"The porpoise is waiting" - HEAD by The Monkees: 50th anniversary

I bought the LP the day it was released.

 

Do it for all the other movies that will also blow your mind in HD...but mainly Head.

 

The set is loaded with great extras but I couldn't get into the Jaglom movie on there; it makes less sense than Head if that's possible.

 

I meant all the other films in the world.

Regarding Jaglom's film, I think it was a fine product of it's time. I think I liked it better than Nicholson's. It's been a while since I've watched either.

But I watch Head at least once or twice year. It's glorious in HD.

 

Curisoity question: Since the single got zero airplay and was tough to find in stores, how many were aware that there even was a long version of Porpoise Song? And was anyone who was a Monkees fan in '68 actually able to see the movie?

 

I've watched the movie fairly regularly for 33+ years, and it literally gets better EVERY TIME!

 

It actually did get airplay in some markets. It entered Billboard's Hot 100 at number 89, jumped up to 62 the next week, and stayed at 62 for 5 weeks before falling off the chart. The fact that it stayed around that long definitely means there was airplay somewhere. I know for a fact that it charted in Miami on one of the AM stations, because I've seen the surveys. I imagine it got automatic orders in some stores as they were still considered a safe bet for sales at that point. Think about it -- when "Porpoise" was released, they hadn't really had an out and out flop yet. Their last single, while not a huge hit, made the Top 20, and their previous album made #3. I've seen enough used copies of "Porpoise" over the years to lead me to believe that sales were a wee bit stronger than one would think.

 

Just had my first listen today over Spotify due to its rep. I have no Monkees albums but I was shocked at how much I liked the opening sound collage and the Porpoise Song. It's one of my favorite psychedelic songs now. Most of the other tunes were good to great. Will be investigating the catalog now.

 

The closest sound to that album would be the 4th album: Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, and Jones LTD.
I would suggest listening to that album next.

 

There's a definite bell curve trajectory to the Monkees' albums. The first couple of albums contain some great stuff, because Don Kirshner definitely knew what he was doing, but they're prefabricated pop confections featuring the Monkees.

Headquarters and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. are more homegrown efforts, rougher in terms of instrumental performance but there was a passion behind them.

The Birds, the Bees & the Monkees was something of a backslide; the guys realized that Don K. had the right idea about using session players, because they could get the tracks down a lot faster. But Mike Nesmith, especially, hadn't lost his adventurous edge.

Head is half an album, padded out with sound collages, but Jack Nicholson made the sound collages so that should count for something. Song for song, some of their best work.

Instant Replay and The Monkees Present are hybrids of two sad circumstances - Peter had left the group, throwing off the band's balance, and the group was limping to a halt even though their songwriting chops were generally improving. And Colgems was dusting off outtakes to pad out the LPs.

Changes is barely a Monkees album. Davy Jones described it as an Andy Kim album with his and Micky's voices added. Not entirely without merit, but the magic was gone, and the musical style doesn't sit easily with the rest of the catalog.

 

Mmm...I'd say 'Birds'.

 

Realistically, the most consistent sound of the band is actually country-rock, which is present (somewhere) on nearly all their albums. What you hear on Head is a one-off, unless you count the weirdness of the album that precedes it (Birds & Bees).

 

"Birds" really is a schizophrenic album. That said, IMHO there is only one sub-standard track: "We Were Made For Each Other". It's just so moon / June, and the arrangement doesn't help.

 

I heard most of Head on the Monkeemania compilation around 1984. The collages were missing and the tracks were in a different order (and it was the other version of Circle Sky) but I could tell it was worth having. The tracks that were on the 2 Monkees CD box sets were also a confirmation. When the CD came out (was it around 2008) I got it as soon as I could find it. Still have it and I still like it. But it was really the end of the Monkees. The album is different than anything before or after, though I agree with SJB's assessment that Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. is the closest thing to it.

 

Credit where it's due, @BobT said that, I just quoted him. I think the two albums are similar in quality, but not necessarily in sound or style.

 

The flaw in this logic is that is implies that "The Poster" is not sub-standard. Right from the intro (played on what sounds like the unholy offspring of a Farfisa organ and a U-boat klaxon) that song rubs me the wrong way, and a rival group had already arguably cornered the market on circus poster songs. The "take me seriously because I'm poignant" strings don't help much either.

Anyone going for The Birds, the Bees and the Monkees needs to track down the deluxe Rhino triple set. Enough outtakes there to compile a superior album. The deluxe Head, however, suffers from a dearth of material. A big stack of alternate mixes of the same half-dozen songs. Worth having for the hardcore fan, but it's a hard go in one listen. And then they went and put the 33 1/3 Revolutions per Monkee sessions on the deluxe Instant Replay? Inexplicable.

 

Agree on the ranking of that version of that track however if the Chip Douglas produced version of WWMFEO were to have been placed on the LP, it would have made the whole LP experience better. That version is a true gem and one of the best songs the Monkees ever did in my opinion. Definitely one of Davy's best. Another curious decision by the powers that be at the time Sandoval called it a "dramatic pop stunner with some country flavor" and he is absolutely correct.

 

Yes, but I don't mind "The Poster". It's one of the weaker tracks on the LP, but nowhere near the schmaltz that the version of "We Were Made" is.

 

I like all of Jones' tracks on Birds, don't mind either. Jones' anti-psychedelia tone dressed in heavy psychedelia production is interesting to me.

I do like the country version of WWMFEO better though.

 

About 77. I was hunting for the late albums Head and Changes and found Head in the Dearborn library. Taped it.
I was entertained by it although it was musically quite short. I didn't see the film til a few years later in a college movie night. I seemed to be the only one among the 20 people attending who "got it".
I have the Rhino LP and the CD.

While I actually like the dance routine with Davy and Toni Basil I will take Mike's vocal anytime. Davy is just too cute.

 

I think til the day he passed, Davy loved to get the straw hat and the cane out and do the rat tat tat thing. Maybe it was the English Music Hall tradition. I'm glad I waited to see the Micky and Mike show for my first Monkees show. Davy's stuff just faded away from me over the years.

 

Davy was a song and dance man. That was HIS long suit. I like about half of his stuff a lot. Maybe a quarter I skip. In a lot of ways the Monkees were a country/vaudeville/folk/rock group, in other words something for everyone. Considering Harry Nilssons Monkee tracks Cuddly Toy works with Davy because he plays 180 degrees from the subject matter(a Hells Angels gangbang). It does NOT work on Daddys song without the song and dance routine. Give Davy and Toni props for a great dance. She is a hell of a choreographer. But Mikes "old timey" vocals work so much better audibly. Davy's is OK, but just.

 

That can be said about nearly everything Davy sang. Both Davy’s excessive “cuteness,” and when there’s a Mike version of the same song you should opt for that one.

Having said that, I have always liked “Daddy’s Song” no matter who sings it.

 

On Head in the Monkees Blu-ray collection, Mike discusses the song in the commentary. He says he was game to attempt the "Daddy's Song" dance sequence, but came to realize it suited Davy better. Mike said something like "for me it was aspirational. For Davy it was vocational." The bonus disc in the Blu-ray set includes two uncut versions of the dance number - one in the black suit and one in the white suit, without the seizure-triggering rapid edits back and forth.

 

Welcome to the rabbit hole!