Chart entered : 18 October 1986
Chart peak : 68
This was another comeback hit, 17 years after "Someday Man".
The Monkees had survived the cancellation of the TV series and battled on against both the record company's reluctance to let them record their own music and the lingering stigma of being a "manufactured " ( still a pejorative term in music, fifty years on ) band. They largely won the first one but despite making some decent music it wasn't commercially successful. Peter Tork quit in 1969 claiming exhaustion and bought himself out of the recording contract. Michael Nesmith left to recommence his solo career the following year so the last Monkees records in 1971 actually featured just Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones.
The latter pair often toured together in the seventies though they had lost the rights to the group name. Both put out solo material without much success although Davy had a number 52 hit in the US with " Rainy Jane" in 1971. They also took acting roles although latterly Micky had moved behind the cameras and directed the successful Metal Mickey series in the UK. Davy also went back to the turf and started developing a stable of racehorses. Peter had a chequered post-Monkees career including a spell in stir for hashish and three years as a teacher but mainly he was a touring musician unable to cut a solo deal. Michael was much more comfortably off. He enjoyed a reasonable amount of success as a solo artist and songwriter; his 1977 single "Rio" is the only UK hit ( number 28 ) by a solo Monkee. That came with an early pop video which gave him the idea for a TV show Pop Clips which he sold to Time Warner /Amex in 1980 for development into MTV. That year he also inherited his mother's fortune from inventing Tipp-Ex . He didn't need to work again but kept himself busy in video direction and production.
While the lads carved out new careers for themselves , the TV show remained popular on repeat and Arista put out a steady string of re-releases to try and capitalise on it. "The Monkees EP " a good value package of their four biggest hits made the Top 40 at the beginning of 1980.
In 1986 Micky ( who needed some persuading ) , Davy and Peter ( now looking a dead ringer for Gordon Burns from The Krypton Factor ) signed up for a 20th anniversary tour of the US . Michael was originally going to participate but when demand mushroomed and the tour was massively extended he had to pull out due to business commitments . He did appear with them during the encore when they came to L.A. I remember a friend at university speculating that they were doing it because Davy was almost broke. It was a huge success helped by MTV and Nickelodeon and a new compilation LP followed. This was to include three new tracks . Davy didn't want to be involved to the extent of leaving the stage when they were performed and objecting to the group credit when this was released as a single.
"That Was Then ,This Is Now" ( no relation to the ABC hit ) was not the self-referential shlock the title may have suggested. It's actually a cover of a song by The Mosquitos, a New York band on the "Paisley underground circuit, released on an EP the year before. Ironically it was Davy who was a friend of the writer Vance Brescia. It's a likable semi-acoustic number affirming personal redemption but nothing to get too excited about. Micky sings it ( rather better than the original nasal vocalist ) and Peter makes sure his acoustic guitar work is high in the mix. Their version is smoother with more synth work but still rather bland. It came with a video ( not featuring Davy ) mixing contemporary live performance from the duo with sixties footage. It reached number 20 in the US which was doubtless very welcome to its writer Vance Brescia. The tour never came to the UK and the single wasn't playlisted by Radio One so it only managed a single week on the chart here.
The anniversary tour went so well that the trio stayed together for the next three years. A re-mix of "Daydream Believer " reached number 79 in the US as a follow-up single. Davy was then persuaded to return to the studio for a new album "Pool It ! " in 1987. With Michael still unavailable, this time round they were happy to let session musicians do most of the work . Davy contributed two songs, Peter, one and the rest were covers. Davy did six lead vocals, Micky, four and Peter, two. Although the reception was largely negative and it only got to number 72 in the US ( it was completely ignored here ) it isn't as bad as you might expect. The generic MTV rock of the singles "Heart And Soul" ( their last US hit at a measly 89 ) and its follow-up "Every Step of the Way" don't invite further exploration but there was more interesting stuff on the LP. Peter's song "Gettin In" is a strangely compelling blend of Sparks and Duran Duran , Micky does a remarkably feminine vocal on " Secret Heart " and Davy's "Midnight" sounds a bit like Al Stewart ( the less said about his other song "Love You Forever" which makes Lionel Ritchie sound like Joy Division the better ! ).
"Pool It" proved that the audience for new Monkees material was limited but they remained a potent live draw and did tours of America ( 1987 ), Australia ( 1988 ) and "Europe" in 1989. In fact the latter tour was almost entirely in the UK ( bar one date in Amsterdam ). Arista cashed in again with a less generous three track EP which got to number 62 , their last appearance in the singles chart. After they returned from Europe they did another tour of the US and Japan. The L.A. date was marked by another , more substantial, guest appearance from Michael. There were plans for two more years' touring but Micky changed his mind and the trio went their separate ways after the last gig in Missouri in September 1989.
Over the next few years Davy had the highest profile with regular acting roles on TV. He and Micky did tours of the US in 1994 and 1995 without claiming the group name. In 1995 the four appeared together to announce plans for a 30th Anniversary celebration. This involved both a tour of the US and a new album. A complicated lawsuit involving his film company meant Michael had to pull out of the tour once again but he was fully on board for the album. Without MTV support, the guys played smaller venues than the 1986 tour.
"Justus" , as the title suggests , was a clear attempt to finally put to bed the idea that the group relied on outside help. All the songs were written by one of the quartet and all instruments were played by the group. All four were credited as producers but most of the work was done by Michael while the others were on tour. They proved their self-sufficiency but unfortunately it wasn't very good with the individuals sounding like they were pulling in different directions. Michael and Micky's songs lean in a grunge-lite direction while Davy's contributions hark back to their pop hey-day. Peter contributes another oddity in "I Believe You" which sounds like 10cc. Across the board, it sounds only half-developed and under-produced. It bombed completely.
In spring 1997 they toured the UK with Michael finally on board. In commercial terms it was a success, culminating in two sold out shows at Wembley Arena, but was savaged in the press. The main target was Michael who was pilloried for both his surly demeanour and the rustiness of his playing. Unsurprisingly, the multimillionaire decided "I don't need this" and pulled out of the subsequent US tour , saying he would work on the planned second Monkees feature film instead. This makes the second Wembley show the last time all four Monkees appeared together.
The film never happened; perhaps it was just a smokescreen. The others played the tour then disbanded. In 2000 VH-1 did a programme on the band and the renewed interest spurred Peter, Micky and Davy to go out on the road again the following year. Michael was not invited. As it progressed Peter , a recovering alcoholic, became increasingly disturbed by the heavy drinking back stage and had a meltdown halfway through the tour. He gave his notice to quit but the other two told him to drop out immediately. He was invited to do a UK tour in 2002 but declined.
The 40th anniversary went by without any reunion but Peter, Davy and Micky reunited for a final time in 2011 for a 45th anniversary tour which ran until August 2011 Promoters wanted them to extend it but the guys called a halt with Davy commenting "let's face it, we're not kids". He died six months later of heart failure linked to atherosclerosis aged 66.
Davy's death jolted Michael out of exile and he joined Peter and Micky for three relatively low key tours of the US in 2012, 2013 and 2014. He sat out last year's tour .
This year they have released another album "Good Times !" to mark their Golden Anniversary. It's partly a mopping-up exercise with unused material from the vaults hence a posthumous vocal from Davy ( and one from Harry Nilsson ) , partly a contemporary covers album tackling songs by Paul Weller, Rivers Cuomo and Andy Partridge and the guys contribute one new song each. I've only heard the tracks released as singles which are pleasant enough retro-pop but instantly forgettable. It hasn't yet charted anywhere.
Peter and Micky are currently on tour in the US with Michael , pleading the need to finish his autobiography, having made one brief guest appearance a couple of weeks ago. Whether they'll finally call it a day after that remains to be seen.
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