with USA TODAY for 60 years of the Monkees, Micky Dolenz shares a detailed oral history of the TV show and the music.

The way Micky Dolenz sees it, the Monkees’ success was neither predictable nor replicable.

“You can't reduce it, you can't take it apart,” he says of the beloved made-for-TV band, soon to turn 60. “You can’t take ‘Star Trek’ and say it was just Leonard Nimoy’s ears, it was William Shatner, it was the writing. You can’t do that.

“To my mind, what happens is you take your best shot, and at some point, the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.”

Dolenz, who turns 81 March 8, is celebrating his late bandmates Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork with his ongoing, hit-packed 60 Years of the Monkees tour. A Sept. 12 stop in LA marks the 1966 premiere date of the innovative NBC sitcom.

In three hours of pre-birthday conversation with USA TODAY, Dolenz offers an in-depth oral history of the Monkees: