Blog - Monkees Live Almanac

1987 Monkees comic

4/27/2018

Thanks a lot to Ed Reilly for sharing this comic that was syndicated nationwide in late 1987!

Monkees comic

Monkees comic 1987

"The Best of The Monkees" on Silver Eagle Records

4/21/2018

Those who became fans during The Monkees' resurgence in 1986 (like myself) will no doubt have fond memories of the Arista Records compilation Then & Now...The Best of The Monkees.

Released in June that year, the album contained the group's greatest hits, along with three new tracks recorded just in time for The Monkees' 20th Anniversary Reunion Tour: "That Was Then, This Is Now," "Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere," and "Kicks." Then & Now peaked at #21 and became a million seller, aided by the "That Was Then, This Is Now" single, which peaked at #20 while its accompanying music video received heavy airplay on MTV.

Arista, however, had originally planned to release a 2-LP set entitled The Best Of The Monkees to celebrate The Monkees' 20th Anniversary, but plans were changed when it was decided to record new tracks. With the double LP already pressed, it was instead made available via mail order and was distributed by Silver Eagle Records:

Best of the Monkees Silver Eagle

The Silver Eagle release featured 24 tracks but unlike the Then & Now issue, there was no gatefold cover and the liner notes were not included.

The Silver Eagle version of the album was also issued on cassette. A combination of both the Silver Eagle Best Of and Arista's Then & Now was released on compact disc in August 1986 and became the first Monkees CD to be made available in the United States.

This commercial aired in 1986 and 1987 advertising the 2-LP Silver Eagle set:

Davy, Peter, and Micky in 1986

4/20/2018

Monkees 1986

(Photo by Michael G. Bush)

Rehearsals for the 20th Anniversary Reunion Tour

4/20/2018

Monkees 1986

(From the 1986 Monkees tour program)

The Monkees visit KCFX in Kansas in 1986

4/4/2018

20th Anniversary Reunion Tour

Monkees 1986

(Photo courtesy of eBay)

Micky Dolenz live on the 20th Anniversary Tour

1/5/2018

(Photo courtesy of Jeremy Maine)

Original edition of 1986 "Monkeemania" book

12/22/2017

Monkeemania: The True Story of The Monkees was authored by Glenn A. Baker, Tom Czarnota, and Peter Hogan. Published in 1986 at the height of The Monkees' 20th Anniversary Reunion Tour, many fans (like me) who discovered the group on MTV that year inevitably purchased the first edition of the book:

Monkeemania The True Story of The Monkees book Baker

(Front cover of the original edition)

(Back cover of the original edition)

Baker also produced and compiled the legendary 1979 compilation Monkeemania: 40 Timeless Hits.

The third edition of Monkeemania, pictured below, was published in 1997 with alternate front and rear covers:

The Monkees live at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan in 1986

12/1/2017

Thanks a lot to Tom B. for reminding the Live Almanac about this live footage from a stop on The Monkees' 20th Anniversary Tour!

Peter Tork at New York's City Hard Rock Cafe

9/22/2017

Monkees at the Hard Rock Cafe

Schedule for the 1986 Philadelphia Monkees convention

9/8/2017

The monumental gathering of Monkees fans in Philadelphia on August 1-3, 1986 was a culmination of the stready growth of smaller, more intimate Monkees conventions since the late 1970s. This sold-out event, hosted by Monkee Business Fanzine editor Maggie McManus and Monkees collector Ed Reilly, and emceed by longtime fan Fred Velez, attracted Davy, Micky, and Peter during the height of The Monkees' 20th Anniversary Tour. Two sold-out shows at Philly's Mann Music Center capped off the event.

(Scans courtesy of Danny Solazzi of The Characters)

(Click to enlarge)

Rehearsing at the Greek Theatre in 1986

7/21/2017

Monkees 1986

(Photo by Henry Diltz and from the "Monkees Calendar 1988")

Peter, Davy, and Micky in 1986

7/14/2017

Thanks to Written In Our Hearts for this flashback from 1986!

Monkees 1986

Nez live onstage at the Greek Theatre in 1986

6/16/2017

The Greek Theatre 1986 (all four Monkees reunited)

Monkees Greek Theatre 1986

(Photo by Stan Brick)

Mega success for "Then & Now" compilation

6/10/2017

Then & Now...The Best of The Monkees was later certified platinum in January 1987.

(From the December 1986 issue of Monkee Business Fanzine)

Song of the Day: Peter Tork and Bobby Hart discuss "Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere"

6/9/2017

Over the years, I've heard different reports regarding the "dance remix" of "Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere." I've been told it exists, but I've also heard it doesn't. Appearing first on the platinum-selling Then & Now...The Best of The Monkees in 1986, the song has never been performed live in concert. It was, however, resurrected for last year's The Monkees 50 compilation.

Take note of the session credits. Michael Lloyd worked previously with Micky Dolenz in the early 1970s under the Starship banner, and also produced The Monkees' 1986 Top 20 hit, "That Was Then, This Is Now." Laurence Juber was a member of Wings from 1978-1981, and Paul Leim played drums for Michael Nesmith on his 1979 LP Infinite Rider on the Big Dogma, and toured with Nez as recently as 2013.

Monkees Clive Davis

(From the liner notes of the "Listen to the Band" box set)

The Monkees and their '86 tour crew

5/26/2017

Monkees 1986 crew band

(Photo by Michael G. Bush)

The Monkees backstage in Los Angeles with Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider in 1986

5/19/2017

The Monkees Reunite at the Greek Theatre

Monkees Rafelson Schneider

Greek Theatre / September 7, 1986 (Photo by Henry Diltz)

Fans show their love during the '86 tour

3/3/2017

Monkees fans 1980s

(Photo by Michael G. Bush)

Peter Tork photographed in 1986

3/3/2017

(From the 1987 Monkees summer tour program)

The Monkees backstage in Los Angeles at the Greek Theatre

1/27/2017

Monkees 1986

September 7, 1986 (Photo by Henry Diltz)