I think Micky Dolenz was underrated as a drummer. I've just listened to a Monkees CD.

Who really cares about drummers? A band's legacy is all about the songs. People remember the songwriting partnership of Morrissey and Marr but have long forgotten about Mick Joyce, his crap haircut and his smack addiction.
The Monkees were pish because they were basically singing shitty parodies of great songs and they weren't even writing them.

Need a monkeys song when the teams run out before a match.

A good drummer makes a huge difference. Nothing further needs to be added here.

The role of drummer was created for people who desperately wanted to play in a band but were too thick to be able to play a musical instrument.

Hands, Feet and eye co-ordination isn't easy.

Anybody who saw the Art Of Drumming series on BBC4, they were all repeated on one night a week or so ago, cant possibly be in any doubt that the drummer is as an integral part of the whole band as everyone else, they just don't have the inflated egos of lead singers or guitarists. You'd soon notice if a good drummer was replaced with a crap one. One of the best rock drummers of the last 50 years that hardly anyone will have heard of was undoubtably the late Mike Kellie of the Only Ones and much earlier Spooky Tooth, solid as a rock.

Tell me about it

Totally agree. The ones I've met have certainly fit that description , though I've known that lack of expression hide serious personality defects . Unsung hero's IMO and don't always get the credit they deserve. As you allude to , often only getting noticed when they move on and someone inferior replaces them.

There has been many brilliant drummers down the ages and many bands that would have sounded so much better had they had a better drummer.

The Monkees had two talented musicians because it was a bit too much of a stretch to put four plonks up front.
The two were Micky "Elephant Boy" Dolenz and Mike Nesmith. They relied on songs from the likes of Neil Diamond at the start (quiz: which two Diamond songs?) but Dolenz wrote a few once they got going.
But it's true he was only miming the drums at the start (he drew the short straw) but he did gradually learn to play them half decently despite a physical handicap.

Too easy, I'm A Believer, A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You.

A poor drummer spoils a potentially great band but so does any poor musician. Drummers are equally but not more important than the others.

There's a story that Mick Jagger once said at the end of a concert something on the lines of "last but not least I'd like to thank my drummer Charlie"
Charlie Watts shopped him backstage and said "your drummer? YOUR FUCKING DRUMMER?
YOU are my fucking singer!!