Editing The Monkees (section)

==== Nesmith's resignation, ''Changes'' and disbandment ====
On April 14, 1970, Nesmith joined Dolenz and Jones for the last time as part of the original incarnation of the Monkees to film a [[Kool-Aid]] commercial. The commercial featured the trio throwing [[Nerf]] balls around a mock living room.<ref name="SandovalPage267">Sandoval (2005), p. 267.</ref> Nesmith left the group to continue recording songs with his own country-rock group called Michael Nesmith & [[the First National Band]], which he had started recording with on February 10, 1970.<ref name="SandovalPage263">Sandoval (2005), p. 263.</ref>

Nesmith's departure left Dolenz and Jones to record the bubblegum pop album ''[[Changes (The Monkees album)|Changes]]'' as the ninth and final album by the Monkees released during its original incarnation. By this time, Colgems was hardly putting any effort into the project, and they sent Dolenz and Jones to New York for the ''Changes'' sessions, to be produced by [[Jeff Barry]]. In comments for the liner notes of the 1994 re-release of ''Changes'', Jones said that he felt they had been tricked into recording an "[[Andy Kim (singer)|Andy Kim]] album" under the Monkees name.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} The album spawned the single "Oh My My" (US #98), which was accompanied by a music film promo (produced/directed by Dolenz). Dolenz contributed one of his own compositions, "Midnight Train", which was used in the re-runs of the Monkees TV series. The "Oh My My" b/w "I Love You Better" single from the ''Changes'' album was the last single issued under the Monkees name in the United States until 1986.<ref name="SandovalPage266">Sandoval (2005), p. 266.</ref> Originally released in June 1970,<ref name="SandovalPage270">Sandoval (2005), p. 270.</ref> ''Changes'' failed to chart in Billboard's Top 200 until the Monkees' 1986 reunion, when it stayed on the charts for four weeks (reaching #152).<ref name="Discography"/>

September 22, 1970 marked the final recording session by the Monkees before the band broke up. On that date, Jones and Dolenz recorded "Do It in the Name of Love" and "Lady Jane".<ref name="SandovalPage276">Sandoval (2005), p. 276.</ref> The single was not mixed until February 19, 1971, and was released later that year as a single.<ref name="SandovalPage84"/> The two remaining Monkees then lost the rights to use the name in several countries, the U.S. included. The single was not credited to the Monkees in the U.S., but to a misspelled "Mickey Dolenz and Davy Jones",<ref name="SandovalPage84"/> although in Japan it was issued under the Monkees' name.

Both Jones and Dolenz pursued careers as solo artists in the years following the original breakup of the Monkees. However, Jones and Dolenz also toured as a duo in the 1970s.<ref>https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/the-monkees-micky-dolenz-thought-seemed-stupid-tour-just-mike-nesmith.html/</ref>