Lazy? That's even better for you, because googling is actually less work! "Did this sell out yet?" is 18 characters. "Monkees blu-ray" is only 14 characters You get your answer and exert yourself less. It's the best of both worlds!
Look at it this way: I'm sure you'll be among the first individuals to receive a NON-damaged box (well, hopefully anyway, unless the carrier manhandles it)!
With 10,000 sets produced, I would think this will take a year or so (perhaps longer) to sell out. None of the Rhino Handmade CD sets sold out very fast. Trivia question for a Monkees expert out there: which Handmade set sold out the fastest? Was it Headquarters Sessions, or Birds, Bees & Monkees? I would assume it's one of those, because Head and Complete 1967 Concerts took a while before selling out. (I was out of the loop with regards to Monkees happenings when Headquarters Sessions came out, and I regret missing out on it. I have no idea how long it was available).
BBM was the quickest to sell out. However, I think HQ sessions is more sought after. Glad I got both of them.
I would like to see this too -- didn't John Hughes say on Facebook that it would be included? There is a site out there similar to the one with the HEAD script (including deleted scenes) where someone had got a hold of the original script for the pilot, included scenes that were different and commented on the differences. It was very interesting. Of course, I can't find it now. Among the differences (as I recall), the man-on-the-street interview appears later in the show (ever notice "Rudy" and "Mr. Russell" in the crowd?), and the lady who is helped crossing the street is a recurring character and her charging for her services becomes kind of a payoff gag. The Monkees characters do come off somewhat less sympathetically (as I recall). Also, the girl on the beach who says Vanessa has a make-up exam is the daughter of Rudy, the Monkees' manager. I'd love to see it some day.
I've been watching the series in order, the first time I've seen them since the 60s on black and white TV. Last night was episode 9, The Chaperone, and this episode really picks up the pace with more sight gags and laughs in general. It's so much fun watching these anew in chronological order.
Taking a critical listen to the 1969 "Monkees On Tour" soundtrack. I'm fairly certain "Steam Engine" and the tag featuring "Words" were flown in from a video tape, with the rest of the soundtrack from the remaster. I was hearing some pops in "Steam Engine" and realized I recognized Hi-Fi tracking noise. It's very minimal, but it's there. Listen during the song's fade for a couple hits. You may also notice the first thing Mike says after ("Well, since we took over the radio station...") is slightly different aurally from the following dialogue, it sounds slightly louder and hissy. I was recording this on Audacity and I noticed also a slight channel imbalance on the song and that line which returns to normal right after as well.
I've also heard that the opening drum hit of "Steam Engine" is not on the blu-ray, but it is on the original Saturday morning/syndication repeats. If true, perhaps the audio for that track was flown in from the Monkee Business LP master tape (first pressing), where the drum hit is also missing.
You are correct. (Not sure about syndication in the 1970s, but definitely MTV and post-MTV reruns.) I kind of doubt that. It doesn't sound bad enough to come from Monkee Business (which also plays too fast). The first pressing of Monkee Business was the first place I ever heard "Steam Engine." I thought it was a fairly good song but it didn't impress me much. Then I heard it on the soundtrack of the "Monkees On Tour" episode when MTV showed it and I thought, "why doesn't it sound like that? I have got to get a copy of that version!" It became one of my favorite Monkees songs.
That makes sense and I am familiar with the phenomenon you're describing (I run into that problem every time I try and transfer anything from VHS to DVD-R). That could be -- maybe Andrew and John might discuss sources used for some of this stuff somewhere down the line.
Found it! This is by Melanie Mitchell, author of Monkee Magic, the book about the TV series: Facebook »
What I'm saying about the audio for this version of the episode proves to me that the audio is actually is what was airing in 1969/syndication and not brought in from a master or other source. It sounds like the song was taken from a video tape, and the dialogue right after the song was also from the same video tape. That would have to be a recording of the episode itself. The opening drum beat thing, I hope someone turns up a personal video tape from the 80s for confirmation one way or the other.
While I don't have a copy of the syndicated version of the concert episode, this is from a collector friend who does: The drum hit at the beginning of "Steam Engine" is there on the old airing. I don't even have to check. You hear it while the guys are laughing at Nez's "your chickens are dead" comment. I know that clip well. So, maybe the producers of the blu-ray set lifted the song from a video tape, but used a portion that was too short (thereby lopping off the opening drum hit). Interesting observation nonetheless, minerwerks. From what you're saying, it looks like Rhino went the "Frankenstein" route after all.
They did finally put a proper studio transfer of the TV mix out on Missing Links Vol. 3 (i.e. not from a crappy tape recording of a TV airing of the CBS rerun).
Micky was responding to the question asked in the letter by Leonard T. Kretchlow (I am guessing at the spelling) Mike was reading (At precisely 7:35 in)
Thanks for the link! (That's how I remember the episode to sound (apart from the time compression the clip seems to have been hit with) . The blu-ray is different?)
Yes, the alternate music/audio track for that episode is missing the initial drum hit at the beginning of the song, suggesting Andrew didn't have access to the DME (dialogue/music/effects) track for that episode and had to insert "Steam Engine" within the original 1967 audio track with "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" instead of doing what was done back when the CBS versions were first created. Which is a shame since Missing Links Volume Three has the exact mono mix version from a master source used for the CBS versions.
