Confessions Of An Over-Obsessed Monkees Fan

Perhaps many Fufkin readers and music fans alike have pondered this particular question at some point: At what point does being a big fan of a particular group and collecting their releases become ridiculous? Well, the other day, I think I discovered the answer to that question: It's when you own more post-breakup albums by that group than you do their regular albums.

Case in point: A few days ago, the Monkee fan in me just had to spend his hard-earned money on the newest Rhino collection, The Best Of The Monkees, a recent two-CD collection (actually really just a single disc collection, but more on that later) of songs I've already collected many times over. Why do I do this?

The Monkees released nine studio albums from their 1966 debut up to Changes, their 1970 swan song (or ugly ducking). Add to that list two reunion albums, one in 1987, another in 1996, a few live sets, three archival Missing Links collections, and two specialized multi-disc releases (Live 1967 and Headquarters Sessions.)

That's a lot of Monkees music, isn't it? Hang on, we're not even nearly through documenting their American releases yet. And that's because we haven't yet looked at what accounts for a large percentage of their American discography.

Though I'm no expert on the releases of Elvis Presley, I offer The Monkees as likely candidates for the award for Most Repackaged Group Of Rock History. Their material has been collected and recollected in upteen anthologies, many of which just in the last decade or so. It seems there's always a new Greatest Hits or Best Of being shipped to the stores, all covering roughly the very same tracks. It's ridiculous!

And what's even more ridiculous is...I tend to buy almost every one of them! I probably have more Monkees discs on my CD shelf than I do of any other group, including most of those collections. It's true...If fifteen friends of mine asked me if they could borrow a copy of "Last Train To Clarksville," I could probably simultaneously loan out CDs to all fifteen, and still have a version for myself.

And why? Why do I shell out for another batch of repeats? It's because there's usually a specific hook to pull me in, as we'll see:

The first-ever collection of previously released Monkees recordings saw release in June 1969. The Monkees' Greatest Hits was released by Colgems Records, who saw their clients fading off the charts and tried to milk the cow dry while they could by reselling their old hits. They even left anything past March 1968's "Valleri" off. That had been their last big hit, all subsequent singles placing lower and lower on the Hot 100, and Colgems' omission of all of those tracks almost read like "Yeah, we didn't like those songs either." Later the same year, the label offered Golden Hits for anyone who sent in the proper number of Post Cereal boxtops. This collection came about because of Post being a sponsor of The Monkees' television series, which in late 1969 began airing in reruns on Saturday morning television, aimed at children.

Before Colgems folded in 1971, they gave it one more try and unleashed Barrel Full Of Monkees, a two-record overview of their career. By 1972, Colgems had for all intents and purposes, morphed into...Bell Records, and before the staff got used to the new name, a whole new collection, this time back down to one disc, hit the racks, entitled Refocus.

Okay, so it's only two years after the group stopped making new music, and already there are four hits collections out there somewhere.

We fast forward to 1976. The Monkees are hot all over again, thanks to the show being revived on rerun channels across America, thanks to new interest stemming from Micky and Davy's concert tour with Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. And anyone watching the show that year no doubt saw at least twice during a half hour period a commercial for The Monkees, a two-record set (a measly five per side) released by RCA/Laurie House, covering all the A-sides, the better B's (including a few harder to find ones, making it at that point the most thorough collection thus far) and an album cut or two. Not to be outdone, the Arista-Formerly-Known-As-Bell took the Refocus collection, created a new cover, and rushed it out as The Monkees Greatest Hits. (Those of you who have already lost count of the number of collections might instead want to count just the collections with that title!).

This is where I jump on board. "The Monkees Greatest Hits" was a much-appreciated birthday present the day I turned seven. It was the first Monkees record I ever had, and it was great to be able to play those songs I heard on television whenever I wished. I do confess to crying the day the record fell out of the cover I was holding, hit the hard floor on its edge, and broke.

In 1979, Monkees collections got serious. That was the year of Monkeemania - 40 Timeless Hits Of The Monkees. True, it wasn't an American release, but enough copies of this Australian package made their way to our country's record stores to make it seem like it was. But for the first time, a Monkees collection that didn't appear to have been thrown together in one afternoon. Forty whole tracks (and even half of a forty-first). All the singles. Numerous album cuts. A decent helping from those later years that the other collections pretty much wrote off. Unreleased tracks. Extensive historical notes. Full detailed discography, group and solo. Sure, we know now that the essay is chock full of factual errors, but back then this set was the difference between a peanut butter sandwich and a buffet lunch. In 1980, it was the birthday gift I hoped for the most...did get. This time, I made sure not to let the records fall out of the cover and break. Twenty-two and a half years later, they're still in one piece.

The next few years were spent seeking out copies of the original albums, greatly helped when Rhino reisussed the later ones on LP. I passed on Arista's More Greatest Hits, and still don't understand the point of Rhino's Monkees Flips, but I appreciated their set of hard-to-find tracks, Monkee Business.

But then of course came the 1986 revival, and with that came, naturally, new collections. The most popular one was Then And Now, The Best Of The Monkees. But oddly enough, I didn't buy it at first, despite a few alluring factors...three new songs, and, even more amazing to this geek's ears, "Valleri" with a complete ending instead of a fadeout! Just had to have it, right? Of course. But eventually, an additional allure came to the fold...the expanded Compact Disc version! A chance to hear all these songs in clean fidelity (okay, a bit of hiss on that disc, but still way better than my crackle-infected albums).

In 1987, I therefore naturally had to get the Arista discs of the first two albums, and I did likewise for the 1989 editions of the next two. Upon learning the subsequent CD of More Greatest Hits had a different mix of "The Girl I Knew Somewhere," I wanted to snag that too. Then in 1991, Listen To The Band, a four CD box set, soon found its way into my home, desired for a few previously unreleased tracks as well as some freshly remixed oldies. Then in 1994 and 1995, Rhino reissued all nine of the original albums on CD, all with bonus tracks. Guess who got all nine? (Thankfully, they came to the radio station I was working for at the time, and the music director let me keep them). But I couldn't throw out the older versions because each had some remixes exclusive to them. A 1995 Rhino Monkees Greatest Hits collection? Well, never before has the single version of "Pleasant Valley Sunday" been available on CD, so I'm snagging it. I passed on Barrel Full Of Monkees, not a CD issue of the 1971 album, but a new collection of Monkees tracks, chosen with children in mind, but I took a risk and bought 1998's double disc Monkees Anthology. Smart move, what with that never before heard mono mix of "You And I" and the alternate version "Mommy And Daddy," similar to the bonus cut on the Monkees Present reissue, but here with the full intro.

And then Rhino sucked a few bucks out of me with I'm A Believer and Daydream Believer in 1999, two budget-price collections containing, mostly, previously released tracks, but each with one vault-pick making its official debut. And having decided one box set wasn't enough, Rhino assembled The Monkees Music Box, another four CD set, again with a whole lotta repeats but necessary for my collection because of a few remixes and outtakes thrown in.

2002 brought another budget release...Monkees Essentials. Well, I had to get that one, but for a different reason...my name was in it (I assisted Dawn Eden in her research for the essay, and she kindly gave me a note of thanks.)

Which brings us to this past week when The Best Of The Monkees crept into the bins of record stores everywhere. Disc One presents the usual songs you'd find on a single-disc Monkees anthology, but I still bought it for Disc Two...a karaoke disc! This Monkees fan doesn't want to be without the original backing tracks, does he?

I don't know Rhino's next plan to snag my money, but they'll think of something.

So let's see just how bad I am: If I decide I want to hear The Monkees singing "I'm A Believer," how many sources does my personal record collection provide?

The original 1966 single.

My Colgems mono copy of More Of The Monkees.

The copy I had before that, which got too scrtached to play, but for some reason kept even after I replaced it.

The Rhino reissue LP from 1986.

The 1987 Arista CD of More Of The Monkees.

The 1995 Rhino CD of More Of The Monkees (which has an additional alternate take)

Monkeemania - 40 Timeless Hits Of The Monkees.

Then And Now - The Best Of The Monkees.

Listen To The Band - The Monkees Box Set.

Monkees Greatest Hits. (the 1995 album of that title)

Monkees Anthology

I'm A Believer.

The Monkees Music Box.

Monkees Essentials.

The Best Of The Monkees. (original and karaoke versions)

1966 (Time-Life various-artists collection)

Plus four different live versions from 1967, two 1969 television versions. SHOOT ME NOW!!!

Please excuse me...I'm going outside to get some fresh air before it's too late.

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