I don't think you know me (The Monkees) (LP 4426 - 4432)

The Monkees  Live 1967 (Vinyl, Rhino Records, 1987) *** 

The Monkees  Live in Japan 1968 (Vinyl, R&B Records, ?) ****  

The Monkees  Live! Summer Tour (2CD and DVD Grey Scale Records, 2001) ****  

The Monkees  Missing Links (Vinyl, Rhino Records, 1987) ***  

The Monkees  The Monkees Greatest Hits (Vinyl, EMI Records, 1977) ****  

The Monkees  The Definitive Monkees (CD, WEA Records, 2001) *****  

The Monkees  Good Times! (CD, Rhino Records, 2016) ***  

Genre: Pop 

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi, Vinyl Countdown

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Mary Mary (Live 1967)

Gear costume: I Was There (and I'm told I had a good time) (Good Times!)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: The live albums are interesting, but not crucial. Live 1967 is compiled from shows in Seattle, Portland and Spokane on their 1967 United States tour. The sound is pretty good for 1967. 

The screaming girls, the zany between song banter and the deep cuts are all there. I could live without Your Auntie Grizelda, it must be said, but Mary Mary is terrific.

Live in Japan 1968 continues with the screaming Japanese girls. The Monkees zap through their hits and even find a spot for Peter Percival Patterson's Pet Pig Porky!

They sound like a sixties garage band or even punkish on both of these live albums. It's crude, but effective.

The Missing Links album has some tasty outtakes and rarities. The bulk of the material is from 1968 and the sessions that produced The Birds, the Bees & The Monkees. 

The best songs are all Mike Nesmith songs. Nine Times Blue is a gem, but the others - Of You (although not written by him) and Carlisle Wheeling are also excellent songs. Mike later re-recorded Nine Times Blue for his Magnetic South album and Carlisle Wheeling (as Conversations) for his Loose Salute album.

The two compilations - the seventies single album Greatest Hits is good - all the biggest hits are there in 11 songs, but the Definitive Monkees set has 29 songs that range from the debut album until the late eighties album Pool It! so it's a lot more representative. That means all the hits and the best album tracks are on one album.

Unfortunately, my copy is without the bonus disc of over 30 rare Monkees songs.

In many ways the singles/hits only tell one story of this seminal sixties band. You really need the albums, particularly The Monkees (the debut), Head, Pisces etc.

The final album in my collection is Good Times! released in 2016 to commemorate their 50th anniversary. It was their first album without Davy, who passed away in 2012, although the surviving threesome included Davy posthumously.

It's way better than anyone had the right to expect from some aging rock stars of the sixties. The album contains a bunch of songs that continue the joyousness of The Monkees signature pop sound. It stands as a fitting tribute to Peter Tork and Mike Nesmith who passed away in 2019 and 2021 respectively.

Micky continues to be the voice of the band - indeed in 2026 he's still touring and having just had his 81st birthday he's clearly doing it because he loves it. 

Micky captures the reunion and farewell spirit on Good Times! with the final song - I Was There (And I'm Told I Had a Good Time). As AllMusic noted - 'he looks at the past not with sad reverence but with a smile, happy that he was there and happy to be able to sing about it still, and that's the vibe of Good Times!: it was a blast to live it then and it's a blast to relive those times too'. There are plenty of other highlights on the album, but I especially love Me and Magdelana.

Late inclusion: I forgot I had the Live! Summer Tour package in with my DVDs. It's from the 20th Anniversary Reunion tour and this set was from a concert in Anaheim, California in 2001. Micky, Peter and Davy (no Mike) go through their hits with enough fun and gusto that it makes for a very pleasant nostalgic experience.

As a final note - I'm so glad I saw Micky and Mike Nesmith with my two mates when they toured New Zealand a few years ago. It was a special night that will always be there in the memory banks.

Where do they all belong? I'm still missing a few albums from this post sixties era: Changes (1970); Pool It! (1987);   Justus (1996). I'm also missing Missing Links Vol 2 and Vol 3.

Let's dance on (The Monkees) (LP 4420 - 4425)

The Monkees  The Monkees (CD and Vinyl, Rhino/ RCA Records, 1966) ****  

The Monkees  More of The Monkees (CD and Vinyl, Rhino/ RCA Records, 1967) ***

The Monkees  Headquarters (CD and Vinyl, Rhino/ RCA Records, 1967) **** 

The Monkees  Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. (CD and Vinyl, Rhino/ RCA Records, 1967) *****   

The Monkees  The Birds, the Bees & The Monkees (CD and Vinyl, Rhino/ RCA Records, 1968) ***  

The Monkees  Head (Vinyl and DVD, RCA Records, 1968) *****  

The Monkees  Instant Replay (Vinyl, RCA Records, 1969) *** 

The Monkees  The Monkees Present Micky, David and Michael (Vinyl, Rhino Records, 1969) *** 

Genre: Pop 

Places I remember: Greg Knowles collection, Three Kings Woolworths, JB Hi Fi, Vinyl Countdown

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: (Theme from) The Monkees

Gear costume: Last Train to Clarksville (The Monkees), For Pete's Sake (Headquarters), Pleasant Valley Sunday (Pisces etc), Daydream Believer (The Birds etc)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: No surprise that I am a huge fan of The Monkees. Are you kidding me? What's not to love?

Zany humour, pop smarts, big personalities, catchy choons, dandruff, irreverence, harmonies, goofiness, the sixties, heroes, villains, sword fights, daring do, giants, rodents of unusual size...Hmmm. I seem to have strayed into The Princess Bride there, but you get the picture.

The first album and a later one have been covered already in the countdown, so I won't add them to the tally, but in the interests of completeness, I'll add them to this post.

The debut from Mike, Peter, Davy, and Mickey was album #320. 

I had this to say: Their debut holds up amongst 1966's great company! There are some great tracks on here, confidence was high and the production is spot on pop-wise. And as to the sneery idea that 99% of the music came from session musicians? Too words: Pet Sounds. Two more words: True genius.

The highlights: Gonna Buy Me A Dog (kidding! Although they were zany!), Last Train to Clarksville; Theme from The Monkees (it kicks off the debut album superbly - it immediately evokes those opening scenes to the TV show); Let's Dance On...There were no duds.

Mickey Dolenz is the star performer on the debut with his distinctive vocals (he's still at it in 2026 too - still touring and performing Monkee songs). He's not alone though - Mike Nesmith's country leanings are already apparent on Papa Gene's Blues and Davy Jones, the girl obsessed cute one on the show, also gets a shot on I Wanna Be Free (I'll Be True to You is a croon too far though).

Overall, it's a brilliant album, full of exotic musical sounds for 1966, and well deserved its huge success - the first of four consecutive U.S. number one albums for the group.

More of The Monkees contains more of what we love about The Monkees: Mickey's vocal led hits - She, Mary Mary, (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone, I'm a Believer; Davy's English inflected vocals that feed into his girl obsessed persona - Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow); Mike's country-folk rock The Kind of Girl I Could Love.

It also includes some below par or just okay filler songs. Peter Tork's Your Aunty Grizelda is undistinguished, for instance, and Davy's trite The Day We Fell in Love is a low point. Nevertheless, led by the mega success of I'm A Believer, it was a hugely successful album - The Monkees were at the peak of their popularity.

Headquarters was next - and the first real album where the monkeying around foursome played their instruments and wrote more of their own songs. Previously, Don Kirshner, the TV mogul, had stipulated that they were just to provide vocals. It was another hugely successful album, although success was shaded when Sgt Pepper came out shortly afterwards.

As AllMusic pointed out: Headquarters doesn't contain any of the group's biggest hits, but it does have some of their best songs, like Nesmith's stirring folk-rocker "You Just May Be the One," the pummeling rocker "No Time," the MOR soul ballad "Forget That Girl," which features one of Davy Jones' best vocals, Peter Tork's shining moment as a songwriter, "For Pete's Sake," and the thoroughly amazing (and surprisingly political) "Randy Scouse Git," which showed just how truly out-there and almost avant-garde Micky Dolenz could be when he tried.

That said, For Pete's Sake ended up as the soundtrack for the end credits on the show and Zilch is zany Monkee genius!

Their fourth album in two years, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. is the other album that has appeared already in the countdown. In my previous post I explained how I came to buy it: it's 1968 turning into 1969, I'm 11, and I am either playing sport, reading, or glued to the TV. One show I never miss is The Monkees - a group that makes riotous irreverent fun of things AND they sing great songs. As a result, I have this album bought for me, my first LP, from a local shop in Three Kings, Auckland.  

Here's what I wrote back in 2019: It's an easy five stars! A classic! It's a cliche, I know, but, as a pre-teen, I really did just about wear out the grooves on this album. I'm so glad I latched on to this at a young age as it set me up for a lifelong love of pop music. The track listing shows an embarrassment of riches - songs that have hooks AND an edge. Who else could do that in the late 60's? It holds up too. Each time I play it, it pops!

The follow up was The Birds, the Bees & The Monkees in 1968. It was concurrent with their film Head - the soundtrack of which would come out a few months later in 1968. By this time their TV show had been canceled, and their popularity had dipped as a consequence.

The album is unusual, even for The Monkees. There were two big hits - Daydream Believer and Valleri, but the rest of the material isn't up to their usual high standards.

Head is a work of genius that is beyond criticism because my friend Greg and I listened to it so much it became part of us! We can still quote lines from it without any problem and we still crack up over those same lines. Nothing like the naivety of youth is there?

PopMatters got it spot on when they described Head as "a hypnogogic hallucination of a 60's pop record" whose composition encompassed musique concrète pieces and six new songs in the genres of psychedelic, Broadway and lo-fi rock. All that and a glass of cold gravy with a hair in it! Like I said, genius!

All band members contribute equally for the first time on a Monkees album and it's definitely Peter Tork's finest album. A fitting ending as he left the band at the end of 1968.  

Their first album without Peter is Instant Replay (1969) although several of the songs dated from sessions up to two and a half years earlier while Peter was still a Monkee. Tear Drop City was one of those oldies.

While not their best album, it does contain their usual mix of catchy songs (although there were not any hit songs coming from it), whip smart humour and familiar Monkee sounds.

The Monkees Present Micky, David and Michael is also from 1969. It was the last album to feature Mike Nesmith until a reunion in 1996. The highlight is Listen to the Band but the rest of the album includes some solid contributions from the remaining three members. For instance, Bye Bye Baby Bye Bye is Micky at his deranged best. Mike contributes some cool country-folk material before leaving to form the First National Band.

Where do they all belong? That's it for the sixties version of the band. Next up - the reunion, the live albums and a couple of compilations.

Dance the night away (The Mavericks) (LP 4419)

The Mavericks  Trampoline (CD, MCA Records, 1998) *** 

Genre: Americana, pop 

Places I remember: Charity shop

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Dance the Night Away

Gear costume: I Should Know

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: A few years ago, I bought a copy of this on CD from a charity shop for $1 based on the clever video for their Tex Mex influenced Dance the Night Away - a catchy enough song. I was hoping that the album would match or better that bright song. And it kinda did.

Although that song is the most commercial thing on the album, the first six songs on side one swing by in very enjoyable fashion - with a succession of songs inducing toe tapping, body swaying, head nodding and dad dancing!

Yes, things go pretty well for six songs with a succession of Roy Orbison inspired vocals. I love Roy's vocals, and although I prefer the real thing, Raul Malo (The Mav's main man) has a great country/rock and roll/Tex Mex/pop/Americana voice.

Actually, if you squint, at times it almost sounds like The Traveling Wilburys with some Tijuana Brass drafted in for texture.

Almost.

I Should Know is a clear example as it blends Beatle sounds into another great horn led mixture of styles. Someone Should Tell Her is another excellent song.

But then we hit Fool #1 which slows the pace and starts the meh-o-meter ticking. The needle moves into the amber with the instrumental Melbourne Mambo.

After that somewhat pointless instrumental, the album loses focus, wobbles, falls over, and lies on the ground with its legs in the air thanks to Dolores (a skipper).

All up, a tale of two halves. First side kicks it and has me enjoying the ride, but then the profusion of styles on side two leaves me on the curbside.

Where do they all belong? Overall a worthy addition to the Americana collection.

Tide shift (The Man-Eating Tree) (LP 4418)

The Man-Eating Tree   Vine  (CD, Century Media Records, 2010) ****  

Genre: Prog Metal

Places I remember: Virgin Megastore (Dubai)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Nights in White Satin

Gear costume: Amended

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: The Man-Eating Tree is a Finnish metal band formed in 2009. Vine is the band's debut album.

Along with other Scandinavian metal bands, I picked this up in Dubai, while living in Al Ain. Generally it's right up my alley -  droning metal with stoopid lyrics that I can't really hear.

Their version of The Moody Blues hit Nights in White Satin is pretty cool. Weird, but cool. It tips the balance into prog metal nicely.

Where do they all belong? A one off that I enjoyed in Al Ain.

Look through my window (The Mamas & The Papas) (LP 4417)

The Mamas & The Papas  Farewell to the First Golden Era (Vinyl, RCA Records, 1967) *****  

Genre: Pop 

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon)

Gear costume: I Saw Her Again 

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: Even though I have three compilations of this seminal sixties vocal group, I have only included this one because it was the first, released in 1967. Plus, the liner notes are written by Derek Taylor - reason enough to feature it on its own.

As a collection, it was intended to sum up the first golden era, but it worked out to be their only golden era. All the big hits are here: Dedicated to the One I Love; Go Where You Wanna Go; Words of Love; Monday Monday; Creeque Alley; Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon); I Saw Her Again; and California Dreaming. 

Where do they all belong? Many other collections would come after it, but this is the best one to my mind. One album - all killer, no filler.

Absolutely cuckoo (The Magnetic Fields) (LP 4416)

The Magnetic Fields  69 Love Songs (CD, Merge Records, 1999) ***   

Genre: Indie pop, synth-pop 

Places I remember: Fopp

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: World Love

Gear costume: All My Little Words

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: My initial experience of The Magnetic Fields, which is dominated by one guy - Stephin Merritt, is 69 Love Songs. Since then, Tom has used another album on MNAC as his album of the fortnight.

A colleague while I was at Cambridge High School, played 69 Love Songs a lot and a couple of the songs burrowed into my brain. So, I bought a copy while I was in England, in some ways to be hip and current. It's not a triple CD that I love or play often, although I do love and applaud the fool's errand idea. 

It's hard to digest 69 songs in a row. A consistently high-quality triple studio album cannot be done, I don't think. Even The Fabs didn't try to do that. A decent single vinyl album is in 69 Love Songs somewhere, but he'd need a new title which wouldn't be as school-boy naughty would it.

It's certainly not boring, as it features songs in many different genres, including country, synth-pop, free jazz even, and, yes, off kilter love ballads. Highlights other than my two choices above are I Don't Believe in the Sun, Asleep and Dreaming, Busby Berkeley Dreams, and Acoustic Guitar.

Where do they all belong? I'm glad I have a copy. It's one I'm return to in the future - maybe it will make more sense then.

In my head (The Lemon Twigs) (LP 4415)

The Lemon Twigs  Everything Harmony (Vinyl, Captured Tracks Records, 2023) ****  

Genre: Alt rock, pop 

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Ghost Run Free

Gear costume: Corner of My Eye

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: The Lemon Twigs are two talented brothers - Brian and Michael D'Addario. Both brothers are vocalists, songwriters and play multiple instruments.

Everything Harmony is their fourth album and it is full of glorious harmony vocals and sympathetic arrangements to highlight the vocals. That means an acoustic bed and orchestral touches to lie on. There's still the power-pop inclinations that I love so much - hence my highlighted track - Ghost Run Free.

Where do they all belong? I'd buy more but I can't find any of their other albums in NZ record shops yet.