Getting good reviews...

[ultimateclassicrock.com]

[www.rollingstone.com]

Headquarters is one of my favorite albums of all time.

Played it to death during the summer of '77. (that's right--'77, not '67!)

It was the spotlighted album during the tour that Mike, Peter, and Mickey did three (?) years ago. Hearing Mike sing "You Told Me" "Sunny Girlfriend" "You Just May Be The One" from that album, plus "Circle Sky" from the movie Head (with footage from the film projected behind) was unbelievable. For me personally it was like getting an impossible wish come true to hear those songs played live.

Easily one of the most enjoyable concert experiences I've ever had.

The best part was during the song, "For Pete's Sake" (the song which began, "In this generation..." and was used on the TV show as music during the end credits) The crowd went nuts and was singing along, and the moment when everyone sang "We were born to love one another..." remains fixed in my mind as one of life-affirming fun and pure joy.

Which has always been a part of The Monkees brand.

I will be checking out this new album.

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loog droog
Headquarters is one of my favorite albums of all time.

Played it to death during the summer of '77. (that's right--'77, not '67!)

It was the spotlighted album during the tour that Mike, Peter, and Mickey did three (?) years ago. Hearing Mike sing "You Told Me" "Sunny Girlfriend" "You Just May Be The One" from that album, plus "Circle Sky" from the movie Head (with footage from the film projected behind) was unbelievable. For me personally it was like getting an impossible wish come true to hear those songs played live.

Easily one of the most enjoyable concert experiences I've ever had.

The best part was during the song, "For Pete's Sake" (the song which began, "In this generation..." and was used on the TV show as music during the end credits) The crowd went nuts and was singing along, and the moment when everyone sang "We were born to love one another..." remains fixed in my mind as one of life-affirming fun and pure joy.

Which has always been a part of The Monkees brand.

I will be checking out this new album.

This is so cool. I saw this CD at my local record store yesterday and wondered what this was about. That is great that it is getting good reviews. I was into the Monkees before I got into the Stones and I played Headquarters on my record player to death! Loved that album. Headquarters and their next album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, Jones ltd were arguably their best works.

I really like the concept of the new album...old songs and new, old composers and new!

Saw them with Davy in 2011, and then with Mike in 2012 and 2013...all excellent shows. Even though Mike isn't on tour with them right now (he's on a November deadline for his book), he says he'll be back with them at some point after the book is done.

Nice article here detailing the making of the new album:

[www.rollingstone.com]

Mickey and Peter are on tour together.

I hear the album is pretty good. Surprising for the Monkees, although I also didn't know Mike is involved. So if they all tried its not shocking that its passable.

I still never really forgave Mike for not touring with them. The Monkees are underrated and their first run of 4 or so albums are really good. Between 2000 and whenever Davey died, had it been all 4 I would have gone. I was always annoyed Mike didn't and didn't care enough to see the other 3. Then RIGHT after Davey dies Mike suddenly goes out on tour with them. I think it was just a few months later. That really pissed me off.

I might check out the album but I have no interest in seeing two of them tour. It was kinda all or none for me, although I'm sure Mike, Pete and Davy would have been enjoyable.

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RollingFreak
I hear the album is pretty good. Surprising for the Monkees, although I also didn't know Mike is involved. So if they all tried its not shocking that its passable.

I still never really forgave Mike for not touring with them. The Monkees are underrated and their first run of 4 or so albums are really good. Between 2000 and whenever Davey died, had it been all 4 I would have gone. I was always annoyed Mike didn't and didn't care enough to see the other 3. Then RIGHT after Davey dies Mike suddenly goes out on tour with them. I think it was just a few months later. That really pissed me off.

I might check out the album but I have no interest in seeing two of them tour. It was kinda all or none for me, although I'm sure Mike, Pete and Davy would have been enjoyable.

Mike had signed on for the tour when Davy was still alive. It was supposed to be the four of them. I don't know why you would be mad. Mike is a very business man. With other interests. Its like why would you be a Uber driver when you have your own trucking company.

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RollingFreak
I hear the album is pretty good. Surprising for the Monkees, although I also didn't know Mike is involved. So if they all tried its not shocking that its passable.

I still never really forgave Mike for not touring with them. The Monkees are underrated and their first run of 4 or so albums are really good. Between 2000 and whenever Davey died, had it been all 4 I would have gone. I was always annoyed Mike didn't and didn't care enough to see the other 3. Then RIGHT after Davey dies Mike suddenly goes out on tour with them. I think it was just a few months later. That really pissed me off.

I might check out the album but I have no interest in seeing two of them tour. It was kinda all or none for me, although I'm sure Mike, Pete and Davy would have been enjoyable.

I'll never invite you to a party. Lighten up.

For what it's worth, the Monkees have the #1 album on Amazon as I type.
[www.amazon.com]

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RollingFreak
I hear the album is pretty good. Surprising for the Monkees, although I also didn't know Mike is involved. So if they all tried its not shocking that its passable.

I still never really forgave Mike for not touring with them. The Monkees are underrated and their first run of 4 or so albums are really good. Between 2000 and whenever Davey died, had it been all 4 I would have gone. I was always annoyed Mike didn't and didn't care enough to see the other 3. Then RIGHT after Davey dies Mike suddenly goes out on tour with them. I think it was just a few months later. That really pissed me off.

I might check out the album but I have no interest in seeing two of them tour. It was kinda all or none for me, although I'm sure Mike, Pete and Davy would have been enjoyable.

Mike has other interests, as others pointed out. I also don't think his style is/was compatible with Davey. People are allowed not to get along, and maybe it's better to stay apart than give a forced performance of good will.

I enjoyed seeing the Monkees twice a few years ago when Mike was with them. I also enjoyed seeing Mike and Peter doing solo shows at a small club around the same time frame. I've been a Monkee fan since I was three years old, when the show was first on. I even still have a Monkees talking hand puppet that was given during Christmas of 1967. I'm not sure about the new album, but I'll check it out eventually.

[www.youtube.com]

__________________________

Wow, where did this come from? What a nice surprise to see the band finally- finally!- delivering the kind of reunion album fans have wanted for the past 20 years.

Of course, it's more than a little bittersweet to realize they finally pulled it off and Davy wasn't around to be a part of it. But I guess he was there in spirit as I don't know how else to explain the album being so good.

[www.youtube.com]

Have heard so many good things about this new release.....
heard one track "Me & Magdelana"...brilliant -- hope the rest is as good- plan on picking it up in the next day or two

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howlingmad
Wow, where did this come from? What a nice surprise to see the band finally- finally!- delivering the kind of reunion album fans have wanted for the past 20 years.

Of course, it's more than a little bittersweet to realize they finally pulled it off and Davy wasn't around to be a part of it. But I guess he was there in spirit as I don't know how else to explain the album being so good.

[www.youtube.com]

Davy's definitely there in spirit...and song!

From one of the Rolling Stone articles:

"A key part of that sound is the voice of Davy Jones, who passed away from a heart attack in 2012. Luckily, they were able to unearth a previously unreleased 1967 recording of Jones singing Neil Diamond's "Love to Love" that required little more than some new background vocals before it was ready for release."

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Jah Paul
Davy's definitely there in spirit...and song!

From one of the Rolling Stone articles:

"A key part of that sound is the voice of Davy Jones, who passed away from a heart attack in 2012. Luckily, they were able to unearth a previously unreleased 1967 recording of Jones singing Neil Diamond's "Love to Love" that required little more than some new background vocals before it was ready for release."

Yes, but it's still bittersweet to hear a track like "Our Own World" and realize Davy would've likely sung it. Or "Little Girl", which Peter wrote decades ago with Davy in mind.

However, perhaps the most remarkable thing about the album is that it's so joyous, you'd swear it was a product of the entire band coming together again. Without peeking at the song credits, it's actually difficult to tell where the vintage material ends and the new stuff begins.

What a great album. I'd suggest picking it up if you're on the fence.

After reading this thread I decided to pick up the Monkees new cd...I can't believe how good it is. Highly recommended.

On Good Morning American

Mike joined them for a song via Skype during tonight's NYC concert...

video: [youtu.be]

From the Monkees FB page:

We are proud to announce GOOD TIMES! Will debut on this week's Billboard Top 200 at #14!

The new album also charted on the following charts:

#6 on Current Albums
#5 on Physical Albums
#15 on Digital Albums
#2 on Current Pop Albums

This makes GOOD TIMES! The highest charting album from The Monkees since 1968's THE BIRDS, THE BEES & THE MONKEES! A big congratulations to The Monkees for this historic achievement!

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spsimmons
From the Monkees FB page:

We are proud to announce GOOD TIMES! Will debut on this week's Billboard Top 200 at #14!

The new album also charted on the following charts:

#6 on Current Albums
#5 on Physical Albums
#15 on Digital Albums
#2 on Current Pop Albums

This makes GOOD TIMES! The highest charting album from The Monkees since 1968's THE BIRDS, THE BEES & THE MONKEES! A big congratulations to The Monkees for this historic achievement!

GREAT!!!

I like the album a lot. Just two fails in my opinion. Tork's Little Girl and Nez's I Know What I Know. Little Girl was written for Davey and he might have been able to do something with it, but Tork just can't muster it. After the brilliant Me and Magdalena, I would have liked something a bit more upbeat and countryish from Nez. This and Little Girls get skipped....

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batcave
I like the album a lot. Just two fails in my opinion. Tork's Little Girl and Nez's I Know What I Know. Little Girl was written for Davey and he might have been able to do something with it, but Tork just can't muster it. After the brilliant Me and Magdalena, I would have liked something a bit more upbeat and countryish from Nez. This and Little Girls get skipped....

I agree with you, as those two definitely slow things down....Mike's song, especially. The rest of the album is top notch, and I've been listening to all of those songs every day since I bought it.

There are also four bonus tracks out there (available via various download and vinyl editions)...a second version of "Me & Magdalena" (a little faster with more instrumentation - good, but I prefer the original)..."A Better World" (Peter lead vocal, written by his brother - it's okay)..."Terrifying" (no, not the Stones song, but a nice ditty sung by Micky)...and "Love's What I Want" (written by Andy Partridge, sung by Micky - very upbeat & catchy, but not as good as Andy's "You Bring the Summer" ). I can understand why the three new tunes are bonus tracks, but they're all worth a listen on YouTube, if you can find them.

I bought this album last week and I am very, very happy with it.

The old stuff. The new stuff. The concept. The sequencing. The packaging.

Good Times indeed.

Mike Nesmith and Micky Dolenz touring:
THE MONKEES PRESENT: THE MIKE & MICKY SHOW
[www.monkees.com]

Michael Nesmith And Micky Dolenz Will Tour As A Duo For The First Time
This Summer, Playing Monkees Music Spanning More Than 50 Years

Tickets And VIP Packages Go On Sale February 23

Michael Nesmith and Micky Dolenz of The Monkees will hit the road in June for their first-ever national tour as a duo. Billed as “The Monkees Present: The Mike & Micky Show,” these 16 special performances will feature songs that span the group’s entire career – from its 1966 eponymous debut to 2016’s Good Times. The shows will highlight many of Nesmith’s compositions, including some that have never been performed live. The tour also includes two shows in Canada, which represent Nesmith’s first “Monkees” concerts since the band played there in 1969.

Tickets and VIP packages will go on sale February 23 at monkees.com. VIP Packages include access to soundcheck, a signed, hardbound copy of the tourbook, early entry to the show and a commemorative VIP laminate.

"I love being on stage with Micky,” says Nesmith. “We’ve been collaborating for over 50 years, so it’s hard to believe it’s never been just the two of us. I’m excited to dust off some tunes that I haven’t played for a long time too. These are going to be some fun shows.”

"Right from the get-go, I admired Mike's songs. When we used to get together around the campfire to sing in the early days, we were always doing his songs,” says Dolenz. “We always had such a great a vocal blend; he was the one who encouraged me to write songs of my own. I've always been a big fan and now we finally get to do the Mike & Micky show that we riffed on back when we were shooting The Monkees."

Original Monkee Peter Tork will not take part in the tour. Instead, he’s focusing on Relax Your Mind, a new album by Peter Tork and Shoe Suede Blues that honors the music of Lead Belly. The album is available now via CD Baby and Bandcamp.

“I have in general made no secret of the fact that all these recent years of Monkees-related projects, as fun as they’ve been, have taken up a lot of my time and energy. Moving forward, I have blues projects that I want to give my attention to, hence Relax Your Mind. So, I’m shifting gears for now, but I wish the boys well, and I’ve learned to never say never on things further down the line.”

“The Monkees Present: The Mike & Micky Show” is the latest chapter in Monkee-mania, a saga that began in 1965 when four young men were cast in a television show about a struggling rock band that was inspired by the Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night. Few could have predicted the impact the Monkees would have on music and pop culture at large, one that still reverberates more than 50 years later.

Formed in Los Angeles for the eponymous television series, the quartet of Dolenz, Nesmith, Tork and the late Davy Jones brought a singular mix of pop, rock, psychedelia, Broadway and country to their music. The Monkees’ first single, “Last Train to Clarksville,” was released in 1966 and quickly headed for the top spot of the Billboard charts, where it would ultimately sit for 13 of the 78 weeks it remained in the Top 200. (Two decades later, in the midst of a new burst of Monkee-mania, The Monkees popped back onto the charts, bringing the total number of weeks to 102.)

By the time the series aired its final new episode on March 25, 1968, the Monkees had seen three further albums top the charts — More of the Monkees, Headquarters, and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd. All were released in 1967, staggeringly enough, racking up several more hit singles, with “I’m A Believer,” “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone,” “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You,” “The Girl I Knew Somewhere,” “Pleasant Valley Sunday,” “Words,” “Daydream Believer,” “Valleri,” and “Tapioca Tundra” all finding their way into the Billboard Top 40. The final tally: 16 million albums and 7.5 million singles sold in a mere 2 1/2 years.

After the series’ two-season run, the group went on to star in the cult feature film Head (co-written by Jack Nicholson) and a TV special (33 1/3 Revolutions per Monkee) while also continuing to record new material. But as the ’60s gave way to the ’70s, the members of the Monkees eventually gave in to their individual musical interests and went their separate ways . . . for awhile.

In February 1986, after MTV broadcast a marathon of “The Monkees,” Dolenz, Jones, and Tork reunited for a 20th anniversary tour, with Nesmith joining them onstage for the Los Angeles date of the tour. In 1996, all four members of the group reunited for a new album (Justus) and TV special (“Hey, Hey, It’s the Monkees”).

In the wake of Jones’s death on February 12, 2012, the surviving members of the Monkees reunited and performed a series concerts. The shows were received so triumphantly that Dolenz, Nesmith and Tork returned the following summer for a tour dubbed, “A Midsummer’s Night With the Monkees.”

To celebrate the Monkees’ 50th anniversary in 2016, the surviving members of the band recorded the critically acclaimed album Good Times. Much like the Monkees’ early albums, it featured tracks written for the band by a group of gifted songwriters, including Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie), Rivers Cuomo (Weezer), Andy Partridge (XTC) and more. To support the album, Dolenz and Tork launched a successful tour that featured Nesmith beaming in remotely via Skype for a few songs during some of the shows.

THE MONKEES PRESENT: THE MIKE & MICKY SHOW

Tour Dates
June
1 Chandler Center For The Arts Chandler, AZ
2 The Orpheum Los Angeles, CA
3 Humphrey’s San Diego, CA
5 The Grove Anaheim, CA
6 The Mountain Winery Saratoga, CA
8 Bob Hope Theatre Stockton, CA
9 Harrah's Lake Tahoe Stateline, NV
12 Paramount Denver, CO
14 Copernicus Center Chicago, IL
15 Rose Music Center Huber Heights, OH
16 Cain Park Cleveland, OH
18 Sony Center Toronto, ON – Canada
19 Centre In the Square Kitchener, ON – Canada
21 Keswick Theatre Philadelphia, PA
22 Beacon Theatre New York, NY
25 Count Basie Theatre Red Bank, NJ

Interesting how Mike Nesmith finally tours (and records) under the aegis of The Monkees only after Davy Jones has passed.

That recent Monkees album really is good.

On a side note, there was a recent re-release of some of Micky Dolenz's pre-Monkees acting performances, with the Shout! Factory DVD collection of U.S. soap opera Peyton Place episodes from 1965, in which Dolenz over 3 episodes plays a youth ringleader (Kicth Brunner) who at a club spikes the drink of one of the regular players and then proceeds to beat him up and leave him for dead trapped in the pillory in the middle of the town square. Dolenz was convincing as a bad guy, really a pretty good actor.

Here he is getting in a fight with series star Ryan O'Neal: [www.youtube.com]

First scene as Kitch Brunner: [www.youtube.com]

Second scene as Kitch Brunner: [www.youtube.com]

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stonehearted
Interesting how Mike Nesmith finally tours (and records) under the aegis of The Monkees only after Davy Jones has passed.

It annoyed the hell out of me when it happened but at this point you can't go back in time. I think its really annoying though cause I would have seen all 4 Monkees and all the time they toured Mike had no interest.

Having said that, this tour makes sense. In all honesty, it almost seems like the only one worth seeing. Mickey sang most of the Monkees songs and was the defacto lead vocalist of the band (as well as the drummer) and Mike wrote many of the Monkees original songs and was the architect of the band and how they promoted themselves and led business dealings. I'm sure when Mickey and Peter tour together its fun, but in truth Mickey and Mike were the main members of the Monkees worth seeing (if only two of them are gonna tour).

All four did an album for their 30th anniversary and toured behind it (for one leg at least). There was even a TV reunion movie with all four of them that Nesmith wrote and directed. There have been permutations with two or three of them ever since Peter quit following the dreadful 33 1/3 REVOLUTIONS PER MONKEE variety special. It was that way in the late 60s, early and mid-70s, mid- and late 80s, etc.

I was fortunate enough to see Micky, Mike and Peter in both 2012 and 2013 (and Micky-Davy-Peter in 2011)...didn't have much interest in the Micky/Peter tour last time around two years ago, but I'm definitely looking forward to this.

I wish all three of them were touring, but as already noted, if it's only going to be two, this will be the best combo (no offense, Peter!)

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Rocky Dijon
All four did an album for their 30th anniversary and toured behind it (for one leg at least). There was even a TV reunion movie with all four of them that Nesmith wrote and directed. There have been permutations with two or three of them ever since Peter quit following the dreadful 33 1/3 REVOLUTIONS PER MONKEE variety special. It was that way in the late 60s, early and mid-70s, mid- and late 80s, etc.

Nesmith's departure from the tour was acrimonious. Jones was quoted by the Los Angeles Times as complaining that Nesmith "made a new album with us. He toured Great Britain with us. Then all of a sudden, he's not here. Later, I hear rumors he's writing a script for our next movie. Oh, really? That's bloody news to me. He's always been this aloof, inaccessible person... the fourth part of the jigsaw puzzle that never quite fit in."