**Warning: The blog post may induce violent head shaking**
Ah, November!
With Halloween barely in view as it passes your rear view window and Christmas dead ahead like an iceberg you just can’t escape.
Take a seat my friends, while the world is talking turkey, let’s talk CDs.
Monkees CDs.
Monkees Greatest Hits CDs.
You see, since many people feel the holiday season is the greatest time of year, I was inspired to take a look at some greatest hits CDs, Monkees Greatest Hits CDs.
Since there are a dearth of Monkees CD hits collections on the market, I thought it might be fun to share some of the more obscure ones I’ve collected over the years.
Now I know that many people looking at this post may say why on earth do you need to buy the same songs over and over again even if they’re somewhat different or longer or shorter or whatever (hence the warning above).
As I’ve said before, I wish I could tell you lol.
All I know is that every time I run into a new hits set I have this overwhelming urge to add it to my collection!
Some of my favorites are in the photos above and below.
Of all the sets I’ve collected, I have a few that really stick out in my mind as being special:
- “Hey, Hey, It’s the Monkees 20 Smash Hits” – a German CD that was probably the first Monkees hits CD I ever bought. I believe it’s mastered from records so not the greatest sound wise but a good early CD memory
- A Japanese issue of “Then and Now: The Best of the Monkees” that only has 14 songs like the US vinyl version of this album
- “The Definitive Monkees” – a 2 CD German set that contains over 60 songs. The first CD has 29 hits and albums tracks and the second CD contains 31 outtake tracks from Rhino Records Missing Links CDs. Nice collection with a wide variety of Monkees tracks
- Probably the most common CD “The Monkees Greatest Hits” from Rhino Records but this copy comes in a tin case with a slightly larger booklet
- 3 CD UK set called “The Works” which has a terrific track selection but is a tad bit muted sounding. Good set but not the best sounding collection. It does have one of the most unique track selections so would be a good set for someone wanting a one stop shop collection of Monkees material
The three best sounding collections – my personal favorites:
- Rhino Records 2 CD “Monkees Anthology” with some nice treats like the mono version of “You and I’ from “Instant Replay” and the first issue of “Pisces, Aquarius” tracks from the master tape; Reader’s Digest 3 CD set called “Here We Come … The Monkees Ultimate Anthology” which has a great track selection as well as great sound; “The Monkees Daydream Believer” a UK Marks and Spencers CD that sounds surprisingly good (one of the best sounding Monkees hits CDs I own) and a nice oddball track selection that includes “Hard to Believe”, “Don’t Listen to Linda”, “You’re So Good to Me” and “Through the Looking Glass” which don’t feature on any other single CD hits collection.
So there you have it. Just a short look at some fairly rare Monkees Greatest Hits collections to keep you warm on a cool fall evening …
Until next time!
Records, CDs and Music: 