I’ve come to believe that looking for older, obscure records especially from other countries is more like the thrill of a treasure hunt than anything else.
That feeling of hunting down a really rare or just plain weird looking pressing from some small country that may or may not sound as good as a more common pressing from say the USA is something that can get under your skin and before you know it take hold of your psyche in a very non rational way.
I mean really, what on earth is it about records from other countries that gets under a collectors skin? Is it the unique cover art? The sometimes alternate track listing or alternate mix? The sound of vinyl from other countries? The groovy different record labels?
Well, it’s all of the above my friend, at least it is for me.
Take for instance todays blog post. If you’ve read any of the previous posts than you know I’m a sucker for all things Monkees or Beatles; especially vinyl. The more obscure or rare the better. A slightly different alternate mix or record cover and I’m all over it like a fly on … well, you get the picture.
Today I’m taking a look at three fairly obscure foreign pressing of Monkees records:
“The Monkees” – a mono pressing from Venezuela
“Headquarters” – a mono copy from El Salvador
“Headquarters” – s stereo copy from India
I’ve acquired all three of these pressings in the last few months with the “Headquarters” from El Salvador landing at my doorstep just this past week.
First off, I have to say that while all three of these pressings are fairly obscure here in America they aren’t full of alternate mixes or truly different covers (the copy of “The Monkees” from Venezuela does have a different rear cover though). They do however have great labels featuring the black RCA label common to foreign pressings which does check off a couple of marks on my want list.
I also have to add that while they aren’t all in mint condition all three sound really good! I’m guessing they all come from plates made in the States and even “The Monkees” from Venezuela has the same matrix from mono US copies – TZRM-4687 and TZRM-4688.
The only one of the three that has a bit of surface noise is the Venezuelan pressing and even that has nice strong bass and clarity and sounds just the same as a mono US copy.
I guess the thing that really drives my near obsession with Monkees vinyl is the fact that during the 1970s and early ’80s there was precious few new Monkees vinyl on the market and finding used copies of the original Colgems US albums was hard at least for me. Seeing as how I couldn’t drive in the ’70s, by the time I could drive used copies around my area were scarce.
Fast forward to the current Internet age and the availability of used Monkees albums is a common thing. I am just fascinated by looking up Monkees albums on ebay and when I come across an interesting foreign copy for a decent price I love to add it to my collection.
Of the three albums above I really love the Indian “Headquarters” as it has the beards cover on the back and the fact that I’ve never seen any other India pressings, it’s a real fun one to own. The El Salvador pressing is also amazing to me as I never even knew that Monkees records were pressed in El Salvador so having two unique pressings of “Headquarters”, one in stereo and one in mono, is really great.
An earlier post of mine that highlighted the mono copy of “The Bird, The Bees & The Monkees” also from Venezuela that features the ultra rare US mono mix so I’m hoping to find some more unique foreign pressings with mix differences. If I find any, I’ll be sure to post them here.
As you can see from the photos above and below, these foreign pressings are fun to look at and hopefully I’ll be featuring more on the near future.
That’s all of now.
Until next time, be healthy and well and see you soon!
Records, CDs and Music: 