Micky Dolenz Moog

[theglyph]

What's they saying? Give a man a Moog and he makes some noise. Teach a man how to use a Moog and he makes a hit record!

Anyhow, I think some people here will get a "kick" out of this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... XEHgsa11Uk

[Kevin Lightner]

Apparently if you adjust the pitch knob on a 901B that isn't even patched up, it will control the contrast of the video.
Who knew?

... and why does Peter have all the patchcords around his neck?
Too messy to have the Moog patched for a corporate video?

[CZ Rider]

That is actually quite an interesting Moog that Mickey Dolenz has. Acording to the Moog archives site, that was the first model III made with the portable cabinets. Wonder if Dolenz special ordered it this way? Those portable cabinets later became the standard for performance systems that made it to many stages in the following years. And eventually led to the development of a Minimoog, the ultimate in portable performance moogs.
Another pic of Dolenz and his Moog.

That looks to have a custom 8 input mixer below the oscillators, and that portable keyboard has no visible electronics on either end cheek for range and scale. Perhaps another custom one off made for Dolenz with the electronics on one of the CP panels on the main synth. The Moog Archive site lists this as the 20th Modular made and sold on 9/15/67.With the description "First Model III-P, Oak Cabinets 901-2,901A,901B-8,901C,903,902-3,904ABC,905,914,984,911-3,911A,912". No mention of the custom keyboard or ribbon controller. It was early supporters of Moog like Dolenz that made it possible for them to continue building modulars.

The video is great too! First time I had ever seen a Moog back when this originally aired on american TV. Looks to be properly patched from the begining close up capture here.


Classic!

[Kevin Lightner]

Looks to be properly patched from the begining close up capture here.

Perhaps it had normalled connections,but I don't see any audio input to the filter(s.)

[Trigger]

Quite possibly the very first modular/cat photo ever.

[metron]

You synth geeks! It doesnt matter if its patched properly, the monkees faked pretty much everything musical they did. cool video though. They used pretty good session musicians for their tracks.

[MC]

Quite possibly the very first modular/cat photo ever.

Proof that analog is warmer - cats are attracted to warm objects

[museslave]

That is some of the worst synth playing I've ever heard. Depressing, really.

[mikael488]

Cool photos!

The actual Moog used on "Daily Nightly" was most likely Paul Beaver's "Synthesizer III" from early '67 since the synth overdubs were made in august '67, over a month before Dolenz received his III-P.

Here's a picture of the early model used by Beaver & Krause (this synth was also used on Zodiac: cosmic sounds, The Trip soundtrack, The Doors' Strange Days and The Nonesuch guide to electronic music etc.):



The module configuration seems to be pretty much the same as in Dolenz's system.

[mikael488]

You can add Emil Richards' New sound element 'stones' and The Byrds' "The Notorious Byrd Brothers" to the list of albums that feature Paul Beaver's early Moog.

[BrianK]

I read Paul Beaver did the session, but the Monkees thought his work was much too "safe"; they wanted "out there" so Micky redid the part himself.

If you read Andrew Sandoval's great book on their history, there's more on the synth and it refutes the myth that they didn't play on their own albums. Yes, there were session players, but the Monkees themselves played a LOT of tracks. Even the Beatles were big fans of the Monkees and their music...

[compago]

I have access to Micky Dolenz' 1967 R.A. Moog Modular III-p or 3C. It's still visibly mint, the owner is selling it and I am representing him. It's a museum piece. It may have been the moog used on The Doors Strange Days song, I am trying to verify that. Pretty sure Micky sold it to Bobby Sherman "for a song". There are 3 wood cabinets and 28 modules total, including all three 904's, ten oscillators and some apparently rare one-off mixer and I/O modules without serials or model numbers - but with black lettering-gun tape. Talk about old school!

[CZ Rider]

Nice!
Can you post any photos of the system?
Very historic indeed. To my knowledge, this was the first portable cabinet Moog modular made. One of those early systems that seemed to dissapear. Glad to hear that it was not lost or scrapped. That keyboard was a strange configuration too, and was built to be portable.
Not to many photos of that unique system. Would be great to document some of this.

[BrianK]

It was indeed sold to Bobby Sherman, now an ambulance tech. Also would like to see some detail shots of this instrument - I've been looking for it for 20+ years. Still in LA?

[BrianK]

I have access to Micky Dolenz' 1967 R.A. Moog Modular III-p or 3C. It's still visibly mint, the owner is selling it and I am representing him. It's a museum piece. It may have been the moog used on The Doors Strange Days song, I am trying to verify that. Pretty sure Micky sold it to Bobby Sherman "for a song". There are 3 wood cabinets and 28 modules total, including all three 904's, ten oscillators and some apparently rare one-off mixer and I/O modules without serials or model numbers - but with black lettering-gun tape. Talk about old school!

You may be disappointed to know that Electra studios had their own Moog, as used on some Doors and others. And Paul Beaver's was often brought to Electra (the building is still on La Cienega) for sessions (George Harrison's Electronic Sound, Mort Garson records, etc.) What are the clues that make you think the Monkees' machine was used?