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"Heart and Soul," the first single from The Monkees' album Pool It!, was released in July 1987. The music video, despite being banned by MTV, was played heavily on alternate cable outlets, including Nickelodeon's Nick Rocks: The B-side, Peter Tork's own "MGBGT," was recorded live during one of the final stops on The Monkees' massively successful 20th Anniversary Reunion Tour in 1986: The front and back of the picture sleeve:   Rhino Records issued a promo CD for "Heart and Soul," along with a limited edition pink vinyl version of the single, which came in a hard stock picture sleeve:  (Pink vinyl images courtesy of Monkee45s.net)  The Monkees have performed the song live over the years, debuting it on the 1987 summer tour, where it was featured prominently in the encore. It stayed in the set list for the group's 1988 visit to Australia. After those performances, "Heart and Soul" would not be aired again in a live setting until 1996 and 1997, and it made a few select appearances on the 50th Anniversary Tour in 2016.  (Rhino Records promotional photo - click to enlarge)  (Photo courtesy of the 1991 "Listen to the Band" box set - click to watch the official video)  (From "Mutant Monkees Meet The Masters of the Multimedia Manipulation Machine!" by Davy Jones & Alan Green) Peter has a lot to say about the sounds and style of Pool It! and more in this flashback piece from 1987...  (Courtesy of Maureen Carney - click to enlarge)
The Monkees performed at Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey on Sunday, May 29:
And here's "Take a Giant Step" and "Heart and Soul" from last night's soundcheck:
 (VHS cassette cover - from my collection)  (Promotional handbill - from my collection)  This was a fun poll, asking Monkees fans to choose their two favorite songs from Pool It! It's been running for a while now, but every time I checked the results and prepared to close it, inevitably there was a tie between a couple of songs.
Pool It!, the oft-maligned 1987 Monkees reunion album, was never the commercial juggernaut that was hoped, and its success was ultimately complicated by the breakdown of relations between The Monkees and MTV in early 1987, along with tensions surrounding the recording sessions (scroll down for the Pool It! entry). Monkees fans at the time were divided in their reactions to the new LP and its overall production. Some applauded the group for going in a new, current direction while others wondered what had happened to the classic Monkees sounds of yesteryear. Despite being blacklisted by MTV, the creative music video for the first single, "Heart and Soul," was a hit on cable television music shows outside of MTV, and the song was well-received on the 1987 summer tour, where it opened the encore performance each night. But times were different, and MTV was a powerful entity that influenced radio programmers and more. As a result, "Heart and Soul," despite being a well-produced pop track, failed to connect with the general record buying public. In this poll, however, it easily takes the top spot in the minds of Monkees fans. "Gettin' In," written by Peter Tork, was also played nightly on the 1987 tour. Peter hasn't talked much about the song over the years, but he did revive it during his 'In This Generation' solo tour in 2013. "Gettin' In" consistently held the second spot during the voting. Rounding out the top five were "Midnight," an album track sung by Micky; the second single, "Every Step of the Way;" and "Don't Bring Me Down," another album track that received airplay on cable music show Nick Rocks in late 1987 after a video was produced highlighting a contest winner's day with The Monkees. Take a moment to vote in the new Live Almanac poll (in the blog sidebar to the right), "What is your favorite Monkees album cover?" Thanks to Perry Corvese for sharing another item from his collection!   (Picture by Lisa Manekofsky and courtesy of Monkee45s.net)  (Photo by Henry Diltz) Thanks to Jennifer who submitted this letter that she received from Rhino Records in late 1987. Jennifer can't recall exactly why she wrote to Rhino, but it looks like it had something to do with the lack of promotion and airplay the Pool It! album received that year. Remember, The Monkees and MTV had a falling out in early 1987 which resulted in the cable music network refusing to air the videos for the singles "Heart and Soul" and "Every Step of the Way." The lack of an MTV push most likely impacted radio airplay of the new songs. (You can read more about the Monkees/MTV feud here.)  To add more to a previous blog post, here's another story about the falling out between The Monkees and MTV in 1987. This piece comes from Musicade Catalog and was published sometime in late 1987/early 1988.  (From the collection of MusicFan76 - click to enlarge) Here's Micky and Davy in their '60s throwback clothes on the set of the "Heart and Soul" music video in 1987...   (Click to enlarge) Despite a friendship with MTV in 1986 that helped make The Monkees one of the biggest music stories of that year, things went sour in 1987 after an apparent misunderstanding between the band and the cable music network. After MTV heavily pushed the music video for The Monkees' 1986 comeback single, "That Was Then, This Is Now," it refused to play the video for "Heart and Soul," the lead single from the group's 1987 album, Pool It! Clearly MTV's lack of support (at a time when MTV still screened music videos and played a larger role in making 'hits') had a negative impact on the "Heart and Soul" single, a strong pop song that most likely could have been a bigger hit that summer. TV Guide reported the dispute, and the clipping above appeared in a late 1987 edition of the magazine. The following story, originally published in Monkee Business Fanzine issue #43 in December 1987, goes into further detail.    |
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