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Coming after the Live Almanac's exclusive sneak preview yesterday, The Monkees' YouTube channel has unveiled the brand new lyric video for "What Would Santa Do," the latest track in the spotlight from the group's recently released holiday album, Christmas Party. Enjoy! Thank you very much to John Hughes of Rhino Records for sending the Live Almanac a preview of the official lyric video for "What Would Santa Do," a featured track from The Monkees' brand new holiday album, Christmas Party. The video for the Rivers Cuomo-penned song will arrive tomorrow (Thursday, December 6), and follows hot on the heels of last week's premiere of "Unwrap You At Christmas." Thanks again to John (who is also the executive producer of Christmas Party) for the sneak peek! "Unwrap You At Christmas" (Single Mix) now available on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and YouTube11/28/2018 As revealed yesterday on YouTube during the live chat that accompanied the premiere of its official lyric video, "Unwrap You At Christmas" was treated to a single mix by music engineer and mixer Tom Lord-Alge, who has previously worked with U2, Peter Gabriel, Santana, and many others. You can listen to the single mix below!  The holiday season continues to deliver for Monkees fans as the brand new lyric video for "Unwrap You At Christmas," the debut single from the group's first-ever holiday album, Christmas Party, has premiered on the official Monkees YouTube channel, and in a brand new single mix to boot! Join the Watch Party in real time now (on the right side of the video). UPDATE: The chat revealed that the vinyl release for Christmas Party is currently slated for September 2019. UPDATE #2: Rolling Stone - Watch the Monkees’ New Cartoon Video ‘Unwrap You at Christmas’ UPDATE #3: "Unwrap You At Christmas" (Single Mix) now available on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and YouTube (Video credits: Art by Michael Allred / Colors by Laura Allred / Directed by John Hughes)
 (Banner designed by Al Bigley) Looking for that perfect gift or stocking stuffer for your Monkees fanatic? Well, The Monkees Live Almanac is here to help! Beginning with the group's brand new album, Christmas Party, the Live Almanac highlights the best items available for Monkees fans this holiday season. Simply click on each image below to order away! "Christmas Party" "Christmas Party" Sweatshirts
When you order from Monkees.com through Monday, November 26 at 11:59pm PT, you can receive free domestic shipping and a sheet of Monkees wrapping paper when you spend $50 or more.  "The Monkees: The Complete Series" (along with "Head," "33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee," and Bonus Materials) on Blu-ray Concert Tickets   Various CDs, LPs, 45s, and DVDs from 7a Records
Holiday Ornaments from the Davy Jones Equine Memorial Foundation
"More Of The Monkees" 3-Disc Super Deluxe Edition Box Set Books
Micky Dolenz Direct eBay Store Michael Nesmith & The First National Band Trilogy on Colored Vinyl Peter Tork & Shoe Suede Blues - "Relax Your Mind" The Monkees' 2016 album "Good Times!" Michael Nesmith Wool Hats
T-shirts & Sweater
"Instant Replay" Deluxe Edition Monkees Button Pack Michael Nesmith Merchandise and Collectibles from Videoranch Happy Holidays from The Monkees Live Almanac!The Monkees famously closed their second season Christmas episode with a performance of "Riu Chiu," a traditional Spanish carol dating from the 16th century: Take the last train to Christmas, and enjoy pure pop goofiness, harmony and personality with the implausibly still-around Monkees, the late ‘60s TV sensations who are still as fun today as they were then. Micky Dolenz handles most of the vocals, though Michael Nesmith sings on two songs and Peter Tork is on the banjo-laden “Angels We Have Heard on High.” Davy Jones, who died in 2012, sings lead on two tracks via tapes he recorded in 1991, backed by new instrumentation. His “Silver Bells” and “Mele Kalikimaka” will make a daydream believer out of you, too. “Unwrap You at Christmas” sets the tone for this lighthearted holiday romp, leading into the whimsical “What Would Santa Do?” Most interesting is “House of Broken Gingerbread,” with its unmistakable ‘60s psychedelic feel. Built around a funky guitar riff, “Christmas Party” arrives at the conclusion that one holiday blowout year is enough: “Remember last year/Cops had to shut us down twice.” The Monkees also cover classic Christmas tunes from Roy Wood (”I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday”) Paul McCartney (”Wonderful Christmastime”), and the oft-covered “Merry Christmas, Baby,” which is way more bad-ass than one would expect from The Monkees. Guest musicians include XTC’s Andy Partridge, R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and Adam Schlesinger, who produced as well. — Wayne Parry (twitter.com/WayneParryAC)  A big thanks to John Hughes of Rhino Records (and the executive producer of Christmas Party) for giving The Monkees Live Almanac an early preview of tomorrow's Billboard rankings for the brand new Monkees holiday album as it enters its second week on the charts:
Christmas Party debuted at #3 on the Billboard Holiday Albums chart and lands at #5 in its second week. The Holiday Albums chart ranks the most popular holiday albums of the week, as compiled by Nielsen Music, based on multi-metric consumption (blending traditional album sales, track equivalent albums, and streaming equivalent albums). Billboard's Top Album Sales chart measures the week's top-selling albums across all genres, ranked by pure sales data only (no streaming included). This week, Christmas Party moves down to #73 after debuting at #66. "Overall Albums" is a Nielsen SoundScan chart that is not published on Billboard.com and is different from the Billboard 200 in that it includes older catalog albums as well. The "Pop" chart is another SoundScan chart that is not published by Billboard. Thanks again, John! UPDATE 1/5/2019: Christmas Party continued to chart for another 3 weeks on the Billboard Holiday Albums chart:
Micky Dolenz speaks with Australian TV about "Christmas Party," 50th anniversary of "Head," and more10/29/2018 A big thanks to (who else?!) Ben Belmares for sharing his scans of the Target version of The Monkees' new holiday album, Christmas Party.                     The Monkees' first-ever holiday album, Christmas Party, has debuted at #3 on the October 27, 2018 Billboard Holiday Albums chart, which ranks the most popular holiday albums of the week, as compiled by Nielsen Music, based on multi-metric consumption (blending traditional album sales, track equivalent albums, and streaming equivalent albums). Coming in at #1 on the Holiday Albums chart this week is Eric Clapton's Happy Xmas (which was released on the same day as Christmas Party). Clapton's effort also charted at #168 on the Billboard 200, which ranks the most popular albums of the week, as compiled by Nielsen Music, based on multi-metric consumption (blending traditional album sales, track equivalent albums, and streaming equivalent albums), but The Monkees were missing from that particular chart. Christmas Party also landed at #66 on the Top Album Sales chart, which measures the week's top-selling albums across all genres, ranked by pure sales data only (no streaming included). Don't forget to vote in the Live Almanac's latest poll and choose your 5 favorite songs from Christmas Party!  Christmas Party, the first holiday album by The Monkees, was issued by Rhino Records on October 12, and a bonus tracks version will be offered exclusively by Target on October 19. Take a moment to vote in the Live Almanac's new poll and select your five favorite tracks from the album:  (UPDATED 12/21/2018: Additional reviews will be added as they become available)
 (Photo courtesy of Rhino Entertainment) "Unwrap You At Christmas" is now available for download and streaming! Written for The Monkees by XTC's Andy Partridge, the song features a lead vocal from Micky Dolenz and is the first official preview of the group's holiday album, Christmas Party, set for release this Friday. "Unwrap You At Christmas" can be downloaded on Amazon and iTunes and is also streaming on Spotify. Listen to it on YouTube below! On October 12, Rhino Records will release Christmas Party, the first-ever collection of Christmas music by The Monkees. The album will feature newly recorded versions of classic Christmas songs including "Silver Bells," "The Christmas Song," and "Wonderful Christmastime" along with brand new songs written for the group by Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo ("What Would Santa Do"), Andy Partridge of XTC ("Unwrap You At Christmas"), as well as R.E.M.'s Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey of The Minus 5 ("Christmas Party"). Adam Schlesinger, who produced the LP (and 2016's Good Times!), collaborated with novelist Michael Chabon on "House of Broken Gingerbread." Covers of Wizzard's yuletide classic "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day" and Big Star's "Jesus Christ" will also be heard on the album. Christmas Party includes new vocals by Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork, plus the late Davy Jones’ voice - taken from vintage recordings - also appears on two songs. It will be available for purchase on compact disc and as a digital download this Friday. A vinyl edition is in the works but will not be issued until 2019. Retail giant Target will carry an exclusive bonus tracks edition of Christmas Party beginning on October 19 (a week after the release of the standard edition), and it's currently available for pre-ordering. Target's compact disc will feature two additional songs: "Riu Chiu" and "Christmas Is My Time of Year." While we wait for the video of the first single, "Unwrap You at Christmas," to arrive, take a moment to catch up on all things Christmas Party in the archives of the Live Almanac!  |
Bob Rafelson
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