Heart and Soul - 5/5 My favourite song from the album. This is a great 80s rocker in my opinion and Micky sounds really good. Some info about the writers of this song: Andrew Howell was in a band called Blanket of Secrecy along with this album's producer Roger Bechirian. Simon Byrne had previously been in a band called Gringo and released a solo album in 1986 called Dream Crazy, which Roger Bechirian and Andrew Howell were also both involved with, and he also worked as a session musician in the 1970s (apparently he's the drummer on Brotherhood of Man's Save Your Kisses for Me).
'Heart and Soul' is almost certainly the best track on Pool It. Seen in the context of the album, it comes out sounding really good. But seen in the context of The Monkees' major hits, 'Heart and Soul' comes out as rather average - possibly on the high side of average, I'm not sure. Micky supplies a strong vocal, but it isn't really one of his more traditional Monkees vocals. Bringing The Monkees' brand into the '80s is certainly interesting, but in this case it only seems to have made it as far as 1984 or '85 - it already sounded dated by the time it was released. Nonetheless, all things considered, it's pretty good; it just isn't outstanding.
I missed out completely on the 20th anniversary Tour 1986 release. Oh, well. I was lucky enough to have seen them in August 1986 (in Holmdel, NJ), and the AC clip brought back some good memories. Thank you for that. 'Heart and Soul' - I remember when this video premiered somewhere (I'm guessing it was not MTV). I couldn't wait to hear it. I enjoyed the video (especially the beginning where they are being thawed out), but the song was and still is a disappointment. Not close to the level of 'That Was Then - This Is Now.' Even so, it's still one of the better songs on Pool It! Sigh. 2/5
Agree with everyone who says Heart and Soul is the best track on the LP. I actually prefer That Was Then to it and listen to that track more now than this one. I would have said 4 back in the day, but a 3 now as I never really go back to it. The song itself was good enough to have charted higher then and at the time I was happy for full LP of new Monkees music. Now however after Good Times! and even Justus, the way either of those LP's were created would have been the way to go. The group needed to do more than just sing other peoples songs. They needed to be a contained unit, like Justus (regardless of the mid 90's sound) or get some outside writers, some original tunes, play some instruments, do backing vocals for each other and so on. Pool It has none of that and it shows.
Fred - This was not the first time MTV did this. Back in 86 while Micky and Peter came in to film their video DJ's for the day, unbeknownst to the guys, MTV had thousands of fan mail for the Monkees in another room they were about to dump in the trash. I was there that day while they filmed their segments and when we learned of this we tried to take as many of the large mailbags as we possible could handle and was able to sort through for each of the guys to give them on our next visit with them. MTV knew this was a flash in the pan and figured it wouldn't last but they wanted the ratings so they kept it going for a while until they got bored. Heart & Soul - 4/5 - Great follow up to That Was Then single and had this been on a major label, the song would have gotten more airplay on the radio. Great track and unfortunately lost in the swamp of Pool It.
I'm not sure I've ever listened to Pool It all the way through, ever. While I was introduced to the Monkees with "That Was Then, This is Now", and loved all 3 "new" songs at the time, by 1987 the Monkees had started to drop out of the public eye, and the only time I remember seeing this LP at a store I was put off by the cover (hey, I was a kid - snap judgments came naturally. In a reversal, the appeal of an LP's cover art is what got me to buy Brian Wilson's solo debut a year later, an album I'm still irrationally fond of 30 years later). Anyway, point being, I'm going to use this thread as an excuse to intently listen to every song on Pool It. Now, "Heart and Soul" I know a bit better since it's appeared on comps, and I've always liked it. Yes, it's very generic-80s in its production - I could imagine it appearing on many other artists' albums around the same time - and it seems to run out of ideas by the time they get to the acapella break, but overall it's a solid song with a catchy chorus and a strong vocal. A strong 3/5
I will have to listen to a majority of the Pool It! songs as they come up since I really don't pull this out to listen to very often, like once or twice a decade. Some I know well enough to rate, and one I will refuse to listen to as it is the worst Monkees song ever heard publicly (any guesses what that is?).
Heart And Soul - 4/5 I would have liked to have heard this get the "Sixties pop" treatment a la That Was Then This Is Now on the 50th anniversary tour, etc. I believe that several of the musicians who played on Pool It! also contributed to Belinda Carlisle's Heaven On Earth at the same time. So I find myself hearing a little of Heart And Soul in the title track to that album as well as I Get Weak. Micky sounds great and the harmonies - some of which, I believe, are him - sound really great, particularly in the lead-up to the second chorus. But it's apparent from the start that Davy and Peter aren't singing and it's a bit of a bummer that they went right back to the same mode in the Sixties. For all its faults, Justus at least had the good fortune of them fully interacting on each others' songs. This was a great video, too. It should have launched them to another top 20 single but the MTV business/politics really sunk them.
Heart and Soul is 3/5 It’s a good one, I like it, would have rated higher if the others were singing on it It’s interesting to me how the Monkees personally always went for a very contemporary sound, even in the 60s, as well as the 80s onwards. I guess the problem is that it worked against them or maybe they couldn’t pull it off without more investment in time and collaboration. They finally did on Good Times at least. I’m pretty sure Pool It was recorded very quickly before the start of the 87 tour, and it shows in the lack of feeling of collaboration and personal touches to the final product
I remember riding my bike to a record store five miles (and two towns) away, with a pocket full of quarters, dimes and nickels, having scraped together the $1.69 or whatever a single cost in 1987, to get Heart And Soul on pink vinyl on the day of release. Ten miles on the bike on a hot summer day, just to hear the new Monkees song. I was 13. It’s tough for me to separate the reality of Pool It! from the excitement of the time. There are quite a few songs on the album that I’m totally sentimental about, and I’m sure I value them more than they probably warrant.
Yes, H&S is a very very weak track IMO. I have never liked it. A very very low 2/5 from me. Weak melody, weak lyrics and weak production.
HEART & SOUL When I first heard it, I didn't like it at all. But now, I find it a highlight of the 80s recordings. And the video is superb as well. 4/5
Excited to be on Pool It! now! I definitely disagree with the notion this is their worst album, I’d say that’s Changes for me. Anyway, Heart And Soul is a 5/5 for me. I absolutely love this 80s banger. Great opener.
I wasn't knocking the man at all... I was jokingly knocking the album as I think everyone else understood.
