Baby it's me (Davy Jones) (LP 2899)

Davy Jones  Davy Jones (Vinyl, Pye Records, Originally 1965 - this copy is a re-issue in 1967) ***  

Genre: pop 

Places I remember: Five dollars from a record fair in Palmy.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: It Ain't Me Babe (weird hearing a cockney voice taking on Dylan but at least he's current and enthusiastic - it is 1965 remember)

Gear costume: Dream Girl

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

Active compensatory factors: I only got this because it was so cheap at a record fair in Palmerston North. It is also in mint condition! Fairly amazing given it was most probably bought by a teenager keen on the Monkees.

I love The Monkees but I'm not a completist for the solo stuff from the four original members.

This is his debut solo album from 1965. That's a year before The Monkees debut album. My copy from 1967 has a Monkees era photo as Colpix were obviously keen to cash in on the band's success.

The approach is London cheeky chappy to springboard off that accent (although he was from Manchester) and his appearance in Oliver! as the Artful Dodger. So, along the way we have Maybe It's Because I'm A Londoner and Any Old Iron. Yikes.

Where do they all belong? An interesting mid-sixties artifact/ curio.

Here they come...(The Monkees) (LP 320)

The Monkees The Monkees (Vinyl - Colgems/RCA, 1966) ****

Genre: American pop 

Places I remember: Greg Knowles gave his copy! 

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles/ Gear costume: Last Train To Clarksville/ This Just Doesn't Seem To Be My Day  






Active compensatory factors: Wow! What a year for music 1966 turned out to be: Pet Sounds, Revolver, Roger The Engineer, Takes Off, Freak Out! and then in October - The Monkees!!!

Yes, I'm still on a Monkees high after their recent Auckland concert (great 2019 version of The Last Train To Clarksville was a clear highlight btw).

Their debut holds up amongst that 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.

Where do they all belong? I'm gonna buy me a dog. Yes, sir!

The door into summer (The Monkees) (LP 310)

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

Genre: American pop 

Places I remember: 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 by The Monkees - a group that makes riotous irreverent fun of things AND sing great songs. 

As a result, I have this album bought for me, my first LP, from a local shop in Three Kings, Auckland. Many years later Greg gave me his vinyl copy and I bought a CD pack of five Monkees albums from JB HiFi.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Pleasant Valley Sunday




Gear costume: Most of the rest, although perhaps not Peter Percival Patterson's Pet Pig Porky 

Active compensatory factors: 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!

Where do they all belong? Back in the day I would expand outward from this base camp with The Hollies, The Small Faces, and then, in 1970,  I got The Beatles Hey Jude album for Christmas and life was never the same again. But for a brief time in 1968, the world was Monkee coloured and I was a daydream believer.

Sunshine, ragtime blowing in the breeze (The Monkees) # 289

The Monkees  Valleri/ Tapioca Tundra (RCA, 60437, 1968)

Although The Monkees were a band, it's well known that they didn't play much on their early stuff.

By 1968 this was less true. 

Valleri from 1968, and their fifth album The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees, featured a lead vocal from Davy Jones and little else from the other fab four, but the B side was heavily a Mike Nesmith song.



It is a little random, isn't it, that I have this single of The Monkees, because it's hardly one of their big hits - there are plenty of those to choose from. But, instead, I have Valleri.

Isn't that pretty much what happens in collections though? Over time weird things that you may not even like creep into your stuff and settle down for a quiet life. Seldom, if ever played... just loitering around with intent.

Hidden gem: The B side is a Mike Nesmith vehicle. He wrote it, provides the lead vocal and is responsible for the whistling, percussion, electric guitar and acoustic guitar. It's rather wonderful too!