Monkees reform

[Lew Stringer]

No Nesmith,means that you lose the country tinged stuff.

Shame that.

This article about Mike Nesmith appeared in yesterday's Mirror:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/201 ... -22966741/

"While Michael was a 13-year-old schoolboy, Bette invented the typewriter correction fluid which would later become the Liquid Paper empire, before her business was sold to Gillette for £30 million."

[stevezodiac]

And they kindly told all the locals who he is (he'd managed to keep his identity secret) so that now wherever he goes in Carmel everyone will be bothering him with Monkee type asinine small talk. "My Gaad, I loved the Monkees tv show - you should all get back together and make some more - do you still have that woolly hat?"

[NP]

"While Michael was a 13-year-old schoolboy, Bette invented the typewriter correction fluid which would later become the Liquid Paper empire, before her business was sold to Gillette for £30 million."

See, typical Daily Mirror, don't they know she didn't 'invent' it, she 'discovered' it? How long must we put up with this shoddy jouranalism?

[NP]

The Beatles actually released very few tracks from albums and, astonshingly, didn't release one track as a single from Sgt Pepper or the White album which was a double. Also none from Rubber Soul and only one each from Revolver and Abbey Road.

And none from With The Beatles or Beatles For Sale, despite All My Loving, It Won't Be Long, Eight Days a Week and No Reply loitering on those two albums, and that's just for starters! But, remember, in the Sixties, choice album cuts were released as EPs with glossy covers, often different to the LP cover, and some Beatles EPs did make the singles chart (in particular the two which contained brand new material, of course), and the Twist and Shout EP even made No2 in the charts, right behind She Loves You!

If we count EPs as 'releasing cuts from an already-issued album', we find that Please Please Me, A Hard Day's Night and Beatles For Sale each had 8 of their 13 or 14 tracks put out again in the six months following their initial release, and Help and Rubber Soul both had 4. Interestingly, only 2 of With the Beatles tracks were on an EP.

In France, singles were virtually unknown, and 4 track EPs the norm, so they always issued material that was already out on LP. I had a very nice 'Michelle' and a superb 'Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, I'm Only Sleeping and For No One'. Who else remembers being 3'11" !!

[alanultron5]

NP "Twist and Shout (EP) reached No 2 on Melody Maker charts. No 3 on Disc charts and No 4 on the New Musical Express charts. It was the Searchers "Sweets For my Sweet" that was No1 when the EP peaked.

Beatles scored LP hits in both NME and Disc LP charts!! Yes! daft as it seems- they had hits in two singles charts with LPS! Last `hit` of this type was "The Beatles" (1968) no 20 in NME chart. Both "Strawberry Fields" single and "Magical Mystery Tour" Double EP topped the M.Maker chart. "Please Please Me" single was No 1 in NME, Disc, M. Maker, Pop Weekly and the BBC's "Pick of the Pops" charts for two weeks except `POTP` where it spent three weeks top, the third week shared with Cliff richard's "Summer Holiday"

[alanultron5]

The `Monkees` won three Uk `Silver` Discs in 1967. "I'm A Believer" sold around 750.000 (Fifth highest selling single of the year) follow up, "A Little Bit me, A Little Bit You" reached 300.000. And at years end, "Daydream Believer" (after a slow start) eventually topped 500.000.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

I remember years ago having a heated discussion about the nature of warfare with an ex-soldier I knew.

I came up with this outrageous comment;


If nuclear weapons can wipe man off the face of the Earth, then I am all for them.


.


The soldier came back with an admittedly brilliant response regarding the aftermath of Nuclear Armageddon:


'Have you ever seen Mike Nesmith in an apesuit?'

[stevezodiac]

From what I heard EPs were a way for the less well-off to get the albums in instalments. Alan will set the... er record straight but I think singles were 3/6 and albums were 12/6. EPs were probably 5/- so with your wages (which were probably about £5 a week in the early 60s) you could afford an EP each week without making too big a dent in your housekeeping money. I have quite a nice collection of 60s EPs including three by Buddy Holly.

[Niblet]

When watching The Monkees' TV shows as a kid, I was always surprised when the episode seemingly came to an end, but then a voice said 'we've got a few minutes to spare, so let's ask The Monkees what kind of girls they like' or some such inanity. I remember thinking 'why is The Monkees the only TV show that can't make the episodes the right length? This never happens on The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'

What I didn't realise at the time was that they used this device so that the cast could be seen in a less formal setting, in order that fans could feel they were getting to know the 'band' members, and the hope was that The Monkees could match The Beatles, whose reputation for off the cuff wit in press conferences is legendary. Sadly, The Monkees were lacking somewhat in this regard.

They did release some great music, though.

[steelclaw]

'Head'
is a weird album.
I do like a lot of their stuff.

[alanultron5]

The "Pisces. Aquarius" album is a beauty! I heartily recommend it!

Eps were rarely cuts from Albums `Steel` it is those Beatles ones that make people think this was the case! The three Stones ones were all `new` material! "Ready Steady Who" all new and so on!

The drawback is fidelity! Because they crammed on up to 7 mins a side (a lot had three tracks per side) the `oomph! to use jargon was compromised! Just check out "I Want to Hold your Hand" original single against the same cut on "Beatles Million Sellers" EP Big! Difference"

The first EP chart was in Melody Maker 15 Nov 1959 and the MM one ran to 1st May 1963 (A Top ten). The only other EP chart was the `Record Retailer` Top 20 offering from 23 March 1960 to 23 December 1967. It reduced to a Top 10 in late 1966 (I have exact figures on file).

Ep's themselves faded in 1968. In Feb 1969 when the new `official` BMRB charts took over the BBC "Pick of the Pops" listings, the BMRB would not admit them and so to get around this- the Record companies came up with `Maxi Singles in thinner cardboard sleeves! First `Maxi` was on `Dawn` (Via the `Pye` group) by Demon Fuzz. First chart entry for a Maxi Single was Mungo Jerry's "In The Summertime" which was avialible as a (much harder to get now) single!

By 1976 the BMRB eased their bar on EPS! Lesson over!

[Power fan]

I do remember seeing one of the Mungo Jerry number 1 hits (mostly issued as maxi-singles) as a standard single, I should have bought it! I believe that they were made specifically for juke box play.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

I like the ' Monkees' Porpoise Song' [or title along these lines] NP; I'm too lazy to look up the CD cover!

A bit of a ripoff of 'I am the Walrus' by a 60s group whose name escapes me......but still pretty cool kitsch from the '67 period or beyond.


Monkees were the first 'proper' manufactured band [by showbiz suits] and I preferred their choonz [written by some big names by all accounts] to today's manufactured stuff, which has spawned modern atrocities like the 'act' that is Jedward.

Even the sub-par, throwaway tracks from the Monkees have a certain endearing charm, seved well by ever-expanding archive releases from Rhino Records.

The DVDS of the Monkees shows [also put out by Rhino] are prohibitively expensive though, even in 'duh States'.

[steelclaw]

I have all the Mungo Jerry Maxi singles, but haven't got the normal single for 'In the summer time'

In May 1971, the group's third maxi-single, 'LADY ROSE' was temporarily banned by the B.B.C because of the inclusion of 'HAVE A WHIFF ON ME'. It was withdrawn and 'SHE ROWED', a track from the band's second album, 'ELECTRONICALLY TESTED' was substituted for 'Whiff'

[stevezodiac]

Among my EPs is this curio. Its not an EP but one song is so long that it continues on the B-side. I'm not a Dylan fan but probably picked this up for a few pence knowing it would be of interest to a Dylan collector. Its a French pressing.