Like others I feel that this is a fun little song and appropriate for Pete's voice. The screaming sounds odd. Is it real? The backing vocals are good too. The trumpet (?) solo sounds good. It is a trumpet is it? 3.5/5
Yes, the trumpet is real. In fact, my brother in law who’s a professional trumpet player and was in Tito Puente’s band knew the trumpet player in the Monkees 1986 band.
3/5. In my opinion, the only organic song from this entire era of The Monkees. Glad it was one of Peter's.
The screaming is definitely real. I saw them in '87 and the screaming was absolutely insane. Like, '60s levels. Except for 40-something men. It was a different time.
Remember that a lot of young, female fans who got introduced to the Monkees through the reruns on MTV attended the shows along with the original fans, and many of them are still fans today.
I haven’t heard it that much and I’ve already insulted Peter enough on this thread so I won’t vote. Gettin In is gonna be a good vote though.
MGB GT Always nice to hear a Peter song and it's a car song too which makes it something a bit different. Light and enjoyable. 3/5
I’m taken aback that there were so many lukewarm responses to Live 1967. As we are by and large Monkees fanatics, it’s surprising to hear so much bagging on the performance quality. It’s long been accepted that Micky had limitations as a drummer early on – and that Peter’s pitch and vocal quality could be suspect at times. That doesn’t even include the other crucial technical considerations: 1. It was early days as far as live recordings went. 2. The noise level of the audience was as bad as a Beatles concert. 3. The technical set-up was handled by TV crew members in lieu of a road crew so there was bound to be a haphazard element to things. Now, in direct contradiction to that, my first listen at age twelve was certainly perplexing. I had never heard a live recording, much less an actual Monkees performance. I was shocked at how different it sounded from the actual studio recordings. But, as I learned more about their arc as a performing unit, I’ve come to love it more. In fact, I think it’s a nice accomplishment for a unit that had only been performing for just about a year, with no organic development together. Every member has a fair share of clams dropped in the performance but I find that Micky was more fluid and confident when drumming live. He sounded strained and tentative on Headquarters but, ramshackle as they can be, the fills on You Just May Be The One, Sunny Girlfriend and Forget That Girl are fluid and confident. I do wish that Nez’s guitar sound was more prominent or sounded better but I think that’s in part down to his chording style and the fact that at least one of the dates – as another poster noted – was the makeshift acoustic 12-string. I have to admit that I would much rather listen to this than the Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl. Whereas the Beatles sound tired and over it all on that recording, the Monkees sound energized and up for the task. Were they a better live band overall? Of course not. But this is a far more engaging album for me to listen to, warts and all.
"MGBGT" was going to get a 3 from me but the mix of the crowd noise is just too much for me. I know it's a live recording and all but c'mon, keep the screaming low in the mix then bring it up at the end. That makes an otherwise good, organic (as others have mentioned) song that might be the most Monkees type tune they released in the 80's a bit hard for me to enjoy more than once a year. 2/5
MGBGT gets a 4/5 for me. - Fun document of the 86 tour - Original song /as someone said it's the most organic of the entire 80's monkees era -Not a bad tune Too bad there was not more time for putting together the Then/Now lp new tracks. This would have fit in well as a "new" track (replacing Kicks?) and given the guys a little credibility with an original song.
5/5 for both the live and the solo versions of MGBGT. Love love love it. I actually prefer Peter’s solo version.
Today we will discuss the album 20th anniversary Tour 1986. Although this was issued under the names of Davy, Micky and Peter, I presume that nobody will mind us discussing it in this thread as it documents a Monkees show. It may well be the best live release for the group and it kicks off in cracking style with the energy of three of the biggest hits. I think that’s probably to the detriment of the rest of the recording though as the energy can’t quite be sustained. The band is mostly pretty good, but the keyboards date some of the songs. Pleasant Valley Sunday didn’t require such a synthy arrangement, That Was Then sounds several levels cheesier than the single release (which I didn’t know was possible! ) and Shades of Gray is probably the low point of the show. The vocal harmonies are off and the tempo is too fast. I think the fact that this was a CD rather than DVD release helps, as the 80s really was the decade that fashion forgot. All three members looked preposterous on occasions due to the hair, clothes and exposed armpits. With the benefit of hindsight, the screaming and adulation from the crowd for three middle aged men is somewhat ludicrous. It does though add to the atmosphere of the recording and reflects one of the most important periods in the group’s history. 3.5/5.
20th Anniversary Tour 1986 I had this on a cassette copy from a friend. I played it a lot all those years ago. It's a fun live album but I rarely ever listen to it now. I'm sure I have a CD copy somewhere. I think it an enjoyable release for its time. I do get tired of the screaming in live concerts, which is usually why I limit how often I listen to these. I'm rating it more for how I felt about it all those years ago! 4/5
Posting the tracklist to the double album as reference: Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork – 20th Anniversary Tour 1986 A1 Last Train To Clarksville A2 A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You A3 (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone A4 Cuddly Toy A5 Goin' Down B1 That Was Then, This Is Now B2 Shades Of Gray B3 Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow) B4 No Time B5 Daydream Believer B6 Listen To The Band C1 Pleasant Valley Sunday C2 I Wanna Be Free C3 Your Auntie Grizelda C4 She C5 For Pete's Sake D1 Randy Scouse Git D2 I'll Love You Forever D3 MGBGT D4 Valleri D5 I'm A Believer D6 (theme From) The Monkees Youtube:
20th Anniversary Tour 1986 -- 4/5 I'm docking it a point for the dated arrangements of some of the songs, and for Davy's Ethel Merman voice creeping into stuff like "I Wanna Be Free" -- but as a document of this tour, this album really couldn't be any better. It's well recorded and captures the vibe of those shows perfectly. Agreed completely that an album, rather than a video, is the preferred way for this tour to have been officially archived, as the visuals are really horrifying.
