Let me take you back to the dark ages.  An age before cell phones, the Internet, Google and most especially an age before social media.

I know it may be hard to imagine now but once upon a time we old folks had to rely on the post office and physical media such as mail to get news of well practically anything. 

In my last post I took a brief look at The Monkees comeback in 1986 and inferred that it was a much different time to be a Monkees fan before 1986. The years from 1976 to 1986 specifically were what I would now call the dark ages in comparison to the instant world of communication we have in the modern world.

After my last blog post I stumbled upon a box of old fan club letters from the late 1970s/early ’80s and thought it might be fun to see what it was like to be a Monkees fan back then and how hard it was to get information about the group and its members without the media exposure after the 1986 Monkees resurgence.

During those Monkees desert years, as I like to call them, I was a member of three Monkees or Monkees related fan clubs:

The David Jones Fan Club

The Monkee, Boyce & Hart Action Club

The Monkees Unofficial Fan Club

When I first started writing to these clubs I was ten years old and I was a member of them probably until I was in early high school. Not only did you get the most current news on the by then solo Monkees activities but one also got to order older memorabilia cheaply as well as various photos, books and any other current solo group material.

I remember ordering Davy Jones 1978 UK single on Warner Bros. Records called “(Hey Ra Ra Ra) Happy Birthday Mickey Mouse”, Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz “The Point” MCA UK album also from 1978 (see both below) as well as Micky Dolenz’ 1979 UK single “Love Light/Alicia” on Chrysalis Records.

(Note: the “Love Light/Alicia” came cracked in half so I never actually heard these songs until the 7a Records CD issue of Micky Dolenz’ “The MGM Singles Collection”)

I even managed to get some audience live recordings on cassette from a complete Davy Jones and Mickey Dolenz appearance at Rum Point from July 1977. While very lo-fi I have transferred this show to CD and it sounds pretty decent actually. Micky Dolenz sister Coco also appears with them and it’s a fun listen.

(Note 2: see my earlier blog post called “Monkees in the ‘7o’s – Solo Monkees/Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart – Artifacts, Music ands Rarities” for photos I purchased from these fan clubs)

At that time is was also pretty difficult to track down Monkees records as well as they were out of print by then (barring the 1976 release of “The Monkees Greatest Hits” on Arista Records) and used copies were hard to locate as I didn’t drive at that time and my local record stores didn’t have much Monkees recordings to chose from as well.

The main thing I remember about these fan club newsletters is that they did a very nice job of keeping you up on Monkees activities new and old and I absolutely loved getting them. Back then there was really no other outlet for Monkees news as the teen magazines had long past left The Monkees behind and Rolling Stone type magazines ignored the group as they were seen as completely uncool.

It’s amazing to me how much the Monkee revival of 1986 changed not only The Monkees media profile but it cemented their stature in pop culture. They were no longer seen as untalented has-beens but a very talented group of performers who produced some of the best pop music of the 1960s.

Anyway, this blog was just a brief reminder of how much the Internet has changed the way people find information and how much of a lifeline these fan clubs were to Monkees fans of the late 1970s/early ’80s.

Take a look at the photos above and below to see some of the newsletters as well as some of the vinyl I got that was advertised for sale in these letters.

That’s all for now. 

I hope your happy, well and healthy. See you soon and I hope you’re enjoying the pre-summer sun!

Some years are much more memorable than others; for various reasons. Sometimes you hit a certain age or celebrate a special event or sometimes even a special anniversary makes that particular year special.

Take 1986 for example.

The year 1986 in my mind is most memorable for the return of The Monkees. It was then, and still is now, hard to fathom the return of a group who at the time was considered a relic of the 1960s. The critical view of The Monkees as 1986 dawned was that a TV show that featured a fake group of mediocre talent that featured bubblegum music for preteens.

That of course was not my opinion but my peers at the time did not have much of a favorable opinion of the group or the show and didn’t even give them a second thought.

In fact, my first year of college started in the Fall of 1985 and as I put up some Monkees album covers on the wall of my dorm I can still see the look of bemusement and ridicule as my then unknown roommate scoffed out of our room and mumbled something about Led Zeppelin.

I however didn’t give two cents about anyone’s opinion, then or now (pardon the pun), and carried with me a love of all things Monkee and ‘60s pop music in general. I happily studied under the glow of the covers of the first five Monkees albums covers on my dorm room wall that entire semester.

As it turned out I only spent just the one semester on campus and returned to a local branch of that college in my hometown. This was the spring semester of 1986.

I had no idea that the mercurial winds of pop culture would conjure up a full-blown revival of The Monkees and their TV show that would forever cement the group as a true pop culture phenomenon that touched several generations.

It all began innocently enough with a marathon of Monkees TV episodes running on MTV in February of 1986 called “Pleasant Valley Sunday”.  I of course was thrilled as I hadn’t seen the series in many years as it hadn’t run on any of my local television stations.

I had no idea that a reunion tour featuring Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones and Peter Tork had already been booked before this marathon so I was just basking in the glow of freshly recorded (on VHS tape of course) episodes of The Monkees series as well as reissue program of their albums on Rhino Records that had begun in 1985.

No one including The Monkees themselves could have anticipated the overwhelmingly positive response to the MTV airings which gave The Monkees 1986 reunion tour a boost that it never would have had if not for the MTV exposure.

MTV to those who weren’t there was THE place to see and hear music circa 1986. Starting in 1981, MTV became the major way to expose music and at that time it held a hugely powerful gripe on making and breaking musical acts of the time.

Little did the network know but their reruns of The Monkees television series would ignite a frenzy much similar to the group’s hottest year of 1967 in which millions of tickets and albums by The Monkees were sold and their concerts were filled with screaming fans.

I remember seeing in amazement the documentaries about The Monkees on MTV throughout the marathon and seeing the interviews with Dolenz in particular sitting in front of a set of drums talking about their upcoming reunion tour.

I was beside myself with the thought of The Monkees actually touring again after all these years; a twenty-year anniversary in 1986 seems so tame now that that is now well over thirty-five years ago.

What else could possibly make this Monkees renaissance better I remember thinking at time.

The answer to that question came in June of 1986 with the release of not only one brand new Monkees song (and single) called “That Was Then, This is Now” but two more new songs (“Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere” and “Kicks”) that were included on a new compilation album of Monkees hits called “Then and Now … The Best of The Monkees”.

Now to say I was thrilled to hear new Monkees music after nearly sixteen years would be a major understatement but the with that the single “That Was Then, This is Now” hitting the Top Twenty and the “Then and Now … The Best of The Monkees” album selling over a million copies I was over the Monkees moon to say the least.

Well 1986 was a long time ago but the fire created that year around The Monkees both as TV show and group still burns to this day as The Monkees are now considered in a much more favorable light then they ever were before 1986.

So today I thought I’d share some of my “Then and Now … The Best of The Monkees” vinyl and CD copies to highlight the 1986 reunion madness.

I recall that the vinyl release of “Then and Now … The Best of The Monkees” came months before the expanded CD issue. I bought the vinyl the second it was issued and remember being so happy that the three new songs were solid and good and loved hearing “That Was Then, This is Now” on the radio.

As The Monkees reunion tour progressed and became bigger and bigger the need for a second single grew larger as another new song would be the perfect way to keep up the momentum that had been generated so far by the MTV exposure.

Much to my surprise instead of the logical choice of “Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere” as a follow-up single a newly remixed and drum enhanced mess of a mix of “Daydream Believer” was issued instead.

Although unknown to me at the time apparently there was a lot of behind the scenes drama with Davy Jones as he refused to participate in the reunion recordings (a beef with Arista Records and its president Clive Davis) and didn’t want a second new song issued.

Of course while the new remix of “Daydream Believer” did get a lot of screen time on MTV and its sister station VH1 it failed to chart anywhere near the Top Twenty and did in fact dull some of the momentum of this magnificent Monkees come-back.

My two vinyl pressings of the “Then and Now … The Best of The Monkees” (below) show the two different variations of the vinyl album that were released. The vinyl in the below photos shows the version with the original stereo mix of “Daydream Believer” including its iconic “7a” intro while the one shown above is a later issue that substitutes the new remix sans the “7a” dialog.

I have included the matrix of each and the one with the RE-1 etched in the wax on Side 2 is the remix version and ones without the RE-1 contain the original mix. Interestingly the one above is actually a further variation as it has the RE listed on the Side 2 label but not in the matrix number and still contains the original mix.

The first issue of the album doesn’t contain the RE on either the label or matrix number.

I’m not sure that the “RE-1” pressing of “Then and Now … The Best of The Monkees” which I just recently located is from a record club version as it has no record club markings that I can see. I read that only record club issues of this on vinyl contain the remix so either this is a record club pressing or a further variation. Interesting either way and still a fun collectible.

I have also included pictures of the longbox from the first issue CD as well and photos of a Japanese issue on CD that mirrors the track listing of the original US vinyl issue with the same tracks that are on the vinyl version.

I also threw in a picture of a groovy ad for the album from Billboard magazine which is fun to see.

Well, that’s all for now. Just a quick overview of 1986 in Monkeedom and the release of the terrific “Then and Now … The Best of The Monkees” album.

As usual enjoy the photos and of course take care and be well.

Until next time I hope you have a great week and hopefully have some sunshine which has been sorely lacking in these parts lately.

See you soon!