Well over at Forgotten Hits as well as their e-mail newsletter they have gotten me to thinking about alot musically. Mostly they have gotten me to wondering what popular album cuts should have been released as singles. Many fans know them as well as the hits. Now Kent of Forgotten hits has said that She should have been a single. I agree and while it wasn't released in the USA as a 45 I believe it was overseas. As Kent said Words was released as an A side but quickly became the B side when Pleasant Valley Sunday proved to be slightly more popular and this gave the Monkees a double sided hit. Also they mention I Wanna Be Free as it was a popular song on AM radio back when it first came out. Enough recap of that now I am here to tell you what I believe should have been released from the albums. Forgotten hits has already covered the first two tunes.
First is the Monkees first album. I think they got it right with only releasing Last Train to Clarksville. Since it was #1 in the USA that goes without saying. If I had to chose any song as a possible follow up it would have to be Saturday's Child written by a young David Gates, Take A Giant Step or maybe, and it is a longshot, I'll Be True To You.
More of the Monkees was their second album and as She was mentioned above it isn't included here. However, Mary,Mary should not have been passed over either. Others are Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow) and the one I can't believe they missed was Sometime In The Morning. That is the song that could have let only radio listeners know the depth of Micky Dolenz's singing.
Their third album was Headquarters and the one that finally showed how well they could produce their own music. Nearly every song is worthy of hit single status but for some reason no single came forth in America. I won't include Randy Scouse Git as it was released in Britain. For me the two stand outs are Forget That Girl, with Davy's best vocal performance in my opinion, and can anyone believe they never released For Pete's Sake as a 45? It is a brilliant pop tune co-written by Peter Tork that sums up the flower child generation of the 60's and a wonderful vocal performance by Micky. To top it off since it was the closing theme of their sit-com in the 2nd season it was given more exposure then any of their songs as it was on TV once a week that year. This could have been one of their biggest hits. Another big hit could have been the song called Band 6...just kidding. No I think Shades of Gray should have been a single. Pop tunes were getting more introspective at that time and this would have been a great way to show the Monkees music was starting to grow up.
Their fourth album, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. also had a lot of potential hits. The biggest ones that I believe should have been released are She Hangs Out and Star Collector. They were played almost every other week on their TV show. Others that may have been hits are The Door Into Summer and Love Is Only Sleeping. Actually I heard that Love Is Only Sleeping was to be released but it was taking too long to re-mix and Daydream Believer was already done so that was released instead. Love Is Only Sleeping was to come out later but it was never released.
Their 5th lp, Birds, the Bees and the Monkees is really the weakest of their first 5 albums and the hits here are Daydream Believer that came out before the album and Valleri. They are the best songs on the album. The only possible other 45 could have been Tapioca Tundra. It is an odd little tune but it's catchy and enjoyable.
As you can see the Monkees could have had a lot of other hits. I wonder why Colgems never released them?
2 comments:
As you mentioned, a number of these LP tracks were released as singles in other countries ... and quite successfully in most cases. You've nailed some of the most obvious ones that most certainly would have been hits here had they been given the chance. (As I mentioned in my original piece, had COLGEMS taken the same approach with THE MONKEES that CAPITOL RECORDS took with THE BEATLES when THEY first hit our shores back in 1964, I believe that THE MONKEES EASILY could have had 25+ Top 40 Hits ... instead of the 13 they ended up with ... as such, their musical supremecy during this period looks greatly diminshed in retrospect ... the truth is you couldn't turn on the radio back in 1967 and NOT hear a MONKEES song!!! That, coupled with the repeated airplay of many of these tracks on their television series, made MOST of these LP cuts as familiar as the most popular songs in the country.)
Off their first four albums (all #1LPs) I would have to select the following:
THE MONKEES: The only bonafide Top 40 Hit released from this LP was LAST TRAIN TO CLARKSVILLE, their debut #1. As hot as they were at the time, I WANNA BE FREE most certainly would have followed it into The Top Ten. (BOBBY HART told us that, although I WANNA BE FREE was PLAYED as a "single" on the radio, it was deliberately held back to boost up album sales.) I believe that THEME FROM THE MONKEES and the novelty track
GONNA BUY ME A DOG ALSO could have been Top 40 Hits. "Maybes" from this album include TAKE A GIANT STEP (issued instead as a B-Side), SATURDAY'S CHILD and I'LL BE TRUE TO YOU (which would have made a nice follow-up DAVY ballad to I WANNA BE FREE ... and was already a proven hit for THE HOLLIES overseas.)
MORE OF THE MONKEES: Without question, SHE would have been their follow-up #1 to the seven week chart-topper I'M A BELIEVER. In fact, THAT B-Side, STEPPIN' STONE, would have been a Top Ten Hit, too, had it not had to compete for chart space and airplay with the stronger A-Side. MARY MARY ... Top Ten without a doubt!!! LOOK OUT, HERE COMES TOMORROW ... for sure ... yet ANOTHER great NEIL DIAMOND composition done by the band (and, I believe, stronger than his A LITTLE BIT ME, A LITTLE BIT YOU, which was issued as the follow-up single instead.) I'm glad you spoke up about SOMETIME IN THE MORNING, one of my ABSOLUTE all-time favorite MONKEES tracks ... GROSSLY overlooked. A GOFFIN-KING classic that's NEVER been given its due. And, believe it or not, PETER's vocal cut, YOUR AUNTIE GRIZELDA, was a hit in foreign countries, too!!! (Another personal favorite from this LP was the NEIL SEDAKA cut WHEN LOVE COMES KNOCKIN' AT YOUR DOOR ... probably too short to be a single, but I've always loved the counter-melody by DAVY on this one!) Incredibly NO singles were released from HEADQUARTERS ... this was by design as that was the trend at the time. (Witness THE BEATLES' milestone, SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND!) As the first LP produced by THE MONKEES as MUSICIANS, it's an AMAZING "first effort." FORGET THAT GIRL is one of MY all-time favorites, too. SHADES OF GRAY was played as much as most singles in The Top 40 at the time. I'd also cast votes for FOR PETE'S SAKE, NO TIME and RANDY SCOUSE GIT (a #2 Hit in England as ALTERNATE TITLE!!!) EXTREMELY strong LP tracks include I'LL SPEND MY LIFE WITH YOU, YOU JUST MAY BE THE ONE, I CAN'T GET HER OFF MY MIND, MR. WEBSTER, SUNNY GIRLFRIEND and EARLY MORNING BLUES AND GREENS. (Heck, that's virtually the WHOLE LP!!!) In hindsight, HEADQUARTERS just may be their SECOND strongest album ever!!! (I say "second" because I believe that distinction belongs to PISCES, AQUARIUS, CAPRICORN AND JONES, LTD ... one of the best LPs of the '60's ... though it rarely on anybody's list!!!) SHE HANGS OUT, CUDDLY TOY and WHAT AM I DOING HANGIN' 'ROUND ALL were worthy of Top Ten Single Status. THE DOOR INTO SUMMER, LOVE IS ONLY SLEEPING, DAILY NIGHTLY and STAR COLLECTOR are all stand-out LP tracks. (One of my PERSONAL favorites from this album is the oft-overlooked gem DON'T CALL ON ME, shades of what was to come from MICHAEL NESMITH as a solo artist!) Just doing a quick count, that brings the total (counting their 13 REAL Top 40 Hits ... and a couple of others that SHOULD have been: PORPOISE SONG and LISTEN TO THE BAND), along with their comeback hit THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW and another shouldabeen, HEART AND SOUL ... to somewhere around 31 (not counting the "maybes"!!!) Would we REALLY have bought all these singles??? As hot as they were at the time ... if spaced out appropriately enough ... and issued with Picture Sleeves ... I'm guessing that we WOULD have ... or at least MOST of them!!! We honestly just couldn't get enough of The Pre-Fab Four. Once the TV Show was cancelled, their airplay was virtually shut off like a faucet ... and it took every bit of ten years before it was cool to play a MONKEES song again. Today, their biggest hits are ALL over the radio ... you hear them EVERY day. Some of these "shouldabeens" deserve some airplay once in a while, too ... they're ALL deeply embedded in our hearts and brains ... just wish oldies radio had the courage to play them. (Catch that awesome WIZARD OF OZ message there?!?!?) Anyway, GREAT job RICK ... keep up the good work!
Kent Kotal / Forgotten Hits
Thanks Kent.
Sometime in the Morning is one of my favorites too and it was suppose to be played at my wedding.
I always liked the Monkees but was too young to get there records the first time. In 1976 I was considered not cool because I was buying them in second hand stores for $1 each. In 1986 when they came back in style the old records were selling for alot more and all the "cool" people wanted them. It saved me time and money sine I didn't care if I was cool.
Post a Comment