Tag: the-monkees

Monkeemania in Doll Form – Hasbro’s Show Biz Babies and Mattel’s Talking Hand Puppet

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Today I thought I’d do a different sort of blog post than my norm.

Instead of highlighting a record or some sort of great vinyl find, I thought it might be fun to take a look through the way back machine once again and showcase some groovy Monkees dolls that I own. Yes, you heard right dolls.

You see back in late 1966/1967 The Monkees were not only a hit on television with their ground-breaking show “The Monkees” they were also, and some say more importantly, an absolute sensation as a recording act.

In the short span of a year and a half from August 1966 to December 1967 the group not only managed to have five million selling Top Ten US hits (“Last Train to Clarksville”, “I’m a Believer”, “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You”, “Pleasant Valley Sunday” and “Daydream Believer”) but they also managed to have four number one multi-million selling albums (“The Monkees”, “More of the Monkees”, “Headquarters” and “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd.”) that also stayed an astonishing 37 weeks at the number one position between the four of them.

Even in the heady days of Beatlemania and the mid-sixties British invasion of the American airwaves sales like that were quite an impressive feat.

Of course with that level of fame and popularity naturally there followed a boatload of memorabilia featuring The Monkees image and likeness including bubble gum cards, plastic guitars, board games, comic books, Halloween costumes and yes my friends dolls.

There were two types of dolls featuring The Monkees released in 1966/67.

Probably the most famous and most memorable doll was the four-headed hand puppet made by Mattel that not only featured fairly accurate doll heads of each Monkee (see photos above) but this particular doll was a talking hand puppet.

This somewhat weird looking but fun doll featured the actual voices of the group saying short phrases that were supposed to conjure up some typical Monkee humor that would have been featured on their television show.

(Note: Below I have actually recorded five of the phrases from my puppet which is still working. It’s not he best quality and there seems to be a skip on the disc inside but if you’ve never heard these snippets they’re a lot of fun. I wonder where these were recorded and if the tapes for the puppet still exist? I’m guessing a hard no but you never know!)

The other dolls to come out were a part of a series of musical groups that were featured in doll form called Show Biz Babies by Hasbro. I believe The Mamas and The Papas, Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits, Bobbie Gentry and Spencer Davis were among some of the other dolls made available.

All the Show Biz Babies were sold on a backing card that contained a real life photo on the back and a plastic record tucked inside that I think featured information about the person that the doll represented.

I managed to track down all four Monkees Show Biz Babies (no easy feat) several years ago and all of them have their backing cards as well as their plastic floppy records though Mike’s record looks a bit sun warped unfortunately.

(Note 2: I’ve never actually played these records. I should try someday (floppy records are a pain, ahhhh)  and if I do I’ll record what they contain and post it here.)

I actually think these dolls are pretty cool looking and love the packaging as well as it just screams the 1960s and totally takes me back to my childhood.

I was too young at the time they were released (I had never heard of Show Biz Babies until about twenty-five years ago) so even though I never owned them as a child they are super fun and I would love to find some of the other Show Biz Babies that were made but they are really hard to find.

I did however get the talking hand puppet as a gift as a very young child and amazingly it has survived all these long years and still manages to talk which is really amazing to me as I remember beating this thing around a lot as a toddler.

Strike that, I was told by a family member the talking box in my Monkee puppet was repaired along with my sister’s Chatty Katy doll. Maybe the skip comes from when the box was broken. I have no memory of the repair but at least you can still here most of the phrases – I think lol.

Anyway, take a gander at the photos above, If you’ve never seen or heard of these dolls they are a lot of fun and if you locate one of the puppets that still talks then you’re in for a treat. Now that I think of it, these really are a part of The Monkees recording history – long stretch as it is. So it’s not that weird a post here after all LOL.

Take a listen below and you’ll hear what they sound like; these are the ones I could get to play at least:

Mike song
Micky drums
Mike and Micky building
Micky Barrel Full of People
Davy and Peter Monkee

Well, that’s all for now. 

I hope you are healthy and well and I’ll be back soon.

Until then see you soon and Happy Fall Y’all!

At Last: A True Mono Pressing of “The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees” (From Venezuela) Has Landed!

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Good things come to those who wait – or so they say.

As for me I have to say this year has turned out to be one of my best years so far for vinyl purchases and it’s only 16 days old!

Today I received a package containing a Venezuelan pressing of The Monkees fifth album “The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees” and to top it off this particular pressing is in MONO! True, glorious mono!!!

If you read this blog at all you’ll know that the true mono mix of “The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees” album on vinyl is supremely rare and very difficult to find. The true mono mix was of course first issued in the United States but there were several other countries that also released this particular mix.

(Note: Countries that issued the true mono mix of “The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees” include: Australia, El Salvador, India, Israel, Mexico, Philippines, Puerto Rico, South Africa, USA and Venezuela – this list comes from the superb Monkees Website Monkee45s.net)

The several countries like the UK and Canada that did issue a mono mix of “The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees” album didn’t use the true mono mix but instead used a fold down of the stereo mix. While this version sounds fine it’s missing all of the unique mixes that make the true mono USA mix sound so special.

I’ve had a couple of those fold down versions and while they’re decent listens they’re nothing like listening to the actual mono mix which is my preferred way of hearing this album.

As far as the songs go the two most radically different sounding mixes are for “Auntie’s Municipal Court” and “Tapioca Tundra” as they both sound far superior to their stereo counterparts with a snap to the guitars and vocals that’s not present in stereo.

Many of the other songs have subtler differences like more echo or a better blend of the instruments and overall the sound of this mono version comes across as a bit grittier and a bit more psychedelic sounding than the regular stereo mix that most people have know for decades. 

And trust me, it’s nearly next to impossible to locate a mono Colgems pressing of “The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees” in the wild as I’ve searched for over forty years and never found one. I do see online people finding them at antique stores or yard sales but I’ve personally never found one.

Of course I could always have paid a fortune for a USA mono mix on ebay but the hunt for a decent copy at a decent price has always been one of my favorite pastimes and lo and behold the day after my last birthday, January 14th, this gem landed in my mailbox. Happy birthday to me.

There has been a reissue on Rhino Records in 2009 of the true mono mix that was taken from a vinyl copy of a foreign mono pressing of this album and while that version is decent there’s no comparison to a true mono pressing which has a sparkle and vibrancy that’s missing on any other version.

For some reason the the mono transfer from that 2009 3 CD box set of “The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees” just sounds lackluster compared to a 1968 mono vinyl copy. Don’t get me wrong it’s a decent transfer but this Venezuelan vinyl copy just blows away the sound of the version on the 3 CD set for sure.

Until the mono master tape of “The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees” is found the best way to hear this unique mono mix is a vinyl copy of the album from 1968.

(Note 2: the mono master for “The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees” has been missing in action for decades. There are mono mixes on tape of some of the songs from the album but the entire mono master has yet to be found.)

I do have some of the mono mixes of songs from “The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees” on two Mexican EPs (see a previous blog post in search) and those sound just as exciting as this mono LP that I just received. For anyone who’s never heard the true mono mix from a vinyl source it’s an unbelievably great sounding recording and well worth tracking down if you can find one at a decent price.

Weirdly enough just this past Friday I was looking online at the Discogs Website (a great Website to buy physical media – discogs.com) and stumbled upon a listing for a Venezuelan mono copy for $40.

Of course my eyes nearly popped out of my head and while there were photos of an actual Venezuelan pressing I had the sneaky suspicion that these weren’t photographs of the album that this person was selling. They were the same photos of the mono version from Monkee45s.net.

Because the price was so good I decided I’d go ahead and order it and if I got burned I got burned. The seller said the album cover and the vinyl itself were both in VG condition with ink marks on the back of the cover and a few tape marks on the front and back of the cover as well.

After receiving the album yesterday and playing it I am happy to state that the covers really in pretty decent shape except for the marker on the back (truly in VG condition) which doesn’t matter to me as the vinyl inside I would say is VG++. And it does indeed play the rare true mono mix!

In fact I can honestly say this is probably the best sounding vinyl copy of any Monkees foreign pressing  I’ve ever purchased! Not a hint of crack or pop and it looks like it’s been super well cared for and in great shape.

Needless to say I couldn’t be more pleased and after all these years having tried to hunt down the true mono mix on vinyl all I can say is it was well worth the wait.

So there you have it. Happy 2025 and may the rest of this year bring such good luck in physical media pursuits!

As usual you can see photos above of this groovy mono copy of “The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees”.

Until next time be happy and well and see you soon!

 

Weekend Antique Store Scores: Monkees “HEAD” RE, “The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees” UK Mono and Two CD Bin Displays (Lennon & McCartney)

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As 2024 comes to a close, I must say this past year may go down as one of the luckiest years in recent memory for me at least for antique store finds.

Just this past weekend in fact, I may end the year with some of my most surprising finds from a little dingy out of the way antique store that was open for the last day before it was being moved to another location next year.

Yesterday I was making my usual trek through some antique locations that I drop in on from time to time and happened upon a sign saying store closing -deals inside. Now this particular antique store was one I usually passed by as I never really find much there but with a fifty percent off sign staring me in the face I thought “sure, why not”.

I’m glad I did.

I actually hadn’t been inside this store for quite a while so I thought maybe they may have something worthwhile this time and to my surprise they sure did!

Most of the booths were in the process of being packed away and dismantled but toward the back there was one booth full of music posters with CDs as well as vinyl so I naturally took a look through the bins to see what they had.

The first lucky find was spotted by a friend who was with me. She said they have a couple of photos of John Lennon and Paul McCartney on a shelf and was I interested in looking at them.

I said that I really wasn’t interested in photos as I made my way through the vinyl but she handed me a small cardboard cutout with the art work from John Lennon’s “Shaved Fish” album and that got my attention.

“What the?” I thought to my self as I stared at what looked like a very thin longbox for the CD of “Shaved Fish”. In fact it indeed was the same artwork from the late eighties CD issue longbox of Lennon’s first solo greatest hits album but was flat as a pancake.

The sticker on the rear of the item said CD bin display and was marked $9.99. Just as I looked up I noticed a couple of shelves up a similar cardboard display but this one was for the Paul McCartney and Wings album “London Town”.

I own this particular longbox and it is indeed the exact same artwork but flat and not in box form.

Since they were fifty percent off I thought it was interesting enough for sure to buy them. For the life of me I don’t remember ever seeing many, if any, solo Beatles CD bin displays or holders so this was a cool find. At least it made the trip worthwhile.

Just as I was about to leave I noticed one more crate of records and this one had a Lovin’ Spoonful album in front so I was excited as it was the right era as I am all about the 1960s.

As I made it to the middle of the crate I could see the shiny reflection of what looked the like the cover of The Monkees 1968 album “The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees”. My heart stopped for a moment as I secretly hope it was a foreign pressing of this album and maybe just maybe a true mono copy from Australia or something.

(Note: copies of Monkees albums from overseas are sometimes laminated on the front especially copies manufactured in the UK and other countries)

Well I was almost correct, it was indeed a mono copy of this album but it was a mono copy from the UK. My heart sank a little. It was really cool to find a UK copy of any Monkees record in an obscure antique store but this particular album was not a true mono copy.

(Note 2: mono copies of the US pressing of “The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees” are super hard to find and very valuable. In fact I’ve never seen one in person. The mono mix of this album is very different from the common stereo pressing and is very desired by collectors.

Some other foreign countries released this true mono mix including Mexico and Puerto Rico but the UK copy is just the stereo mix folded down to mono thus does not include the groovy rare true mono mixes that make this mono album desirable)

Again since this too was marked $9.99 and fifty percent off of that I thought I’d buy it as I may never see another copy and certainly not this cheap. The matrix on this copy ended in 1K so it must be a first UK pressing though honestly I’m not sure how well it sold in the UK as it wasn’t a big hit there so it might not have had a second pressing.

I also have to say that while this isn’t a true mono mix of the album I thought it sounded pretty darn good and I swear that even though it’s a fold down the Mike Nesmith tracks especially have enough of a difference to make it interesting as the fold down process highlights different sounds making them sound like slightly different mixes.

The absolute true score of the day though was the album right behind it.

As I lifted out the UK mono “The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees” I saw another 1968 Monkees album; a dirt covered Colgems pressing of the soundtrack to their only film called “Head”.

I have a couple of copies of the original Colgems “Head” album so I wasn’t that intrigued until I flipped this particular copy over.

In the upper right corner of the back cover I saw the letters “RE”. For those of you who don’t know RE on Colgems albums means reissue and this dirty copy of “Head” is the very difficult to find second pressing of the album that corrected the spelling of Gerry Goffin on the lower right hand corner of the album (see photos above).

This is only the second copy of this RE pressing I’ve ever seen and I own the other copy. I did a previous blog post about that copy but after cleaning up the cover (the dirt wiped right off as the cover of this album is made of mylar which is a shiny material and wipes easily without any damage to the cover) of this copy it’s actually in better shape than my other copy which had been taped over with cellophane as the side cover had split.

(Note 3: why oh why is it that the two covers that I have found of this RE version are worn while I have seen several VG+ copies of the regular first issue Colgems pressing. Go figure.)

Since this one had a fairly dirty cover and record it was marked $5.99 so at half off this was a complete steal especially since it cleaned up so well.

Anyway this copy sounded fantastic after a good cleaning and had matrixes that ended with 6S on side one and 10S on side two – much higher than I thought they would be as this album wasn’t a big seller for The Monkees like the five albums that precede it.

Well there you have it. I end the year on a collecting high note.

As usual you can see the photos above and see how nice this copy of “Head” ended up as well as the others.

Until next time be well and if I don’t post before the new year have a great Christmas and a happy and prosperous 2025.

See you soon!

“Cuartel General” and “Piscis, Acuario, Capricornio Y Jones, S.A.”- Surprising Monkees Import Finds To Usher in Fall

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This week has been interesting. I’ve been on vacation so I’ve had some time to explore some of my favorite record/antique store locations and I must say I’ve found some true gems.

As I’ve said many times before you just never know what you’re going to find especially at some of the most unlikely hole in the wall places and this week that has never been more true.

Much to my surprise the first finds of the week popped up in a small town in the Midwest about an hour from where I live, someplace I would have never guessed I’d find two obscure imported mono Monkees records from 1967!

As luck would have it I found a mono copy of The Monkees “Headquarters” from Argentina (“Cuartel General”) and a mono copy of “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones, Ltd.” (“Piscis, Acuario, Capricornio Y Jones, S.A.”) from Mexico.

Trust me when I say that original imported copies of Monkees albums are a rare find in the Midwest, at least in my experience. I have on occasion come across a beat up UK copy of “More of the Monkees” but I have never, until now that is,  come across some really interesting albums especially with different cover art.

As it would happen I was rummaging through a huge stack of albums in the “M” section of a off the beat store that had stacks of records everywhere and having no luck at all. Now this store is one of those cool off the beat hole in the wall places where nothing is really alphabetized (one of my pet peeves) and to find anything takes a lot of persistence.

After about twenty minutes of scrounging through beat up copies of “The Monkees”, seriously there was about ten copies and all of them looked like they were used as coasters, I was about to give up and move on.

As luck would have it I spotted an huge bin toward the front of new arrivals with another huge stash of randomly shelved vinyl. I almost decided to walk away as most of the vinyl albums in the store so far were very common and not in the best of shape but since I was on vacation I thought why not take a look.

Midway through the first bin I spotted a decent stereo copy of “More of the Monkees” so I thought oh that’s at least in nice condition so I decided it was worth plowing through the other three bins of new arrivals.

Much to my surprise and shock I was frantically flipping through the last bin when my eye caught the deep red color of the word “Monkees” and I instantly recognized it as the “Headquarters” cover even though I had only seen the upper left corner of the front cover.

(Note: I’ve grown used to flipping fast through stacks of vinyl and can spot a Monkees album from ten paces lol)

Need less to say my head almost exploded when I pulled it up and not only was the cover glossy and made of very firm cardboard (not the feel of the standard US Colgems album) when up popped the title “Cuartel General” and I was speechless.

Not only was this a mono copy from Argentina but it was marked $3.99 and was in really good condition. The vinyl in fact was a very solid VG++ and the cover was solid as well.

After perusing the cover for a few moments I hurriedly decided to finish the row and take my prize to the counter.

It’s a good thing I decided to look at all of the bin as near the very back I spotted a weirdly cartoonish yet colorful album cover that had a drawing of the Monkees on it.

I pulled the cover up and knew that this was the Mexican cover of the Monkees fourth album and turned it around to find the title “Piscis, Acuario, Capricornio Y Jones, S.A.”

The album cover was taped on the bottom and top with some old masking tape that was falling off (and luckily peeled off just fine) but the vinyl inside was again in VG++ condition and the price was definitely right at $4.99. Why this one was a dollar more and seemed more beat up than the other one is beyond me but I wasn’t going to argue.

Again I was truly amazed. Never in my life have I found such lovely imported Monkees albums and never with such lovely condition vinyl.

That was all I needed, I ran to the counter and paid for the albums and bopped home with a huge smile on my face.

I cleaned up both albums and played them that evening. Both of them sounded terrific and both contained the true mono mixes. I found the Mexican “Pisces” album was a bit bass shy but played very quietly and was well pressed.

The true highlight was the pressing of “Headquarters” from Argentina which sounded amazing! Nice bass and crisp treble and nice vocals – one of the best and quieter copies I own of this album, truly superb sounding.

I have no idea how these gems made their way into my corner of the world but I tell you what I’m keeping that store on my list for sure.

That’s all for now. Just a quick story of the first of some truly amazing finds this week.

I have to say that while I read people finding a lot of high priced used vinyl I have found some really rare records lately for amazing prices. I tend to go to more out of the way antique places then record stores so maybe that’s why but great nonetheless.

As usual you can glimpse photos of these albums above.

There are more finds from this week to follow.

Until next time be healthy and well and see you soon!