Monkeemania: More of the Monkees' 46th Anniversary

You thought Monkeemania would end after the concert? Think again, mein Freund.

About a week ago, fans of the Monkees' second album "More of the Monkees" celebrated its 46th anniversary of the original release date for the album. I was going to write something up about it last week but got too busy to write anything. That gave me some time to think back and reflect on the album, trying to think of some words to say.

Like I had mentioned before in a previous post, "More of the Monkees" was the first album I had. My mom got it for me on cassette when I was in the first grade. I must have played the shit out of it, which is why I don't have it anymore. That, or it got lost like all my other cassettes. I still don't know where my Will Smith's "Getting Jiggy Wit It" cassette is... errr... I mean Metallica's "Black Album." Yeah. METAL! (Seriously though, that just reminded me to get the Black Album... or Metallica, like the many Weezer albums called Weezer that are named by their respective album cover colors. Oh yeah, I linked it back to Weezer... I knew I could pull it off.)

I bought the CD version of the album probably when I was still in college. This release was a special edition that Rhino Records released during the 90s, I'm assuming, that had additional tracks to it. The little sleeve cover/booklet had some historical information regarding the songs on the album, as well as the additional songs that were made at the time, but added and rerecorded for other albums or B-sides, or cut, later to be added onto a "Missing Links" album years later. There's a deluxe version of More of the Monkees that came out recently with even more songs in addition to the added songs off the special edition, but those run for $27-30 so I've been content with just listening to that version on Spotify.

The second album definitely has more hits than the first one. Sure, the first one has "The Monkees Theme" and "Last Train to Clarksville" and "I Wanna Be Free," but this album has "She," "Mary, Mary," "Auntie Grizelda," "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" and the timeless classic "I'm A Believer."

 I do love the deep cuts on this album, including "Laugh," "Sometime In the Morning," and "Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)." Personally, my favorite song off the original album (not including the additional songs added during later releases) is "The Kind of Girl I Could Love." It's a Nesmith song (of course) and it's probably one of my top 10 favorite songs from them.

Unfortunately, one of my least favorite Monkees songs is off this album, titled "The Day We Fall In Love." It's basically Davy Jones doing a spoken word song, but to me, it's just a really boring song with unengaging music behind it. Then again, that's just me, and I know there's a lot of (female) Monkees fans who dig that song. It's still WAY better than Jaguar Love, though.

Out of the additional songs added, I really dig the alternate version of "I Don't Think You Know Me" sung by Peter Tork. The deluxe version of this album has some new songs I hadn't heard like the mono mix of "Of You" and the alternate version of "Tear Drop City" which is originally from Instant Replay. The deluxe also has a lot of other songs from the Missing Links collections, like alternate versions of "Mister Webster," "Words," and my absolute favorite added to this set, "Valleri," which is suppose to be the TV version... which I'm sure you've seen if you've read any of my Monkees blogs.

One of these days, I might write up a more analytic approach to the album, talking in detail about each song, but in the mean time, I just want to highlight why I like this album and what songs are my favorite. I hope to write more about the other Monkees albums and highlight what I love in the future. For now, enjoy a deep cut that I've grown more appreciation for... "Sometime In The Morning."

Resolutions, Schmesolutions... (I'm Totally Making That A Word)

Minutes before the clock struck midnight, leading into the new year, my friend asked me if I had any resolutions. I laughed a little bit and told him I don't make resolutions. I didn't give my detailed explanation as to why, because I would have finished at midnight... or if I had cut it short, a couple of seconds. I asked him his, and like a psychic, I knew he was going to say "work out more." Granted, my friend is pretty fit from what I can see... not that I check out my friend or anything... but it doesn't look like there's fat on him. Anyways, he explained that because of grad school, he hadn't had the time to prioritize for a good workout. I can respect his desire to get back to what he's use to, because I know he likes to workout, unlike me, who can't go to a gym not named Average Joe's and not owned by Peter LaFleur, fearing to bump into the White Goodmans, Blaze, Lazer, and Blazers of the world.

(Image taken online, but originally from Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.

No copyright infringement intended.)

Millions of Americans, who through good intentions, declare "working out" and "losing weight" their resolution when it's not something they really like to do. While I admire that, it's really hard to stick with that lifestyle... and most make the mistake of going head on into it, starting out strong and fizzling earlier than they should when they need to ease into it, gradually change certain things, and moderate the workout. Plus, this whole "resolution" to lose weight is a fucking six billion dollar industry... I saw a news report on it... and they capitalize on those people... which is why you'll always see more gym ads, more weight loss shake ads, more exercise shit on TV at this time. And I wouldn't be surprised if two months from now, the snack food ads start popping up more, which is probably owned by the people in the gym, weight loss shake, and exercise equipment industry, creating this vicious cycle to profit off the masses... hoping people quit the gyms early so that they profit off the year-long memberships that people were suckered into signing up for in their blood.

I'll step away from my probably-true conspiracy theory... for now.

Anyways, I rarely make resolutions, not because I don't want to change anything about myself... because I know I'm not perfect... but because I don't want to have to make a declaration about it and stick to it. I all ready fucked up several times on declarations like going back to school for my Masters. (Yeah yeah I'm still working on it... well... I'm still trying to gather the willpower to go through the process and extra willpower to go through more years of online education... ewwww...) and I don't like going against my word, especially if it's well intentioned. I can go against my word if I know I made a mistake and was wrong about something... that's fine... but something like that is something different. If I want to make a change about myself, I keep it to myself, gradually work it in, and don't go all gung ho about it. That's the best-case scenario for me.

But with that said, when I got home that night, I realized I received more books than I can remember for both Christmas and my birthday. So if I was going to make a resolution, it might as well be "to read more." At this point in my life, it's more about something I want to do since I think it'll help me with my writing. I'm not going to give myself a minimum requirement of books to finish at a certain point in time because that kind of shit will make it a chore rather than something I do for pleasure. But I think in time, I'll enjoy reading more than I do now... and I have the Hunger Games to thank for that... hey, inspiration comes from different places, so don't judge.

And if I had to change another thing about me, not that I'm making this resolution or anything, but if anything, I'd probably do my best to get all my hang-ups about long-distance relationships out of the way so that I can give it the best chance I can give it.