Today my friends is where the rubber meets the road as far as collecting goes.

You may see this blog post and think, seriously? Boxes? Cardboard?

I see fun variations and cool differences.

It’s hard to see through a collector’s eyes unless you have this same affliction.

You see in my younger days I had a desire to collect all sorts of variations of the music I loved – be it different boxes or imported version or what have you. I still have that affliction to a degree but it has been tamed somewhat over the years.

Anyway, I thought it might be fun to take a look at some cool variations of The Beatles “Anthology” CDs that came out in the mid-1990’s.

The Beatles “Anthology”, for those who don’t know, was a series of TV programs and CDs and vinyl that was basically telling The Beatles story through their own words and music.

Instead of picking the well-known and loved hit studio versions of their work, for “Anthology” The Beatles chose to tell there story through rare and unreleased versions of their music including demos, live versions and studio out-takes both in audio and video form.

Plus there was the added addition of two brand new Beatles reunion songs “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love” that were created from unreleased demos by John Lennon in the late 1970’s which was a major selling point for the CDs.

For Beatles fans the “Anthology” sets and videos were a major treat and a rare peek behind the curtain of The Beatles and gave a great glimpse into their creative process and was the perfect way to stroll through their career.

For the average fan I’m sure it was somewhat of a puzzle as to why The Beatles felt the need to release all these out-takes instead of the well-known versions but I’m sure another reason they chose this route was to counteract all the terrific sounding unofficial studio out-take collections that were flooding the market since the late 1980’s.

So that brings me to the fun “Anthology” variations (see above) in this post today.

The three 2 CD “Anthology” sets came out in different formats for different retailers. Though the CD longbox was pretty much a thing of the past The Beatles “Anthology” CDs came out in not one but two different sizes of longbox for different retailers.

I’m guessing since there was such a buzz and huge sales for these CDs it must have made it easier for stores like Target to have these sets packaged in these attractive boxes which could be displayed easier and more prominently than just shrink wrapped CDs.

The cassettes were also packed this way but even I had a limit and didn’t buy the cassette longbox versions. Since I was firmly a CD guy at that point I stuck with the CD format boxes.

As you can see this was also around the time that dreaded stores exclusives came into vogue. Best Buy had a fun 4 CD boxset of Beatles interviews free with purchase if you bought “Anthology” from them (see above) and Target was offering a free keychain inside the longbox if you bought “Anthology 3” at their store.

(Note: I have never opened the “Anthology 3” box above so I have no idea what the keychain even looks like!)

I’ve also included above photos of two promotional copies of “Anthology 1 & 2” as well as a recent Japanese CD reissue of “Anthology 2” plus a promotional cardboard slipcase that holds the three regular CD issues of all three “Anthology” CDs that I absolutely can’t remember where it came from but it’s one of my favorite promo pieces from the whole project.

I know some fans don’t look as favorably at the “Anthology” sets or reunion songs as when they came out but for me I still really enjoy them and I especially still find the reunion songs very enjoyable and a quite fitting and poignant endnote to The Beatles career.

(Note 2: Recently all three “Anthology” sets were remastered but for download or streaming only. I really hope someday these upgrades will come out on CD and the Anthology series gets upgraded for Blu-Ray as well. I have my doubts it will happen but with The Beatles and Apple one never knows!)

So take a look at Collector Mania in action above and until next time be well and have a good week!

It’s been almost thirty years … unbelievable!

And we’re talking thirty years since a reissue not an original release.

What am I babbling on about (sometimes I wish I knew lol) you say?

Well, for all you MacHeads out there it’s been nearly thirty years since the first U.S. CD release of Paul McCartney and Wings’ albums “Wings at the Speed of Sound”, “London Town” and “Back to the Egg”.

How could it possibly be that long since these were re-issued? Whatever the case, time marches on and so today I’m taking a look at these three wonderful CD releases!

I have to say that these are three of my favorite Wings albums. Of course being the Beatle Geek that I am I ran out and bought them the first day they were issued which I believe was sometime in June of 1989.

I remember being quite excited as “London Town” especially has always been in the Top 5 of McCartney’s solo work for me. Not sure why but ever since I spotted this album on the shelves of a local Kmart store way back in 1978 I’ve been entranced by its music.

Now when I purchased these three CDs I was pretty happy with the sound but the booklets – that’s another story.

The weird thing about these first U.S. issues of these albums was that while the artwork looked glorious on the covers, the booklet inserts only folded open to two blank pages. Blank pages? Oops, where were the liner notes and credits?

Capitol soon realized their error and took these three CDs out of the shops and then reissued them with the proper booklets.

Another weird thing about these U.S. CDs is the fact that the artwork is much sharper and cleaner looking with much brighter colors than the corresponding UK CD issues. I also own the first issue UK versions of these CDs and the “Wings at the Speed of Sound” CD in particular looks washed out and bland compared to the colors on the U.S. issue.

There is also a difference in sound quality between the first issue U.S. vs UK CDs. The U.S. CDs have been treated with NoNoise which removes hiss while the UK versions were not. Thus the UK CDs are the better sounding but the U.S. versions were the better looking!

At the time I thought the U.S. CDs sounded okay but after getting the first issue UK versions I noticed an improvement in sound, the music seemed to breath and have more dynamics than the U.S. versions.

Here’s the other strange thing, the later reissues of these CDs also on Capitol are different to the first issues.

A couple of years ago I managed to track down later U.S. CD issues of these three albums and was surprised to find that not only was the artwork different on the booklets but the face of the CDs themselves was very different from the first U.S. issues. The later U.S. Capitol CD issues of these albums seem to be clones of the UK releases in every way.

I was surprised to find that they sounded much better than I remember the first U.S. CD issues sounding so it seems as if the later Capitol issues were complete clones of the UK CDs artwork and all but I’m not sure why they would do that unless they felt the UK were indeed better.

Anyway, as usual you can look at both issues in the photos above. The first U.S. issues come first then are followed by photos of the later Capitol CD issues.

To me the later U.S. CD issues sound really nice and not as flat as the first U.S. issue CDs. I may be wrong, it has happened once or twice before, but they sound pretty good to me.

There’s also some photos of the groovy longboxes the first U.S. issues came in which were only released in the U.S. as the UK didn’t do longboxes for their CDs.

Feast your eyes on some vintage Macca CDs and until next time be well and listen to some music on a purple afternoon on an imaginary street!

Good evening and Happy April!!!

Yes the sun is finally out and while it’s not summer it’s finally, actually Spring!

To celebrate, I want to share some results of an early Spring cleaning I did this week. Of course most normal people don’t find old records hidden in the closet while doing Spring cleaning but as is the norm for me I did!

Tucked at the back of a dusty basement closet I found an old, long forgotten box that held a ton of old 45’s that I hadn’t thought about in almost 40 years.

Among the pile of old superhero storybooks, old Scholastic books with records and a odd Booby Sherman record or two, I found four particular 45’s that REALLY took me back in time to some early memories.

You see in 1970 at the tender age of four my mother ordered these four records for me from a box of Kellogg’s cereal. Yes, you heard right a box of cereal.

The four records in question come from the Saturday morning cartoon that’s probably also almost long forgotten – “Josie and the Pussycats”.

Not that I remember every detail of the show clearly of course – it was 49 years ago after all – but I do remember watching “Josie and the Pussycats” on Saturday mornings along side the then new cartoon “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!”.

Both of these shows featured pop music and both shows also had records of those songs for sale which were offered on various Kellogg’s cereal boxes.

I don’t know why I never got the Scooby-Doo discs but I do remember getting these four “Josie and the Pussycats” records and playing them to death – or so I thought. I actually cleaned all four of these records and they still are surprisingly very playable. They actually sound pretty darn good in fact.

I hadn’t heard these tunes in well over 35 years but I was taken back by A) the fact that I remembered most of them and B) they weren’t half bad actually. Tuneful bubblegum pop with a hint of soul and sung and produced very well.

Now of course these aren’t tunes that evoke anything really “heavy”, to quote the times, but they are fun and tuneful and much like The Archies, another cartoon that spawned massively successful pop records, these songs are a lot of fun and do what good pop records do – they stick in your head like glue!

Trivia time-  did you know that one of the voices on these records belongs to none other than future “Charlie’s Angel” Cheryl Ladd then known as Cherie Moor?

There must be a cult following for these songs and the show because Rhino Records released a limited CD in 2001 called “Josie and the Pussycats – Stop, Look and Listen: The Capitol Recordings” that featured these songs and more through their Rhino Handmade Website.

Trivia bit number two – did you know that Bobby Hart (Monkees songwriter and producer) wrote some of these songs along with Danny Janssen? The pair also wrote some songs for The Partridge Family around that time as well.

Whatever the case, these 45’s were a blast to find again and fun to give a listen to after all these years. I’m truly surprised that they sounded as good as they did but I guess at even four years old I never totally trashed my records.

As usual take a peek at these records above and maybe it will jog some long lost Saturday morning memories  for you too.

Until next time, be well and stay groovy!

Well, since it’s been a long and somewhat irritating day I thought it might be fun to turn the way back machine, yet again, to what seemed like a simpler time.

Tonight I’m going to take a trip back to the late 80’s and early ’90’s, the dawn of the CD age and the digital era.

Hands up if anyone remembers the ’80’s? Good.

Now hands up if anyone remembers CD longboxes? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Well, if you don’t remember or weren’t there, CD’s at one time were packaged in longboxes from around 1985/86 until 1993.

Believe it or not at one time, because CD’s were considered hot items to steal, retailers wanted some kind of special package to be able to display and store sealed CD’s.

A) they were easier to display as stores were used to carrying 12-inch vinyl albums and B) they were harder to steal in these slightly bulky boxes

Plus they were full of colorful graphics and hype stickers and made it much more enticing to browse the CD section as the longboxes mimicked the Lp buying experience to a certain degree.

In one of my first blog posts here I did a quick overview of some of the CD longboxes in my collection but tonight I thought it might be fun to take an even closer look, this time focusing only on Paul McCartney longboxes.

(Note: yes I am somewhat of a pack rat but I consider these to be the CD era’s version of the picture sleeve and most of them are really fun and attractive to look at).

Some of my favorite Paul McCartney albums are present – “McCartney”, “Ram” and “Band on the Run” – and the last two I mentioned are even rarer than the others as the DCC CDs were pressed in limited quantities and were sold in selected stores as they were fairly expensive.

As you can see most of the McCartney boxes are pretty much variations of the original vinyl cover art but they’re really fun to look up stacked up along side of each other, at least to me anyway.

Since longboxes were only around for a few years and most (sane) people threw them out it’s fun to be able to see some of them and it definitely takes me back a few years which was just what I needed tonight.

As usual feast your eyes above and enjoy some of the colorful Macca cardboard that I have stored all these years for occasions just like this.

Until next time, Ram On!

Every once in a while a new Beatles book comes along that just knocks my socks off, so to speak.

This happened to me just this past week when the book “NEMS and the Business of Selling Beatles Merchandise in the U.S. 1964-1966” By Terry Crain arrived at my door step last Friday from Amazon.

You see as a die-hard Beatles fan it’s getting tougher and tougher to find a book about the group that covers anything new or interesting that hasn’t been done to death or been done better in a previous book.

By now it seems as if every conceivable angle or story has been written about The Beatles be it their life, music or whatever that whomever decides to jump into the murky waters of publishing a Beatles book must really bring the goods.

Well my dear blog readers and fellow Beatles fans out there “NEMS and the Business of Selling Beatles Merchandise in the U.S. 1964-1966” really does deliver the goods – in every possible way!

(Note: Even before I opened the book I was impressed as even the shipping box the book came in was full of Beatles stickers – see above)

I knew that the book was being worked on as a few months ago the author had contacted me on Facebook about a flyer that I found last year in an antique store that highlighted some cool Beatles memorabilia from the 1960’s.

I posted a photo of the flyer on a Facebook Beatles group and Terry Crain asked if he could use it in a new book he was writing about U.S. Beatles memorabilia and of course he would credit me in the book as well.

I had never heard of Terry before and didn’t really know what kind of book he was going to write but since this Beatles flyer I found was so fun I thought it might be nice to share it with other Beatles fans.

I had never seen the flyer myself and possibly many others may have never seen it either so what better way to share it than in a nice book  about Beatles memorabilia.

Terry did use the photo of my flyer (see above) and boy am I glad he did! Terry’s book, I can honestly say, is one of the best designed and most entertaining Beatles books I’ve ever seen and believe me I own quite a few.

“NEMS and the Business of Selling Beatles Merchandise in the U.S. 1964-1966” is a feast for the eyes with page after page of wonderful photos of not only Beatles U.S. memorabilia but photos from the time as well.

The book is also well written and gives the reader a nice overview of how The Beatles’ manager Brain Epstein, through is company NEMS Enterprises Ltd., made the deals for the sale of Beatles U.S. merchandise.

The Beatles U.S. memorabilia is so iconic and so tied into Beatlemania of the early 1960’s that this book really is a wonderful window into that far away world and the prefect way to experience (or re-experience) it without having to have shelves full of Beatles memorabilia yourself.

Really if you’re a fan of The Beatles, were there at the time or just want a glimpse into Beatlemania in the United States from 1964 to 1966, “NEMS and the Business of Selling Beatles Merchandise in the U.S. 1964-1966” is a must read and something you’ll treasure for years to come as it’s a great book to read over and over again.

In the front of my book it said the book was limited to 1000 copies, or at least this hardback version, so if you’re at all interested in seeing it for yourself grab one quickly. I can’t recommend the book enough!

As I said I found my copy through Amazon but you can also buy it online through: https://www.fabgear.company/nems-enterprises-ltd

Pardon me while I pull out a mono copy of “Meet the Beatles” and peruse this book one more time. In this Internet, social media driven world it feels like the perfect time to step back into 1964.

As usual take a peek at some photos of the book above.

And until next time, be well!!!

“UHQCD”? Hi-Res CD? Oh no, run, it’s another CD format.

Seriously, you may ask? (And rightly so). Aren’t CDs dead and on their way out?

Well, yes and no.

Yes CDs are in a death spiral in the U.S. but in Japan they are still a viable music format and sell quite well thank you.

Just what exactly is an UHQCD anyway and why should I care? Well my dear friends, I’m glad you brought that up.

According to the CDJapan Website (CDJapan is one of the top online sellers of Japanese CDs) the UHQCD was developed:

“… through an effort to improve audio quality by simply upgrading the materials used in ordinary CD discs to higher quality materials … these improvements made it possible for mass-produced CD discs to reproduce audio with greater precision.”

“Hi-Res CD is a high-fidelity CD which combines MQA technology and UHQCD format (currently available exclusively in Japan only) together for the first time in the world. With this combination, Hi-Res CD realizes the high-resolution and compatibility at the same time.”

(Note: From WhatHiFi.com: MQA stands for Master Quality Authenticated. It’s a method of digitally storing recorded music as a file that’s small and convenient enough to download, or even stream, without the sonic sacrifices traditionally associated with compressed files.)

Got all that lol?

The addition of the MQA technology supposedly allows the true sound of the master tape by using equipment that decodes it. I gather MQA was mainly developed for streaming but somehow these new UHQCD discs use the technology as well. (Don’t ask me how, I’m not quite sure).

Honestly even my head spins spitting out all this tech speak and I’m not that well-versed in it but this new format is intriguing to me, so obviously I bought a few samples. (I can never get enough CDs apparently!).

Anyway, UHQCD discs will also play in any CD player so naturally I thought why not buy a few? So I dipped my toes in the water so to speak and four of these beauties are now sitting on the coffee table in front of me courtesy of some Amazon gift cards.

(Note 2: I should never dip my toes in as I really like the sound of these CDs and that’s a good but mostly bad thing as I’m tempted to buy more!)

Last December several Ringo Starr and George Harrison titles were released in the UHQCD format in Japan and until now I was pretty much unaware of them as it was only in the past month I even learned of their existence.

The four titles I bought include Ringo Starr’s “Ringo” and “Goodnight Vienna” as well as George Harrison’s “Living in the Material World” and “Dark Horse”. These are all Japanese imports and not made anywhere but in Japan.

Now it’s not like I needed more copies of these albums but I’m always on the quest for “the best” sounding versions of my favorite albums and damned if I might not have hit the jackpot.

After listening to these UHQCDs they really sound very similar to the SHM-CD format. There’s a presence to the bass and drums especially that just doesn’t seem to come across on the regular CD pressings of these albums.

For comparison sake I played the songs “So Sad” and “Dark Horse” from the “Dark Horse” album from the 1992 Capitol CD, the 2014 regular CD version, the 2017 SHM-CD and the new UHQCD version.

For me the clear winner was the new UHQCD. As I said above there’s just a presence to the bass and drums and a warmth that seems to be missing from the other CDs I tested.

Actually the 1992 CD and the 2017 SHM-CD sound very similar. They seem to share the same mastering as the new UHQCD is taken from the 2014 George Harrison remasters as it has the same sound and the same bonus tracks.

The newer 2014 mastering is the clear winner for this album and the UHQCD just sounds better than even the 2014 regular CD which does come close but still lacks some of the presence on the new UHQCD. version.

The same thing goes for the songs from the other three albums especially “Living in the Material World” which sounds much better on the new UHQCD than even the SHM-CD though it’s very close to the 2014 CD version but still sounds better.

As for the Ringo CDs I’m not sure if these are new masterings or not but they are certainly better sounding than the regular CD versions on Capitol Records though the DCC version of the “Ringo” album may still be the best version out there though this CD sure sounds terrific and is very close in sound to that wonderful CD.

Again as I’ve said before when comparing these new CD formats the difference isn’t  night or day and may be as some have said a willful sonic hallucination but playing these CDs one after another sure does seem to highlight the sound of the UHQCD for me anyway.

Now of course you have to be somewhat of a rabid fan, or freak as the case my be, to even care about such comparisons but for the fellow freaks out there in Webland if you have a favorite album by either Harrison or Starr and are curious about how they sound give one a try and see for yourself.

As I said they’re available through Amazon, at the moment anyway, and can be ordered quite easily.

As always there’s photos above of the four UHQCDs. Notice the groovy plastic outer cover slip that goes over the CD case. It’s certainly something I’ve never seen before and must be common to the UHQCD format.

Until next time be well and enjoy spring and daylight savings time!!!

Welcome back my friends to the blog that never ends!

Tonight I thought it might be fun to take a look back. To readers of this blog that’s a shocker I know.

Anyway, with all the news lately about the impending death of CDs (and DVDs and Blu-Rays for that matter) and all the talk of how much money record and film companies are making from streaming, I wanted to go back and take a look at the very first CDs I ever purchased.

To do that I’ll have to turn the way back machine dial to January, 1986. I remember it well for you see it was in January of 1986 that I bought my very first CD player. It was a refurbished Magnavox CD player that I bought from the Maganvox employee store at a very good price.

(My dad had been a Magnavox employee and we could still get discounts there even though he had died seven years previously.)

Of course I had been drooling over CDs for over a couple of years but it wasn’t until 1986 that I could get one that was decent priced and boy do I remember being excited!

My older brother had bought a CD player in 1985 and I remember being amazed at how there were no cracks or pops in the music, you could program the songs and best of all they just sounded so nice.

Anyway, over the next few months I slowly acquired my first few CDs and all of them were by Paul McCartney. (I  know, another shocker lol).

I remember starting with the Paul McCartney CDs that were released on the Columbia label as by that time he had re-signed with Capitol Records and I knew those CDs wouldn’t stay on the shelves forever.

(Note: Paul McCartney was signed to the Columbia Records label only in North America from 1979 to 1984. In 1985 he returned to Capitol Records as did his catalog of music.)

The first three CDs that I bought were all from Musicland (remember that chain in malls across America?) and they were all in bubble packs hanging on the wall in the then small section of CDs. Those CDs included “Band on the Run”, “Venus and Mars” and “Wings Over America”.

Even then I knew that the “Wings Over America” CD wasn’t that common as I didn’t see it in any other store at the time. Because of its cost and the fact that it was released at the end of McCartney’s Columbia contract make it the rarest of the six Columbia McCartney CDs to find these days.

As time went on over a five week period I managed to buy all six of the Columbia Records McCartney CDs (And in those days that was quite a feat as CDs were really expensive!). For years these pressings were the only versions I owned on Compact Disc of these albums even after they were reissued in better sounding versions by other reissue labels.

To this day I think the best sounding digital versions of the “Tug of War” and “Pipes of Peace” albums are these original Columbia CDs but the others, while having been improved upon sound wise in later CD issue, are all nice sounding CDs which I still play every so often as they’re really easy on the ears and sound nice and warm and have all their dynamic range intact.

The Columbia McCartney CDs I have in my collection were manufactured in a mixture of locations – some were made in Japan and some were made in the U.S.A. Just last year though I stumbled on a U.S. pressing of the “Pipes of Peace” CD (see above) as the copy I bought in 1986 was made in Japan. That CD is the only Paul McCartney Columbia CD I own two copies of pressed from different countries.

As usual you can gander at the photos of my small Paul McCartney Columbia CD collection.

As we reach ever more into the streaming age where you just rent your music it’s a bit comforting to have these shiny silver discs full of not only some of my all-time favorite music but also some of my all-time favorite memories of collecting them.

I hope you are sitting down somewhere about now listening to some of your favorite music. I am. Can you hear it?

“Sitting in the stand of the sports arena, waiting for the show to begin …

Sometimes you find the darndest things at thrift stores.

Today since I have the day off, I thought it might be nice to venture over to a few thrift stores just to see what I could find.

Low and behold, wouldn’t you know it but at the last of three stores I discovered something really groovy – I found the ’70’s!

Now I usually don’t buy many records at thrift stores. One because they’re usually this side of junk and beat to death and two I never really find any albums I want to add to my collection.

Thrift stores are notorious for tattered covers and unplayable vinyl but since I love the thrill of the hunt I thought ‘what the heck, why not?’

Well today I went into a local thrift/Goodwill type store and stumbled upon a small stash of records all in the shrink wrap, all in excellent condition and all by some of my favorite easy listening acts.

I can hear the cynical out there smacking their lips – Barry Manilow, Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond! – but hey I really like ’70’s pop music. I loved it on AM radio in the 1970’s and I love it now.

Nothing takes me back more than the music from 1975 to 1980 which was a time I really kept a close eye on the charts and lived for Top Forty radio.

These albums also contain some of my favorite songs from that period too like “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers”, “Songbird”, “My Heart Belongs to Me”, “Tryin’ to Get the Feeling Again”, “Copacabana”,”Even Now”, “Love on the Rocks” and “Hello Again” – just to name a few.

Plus these albums sound sooo good on vinyl – warm and dynamic and and dare I say it just the right kind of mellow .. or should I say Manilow (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

The weird thing is that as I went through this small stack of records, I had the funniest sense of deja vu.

Not only did I find a stack of records I was interested in but all them still had their hype stickers still on the shrink wrap (I love hype stickers so sue me!) but they also had their original price stickers; three of them from the now defunct Turtles Records chain.

Even though Turtles Record stores were based in the South I remember seeing their logo and it was such a blast to see their price sticker and it just added that extra bit of nostalgia that I love. (I know, I know, weird but true!).

Seeing the five records I bought for the princely sum of $2 a piece – of course I wasn’t going to leave them there! – it looks like I went out shopping in the 1970’s for the afternoon and just got home to sit down and relax in a chair on my green shag carpet!

Anyway, for those who were there this blog post may bring back some happy memories of record stores in the ’70’s and or malls, etc.

For those who weren’t there, this is how music looked back then – no streaming, no computers – just cardboard, vinyl and plastic!

Feast your eyes (above) on my pristine vinyl catch of the day and grab a soft drink and relax, chill, listen to some music.

Until next time, be well and as always … Have a Nice Day!

Welcome to the first day of March!

Not only does that mean that Spring is just around the corner but that the dreaded month of February, which I call the armpit month of the year, is finally OVER!

For you see February (at least in my part of the world) not only means snow, cold and the beginning of tax season but in the last few years it’s also taken on a much darker tone as it’s now the month in which two Monkees have died!

With last week’s sad news that Peter Tork succumbed to cancer and yesterday’s 7th anniversary of the passing of Davy Jones, February will now officially be known, to me anyway, as the worst month of the year!

BUT instead of feeling sad that Peter Tork and Davy Jones have passed, from now on I’m going to celebrate that they were here. And what better way to celebrate them than to celebrate the music they made when they were alive!

Today I’m going to turn the way back machine and take a look at three fairly uncommon Monkees Extended Play releases from Japan and England.

(Extended Plays, for those who are too young to know, are 45’s that have four songs on them instead of two. Extended Plays are also known as E.P.s and were much more popular around the world at least for pop music and never really caught on in the U.S. market like they did in England and Japan.)

The first E.P. from my collection I’m featuring (see above), and my favorite, is a Japanese E.P. called “Last Train to Clarksville” which features that song along with “Tomorrow’s Gonna Be Another Day”, “Let’s Dance On” and “Saturday’s Child” all from The Monkees first album titled simply “The Monkees“.

Call  me strange, a lot of people do lol, but I love the miniature sleeve that features the artwork from The Monkees’ first album on the front and the songs and their accompanying lyrics on the back.

This E.P. actually plays at 33 and 1/3 but is the same size as a 45 and sounds pretty darn good! I must say the Japanese knew and know how to press records and this record is pretty quite and plays just great.

The other two E.P.s above both come from the U.K. and I believe, though don’t quote me as I my memory is getting faulty, came out I’d say around 1980 and 1981 or there about.

You don’t see these E.P.’s much these days if at all, here in the States anyway, but I remember mail ordering both of them in the early ’80’s. I also remember just being thrilled that any new Monkees product was being produced somewhere in the world because there was nothing, I mean NADA, being produced at that time in the U.S.

Both of these U.K. E.P’s also have those weird pressed labels on them instead of paper labels like U.S. 45’s so that was also an interesting thing I remember when they arrived in the mail.

I must say the U.K. E.P.’s don’t have the most original song selections but I love the covers and have always been a fan of E.P.s especially British ones because I just love the look of them and they take me back to the ’60’s era more so than even the regular 45’s.

From time to time when nostalgia comes a knockin’, which admittedly is more and more frequently, I pull these babies out and give them a spin. There’s no better feeling than dipping my toes back in time while looking at these groovy covers!

Anyway, here’s to Peter and Davy and here’s to the Monkees music!!! May it live long and prosper – oops wrong show.

Until next time be well and think Spring – it’s almost here!!!

On the eve of such a melancholy day I thought I would share one more post about Peter Tork and show some fun and joyous photos I took of him over the years.

Above are a few photos I  shot at Monkees concerts in 2011 (at the Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville, IN where I met and took a photo with Peter) and 2013 (San Diego, CA). And below from the way back machine of November 1986 (Fort Wayne Memorial  Coliseum).

As you can see Monkees concerts were definitely joyous occasions. I’ve seen the group 17, yes 17!, times between 1986 and 2018. I know, I know it seems like a lot but every one of those concerts were filled with great music and performances and each one also contained a large sampling of Peter Tork’s humor as well as musicianship.

I didn’t have a camera with me the very first time I met Peter Tork which happened in November 1986 at a local Marriott hotel right after The Monkees sold-out performance here in Fort Wayne.

I knew where the group was staying, I had seen their tour buses lined up earlier in the day in front of the Marriott which was just down the road from where I lived, and decided to get to meet as many Monkees that day as possible.

As luck would have it I met both Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork – I missed out on Davy Jones as I never ran into him at the hotel.

It’s funny the things that stick in your mind all these years later. I remember both Micky and Peter being very gracious but when I ran into Micky earlier in the day he was just getting off his tour bus with his family and didn’t want to chit chat.

Micky signed my copy of “The Monkees” album (see below) and I remember asking where Davy and Peter were and him saying that it wasn’t his day to watch them and walking off. I learned later that that was one of his standard lines but I was still thrilled to meet him nonetheless.

Peter Tork on the other hand was in an upbeat and talkative mood and I happened to catch him, and his girlfriend at the time, after the concert as they were going off to eat dinner at a local Japanese restaurant just down the road.

Peter was very friendly and approachable and asked how I liked the show. I was surprised at how completely down to earth he was and how he made me and the two other fans in the hall feel like contemporaries and even asked if the food was good at the Japanese restaurant.

The only request he made was that if any photos were taken to please not use flash as his eyes were sensitive to flash close up. I didn’t have a camera and just asked him for an autograph and he was more than happy to sign my album and noticed I had Micky’s signature as well.

I also remember feeling great as I walked away while noticing another group of fans run up to him. One fan, a tall obnoxious guy, then proceeded to use a flash camera several times even though Tork pleaded with him to stop.

Peter then angrily walked away, which I don’t blame him as the guy with the flash was a royal jerk, and off he went into the night.

I thought of that encounter today and of meeting Peter again over twenty years later in 2011 this time after having interviewed him on the phone a few weeks prior for a newspaper article I wrote for my local paper.

Just a few more random thoughts about Peter Tork as they filter through my mind tonight.

Well,  I hope Mr. Tork is peacefully off into the night wind once again this evening. I treasure those memories of meeting and talking with him and just wanted to say one final goodbye. I also may just pop in a Monkees episode in his honor as I say good night.

With that I bid adieu.

Good night Peter, it was nice knowing you …