Agreed... Hard to Believe is easily one of my favorite “Davy songs,” and I am not much of a Davy fan at all. He aings his a** off on that one. Could’ve easily been a hit single.
I generally don't mess with the first 4 albums...other than slight re-ordering of the track line-ups. They're classics.
This post may be superfluous with the usuals on this forum. I'm sure the fanatics here already know, but just in case a few of you missed it: it's mid-Dec 2018 and there are lots of newish Monkees posts on the wonderful Monkees' website: Monkees Live Almanac, mostly related to the Christmas Party CD release. I'm happy to hear that the Monkees Party release is getting some good press. I like it more and more with each listen. I have one comment for the MLA post on 12/12, Micky told Kyle Meredith in a recent interview that there are about 60 Monkees-era related songs that are not yet released! I thought this actual number might be much lower. I'm assuming this would include some reunion work, such as Justus and so on. Who here can provide some insight or more details on this? I would have guessed there could be maybe a dozen tracks tops.
Sometime I think Micky might forget that some backing tracks have been released on the Deluxe sets. I don't think I know of 60 (don't have Andrew Sandoval's book here at work), but there are at least a couple of dozen.
Ah, that could be, Bob. That makes sense that Micky could be forgetting some of the exact number. I know a few unreleased songs are simply backing tracks. I have Andrew's book, but it is never handy when I want to check it out again. Thanks!
I was about to start a thread on this! If he's close to accurate with that estimate, that would be AWESOME. Heck, even if he's way off and there are only, say, 15 songs that have never been released in any way, shape, or form, that would still be AWESOME. What I would love to see—and this'll probably never happen, but a boy can dream, right?—is two more Monkees albums: one containing whatever unreleased material remains (from the '60s, the Justus sessions, whatever), and one more new one á la Good Times!, though ideally with at least a couple songs written by Mike, Micky, and Peter.
I seriously doubt that Micky has some real knowledge on this. For years he always said there are absolutely no tracks left over/ everything is released. While at the same time Andrew Sandoval released all those gorgeous Handmade deluxe albums including lots of alternate takes etc (did Micky ever really listen to those releases?). Now it's kind of vice versa: Andrew says nearly everything is now out there that's worth a commercial release and Micky is talking about all those still unreleased stuff. Maybe he is just talking about those instrumental masters which were released on "The Monkees Present" or "Instant Replay" Handmade deluxe editions...
Or he is talking about the recordings done while first coming together as a group that were never discovered, until Mike cleaned out his attic and found them, along with the Snuff Garret sessions... I jest about finding them, but that was a story in Andrew's book.
No idea really, but Micky's own comment may be incorrect. I was thinking there were just a few backing tracks left over and various demos at most. I guess in time, we shall find out.
Great interview with Micky Dolenz with Gilbert Gottfried, really covers his career. #238 Micky Dolenz
This podcast runs over 1 hour and a half, but definitely worth the listen. I had to break it up in 3 listens. They cover a whole lot. Micky's comments about riding the elephant on Circus Boy were among the weirdest. Anyway, give it a listen.
I hope to get to the Zilch podcast by this weekend. So much Monkees' stuff going on and so little time, just before Christmas!
Drop "The Day We Fall In Love" and it is a really great album. I tolerate "Laugh" *sometimes.* I used to really despise "Laugh," but I like it more after hearing the version where Micky and Davy goof on it. I think the goof version should have been released as it reminds me of "Gonna Buy Me a Dog."
I like She Mary Mary Steppin' Stone I'm a Believer Otherwise, the rest is crap. Although, I can sorta stand Sometime In The Morning and The Kind Of Girl I Could Love. A little.
Those are all great but so are The Kind of Girl I Could Love and Sometime In The Morning ... wish the latter could be remixed.
I don't absolutely hate "Hard to Believe", but one thing I *don't* like about it is that it's basically a "solo" Monkees track and kind of ruins the vibe of an otherwise "group oriented" album... I know they weren't in full on band mode for "PAC&J", but they were still working together in the studio, and "Hard to Believe" kind of undoes that...
This "Laugh" is the version on the More of the Monkees Deluxe set that was released within the past year. Maybe you heard it already? I think if they had released the goofed version between Micky and Davy it may have worked better than the more proper original release. Easy to say now, but since I see this track as a throw away or novelty song, as I feel it works better being "goofed on."
I've never cared for "Laugh" either, but yeah, you're correct: It does come across better as a "goof"...
I remember reading a Peter Tork interview in Goldmine in the early 80's where he said there were no unreleased tracks. Man, that couldn't have been more wrong. But from Peter's point of view, I imagine that his knowledge was limited to just stuff he worked on.
Thanks for sharing this! The goofing is better and totally appropriate, but I still think it's just not a well-written song. Whereas "Gonna Buy Me A Dog" is (in my opinion).
