This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 839: RADIO WORTH PAYING FOR

Why do we do this?

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl has been a Sunday night fixture since the end of 1998. Even before that, the first Dana & Carl shows date back to January of 1992. Any way you look at it, that's a long time to spend playing records and trying to do sight gags on the radio. The voices must get tired. The aging bodies surely ache by the late hour of midnight. Our audience is dedicated and enthusiastic, but small.  How can we keep doing this, week after week after week?

Why wouldn't we do this?

We have a three-hour weekly forum to play what we want. We chose a nominal power pop format, but a power pop format that erases the imaginary line between power pop stalwarts like The Raspberries and The Kinks and acts like The O'Jays, The Drifters, Television, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Adam Ant, and The Juliana Hatfield Three; a format that revels in the old, and delights in the new; a format that embraces its own description as a rockin' pop/punk/soul/bubblegum Shangri-La. Just as The Ramones once believed they were like The Bay City Rollers, This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio believes it's an AM Top 40 show; it just reflects a timeless Top 40 that may only exist within our fevered, fannish imaginations. But it's as real as any fantastic notion, once it's been spoken out loud. Our audience is small, but dedicated and enthusiastic. As each Sunday comes and goes, we still look forward to the next one, week after week after week.

We would like to continue. We could use a little help.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, along with other Westcott Radio internet shows, will be establishing a second home on terrestrial radio in Syracuse shortly: the all-new Spark Syracuse WSPJ 93.5 and 103.3 FM. Great news, right? But even free radio ain't free, so we need to raise money--a lot of money--in a very tight time frame. TIRnRR fans have always been generous and supportive, and you lot are the only reason we've been able to keep on keepin' on. You are kind, philanthropic, and irresistibly hot-lookin'. We've let our tin-plated beggin' cup gather dust for a while, but the time has come once again: in the words of Spinal Tap, just gimme some money.

Your tax-deductible donation to Spark Syracuse at http://sparksyracuse.org/support/ funds our efforts to get The Legal Matters, Trolley, Cocktail Slippers, and Michael Carpenter and the Cuban Heels on the radio in Syracuse. Even if you're not in the ol' 315, and may never hear Dana & Carl on the FM dial, your support helps to prop up this whole rickety operation, allowing us to continue webcasting while seeking to expand our reach. You like pop music? You think pop music should be on the radio, where it belongs? Here's your chance to play a part.

Donations in any amount are welcome indeed; you can donate via PayPal at http://sparksyracuse.org/support/; if you wish to donate by check, please make that out to Syracuse Community Radio, and mail it to Carl Cafarelli, 5540 Taormina Drive, Clay, NY 13041.  There is an official fundraising campaign coming, but we need to start rackin' up some coin now. Anyone who donates at least $100 or more will have the opportunity to program the music for a future three-hour episode of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio. Yes, you can be like Dana & Carl, except presumably better-dressed. Significant restrictions will apply, so hit me with any questions you have; the Guest Programmer gimmick has been enormously successful and a lot of fun for all parties in the past. Let's keep that party going.

And let's keep this party going. This week's This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio was designed as a demonstration of Radio Worth Paying For. We did our part; here's your chance to do yours. Listen: January will be the 25th anniversary of the first Dana & Carl radio show. It's not too early to get your Silver Anniversary gifts in now.

NEXT WEEK:  50 YEARS OF THE MONKEES! And this is what rock 'n' roll radio--radio worth paying for--sounded like on a Sunday night in Syracuse this week.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl streams live every Sunday night from 9 to Midnight Eastern, exclusively at www.westcottradio.org...but coming soon to WSPJ-FM.

TIRnRR # 839: 9/4/16  Radio Worth Paying For!

THE RAMONES: Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio? (Rhino, End Of The Century)
--
SPINAL TAP: Gimme Some Money (Polydor, Spinal Tap)
THE BEATLES: Money (Capitol, The Beatles' Second Album)
WRECKLESS ERIC: Take The Cash (K.A.S.H.) (Stiff, Wreckless Eric)
ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ATTRACTIONS: Radio, Radio (Rykodisc, This Year's Model)
THE O'JAYS: For The Love Of Money (Sony, VA: A Tribute To Black Entertainers)
TELEVISION: See No Evil (ROIR, The Blow-Up)
--
MICHAEL CARPENTER & THE CUBAN HEELS: You're Givin' Love A Good Name (Big Radio, Ain't Nothing Left To Say)
STEVE EARLE: Guitar Town (MCA, Guitar Town)
THE JULIANA HATFIELD THREE: My Sister (Mammoth, Become What You Are)
THROWING MUSES: Dizzy (Warner Brothers, Hunkpapa)
TEXAS TORNADOS: Adios Mexico (Reprise, Texas Tornados)
THE STRANGLERS: 96 Tears (Capitol, Peaches)
--
LET'S ACTIVE: Every Dog Has His Day (IRS, Every Dog Has His Day)
R.E.M.: Radio Free Europe (IRS, And I Feel Fine...)
THE DRIFTERS: On Broadway (Atlantic, 1959-1965 All-Time Greatest Hits & More)
SWEET: Fox On The Run [UK version] (RCA, Desolation Boulevard)
THE SMITHEREENS: Green Thoughts (Capitol, Green Thoughts)
THE NERVES: One Way Ticket (Alive, One Way Ticket)
--
THE LEGAL MATTERS: She Called Me To Say (Omnivore, Conrad)
TROLLEY: Caught In The Darkness (Easter, Caught In The Darkness)
GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS: I've Got To Use My Imagination (Funky Town Grooves, Imagination)
COURTNEY BARNETT: Elevator Operator (Mom + Pop, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit)
ADAM ANT: Wonderful (Epic, The Essential Adam Ant)
THE CURE: In Between Days (Elektra, Staring At The Sea)
--
THE STOOGES: 1969 (Virgin, IGGY POP: A Million In Prizes)
MR. ENCRYPTO: Rock And Roll Is Killing Me (Loudly) (Silent Bugler, Secret Identity Crisis)
THE BEACH BOYS: Wild Honey (Capitol, Smiley Smile -Wild Honey)
GANG OF FOUR: At Home He's A Tourist (Warner Brothers, A Brief History Of The Twentieth Century)
CONWAY TWITTY: It's Only Make Believe (Mercury, The Best Of Conway Twitty)
NEIL YOUNG: Cinnamon Girl (Reprise, Greatest Hits)
--
THE REDUCERS: Let's Go (Rave On, Redux)
THE BUZZCOCKS: What Do I Get? (IRS, Singles Going Steady)
KYLE VINCENT: Wake Me Up (When The World's Worth Waking Up For) (Carport, Kyle Vincent)
XTC: Making Plans For Nigel (Virgin, Upsy Daisy Assortment)
KARA'S FLOWERS: Oliver (Reprise, The Fourth World)
THE MUFFS: Rock And Roll Girl (Caroline, VA: Freedom Of Choice)
--
THE JEREMY BAND: Let Me In Your Heart (JAM, Hit You With A Flower)
THE BEVIS FROND: I Can't Get Into Your Scene (Reckless, Bevis Through The Looking Glass)
THE BAY CITY ROLLERS: Wouldn't You Like It (Bell, Wouldn't You Like It)
THE FACES: Shake, Shutter, Shiver (Warner Brothers, Stay With Me)
COCKTAIL SLIPPERS: St. Valentine's Day Massacre (Wicked Cool, Saint Valentine's Day Massacre)
THE GO-GO'S: Turn To You (IRS, Return To The Valley Of The Go-Go's)
MARSHALL CRENSHAW: Cynical Girl (Rhino, This Is Easy)
MATTHEW SWEET: Girlfriend (Volcano, Girlfriend)
HAROLD MELVIN & THE BLUE NOTES: Don't Leave Me This Way (Philadelphia International, single)
STATUS QUO: Make Me Stay A Little Bit Longer (Castle, At Their Best)
THE RASPBERRIES: Go All The Way (RPM, Power Pop Volume One)
BIG STAR: September Gurls (Big Beat, VA: Thank You, Friends)
THE MONKEES: Pleasant Valley Sunday (Rhino, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd.)
THE KINKS: Better Things (Velvel, Give The People What They Want)
THE RAMONES: Blitzkrieg Bop (Rhino, Ramones)
THE FLASHCUBES: It's You Tonight (Northside, Bright Lights)
THE VENTURES: Hawaii Five-O (EMI, Walk--Don't Run)

Tonight on THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO

RADIO WORTH PAYING FOR! Rest assured, this ain't no pledge drive (though we are in urgent need of your tax-deductible donation ASAP at http://sparksyracuse.org/support/); no, this is just a demonstration of what you'd be supporting. We bill each week's show as The Best Three Hours Of Radio On The Whole Friggin' Planet, and then we aim to justify that hype. Tonight, we aim to knock you out. As each track plays loudly 'n' proudly, we want the listener to say one of three things: I love this song!; Wow, what a pleasant, unexpected kick to hear this song!; and I've never heard this song before, but now I wanna have its baby! Tune in. Listen. Believe. And then pay up. Sunday night, 9 to Midnight Eastern, www.westcottradio.org

Reconsidering The Monkees, Part 4: HALL OF FAME [A Single-Disc BEST OF THE MONKEES]

Concluding our 50th anniversary reassessment of The Monkees' recorded legacy. We started with a 4-CD set called Rows Of Houses That Are All The Same, graduated to a 3-CD set called Only True In Fairy Tales, and Monkee-walked our way through a 2-CD set called Walking Down The Street. Today, it all comes down to just one disc.

Some time in the early '80s, one of those Rolling Stone record guide books discussed The Monkees' Greatest Hits and More Greatest Hits, a pair of perfunctory best-ofs that were the only two Monkees LPs in print at the time. Given Rolling Stone's long-standing disdain for the artistic worth and viability of our favorite made-for-TV rock 'n' roll group, it was heartening that the writer of this guide entry conceded that yeah, there was some pretty good pop-rock released under the aegis of The Monkees' brand name; then, of course, he immediately squandered his sudden capital of good will by insisting that one LP was the most Monkees anyone could ever need. A second Monkees collection? Ridiculous!

Bang. Zoom. 

That was one of the cleaner two-word replies that came to mind when I read that Rolling Stone entry more than three decades ago. But time wounds all heels: in 2016, even Rolling Stone sees fit to honor and praise The Monkees, both in its pages and on its website. It took 50 years, but The Monkees are, at long last, finally reaping that same elusive reward once demanded by Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin; you know how to spell it: R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

For Monkees fans, it's no revelation that the group's catalog merits diving much, much deeper than just the surface pleasures of the biggest hits. We own all twelve of The Monkees' individual albums, including the splendid 2016 work Good Times! We own the three Missing Links vault-raids of originally-unreleased tracks from the '60s. We usually spring for the Rhino Handmade multi-disc expansions of the original Monkees albums (with their exclusive bonus 7" singles), probably some permutation of the 1967 live concert recordings, and often at least one of the many, many Monkees career anthologies (the four-disc Music Box for me). The good folks at Rhino, charged with the task of caretaking The Monkees' product, are well familiar with the repeated mantra of the modern Monkees fan: Just take my money, dammit!

The release of Good Times!, a record that will certainly be my Album Of The Year for 2016, prompted me to wonder how its tracks should be considered alongside what we already knew as the best of The Monkees prior to its release. I'm undecided where Good Times! would sit in my personal ranking of The Monkees' albums; it probably wouldn't do any worse than the # 6 spot, and it might place a slot or two higher still. But which of its tracks belong with The Monkees' all-time best?

As an exercise in pure fandom--I am as God made me, you soulless infidel--I decided to go through all of The Monkees' tracks released to date, and compile hypothetical 4-, 3-, 2-, and single-disc sets of The Best Of The Monkees. Considering how reluctant I was to leave cherished Monkees tracks off the four-disc edition, I can state with certainty that a single-disc Monkees collection would never be adequate to slake my rampagin' Monkees jones. But it could be a cool comp for the car, right? Let's see! Sequenced for maximum Monkees motorvatin', I give you...

The Monkees: Hall Of Fame (Carlgems 005)
A Single-Disc Best Of The Monkees

1. Last Train To Clarksville
2. A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You
3. Me & Magdalena
4. Words
5. Valleri
6. Sunny Girlfriend
7. You Bring The Summer
8. Regional Girl
9. For Pete's Sake
10. Listen To The Band
11. Porpoise Song (Theme From "Head")
12. Oh My My
13. Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)
14. I'm A Believer
15. All Of Your Toys
16. Heart And Soul
17. Daydream Believer
18. The Girl I Knew Somewhere
19. What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round?
20. Sometime In The Morning
21. Love Is Only Sleeping
22. Someday Man
23. You Just May Be The One
24. Cuddly Toy
25. Pleasant Valley Sunday
26. (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone

Lost in transition from two discs to one (and each one of these broke my fragile li'l heart):

"She"
"Randy Scouse Git"
"Sweet Young Thing"
"Mary Mary"
"Circle Sky"
"You And I" (from Instant Replay)
"Steam Engine"
"Goin' Down"
"Papa Gene's Blues"
"Birth Of An Accidental Hipster"
"Tapioca Tundra"
"Love To Love"
"Nine Times Blue"
"As We Go Along"
"I Wanna Be Free"
"She Makes Me Laugh"
"(Theme From) The Monkees"
"Shades Of Gray"
"If I Ever Get To Saginaw Again"
"Some Of Shelly's Blues"
"Daily Nightly"
"Forget That Girl"
"The Door Into Summer"
"Long Title: Do I Have To Do This All Over Again"
"Early Morning Blues And Greens"
"Daddy's Song"
"You Told Me"
"I Don't Think You Know Me"

That was rough. So many fave raves left behind! But we did what we could.

Before embarking on this project, I set ground rules that would require each disc to fit within the 74-minute mark, and each compilation would need to include at least one track from each of The Monkees' twelve studio albums. I came close on the first requirement (I figured Rhino's crack engineers could make up a few seconds here and there), and I honored the second requirement until I got to this final, single-disc phase: there are no tracks here from the Instant Replay album. The closest we have is the non-LP single "Someday Man," which was included on Rhino's expanded reissue of Instant Replay in 1995. I could have swapped "Someday Man" for the Instant Replay LP track "You And I," but "Someday Man" seemed a better fit for the package.

(The rule governing representation of each Monkees album did save both "Regional Girl" from Justus and "Heart And Soul" from Pool It!; I like both of these tracks just fine, thanks, but I don't like them better than "She,""Randy Scouse Git," or "Sweet Young Thing," which could have been saved from the chopping block if I didn't need to represent Pool It! or Justus. There was no such requirement for the Missing Links compilations, but I'm surprised that "All Of Your Toys" was the only originally-unreleased '60s track to make the cut.)

And how did Good Times! fare? It's represented by two tracks, "You Bring The Summer" and "Me & Magdalena," both of which I consider to be among the best of The Monkees. My favorite Good Times! track remains "Birth Of An Accidental Hipster," but I needed to make room....

And that concludes our Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) journey through The Best Of The Monkees. Look for a 50th anniversary Monkees post within the next week or so, and tune in to This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl on Sunday, September 11th, from 9 to Midnight Eastern at www.westcottradio.org for a special show called 50 YEARS OF THE MONKEES. For now, once again: MonkeeMen, AWAY!!!

Screen Test, The Syracuse New Times, Spark Syracuse, And The Shapeless Things To Come

TONIGHT!  On Friday, September 2nd, Syracuse's nonpareil pop trio Screen Test will perform from 8 to 11:30 pm at Vendetti's Soft Rock And Good Time Grill, 2026 Teall Avenue in Syracuse, NY (the town so nice they named it). We've covered Screen Test's history in a long previous post called Inspired Humans Making Noise, but it's worth adding that an evening of Screen Test music is a surefire rockin' pop kvellarama; if you don't grok the Yiddish, it just means that a Screen Test show will inject a healthy dose of local pride and boundless joy into that earnest lover's heart you like to wear on your sleeve. Gary Frenay, Arty Lenin, and Tommy Allen (all veterans of Syracuse's own power pop powerhouse The Flashcubes) come to each gig armed with a ready supply of irresistible original pop tunes, plus great taste in cover tunes from Badfinger, The Raspberries, and other unassailable pop touchstones. The covers are great; the originals are even better. Nothing really matters when you're young, so grow up (too fast) to the sound of the radio tonight at Venditti's. You can't go wrong with me! Stop by 'n' say hi to your friendly neighborhood blogger.



Speaking of me, I continue to grovel for your votes in The Syracuse New Times' Best Of Syracuse '16 Readers Poll. You can vote once per e-mail address, so please consider votes for:

BEST BLOG: Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do)
BEST PRESCHOOL PROGRAM: my lovely wife Brenda's school Jowonio School
BEST AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM: Jowonio School
BEST RADIO PERSONALITY: Ronnie Dark
BEST ROCK GROUP: Ronnie's combo Darkroom
BEST BAND NAME: Darkroom
MOST TRUSTED LOCAL POLITICIAN: Al Stirpe
BEST PLACE TO BUY MUSIC: Ronnie's sponsor Music And More
BEST COMICS STORE: Comix Zone
BEST NOT-FOR-PROFIT: Spark Syracuse

Vote early! Vote often! Vote Boppin'!



The above-mentioned not-for-profit Spark Syracuse is the planned FM radio home of our self-described Best Three Hours Of Radio On The Whole Friggin' Planet, This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. Our fundraising efforts for Spark WSPJ 93.5 and 103.3 FM are set to kick into high gear with the return of our popular shilling-for-dollars Guest Programmer promotion WHO NEEDS DANA & CARL? How's that work? If you donate at least $100 to Spark Syracuse, you earn an opportunity to program the music for one future three-hour chunk o' time on Westcott Radio and/or WSPJ. We're still working out specifics, and significant restrictions and guidelines will apply, but feel free to hit me with any questions. If you're ready to donate right now, head over to http://sparksyracuse.org/support/. If donating $100, select the "any amount" option to give via PayPal, and be sure to specify that you want to participate in the Guest Programmer promotion. Those who wish to donate by check should e-mail me at ccdatsme@aol.com. We thanks ya!

(Oh, and this coming Sunday's edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl is billed as Radio Worth Paying For, a li'l three-hour demonstration of why we're worth all of this: Sunday night, 9 to Midnight Eastern, exclusively at www.westcottradio.org.)



Comin' up in the short term on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), we'll conclude our reassessment of The Monkees' recorded legacy with a hypothetical single-disc compilation called Hall Of Fame. You can also catch up on the three previous installments: Rows Of Houses That Are All The Same [4 CDs], Only True In Fairy Tales [3 CDs], and Walking Down The Street [2 CDs]. I hope to have one more major Monkees piece finished in time to post within the next week or so, just in time for The Monkees' 50th anniversary on September 12th. In the same vein, the September 11th This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio will be devoted to 50 YEARS OF THE MONKEES!

I've also planned a recap of the swirl of emotion surrounding this past Monday's Brian Wilson show at the New York State Fair; The Everlasting First, my alphabetical reminiscences about first exposures to various singers and superheroes, will continue soon with E is for THE EASYBEATS and E-MAN. And there's still lots more to come after that. A post a day, every day--for hip folks, that's the Boppin' way.

Reconsidering The Monkees, Part 3: WALKING DOWN THE STREET [A Two-CD BEST OF THE MONKEES]

Continuing a 50th anniversary reassessment of the best of The Monkees, factoring in tracks from the group's splendid 2016 album Good Times! alongside the rest of The Monkees' recorded legacy. We began with the four-disc Rows Of Houses That Are All The Same, followed that with the three-disc Only True In Fairy Tales, and continue today with the two-disc Walking Down The Street.

Oh, and we've retroactively added a bonus 45 of "Sunny Girlfriend [Acoustix Remix Of Master Vocal]"/"Me & Magdalena [Version 2]" to our four-disc Rows Of Houses That Are All The Same. Ah, the sheer, sweet power of the omnipotent blogger--take that, Wizard Glick!

With this set, we throw aside all notion of chronology in pursuit of a compact but comprehensive Best-Of-The-Monkees listening experience:

Walking Down The Street (Carlgems 004)
A Two-CD Set Of The Best Of The Monkees

Disc 1

1. (Theme From) The Monkees
2. You Bring The Summer
3. The Door Into Summer
4. Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)
5. Words
6. Forget That Girl
7. Sweet Young Thing
8. Regional Girl
9. (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone
10. Cuddly Toy
11. I Wanna Be Free
12. Me & Magdalena
13. Sometime In The Morning
14. Sunny Girlfriend
15. Oh My My
16. Daily Nightly
17. All Of Your Toys
18. Shades Of Gray
19. Tapioca Tundra
20. Mary Mary
21. I Don't Think You Know Me [Nesmith vocal]
22. Goin' Down
23. You Told Me
24. Daddy's Song
25. The Girl I Knew Somewhere
26. Love Is Only Sleeping
27. If I Ever Get To Saginaw Again

Disc 2

1. Porpoise Song (Theme From "Head")
2. Birth Of An Accidental Hipster
3. Heart And Soul
4. She
5. What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round?
6. A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You
7. Papa Gene's Blues
8. As We Go Along
9. Nine Times Blue
10. Someday Man
11. She Makes Me Laugh
12. Valleri
13. You Just May Be The One
14. Steam Engine
15. Early Morning Blues And Greens
16. Circle Sky [live]
17. Love To Love [Good Times! mix]
18. Pleasant Valley Sunday
19. Long Title: Do I Have To Do This All Over Again
20. You And I (from Instant Replay)
21. Randy Scouse Git
22. Some Of Shelly's Blues
23. Last Train To Clarksville
24. Daydream Believer
25. I'm A Believer
26. Listen To The Band
27. For Pete's Sake

Tracks lost in the transition from three discs to two:

"That Was Then, This Is Now"
"Good Clean Fun"
"Time And Time Again"
"Looking For The Good Times"
"I'll Be Back Up On My Feet"
"Auntie's Municipal Court"
"The Kind Of Girl I Could Love"
"Star Collector"
"St. Matthew"
"Can You Dig It"
"A Man Without A Dream"
"Little Girl" (from The Monkees Present)
"You And I" (from Justus) 
"No Time"
"Terrifying"
"Mommy And Daddy"
"D.W. Washburn"
"Your Auntie Grizelda"
"Take A Giant Step"
"I Love You Better"
"Every Step Of The Way"
"Changes"
"Zor And Zam"
"Salesman"
"Of You"
"Our Own World"

NEXT: Aw man, this was already too hard! Nonetheless, on Saturday we'll complete the journey to our ultimate goal: a single-disc Best Of The Monkees.  And what will we call it?

What else?

Be here Saturday for THE MONKEES: Hall Of Fame! The evil Wizard Wenner...er, Wizard Glick be damned!

Reconsidering The Monkees, Part 2: Only True In Fairy Tales [A Three-CD BEST OF THE MONKEES]

Continuing a 50th anniversary reassessment of the best of The Monkees, factoring in tracks from the group's splendid 2016 album Good Times! alongside the rest of The Monkees' recorded legacy. We started with a 4-disc best-of set called Rows Of Houses That Are All The Same, and continue today with a 3-CD set we call Only True In Fairy Tales.  Like our 4-disc set, this is arranged in rough chronological order (albeit lightly tweaked here 'n' there); as we move to the 2-CD and single-disc sets, we will switch to more creative sequencing.

Only True In Fairy Tales (Carlgems 003)
A Three-CD Set Of The Best Of The Monkees

DISC 1

1. (Theme From) The Monkees
2. Last Train To Clarksville
3. I Don't Think You Know Me [Nesmith vocal]
4. I Wanna Be Free
5. Sweet Young Thing
6. Take A Giant Step
7. Papa Gene's Blues
8. (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone
9. The Kind Of Girl I Could Love
10. Your Auntie Grizelda
11. She
12. Sometime In The Morning
13. Mary Mary
14. Of You
15. Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)
16.I'm A Believer
17. A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You
18. All Of Your Toys
19. The Girl I Knew Somewhere
20.You Told Me
21. Forget That Girl
22. For Pete's Sake
23. Early Morning Blues And Greens
24. No Time
25. Shades Of Gray
26. You Just May Be The One
27. Sunny Girlfriend
28. Randy Scouse Git
29. Words

DISC 2

1. Pleasant Valley Sunday
2. Love Is Only Sleeping
3. Daily Nightly
4. Cuddly Toy
5. Salesman
6. Star Collectot
7. The Door Into Summer
8. What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round?
9. Daydream Believer
10. Goin' Down
11. Valleri
12. Tapioca Tundra
13. I'll Be Back Up On My Feet
14. Auntie's Municipal Court
15. Zor And Zam
16. D.W. Washburn
17. Porpoise Song (Theme From "Head")
18. As We Go Along
19. Circle Sky [live]
20. Can You Dig It
21. Long Title: Do I Have To Do This All Over Again
22. Daddy's Song
23. Nine Times Blue
24. You And I
25. Some Of Shelly's Blues

DISC 3

1. Listen To The Band
2. Someday Man
3. If I Ever Get To Saginaw Again
4. A Man Without A Dream
5. St. Matthew
6. Changes
7. Little Girl
8. Good Clean Fun
9. Mommy And Daddy
10. Looking For The Good Times
11. Oh My My
12. I Love You Better
13. Steam Engine
14. Time And Time Again
15. That Was Then, This Is Now
16. Heart And Soul
17. Every Step Of The Way
18. Regional Girl
19. You And I
20. Birth Of An Accidental Hipster
21. She Makes Me Laugh
22. Terrifying
23. Love To Love
24. Me & Magdalena
25. Our Own World
26. You Bring The Summer

These are the tracks dropped in transition from 4 discs to 3 discs:

"Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere"
"Smile"
"Tear Drop City" (the first U.S. A-side to be sacrificed)
"Love's What I Want"
"She Hangs Out"
"I'll Spend My Life With You"
"I Never Thought It Peculiar"
"All The King's Horses"
"Propinquity (I've Just Begun To Care)"
"She'll Be There"
"Saturday's Child"
"Wasn't Born To Follow"
"Naked Persimmon"
"P.O. Box 9847"
"Do It In The Name Of Love"
"It's Not Too Late"
"(I Prithee) Do Not Ask For Love"
"Midnight"
"The Girl I Left Behind Me"
"Ditty Diego (War Chant)"
"Tear The Top Right Off My Head"
"Riu Chiu"
"Zilch"
"Lady Jane"
"Milkshake"
"You Didn't Feel That Way Last Night (Don't You Remember)"
"I Remember The Feeling"

The last one in was--again--"Our Own World." We'll see if that can survive one more cut.

NEXT TIME:  Walking Down The Street, a two-CD set of The Best Of The Monkees. Once again, we ask everyone to remain too busy singing to put anybody down.

Reconsidering THE MONKEES, Part 1: Rows Of Houses That Are All The Same [A Four-CD BEST OF THE MONKEES]

As 50th anniversary celebrations go, I'd say The Monkees have had a pretty damned good year. The Monkees' current album Good Times! earned both terrific reviews and terrific sales, the group's TV series was released in a lovely, comprehensive Blu-ray set, and their current tour (featuring Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork, with Michael Nesmith set to join to rejoin his erstwhile prime mates for one farewell show on September 16th) has been shakin' all over like the late Davy Jones' red maracas. There has been renewed critical appraisal and appreciation of The Monkees' recorded legacy, and even increasing speculation that The Monkees might maybe possibly be considered for induction into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Well, I'm a believer, anyway.

Since you can't have a proper 50th anniversary without repacking old product, Rhino Records has compiled two new sets commemorating 50 years of The Monkees, a single-disc set called Forever and a three-CD set called The Monkees 50. Both sets include at least one track from Good Times!, acknowledging the consensus that The Monkees in 2016 have created a new record that stands with their best work.

But I'm going to ignore Forever and The Monkees 50, because it's the role--the duty, I say!--of obsessive fans to ignore official compilations and, y'know, concoct our own.  So I've set myself the task of slappin' together four new Monkees career anthologies, each charged with the task of summing up the best of The Monkees from 1966 to 2016. Four? Yeah, I'm putting together a four-disc set, a three-disc, a two-disc, and a single-disc. I believe we have already mentioned that word obsessive.

We start today with a four-CD set called Rows Of Houses That Are All The Same. The rules in effect require each disc to be approximately 74 minutes long, and the compilation must include at least one track from each of The Monkees' twelve albums. Originally-unreleased bonus tracks from the '60s are certainly fair game. There's no specific requirement to include all the singles, or even all the hits, but we'll make up our story as we go along. This first collection is arranged in (very) rough chronological order, but future sets will mix tracks from different years--and decades--at will. I've avoided live tracks (with one obvious exception, the live "Circle Sky" from Head), and generally avoided alternate versions of familiar tracks, too.

Ya ready? 'Cause it's 7:30, 6:30 Central; it's time for THE MONKEES! I wonder if anyone around here has a television set...?

ROWS OF HOUSES THAT ARE ALL THE SAME (Carlgems 002)
A Four-CD Set Of The Best Of The Monkees

DISC 1

1. (Theme From) The Monkees
2. Last Train To Clarksville
3. All The King's Horses
4. I Don't Think You Know Me [Nesmith vocal]
5. Saturday's Child
6. (I Prithee) Do Not Ask For Love [Jones vocal]
7. Sweet Young Thing
8. I Wanna Be Free
9. Take A Giant Step
10. Papa Gene's Blues
11. (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone
12. The Kind Of Girl I Could Love
13. Your Auntie Grizelda
14. She
15. Sometime In The Morning
16. Mary Mary
17. Of You
18. Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)
19. I'm A Believer
20. A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You
21. All Of Your Toys
22. The Girl I Knew Somewhere
23. You Told Me
24. Zilch
25. Forget That Girl
26. For Pete's Sake
27. She'll Be There
28. Early Morning Blues And Greens
29. No Time
30. Shades Of Gray

DISC 2

1. You Just May Be The One
2. I'll Spend My Life With You
3. Sunny Girlfriend
4. Randy Scouse Git
5. Pleasant Valley Sunday
6. Words
7. She Hangs Out [album version]
8. Love Is Only Sleeping
9. Daily Nightly
10. Cuddly Toy
11. Salesman
12. Star Collector
13. The Door Into Summer
14. What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round?
15. Riu Chiu
16. Daydream Believer
17. Goin' Down
18. Tear The Top Right Off My Head
19. Valleri
20. Tapioca Tundra
21. I'll Be Back Up On My Feet
22. Auntie's Municipal Court
23. P.O. Box 9847
24. Zor And Zam
25. D.W. Washburn
26. Can You Dig It

DISC 3

1. Porpoise Song (Theme From "Head")
2. As We Go Along
3. Circle Sky [live]
4. Ditty Diego (War Chant)
5. Long Title: Do I Have To Do This All Over Again
6. Daddy's Song
7. Naked Persimmon
8. Tear Drop City
9. Nine Times Blue
10. You And I
11. Propinquity (I've Just Begun To Care)
12. A Man Without A Dream
13. If I Ever Get To Saginaw Again
14. The Girl I Left Behind Me
15. Smile
16. St. Matthew
17. Some Of Shelly's Blues
18. Changes
19. Someday Man
20. Listen To The Band
21. Little Girl
22. Good Clean Fun
23. Mommy And Daddy [album version]
24. Looking For The Good Times
25. Oh My My
26. I Love You Better
27. I Never Thought It Peculiar
28. Steam Engine
29. MICKEY [sic] DOLENZ & DAVY JONES: Do It In The Name Of Love

DISC 4

1. Time And Time Again
2. MICKEY [sic] DOLENZ & DAVY JONES: Lady Jane
3. DOLENZ, JONES, BOYCE & HART: I Remember The Feeling
4. DOLENZ, JONES, BOYCE & HART: You Didn't Feel That Way Last Night (Don't You Remember)
5. MICKY DOLENZ & PETER TORK of THE MONKEES: That Was Then, This Is Now
6. MICKY DOLENZ & PETER TORK of THE MONKEES: Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere
7. Heart And Soul
8. Every Step Of The Way
9. Midnight
10. PETER TORK [with MICHAEL NESMITH & MICKY DOLENZ]: Milkshake
11. Regional Girl
12. You And I
13. It's Not Too Late
14. She Makes Me Laugh
15. You Bring The Summer
16. Me & Magdalena
17. Wasn't Born To Follow
18. Love To Love [Good Times! mix]
19. Terrifying
20. Birth Of An Accidental Hipster
21. Love's What I Want
22. Our Own World

Exclusive bonus 7" single: "Sunny Girlfriend [Acoustic Remix Of Master Vocal]"/"Me & Magdalena [Version 2]"

You will note that I included a few tracks that aren't really The Monkees, per se. It seems to me that a long-form Monkees set should consider the almost-Monkees tracks that were released in between periods of official Monkeedom. The "Do It In The Name Of Love"/"Rainy Jane" single, though credited to Micky and Davy rather than the group, is effectively Monkees material, since both tracks were created during the sessions for The Monkees' Changes album, and are included on Rhino's expanded CD reissue of Changes. Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart--The Guys Who Wrote 'Em And The Guys Who Sang 'Em--was the second closest thing to a Monkees reunion in the '70s; the first closest thing was the Dolenz, Jones & Tork holiday single "Christmas Is My Time Of Year" in 1976, but that didn't seem to fit here. And "Milkshake," from Tork's 1994 album Stranger Things Have Happened, reunited Tork, Dolenz and Nesmith on one track, at a time when such a reunion had seemed unlikely.

Since I know I'm not the only Monkees obsessive--MonkeeMen, AWAY!--here are the tracks that just missed the cut for this set:

"The Poster"
"Don't Call On Me"
"Gonna Buy Me A Dog"
"The Crippled Lion"
"Goldie Locks Sometime"
"Oklahoma Backroom Dancer"
"Bye Bye Baby Bye Bye"
"It's Nice To Be With You"
"Band 6"
"Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day"
"Let's Dance On"
"MGBGT"
"Hollywood"
"So Goes Love"
"Good Times"

And, in college basketball parlance, The Last One In was "Our Own World."

Comments are welcome. Next time out, we'll dispense with chronology, and we'll whittle it down to a mere three discs.  For now, please remember to save the Texas prairie chicken. Goin' down....