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Target will carry an exclusive bonus tracks edition of The Monkees' forthcoming holiday album, Christmas Party, beginning on October 19 (a week after the release of the standard edition). Target's compact disc will feature two additional songs: 1) "Ríu Chíu" (group version as heard on the 1967 "Christmas Show" episode with improved audio from its previous CD appearance on the 2007 deluxe edition of Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.) 2) "Christmas Is My Time Of Year" (the one-off 1976 Christmas single recorded by Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, and Peter Tork and produced by Chip Douglas - this will mark its first official appearance on a Monkees album)  UPDATE 9/22/2018: Target's website shows that pre-orders for the bonus tracks edition of Christmas Party are now sold out. John Hughes of Rhino Records, however, has stated on Facebook that they are looking to replenish Target's stock to allow for additional pre-order sales. In the meantime, keep checking Target's site as well as this space for additional updates and information. 
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 (Album cover art by Michael Allred) Two years after the triumph of Good Times!, The Monkees are set to release Christmas Party, their first-ever collection of holiday music. The album, produced by Adam Schlesinger (who also oversaw Good Times!), 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"), R.E.M.'s Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey of The Minus 5 ("Christmas Party"), and Schlesinger with novelist Michael Chabon ("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 on October 12. A vinyl edition is in the works but will not be issued until early 2019. The first single, set for an October release, will be Andy Partridge's "Unwrap You At Christmas," and a lyric video will be produced to promote the track. Along with producer Schlesinger, Cuomo and Partridge are returning to the Monkees fold as they were the songwriters responsible for the two lead singles from Good Times!, "She Makes Me Laugh" and "You Bring the Summer." Two of Michael Nesmith's sons also acted as co-producers (Christian on "The Christmas Song" and Jonathan on "Snowfall"). Davy's tracks on Christmas Party were originally recorded years ago with former Monkees producer Chip Douglas. Schlesinger worked with the master tapes as given to him by Douglas, creating new instrumentation around Davy's vocals. Target will carry an exclusive bonus tracks edition of Christmas Party on October 19 (a week after the release of the standard edition), featuring two additional songs: 1) "Ríu Chíu" (group version as heard on the 1967 "Christmas Show" episode with improved audio from its previous CD appearance on the 2007 deluxe edition of Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.) 2) "Christmas Is My Time Of Year" (the one-off 1976 Christmas single recorded by Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, and Peter Tork and produced by Chip Douglas - this will mark its first official appearance on a Monkees album) Here is the official track listing of Christmas Party, and you can listen to the LP's executive producer John Hughes (of Rhino Records) and Monkees archivist Andrew Sandoval breakdown each song on the latest episode of Zilch. "Unwrap You At Christmas" (Lead vocal: Micky) "What Would Santa Do" (Lead vocal: Micky) "Mele Kalikimaka" (Lead vocal: Davy) "House Of Broken Gingerbread" (Lead vocal: Micky) "The Christmas Song" (Lead vocal: Michael) "Christmas Party" (Lead vocal: Micky) "Jesus Christ" (Lead vocal: Micky) "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day" (Lead vocal: Micky) "Silver Bells" (Lead vocal: Davy) "Wonderful Christmastime" (Lead vocal: Micky) "Snowfall" (Lead vocal: Michael) "Angels We Have Heard On High" (Lead vocal: Peter) "Merry Christmas, Baby" (Lead vocal: Micky) Stay tuned to The Monkees Live Almanac for all the latest news and information surrounding Christmas Party and more! Last week, The Boston Globe, while interviewing Michael Nesmith, hinted that a Monkees Christmas album was forthcoming, even mentioning two songs that Nez had recorded for the project: The surviving Monkees, Nesmith, Dolenz, and Peter Tork — Davy Jones died of a heart attack in 2012 — recorded a well-received comeback album, “Good Times!,” in 2016. True to form, Nesmith was not enthralled when the band asked him to take part in a follow-up, a Christmas album. But he relented, cutting two songs for the upcoming release, covers of “The Christmas Song” and “Snowfall,” the weird seasonal standard written by Claude Thornhill. Speculation surrounding new Monkees recordings has abounded since June 2017 when Fountains of Wayne guitarist Jody Porter, who played on the 2016 Monkees album Good Times! (which was produced by his bandmate Adam Schlesinger), commented on Facebook that he would soon be in Los Angeles to work on a new Monkees LP. Even before that, Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze, the legendary new wave group responsible for songs like "Tempted and "Pulling Mussels (From the Shell), told Iain Lee on his UK radio show that he was writing songs for another Monkees album. And now, Amazon has a listing for Christmas Party, set to be released by Rhino Records on October 12, 2018. Another website, Mascom, shows the album with the following track list (and low resolution artwork), advertising "new songs written by Rivers Cuomo (Weezer), Andy Partridge (XTC), and Peter Buck (REM)":
Stay tuned to The Monkees Live Almanac for all of the latest about this upcoming release!
 (Screenshot courtesy of Sunshine Factory)  (Banner designed by Al Bigley) I would like to take a moment to extend my best wishes to everyone for a safe, healthy, and happy holiday season. In the event you haven't heard or maybe missed the email from The Monkees Webstore, the More Of The Monkees super deluxe edition is now shipping, despite a previously announced setback in the release date. Keep an eye out for a special delivery! And as always, thank you for supporting The Monkees Live Almanac. - Mark  (Screenshot courtesy of the Sunshine Factory - click to watch the performance) Here's what I believe to be a fairly rare item that comes from my personal collection, and one that I've never previously seen online - a 1969 Monkees Christmas card that was sent to members of the group's fan club. The card features the signatures of Michael Nesmith, David Jones, and Micky Dolenz on the front, along with their manager at the time, Brendan Cahill. A big thanks to Monkees collector and expert Ed Reilly for confirming the details of this piece of memorabilia.  The card opens to reveal a color picture of The Monkees in holiday-themed attire while having "snow" poured on them by Cahill (left) and David Pearl (right). Pearl co-managed The Monkees with Brendan Cahill throughout 1969, and also acted as a stand-in on The Monkees television series and traveled with the band while on tour. The message reads, "Let there be Peace on Earth and let it begin with me."  A black and white copy of this photo appeared in the December 2000 issue of Monkee Business Fanzine.  Another picture from this Christmas-themed shoot was published in the December 27, 1969 issue of the music industry trade magazine Cash Box:  Thank you to everyone for their continued support of this website, and for a wonderful 50th Anniversary celebration of The Monkees!  (Design by Jaime Hitchcock)  (From "Mutant Monkees Meet The Masters of the Multimedia Manipulation Machine!" by Davy Jones & Alan Green - click to enlarge)  Butch Patrick is a former child actor who is best known for his role as "Eddie Munster" on the 1964-1966 CBS comedy, The Munsters. He appeared as "Melvin" on The Monkees Christmas Show episode that originally aired on December 25, 1967. In this late 1987 interview with Paris Stachtiaris on The Monkees Hour, Butch recalls his career in show business, working with The Monkees, and more. The show also features a live version of "Can You Dig It" from the '87 summer tour.  (Screenshot courtesy of Sunshine Factory)  (Courtesy of Al Bigley - click to enlarge)  From the December 27, 1969 issue of Cash Box (Courtesy of Kevin Schmid) Here's an outtake from the 1969 photo session that produced the Cash Box ad seen above. It was first published in the December 2000 issue of Monkee Business Fanzine. Monkees stand-ins and associates Ric Klein (left) and David Pearl (right) lend assistance.   (Banner courtesy of Al Bigley) I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season, and say thank you for your continued support of this website and blog. I'm sure we can all agree that we are looking forward with great anticipation to the New Year and the celebration of The Monkees' 50th Anniversary!  The photo above was utilized on a 5" x 7" fold-open Christmas card in 1967. Inside the card was the inscription "Let there be Peace on Earth and let it begin with me." According to Marty Eck's book, The Monkees Collectibles Price Guide, this card is believed not to have been mailed en masse and was only sent to a small group of people.
The Monkees famously closed their second season Christmas episode with a performance of "Riu Chiu," a traditional Spanish carol dating from the 16th century. An official studio version was recorded in October 1967, featuring Monkees producer Chip Douglas on vocals who was substituting for an absent Davy Jones. It went unreleased until 1990's Missing Links Volume Two. It is likely that The Monkees learned the song from Chip Douglas, who himself performed it with his former band The Modern Folk Quartet on their 1964 album Changes. These two songs come from A Beachwood Christmas, featuring Peter, his friend and longtime collaborator James Lee Stanley, and company. Here is Peter's banjo rendition of "Angels We Have Heard on High." This track, "I Remember Christmas," was written by Peter's brother, Nick. (FYI: These videos are mislabeled!) This photo and holiday message was originally published in the December 1968 issue of Monkees Monthly.  The image on the right was used as a Christmas postcard to members of the Monkees fan club in 1967. Marty Eck, who published The Monkees Collectibles Price Guide in the late '90s, described the postcard:  |
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