Semi-OT: Re the 1986 revival, a "brief period" it was indeed, but while much has been said about the falling out with MTV in early 1987, my memory is that in the beginning prior to the reunion, there was all kinds of buzz about the Monkees, but by the end of the summer, while they were still popular, it had kind of started winding down. I remember reading about Nez joining them at the Greek Theater, but I didn't even know about it until I saw a single paragraph at the bottom of an entertainment column in the Chicago Tribune, a week or two after the event. I wonder how much the MTV fiasco had to do with the popularity decline. I also imagine "Pool It" would have been much more successful had it been released in 1986 instead of 1987.
I don't think Pool It! would have been successful no matter when it was released. The best thing it had going for it was the song and video for "Heart & Soul".
Don’t fully recall, since they came through my town just once, albeit for two sold out shows, in August ‘86, but I seem to recall the tour being extended and moving up to bigger venues when it all took off after the MTV push. Did it extend into the fall? By some estimates I’ve read, it was the biggest tour of 1986. I’ve to research actual data regarding attendance, dollars grossed, etc., but have never been able to find much. There were other big tours that summer: Dylan with Petty and The Heartbreakers, Bob Seger had a big summer tour, Billy Joel went on tour in the fall, and both the Grateful Dead and Jimmy Buffett were always massive draws. But the Monkees ‘86 tour was THE surprise hit of the year. It wouldn’t shock me if it ended up being the biggest tour of the year, but at the very least it had to be right up there. Things cooled off a by ‘87 for sure. The show was still in reruns locally every day, and I think Nick at Nite was showing it as well, but once the tour ended the momentum slowed. I remember “Heart and Soul” getting some radio play here (Milwaukee), and the ‘87 show here drew OK, but it was a much lower turnout, in a much bigger venue, than the previous year. Shame, since I thought the ‘87 tour was the better show.
Today’s song is Talking to the Wall: Another cover, this time of a fairly rare Bill Chadwick tune, and I think it’s an improvement on the original. Red Rhodes’s contribution adds an awful lot, and it also helps that it is one of the shorter songs on the album (even though it is still considerably longer than the original). A good performance and arrangement from Nez of a not great song. A low 3.5/5.
"Talking to the Wall" -- 3.5/5 This is a minor gem on this album. Not as great a song as its original flipside, "If You Have The Time", discussed probably hundreds of pages ago...but the Nesmith arrangement kicks it up several notches, and his vocal is wonderful. Like most of this album, it's got a spacey, moody vibe, but by this point in the album, I'm kinda looking for something different which never arrives. Because of this, I think it's interesting to hear these songs out of context and rate them individually. It's possible that Tantamount To Treason in its entirety doesn't equal the sum of its parts.
Talking to the Wall - 4/5 Very catchy melody and memorable in my book. This is another one of my favorites on Tantamount. This tune seems more commercially accessible than most of the rest. More straightforward as an arrangement.
A nice vocal and a decent, restrained arrangement for a perfectly good song. But there's nothing particularly memorable about it to me and it doesn't really seem to jibe with the rest of the album and its weirdness. 3/5
Talking to the Wall - 5/5 I totally agree with RobRoyF on this one. Great track and wondered why RCA didn't consider issuing this as the next single. Nez's arrangement is much better and more emotional than Chadwick's original which ironically was produced by Nesmith. Must be Nez knew when producing this song it was a winner and considered one day to record it himself.
Talking To The Wall - I absolutely love this song. So glad Nesmith kept it in the "family" by covering Bill Chadwick's tune. Mike and Bill have such a long history together, and I'm pretty sure that Chadwick liked Nez's take on his song. I would play this song constantly off the album. Red Rhodes backing adds the right amount of spacey spookiness to it. Another mini-classic from 'Tantamount'. 5/5.
My original favorite tune from the LP, as I took to it right away, now eclipsed only by Wax Minute but it remains a 5. The only way to get the songs you wanted to hear, without those that you did not, was to put them on a cassette. This song was on the cassette I made and lots of times when I am now listening to a record, the song I put after on my cassette pops into my head instead of the next track from the LP since at one point I listened to my homemade cassettes that much more.
Talking to the Wall-- I find this recording/song mesmerizing. 4.5 out of 5 It's a distant cousin of "Of You"
I was at an August show and at a December show. At least in Baltimore, there was no drop off in attendance or enthusiasm for the Monkees. The crowd in August was mainly original fans mixed with some new fans, the crowd in December was mainly fans from the MTV era.
Thanks, I was pretty sure the tour kept going and moved to bigger venues. I’d read elsewhere it was the top grossing tour of ‘86, just never found hard data to back that up. Makes the fast fade in ‘87 surprising, but backlash (for the same old reasons), MTV’s abandonment, and a weak new album, all contributed I guess. It makes the comeback of the past decade, and increased critical reassessment in some quarters, all the more amazing though. Nothing like the ‘86 mania, but somehow more satisfying? To me at least. I think Good Times, and having Nez back, really helped.
I think 1986 stayed strong. It was the ‘87 tour that saw things drop off. In ‘86, there were two shows at the WI State Fair, sold out, somewhere between 25,000 to 30,0000 people. The next summer, they played a 24,000 capacity amphitheater and drew, if I recall, 6000 some? The lawn was empty, and it wasn’t full under the roof either. Respectable, but they could’ve played smaller, indoor theatre gigs instead.
"Talking to the Wall". Probably my favorite cut on this LP after "Lazy Lady". The prominent use of Red definitely helps, but in general it's a beautiful vocal and strong arrangement. And yes, keeping it to a tight 2:58 doesn't hurt. 4/5
“Talking to the Wall” is a gorgeous tune I occaisonally forget is there, until I hear it again. It’s a more conventional song than most of what’s on Tantamount, so maybe that’s why I sometimes forget it, but it still has one foot in the cosmos, and some trippy sounds at the beginning. Love the interplay between Nez and Red on their guitars. I agree with Sally that it’s somewhat reminiscent of “Of You.” I also think this is one track that could’ve fit nicely on the FNB albums. 5/5 for sure.
I was 13 in '86 and the difference between 1986 and 1987 when you're that age may as well have been 15 years. For example, the two classmates I saw the Monkees with in July 1986 were, by the following summer, wearing either denim vests with Megadeth back patches or Adidas jackets and Beastie Boys t-shirts, and they both seemed more than a little embarrassed about that whole Monkees thing that had gone down only months before. And I've suggested before that some good old-fashioned ageism was in play. The '86 comeback was generated through images of 21-year-olds being wacky and cute on the beach. By 1987, it was based on 42-year-olds with no shirts on in the pool. I mean, my dad was 42 in 1987! Anyway, I love "Tantamount" and it's probably my second-favorite Nesmith album. Weird Nez is the best Nez.
I have occasionally read where people compare the Monkees revival to that of the Three Stooges in the late 1950s, with their old films discovered by kids on TV, who then went to see them as old men on stage. And like the Stooges, the Monkees might keep going until they drop -- which they kind of have, and beyond.
I have often read that it was the highest grossing concert tour of 1986 as well, but I have no figures. The 1986 tour was originally only supposed to go into September in the U.S. and then do an international leg (hence the title "20th Anniversary World Tour") but wound up being extended with dates added into December. I agree that 1987 was a better (MUCH better) show than 1986. I think a key difference was that in 1986, the show was largely following the format of the 1984-85 Happy Together Tours, only with the Monkees as the headliners instead of the Turtles. (The pre-recorded intros for the opening acts even made reference to the Happy Together Tour.) In 1986 the Monkees had three opening acts, and after intermission they did about an hour long show, mainly a greatest hits type of show as part of an oldies package tour. In 1987 it was a lot more elaborate, a longer, more fleshed out show (not to mention more theatrical) with a much more representative set list.
