Another Monkees Headquarters Radio Show

Since the last Monkees Headquarters Radio Show post was such a popular one, I have decided to close out the year with another one.

I hope you enjoy this one. Have a good New Year, and there's lots more to come at this blog, so stay tuned.

Monkees Headquarters-June 16, 1989.mp3

Monkees' LPs Cover Versions

In the fall of 1966, the Monkees' TV show debuted, and with "Last Train to Clarksville" already approaching the No. 1 spot on the Hot 100, the Pre-Fab Four were red hot, and this continued for the better part of the next two years.

Everybody wanted in on the Monkees' success, much like what happened just two years earlier, when the Beatles became the talk of the entertainment world.

In 1964 (and even to this day), everyone wanted to record Beatles music, and take their original tunes and do their own versions of these songs.

The same thing happened with Monkees' tunes written by the band members and others. Many performers who were trying to be "with it" with the younger crowd wanted to cover Monkees tunes, and they did just that.

I thought it would be interesting to reconstruct at least the first three Monkees albums--the first album, "More of the Monkees" and "Headquarters"--with cover tunes recorded by a realm of artists.

I have started this project, and you can join in on the fun at http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/albumania/.

I have tried to stay within the period I am talking about, so much of the music is from about 1966 to 1968. When I couldn't find period music, I used more recent interpretations--and to prove that Monkees music lives on, I was surprised at the wealth of cover versions from the past 10 years or so.

In some cases, I used the original version of the song, or the version put out by the songwriter him or herself. Doing this just adds to the fun. No live versions are used--that would be cheating.

I am into the second LP now, and such acts as the obvious--Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart and Neil Diamond--and the not so obvious--the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and the Dickies--are all part of these cover version LPs.

You will hear everything from out and out rock and roll to punk to soul to muzak, and everything in between here.

So why not take a look? You might find a version of a song you've never heard, or might even like to suggest a version that I didn't use.

Monkees Headquarters Radio Show

In 1986, due to saturation programming on MTV and a successful greatest hits album and comeback single, the Monkees regained their popularity with Baby Boomers and the kids of this group. They were again featured in the pages of the teen magazines, and were selling out one concert venue after another.

WBAU, the radio station of Adelphi University on Long Island, started to program a weekly Monkees show, "Monkees Headquarters," around this time. The show featured Monkees music (both released and unreleased), soundbites from the TV show, and interviews with many of the people who made the show and the entire Monkees world tick.

"Monkees Headquarters" was never a mass market hit, but WBAU created an excellent show around an unlikely subject.

I would like to have you listen to a few of these shows. Taken from the context of when they were broadcast (this one is from 1988), they were excellent guides for those both firmy ensconced in Monkeemania, as well as newbies.

And you will hear lots and lots of Colgems related material on these shows.

I recorded a number of these shows, and they are pretty much intact on 20-plus year old tapes. Some are in pieces (parts 1 and 2), some are pieces of shows, and others are in their entirety.

By the way, a few years after the Monkees radio show had run its course, WBAU was shut down by the university, and it was eventually replaced with a Web-based station.

Here is an entry of the show from July 23, 1988.

Let me know what you think about it.

Monkees Headquarters-July 23, 1988.mp3

New Upload - The Monkees "Barrel Full of Monkees" (The Final Colgems Release)

The Colgems label limped into 1971 bereft of a talent roster, and literally on its last legs.

However, the Monkees TV show continued successfully in reruns on Saturday morning kids TV, and thus, a new greatest hits album--a double LP at that--was released to cash in on that popularity.

Released in January 1971, "Barrel Full of Monkees" was a hodgepodge of hits and album tracks culled mainly from the first five Monkees albums. You can access this LP at http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/albumania/.

If you had Monkees albums at that time, you already had all of the tracks, sans another stereo version of "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You."

Also somehow finding its way onto this double album was Mike Nesmith's "Listen to the Band," which is as out of place here as it appears to be.

Coming from the group's last real stab at a true hit single, the track pretty much overshadows everything else here because it seems so out of place.

But you can't argue with what is on here, everything from "I'm a Believer" to "Daydream Believer" and many of the other big hits that the group had from 1966-1968.

No, there is nothing from "Head" on here.

What you can argue with is the cheesiness of the package. A "barrel full of monkeys" image is on the front and back cover--how could one of the most photographed groups of the mid to late 1960s be left off the cover?

Open up the package, and you will see a photo from the early Monkees days, when Micky started to grow his hair out and they were still going to pass off Davy as a "guitarist."

Well, at least Peter Tork is in the photo.

With this release, the Colgems label closed down shop for good. However, there appeared to be at least two more releases planned for the label that never materialized.

The first was "Lost Horizon," the LP to the big budget bomb, and the other was another Monkees greatest hits album, this one a single release and set to be called "Greatest Hits 2."

There may have also been some others--especially soundtracks, but I can't find anything on that.

Colgems was absorbed into Bell, and a Monkees greatest hits package was released later on, called "Refocus." "Lost Horizon" came out on Bell. Even a lone Micky Dolenz/Davy Jones single came out on Bell.

But for all intents and purposes, the 1966-1971 run of the Colgems label--which morphed from Colpix and featured the Monkees as well as a number of other artists--was done.

Since then, sparked by the continued popularity of the Monkees, the label has won cult status among collectors, who search out the lesser known artists on the label. The Monkees albums, of course, have been re-released several times, on both LP and CD.

But what about the rest of the label? Much of the material continues to be in limbo, but based on what I have uploaded during the past couple of years, wouldn't it be interesting if some enterprising label actually legitimately released some of this material?

Colgems was driven by the Monkees, but I will always fondly recall the record label as one with an eclectic lineup of artists and a number of interesting releases beyong the Pre-Fab Four stuff.

I hope you have enjoyed these releases as much as I have enjoyed uploading them for you.

P.S.: This site is far from dead now that I have released everything on the label. I have a few other things of interest that I will put on links to on this site during the next few months.

Please check back regularly!

Go To the "Head" of the Class

The "Head" bandwagon has revved up and it appears to be in full swing right now.

On Monday, Sept. 20, an expanded edition of the Monkees' soundtrack to their only movie will be released by Rhino Records. It will have numerous extras, including much unreleased material.

Then, a few weeks later, the film will be re-released in a boxed set of DVDs highlighting movies of the late 1960s. I have also heard that the film, also with numerous extras, will be re-released as a single film on its own before the end of the year.

"Head" is one of the most insane, off the wall movies ever released. If for some reason you may have not seen it yet, it is something that you must see not once, but several times. Each time you see it, you will get something different out of it.

It is not the Monkees' TV show dragged out to almost 90 minutes--it is something way more than that, giving us a vehicle to both look at Davy, Peter, Mike, and Micky at that time in their careers, but also a way to look at our society at that time and yes, a way to look at us.

This was guerilla movie making before the term was coined, and there are so many ins and outs to this film that it would take me a 10,000 words just to get into it superficially.

Funny, but the soundtrack often gets lost in the discussion of this film, but it is wonderful. It features some of the Monkees' best, most adult songs, and it also features snippets of dialogue and sound effects that make listening to the soundtrack another fulfilling experience, even if you have never seen the film.

I purposely am not going too long with this entry, because this is supposed to be a Colgems site, and really, all these years later, this has nothing to do with the label.

However, the re-releases are an astounding event, considering how the film and soundtrack bombed so badly more than 40 years ago.

So go out and get the album and DVD when it appears, because you will move to the "Head" of the class of rock and roll by doing so.

You won't be sorry, I can promise you that.

This Month's Colgems Upload - Golden HIts

The Monkees TV show was a great success on CBS's Saturday morning TV lineup. The lunacy of the show fit right into the cartoons and other live action programs that made up this schedule.

Little kids who were either not born when the show originally ran from 1966-1968 on NBC, or were too young to watch it, now had the Monkees as their own as their older brothers and sister moved onto other musical and television interests.

In order to pacify the younger folks, CBS, RCA, Colgems and Post Cereals each participated in a plan to market the Monkees to these young kids, not on a major scale like they did a few years earlier, but with a smaller vision in mind.

The first parts of this marketing plan was the release of the "Changes" LP, and the video and single of the tune "Oh My My." The video was unique to the Saturday morning shows, and although the LP only featured Davy and Micky, it could satisfy the small fry's desire to own something "Monkees" that their older brothers and sisters didn't have.

Sure, the album and single flopped, but they were out there for the kids to buy--or, more to the point, for their parents to buy for them.

The next step in this program were the Post cereal box records. Parents were buying the cereal, anyway, so these records were an added bonus.

Out of the cereal box records promotion came "Golden Hits," a mail-away compendium of all the songs included in the cereal box record series.

You can access this album at http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/albumania/.

There was absolutely nothing new on this LP, and it was shabbily made and produced for the kids who collected the cereal box records, featuring those songs, and only those songs, on a vinyl LP that these kids could call their own. For some kids, it was probably the first vinyl LP they ever owned.

Although these kids didn't know it, the LP was an el cheapo, put out by Colgems though RCA's Special Products Division. Little care was given to its creation, and even song titles were misspelled on the back cover: check out the misspelling of "Valleri."

Anyway, parents had to send away for it, and I am sure that when kids finally received the LP, they were smitten forever with Micky, Davy, Mike (who was featured with Micky and Davy in a picture on the back cover) and Peter, who was not visually represented on the album but was actually on a few of the tracks musically.

Colgems was on its last legs, and had one more Monkees LP to release before it went kaput. More on that next time.

This Month's Colgems Upload - Monkees Cereal Box Records

Sorry about last month, but I will try to make it up to you this month by including some of the rarest Monkees--and Colgems--records.

In 1970, the Monkees project was pretty much completed. Peter Tork was the first to leave, followed by Michael Nesmith, and Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones soldiered on as a duo for as long as they could.

Colgems, their record label, was also floundering. Although it had success with the "Oliver" soundtrack, its fortunes were directly tied into the Monkees, and with that project reaching its near end, it was time to make a somewhat daring move to try to revive sales ...

All because the Monkees TV show was becoming a staple of Saturday morning TV on CBS.

Incredibly, while the first generation of Monkees fans generally were now listening to heavier sounds, kids born in the mid to late 1960s were making the Monkees TV show a hit all over again, albeit on Saturday mornings. This gave Colgems hope that a new album, "Changes," could revive the act, now down to a duo. While it didn't do the trick (see previous post), Colgems was not yet done with a major marketing ploy to keep the Monkees in the spotlight, at least with little kids.

One of the Monkees original sponsors on NBC was Kellogg's, but they had moved onto other things by 1970. However, one of Kellogg's major competitors, Post Cereal, needed its own marketing ploy to at least keep in the game with Kellogg's. Post Cereal, like the Monkees franchise, needed a boost, and out of this marriage came ...

Cereal Box Records.

These records--found on the backs of cereal boxes--had been around since the late 1950s. I believe I remember seeing Mousketeers and Alvin and the Chipmunks cereal box records around this time, and this marketing tool was also used in intervening years, and not just on cereal boxes. For one, the Dave Clark Five promoted its film "Having a Wild Weekend" by having a cardboard record available on packages of Fresh Start Medicated Cleansing Gel.

Anyway, Post started to sponsor the Monkees TV show on Saturday mornings, and three of its cereals were involved in the cereal box record campaign: Rice Krinkles, Alpha Bits and Honey Comb.

These three sets of records each contained four individual songs, meaning that there were a total of 12 Monkees cereal box records available. All kids had to do was have their moms buy them the cereal, carefully cut out the record on the back, and place them on their turntable.

What they got were low-fidelity tunes that these kids' older brothers and sisters probably had already, but the marketing ploy was a hit. In fact, the next to last Colgems LP was actually a mail order item accumulating all of the cereal box records tunes on a single LP (more about that LP in the near future).

Although short-lived, the Monkees cereal box records established them as the first human rock group (remember the Chipmunks had them too) to be featured in a series on these records, and this was so successful that later bubblegum acts like the Jackson 5, Bobby Sherman and the Partridge Family had their own cereal box records--and so did another cartoon creation, the Archies.

Cereal box records continued to be used as a marketing ploy into the late 1970s or very early 1980s. At around this time, soundsheets emerged, and, later, when CDs replaced vinyl as the listening format of choice, cereal box records became artifacts of a different, simpler time.

As for the Monkees cereal box records, there were three designs. Design No. 1, which was found on the Rice Krinkles records, featured Micky, Davy, and Mike and a green label with guitar logos between each head in spiral. The four songs on these records were 1. The Monkees (Theme) 2. Teardrop City 3. Papa Gene's Blues 4. The Day We Fall In Love.

Design No. 2, which was found on Alpha Bits, featured a large Monkees logo in the middle, with Davy, Mike and Micky's heads around logo on a black label. The songs included in this series were 1. Last Train To Clarksville 2. I Wanna Be Free 3. Forget That Girl 4. Valleri.

Design No. 3, found on Honey Comb cereal, is my favorite, a red and white Monkees logo and musical notes on a purple background. The tunes in this series included 1. I'm A Believer 2. Pleasant Valley Sunday 3. (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone 4. Mary, Mary.

You knew what song you were getting because in lieu of an actual catalog number, the number of the song was pressed into the cardboard. Each of the records played at 33 1/3 RPM.

Here, for your listening pleasure, are a few of these cereal box records. Remember, the fidelity is horrible at best, and unfortunately, some of these have not survived very well, and they do skip.

But as artifacts of a different time, they are among the most fun records that I own.

(Note: if anyone has the remaining cereal box records and can put them into MP3s, please send them to me. Also, if you have ones without skips, I would appreciate it tremendously--and remember, the files must be off of the cereal box records, because the versions off of 45, LP and CD are plentiful, and are not needed for this section.)

Monkees - (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone (Cereal Box Record 3-3).mp3
Monkees - (Theme From) The Monkees (Cereal Box Record 1-1).mp3
Monkees - Last Train to Clarksville (Cereal Box Record 2-1).mp3
Monkees - Mary, Mary (Cereal Box Record 3-4).mp3
Monkees - Pleasant Valley Sunday (Cereal Box Record 3-2).mp3
Monkees - The Day We Fall In Love (Cereal Box Record 1-4).mp3
Monkees - Valleri (Cereal Box Record 2-4).mp3
Monkees - Teardrop City (Cereal Box Record 1-2).mp3
Monkees - Forget That Girl (Cereal Box Record 1-3).mp3

Vacation

For the first time, I won't be posting a new Colgems uploaded this month.

I am on vacation with my family, and this is actually the first time I have been online in about a week.

The next upload will have to wait until I get home in August.

Again, sorry for the delay.

New Colgems Upload - "Changes"

Several days late but better late than never, here is the Monkees’ final original recording on Colgems Records, “Changes.”

You can access this LP at http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/albumania/.

Where do I start? Can I even be in any way kind to this recording?

Michael Nesmith bought out his Monkees contract sometime in 1969, but as part of the buyout, he had several obligations he had to fulfill, including appearing in several commercials with bandmates Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz, including for the then new Nerf ball. His likeness was also used on various Monkees-related products, such as cardboard cutout records that were turning up on cereal boxes across the country.

But recording-wise, he was done as a Monkee.

Reruns of the show had shifted over to CBS Saturday mornings, and a new generation of Monkeemaniacs were watching the show in significant numbers. I believe there was one more album on their contract anyway, so this was the perfect time to try and rekindle the hit-making flame that was once part of the Monkees success.

But with just two members, what do you do?

Jeff Barry and Andy Kim were put onto the project, and each was pretty hot at the time, Barry as a producer and songwriter and Kim as a songwriter and singer and oftentimes as Barry’s musical muse.

They put together an album of new songs and previously unreleased songs, and thus, “Changes” was born.

It is hard to review this album with any sense of clarity, because it is so bad that it truly speaks for itself through the grooves.

“Oh My My” is the leadoff track and the single culled from the album, and it is probably the only highlight on this LP. The song is sort of a pop-rock/soul mix, and Micky voice works perfectly. Even though it was backed by a newly shot video that was shown on the Monkees show, it barely grazed the top 100.

The other songs? Well, Davy said it best when he stated, “We recorded an Andy Kim album!” And that is just how it sounds; bland, boring and bogus. Micky and Davy, and in particular, Davy, seem to be going through the motions here. “99 Pounds,” a holdover from the early days, is the only song where Davy comes to life, and it is such a poor song that it is, well, lifeless anyway.

Micky’s “Midnight Train” is OK, but surrounded by everything else, it falls pretty flat too.

The cover artwork was actually culled from a photo of Micky, Davy and Mike from The Joey Bishop Show. Mike’s portion was edited out.

This album didn’t chart at all, and only found its way onto the Top 200 album chart years later during the Monkees revival.

It is a weak outing, top to bottom, and it closes out the Monkees saga on record—until years later, when their revival shook up the records charts via MTV.

As a curiosity, “Changes” is just that—what were the powers that be thinking when they came up with this?

"Changes" Coming

No, I have not forgotten about this month's Colgems upload, which will be the Monkees' "Changes" album.

I have been so busy with other things that I haven't had much of a chance to digitize the tracks.

But give me some time, and it will finally be here!

New Colgems Upload - The Monkees Present

Eight days late, but worth the wait, is the latest Colgems LP upload of "The Monkees Present."

You can access this LP at http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/albumania/.

This was a strange time indeed for Colgems and Micky, Peter and Davy. With Peter Tork gone, and with continued obligations to produce music and go on tour, the remaining Monkees did both, although interest continued to wane.

Still regarded as one of the most popular rock groups in the country, the trio tried to blend soul and rock and pop on concert swing, using soulsters Sam and the Goodtimes as backing band.

It didn't work, and they often played to half or two-thirds empty houses.

But they were still ubiquitous on major network TV. If they weren't appearing on the Johnny Cash Show, they were on the Glen Campbell Show, and if they weren't on either of these, they were on Hollywood Squares or Laugh-In.

Reruns of their series was a rousing success on CBS on Saturday morning, so Colgems continued to have the trio churn out product.

"The Monkees Present" was actually the culmination of a project that had festered when Tork was still a band members. Originally, the project was slated to feature two records, and each Monkee would have a side--six songs--to showcase his talent.

When Tork left, that project was left in limbo, but so many tracks had been recorded, that Colgems execs could basically pick and choose exactly what they wanted from Micky, Mike and Davy.

And what they picked was OK.

The album boasted several tracks from each band member, each produced by the band member, and often helped along by another producer.

And like every Monkees album--even the bad ones--there were one or two standouts.

"Listen to the Band" was originally debuted on the Monkees TV special, "33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee," and it appears on this album in a shorter version than on that TV show. It was also a single from this album.

It stands as one of the best of Mike Nesmith's Monkee compositions, even with the canned audience at the end.

Micky's "Bye Bye Baby Bye Bye" and "Mommy and Daddy" sound like the same song to me, but each has its merits. "Mommy and Daddy," in fact, Bubbled Under the Hot 100, and years later we heard the original, which was much more inflammatory than probably Colgems executives wanted to hear, so this is a shorter, nicer version.

Davy is on this album, but I don't think he really added much to the entire affair. His songs, the best of which is "French Song," are boring. After a strong effort on "Instant Replay," he, too, sounds bored here.

And then there is Nesmith's "Good Clean Fun," another charted song which actually was added to one or two episodes of the TV show. Years ago, I called this "pop flop," but I think it has aged well.

Nesmith continued to fill his obligations as a Monkee--including his appearances on TV shows with his bandmates and in print ads for the then unknown "Nerf" ball--but his mind was clearly set on a solo career, and he left the band right after this recording.

Micky and Davy soldiered on, and the mess that ensued will be heard next month.

New Picture Sleeve Blog

I have created a new blog which might be of interest to you.

It is called "Picture Sleeves A Go Go!" and it can be reached at http://picturesleevesagogo.blogspot.com/.

This will be a vehicle for me to post scans of all of my 45 single picture sleeves onto the Web for everyone to enjoy.

I plan on posting everything I have from the 1960s to the current time, and with the photos, I will also provide short capsules on the performer and the sleeve.

This will be a picture sleeve site only; no music will be featured at the site. However, I may try to cross-pollinate where appropriate. I have so many sites now that I feel that I can do this flawlessly.

Right now, I am just into the letter A, from AC/DC to the Association. That being said, you will see and eclectic mix of material, and sleeves not just from the U.S., but from around the world.

I think looking at these sleeves will give you--and myself--a glimpse into both what was popular during the past five decades as well as seeing what I was into through the years.

I hope you find it as interesting as I have in starting it up.

Again, no music but all sleeves, all the time.

And by the way, please contribute to the site in the form of comments. There is a comment area under each section for you to leave your comments. I will do my best to answer them.

New Colgems Upload - The Monkees Greatest Hits

Here is the latest Colgems upload, "The Monkees Greatest Hits." Released at a time when the Monkees were fading away into the sunset as a recording and TV act, the album serves as little more than an artifact of a different time and place.

You can access this album at http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/albumania/.

The TV series was over, the movie "Head" bombed, NBC balked on having another Monkees TV special after "33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee" tanked, and Colgems Records was pretty much in disarray with their headlining act nearing the end.

What's a poor record label to do?

The Monkees had had numerous hits three years into their existence,and the show was now being run on Saturday mornings on CBS, where an even younger generation of kids was experiencing what their older brothers and sisters had experienced just a few years earlier.

Colgems decided that the time was right for a formal Greatest Hits album. They took 14 of the most popular Monkees tracks of the past three years and crafted an LP out of these tunes.

It featured all the big hits, from "Last Train to Clarksville" to "Valleri," and a couple of international hits, such as "Randy Scouse Git."

But for the true Monkees fan like me, this album was pretty much barren of any semblance of something that I really needed. I had all the tracks, and even with the first stereo and LP appearance of "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You," this LP was not a necessity in my collection.

It was also made on the el cheapo, which didn't help matters. The cover doesn't feature any photos of the Monkees at all, and for a band that was so visual and that had its own TV series, well, you have to scratch your head at whoever decided to let this one go.

Also, the vinyl is probably the cheapest vinyl that was ever used by Colgems. It is flimsy, and you can hear the effects on a modern turntable.

I could have pieced together this album using better sounding tracks, but I decided to go with the original vinyl, so you could hear what I mean.

Anyway, the LP made it into the Top 100 albums chart, so Colgems still had hopes that the Monkees could make a go at it again. Two more original studio albums and two more greatest hits albums followed, and we will visit them in the future.

This Month's Colgems Upload - Instant Replay

Two weeks late, but better later than never, I guess.

Finally, I was able to digitize and upload my Colgems copy of "Instant Replay," an album that to this day I have mixed feelings about. You can access the LP at http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/albumania/.

As a young listener, I don't think I really liked this album. Coming off the "Head" soundtrack, which was as bizarre--and tantalizing--as the film, this LP is something of a downer, and I still think it is.

But listening to it again as an adult, I don't dislike it as much as I did when I heard it years and years ago.

My change in thinking comes from this: although the music is truly up and down here, this album stands as Davy Jones' defining album as one of the Monkees.

Jones was thought to be the least talented of the foursome, at least musically, although he was a fine singer who had been on Broadway as the Artful Dodger in the classic Broadway show, "Oliver." But musically, he was thought to be out of his league, especially when compared to the likes of Michael Nesmith, and to a lesser extent, Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz.

Jones was an excellent interpreter of songs, but as a musician and songwriter, he couldn't hold a candle to his bandmates.

That was put to rest on this LP. If you listen to a single song on this album, listen to "You and I," which is as stark a reality check on the then-current state of affairs in Monkeedom as any of the bandmates ever made.

His vocals also are top-notch throughout the album, and it's too bad that this LP is often dissed, because his contributions are the only real standout found here.

Whoever picked "Tear Drop City" as a single knew the group, now down to three members with the leaving of Peter Tork in late 1968-early 1969, was on a downward plane. This "Last Train to Clarksville" soundalike sounds like a demo, and should have been consigned to the scrap heap, but somehow, not only does it appear here, it was the single chosen to push this LP.

Much better is Micky on "Through the Looking Glass," which with a little bit of sprucing up, could have been a major hit for the threesome. As it stands, it is one of their best non-hit single pop confections, one of Boyce and Hart's top Monkee tunes.

Micky Dolenz also does fine work on his own "Shorty Blackwell," one of the weirdest Monkees songs that they ever recorded. It is a mini-opera about a mouse, I think.

You can gauge Michael Nesmith's interest in the Monkees at this point by his songs on this album. They aren't bad, but they aren't up to the standards that he set on earlier albums.

As a pastiche of old recordings, newer updates of these recordings, and new recordings, "Instand Replay" signals an act going down quickly.

And yes, Peter Tork's absence is clearly felt here. Even though his contributions had been a great source of debate in the Monkees' camp, he proved on "Head" that if given the opportunity, he could contribute as much as the others to the strength of the foursome. Here, having left the group, his spark isn't around anymore, and you can feel it listening to this collection.

It isn't a bad album, but it really isn't a good one either.

And Davy Jones saves it, which is saying a lot about the Monkees at this point in time.

Goin' Down, But I'll Be Back Up On My Feet Soon

Due an accelerated work schedule, I must postpone the latest Colgems Album Upload for the time being.

I will be back in the saddle by next week, and that is when everything will resume.

Please bear with me as I get back to where I should be. Work has been impossible lately, and I must get that in check before I do anything else.

Thanks for bearing with me.

Rhino's "The Birds, the Bees and the Monkees" Re-Release

I have kept silent about Rhino Records' re-releases of the Monkees original studio albums.

I strictly want to cover Colgems releases, not re-releases of product from the label.

But I will now make an exception.

They have done a pretty nice job with this project, but the re-release of "The Birds, the Bees, and the Monkees" outshines them all.

It is, hands down, the best re-release of an original album that I have ever seen.

Read more about it at the companion blog to this one, Ranting and Raving, at http://rantingravingblog.blogspot.com/.

This Month's Colgems Upload - Head Soundtrack

Here is the latest Colgems upload, the soundtrack to the counterculture cult flick, "Head," starring the Monkees and a bevy of guest stars.

How do you describe this movie to the uninitiated? Well ...

Hey now wait a minute!
Now wait just a minute!

Hey hey we are the monkees
You know we love to please
A manufactured image
With no philosophies

We hope you like our story
Although there isn't one
That is to say there's many
That way there is more fun

You told us you like action
And games of many kinds
You like to dance, we like to sing
So let's all lose our minds!

We know it doesn't matter,
Cause what you came to see
Is what we'd love to give you,
And give it one, two, three!

But there may come three, two, one, two
Or jump from nine to five,
And when you see the end in sight
The beginning may arrive!

For those who look for meaning,
And form as they do facts,
We might tell you one thing
But we'd only take it back

Not back like in a box back
Not back like in a race,
Not back so we can keep it,
But back in time and space!

You say we're manufactured,
To that we all agree,
So make you choice and we'll rejoice
In never being free!

Hey hey we are the monkees,
We've said it all before
The money's in we're made of tin
We're here to give you more!

The money's in we're made of tin
We're here to give you--

*bang!!*

*scream!!!*

Gimme a w!

W!

Gimme an a!

A!

Gimme an r!!

R!!

What does that spell!!??

War!!


This is "Ditty Diego War Chant" from the soundtrack to the film, and I guess it best describes what the film is about.

The Monkees, with help from Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Bob Rafelson, and a host of others, wanted to deconstruct themselves, and with this film, they did just that.

After 58 episodes of the TV show, they were burned out, mentally, physically and musically. The four Monkees--who were relatively unheard of just two years before--were now some of the most recognizeable faces on the planet, and although they had much success, few in the musical community took them seriously.

With "Head," they wanted to explode the Monkees machine, and that they did. Everything created through the TV show was thrown out the window, and the foursome went in so many different directions during this film that the viewer needs a compass to figure out just where they, and the Monkees, are going at any given moment.

But the trip, as it is, is worth, um, the trip.

The soundtrack--which can be accessed at http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/albumania/
contains some of the finest music created by the Monkees, along with the likes of King and Goffin and Harry Nilsson, and it set the bar very high for the band.

Peter Tork--who was to leave the group afterwards--particularly shines on this effort, with his "Long Title: Do I Have to Do This All Over Again" particularly brilliant. Why the Monkees powers that be kept his talent in a box is still open to bewilderment more than 40 years after the fact.

But it is "Porpoise Song" that stands out above the rest. It is a psyschedelic chestnut that continues to be savored all these years later, and the tune, credited to King and Goffin but probably written solely by Carole King--pulses with the time, and is shown over a creative sequence where the Monkees are seemingly floating underwater.

The other songs are masterful too, particularly "Circle Sky," Mike Nesmith's opus which was played live in the movie but is featured in a studio version on the soundtrack.

And that is the one buggaboo I have with the entire album: much of the music in the film is not found on the soundtrack. Oh, yes, versions are found on the soundtrack, but where is the live version of "Circle Sky," and where is the extended version--with a break--of "Daddy's Song"?

Anyway, that minor criticism aside, the movie tanked, as did the album, but years later, both have been praised high and low as counterculture highlights of the late 1960s.

And deservedly so. With all the talent involved--the Monkees, Nicholson, Hopper, Rafelson, and guest stars Frank Zappa, Annette Funicello, etc.--the film stands up to the test of time, even though the viewer may scratch his head wondering what is going on.

And the soundtrack is a real gem too.

After this album, the Monkees pretty much were on the scrap heap, but still generated several fine tunes over their last three albums, several singles and a TV special which made "Head" look like "Gone With the Wind."

This Month's Colgems Upload - The Birds, the Bees and the Monkees (Stereo)

Here is this month's Colgems upload, the stereo version of "The Birds, the Bees and the Monkees. Although this upload will certainly garner less discussion than the mono version of this album, the LP is not without its talking points.

As the first and only Monkees album to have "one foot in, one foot out" of the series--and consequently, the first Monkees album not to hit No. 1--the record is probably the most schizophrenic of all Monkees releases.

You have both the inspired and uninspired, all on one LP.

Among the inspired tunes are "Auntie's Municipal Court," one of the group's most underrated offerings and with a great vocal by Micky Dolenz; "Tapioca Tundra," Mike Nesmith's tour de force about nothing; "Daydream Believer," one of the best of all the Monkees singles; "P.O. Box 9847," a Boyce and Hart gem; "Magnolia Simms," a clever tune with the first planned "scratch" in pop history; "Valleri," I know a lot of people hate this record, but it still sounds great, even though this album features its worst version; and "Zor and Zam," a great anti-war tune.

Everything else seems to wallow about, in particular the Davy Jones tunes.

But the biggest mistake is Nesmith's "Writing Wrongs"; with other inspired stuff here, what exactly was he thinking?

And, where is Peter Tork on this album? Sure, he is there instrumentally, but the strides he took on "Headquarters" seem to be forgotten forever on the next two releases, including this one.

You can access this album at http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/albumania/

Anyway, Tork is allowed to return to form on the next release, and the group has perhaps their biggest musical triumph amidst a total disaster.

More next month.