Panel celebrates '80s Monkees album

7/29/2021

Fans of The Monkees' album Pool It! are sure to enjoy this lively and revealing discussion about the group's 1987 LP, led by Mark Kleiner (host of the Nesmith, Tork, Goffin & King podcast who has also penned superlative liner notes for various 7a Records releases) and his longtime friend and former Monkees pen pal, Lee Baber. Watch and listen as Mark and Lee welcome guests like producer Roger Bechirian (who expresses his desire to undertake a remix of the album), session guitarist Mark Christian, songwriters Michael Levine ("Since You Went Away") and Tom Teeley ("Don't Bring Me Down"), Monkees collector Ed Reilly, and graphic designer Delana Bettoli.

Thanks also goes to Mark Kleiner for sharing this photo of The Monkees taken by Rick Barham during filming of the music video for "Heart and Soul," the lead single from Pool It! Rick acted as the gaffer during the video's production.

(Photo by Rick Barham)

24 Comments

Corey

7/30/2021 13:58:07

With the momentum The Monkees had behind them at the time this album should have been so much better. Its a bottom 2 album for me along with Justus. Maybe I need to re listen to it and see if I can find a gem or two.

Dan

7/30/2021 23:22:36

Justus is tough for me because it clearly doesn't *work* as a project, BUT, it does have some really smart moments.

You and I is fantastic on Justus, and would have been amazing on Pool It (if any of them bothered to work together on that record).

Admiral Mike comes across with vitality because you can tell both Nez and Micky believed in what they were singing. Even if the song isn't a classic, its at least motivated by their own experiences and feels honest.

Its My Life, again, is at least honest and feels sincere.

Its Not Too Late has some fantastic guitar and harmony between Davy and Micky.

The rest of the songs are unremarkable, or in the case of Tork's contributions, unlistenable. "The engines of my love reach escape velocity?" Who writes a lyric like that? I think the liner notes from Stranger Things Have Happened even points out that many of Peter's own friends were telling him that his lyrics were *interesting* but not hit material. Which I still have to read as a polite way of saying, "this is dreck"

HEIKKI SALONEN link

7/30/2021 15:05:13

I hope they lost master tapes heh heh

Jason Cunningham

7/30/2021 15:12:14

I've been thinking for a while that someone should redo Pool It! by adding new instrumentation that has the Monkees '60s sound. Someone please make it happen!

Also, I like Pool It! more now than I did when I first heard it, and while I do still place it as the worst Monkees album, I think it's a tad better than a lot of Monkees fans give it credit for.

HEIKKI SALONEN link

7/30/2021 15:28:11

It just sounds so empty 80s production

HEIKKI SALONEN link

7/30/2021 15:44:15

Well you got Xmas Party record it do not sound like a 60s record sounds more of 80s 90s record

Corey

7/30/2021 18:09:21

Yeah, X Mas Party sucked to IMO. Bottom 3 with Pool It and Justice. I do like the idea of hearing the stripped down version of Pool It. I think we can all agree that it has the worst cover art

Dan

7/30/2021 23:02:12

I don't think that monkees records need to sound like the 60's, as even some of their 60's records don't sound like the "jangly guitars" of goodtimes/more of, or headquarters.

The difference between Pool It and Christmas Party is... Christmas Party is a good holiday album.

Pool It is a pretty bad record any way you slice it.

I get the nostalgia for Pool It, but between Davy Jones' awful ideas, dated production, and the material on the record its never landed for me. At least Justus had an attempt to try something even more contained than Headquarters... and because of its ambition it has interesting moments. Christmas Party isnt very ambitious, but it knows what it is. Pool It is lazy.

Scott Scottsman

7/30/2021 21:37:33

It's worth revisiting Pete Weiss's great interview of Roger Bechirian, excerpts of which are available here: https://tapeop.com/tutorials/90/roger-bechirian-bonus/

It's hard to imagine a greater missed opportunity than "Pool It!", or a greater villain than Davy Jones, who (according to Bechirian) sabotaged the project with his nauseatingly awful ballads and his lousy attitude.

Dan

7/30/2021 23:13:13

Davy Jones seems to have been a king of self-inflicted destruction when it came to records. In the 80's he could have launched a pretty compelling career as 60s rocker gone "new wave". He isn't a bad singer, and he had the attitude for a sort of Gary Newman kind of electronic record.

Even his late 70's early 80's output (as released by 7a) is very listenable. But he never seemed to understand that by 1980 he wasn't a teen idol, and that nobody wants 12 tracks of crooning.

Placing him in an ego battle with Peter & Micky in the mid-late 80s was probably the worst thing that could have happened. While all the Monkees certainly contributed to their own failings in the reunion years, Jones comes across as consistently ridiculous.

Scott Scottsman

7/31/2021 07:10:29

Well said, Dan...it didn't have to be this way!

JJ Lloyd

7/31/2021 10:14:22

I agree 100%. Davy was often his own (and the Monkees) worst enemy during the reunion years. Not taking part in the "Then & Now" sessions, threatening to quit if "Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere" was released as a single, badmouthing Nez every chance he got, killing the 2nd movie with an insane salary demand, etc.

Janice

8/2/2021 08:21:18

I recently read Harold Bronson's Rhino Records Story book, he has a section on the Monkees, he mentioned how during the 1987 tour how the Monkees then wives/girlfriend were involved in alot of the guy's decisions, how Davy's then wife who was also acting as his manager told him that Davy was going to be bigger than Springsteen, I spit my coffee out when I read that! and how Davy could be the most considerate and the most inconsiderate of the guys.

Guy Smiley

7/31/2021 09:49:33

Pool It? More like “Stool It!”

Terrible, terrible album. You had the three guys, not in any way working together as a “group,” with a lot of subpar songs and ill-considered choice to make it sound modern. That 80s sheen already sounded bad at that time. Now it’s even more horribly dated.

“Heart and Soul” was OK, and Peter’s couple of songs were too. But, again, the production sunk those too. Had the three guys taken a more active role in making a good, coherent album maybe it turns out different. Maybe.

Kind of amazing it took almost 30 more years for some to figure out The Monkees need to sound retro. Pool It and Justus were serious misfires (Though I give Justus grudging respect for trying to make a group album).

Thank goodness Good Times! happened. The one post-60s Monkees album that standa with their best 60s efforts. Shouldn’t have taken so long for someone to figure out.

Lord High 'n Low

7/31/2021 10:40:12

I agree with Guy in that Peter's songs are great. I always liked Gettin In and still do. Someone did a cover of it that I found on YouTube a while back but it's gone. It was excellent.

Mark Christian's stories were great and I enjoyed his breakdowns of some of the songs.

Rhino should give Roger Bechirian the tapes and let him work some magic. But it seems Rhino has brought their Monkee business to a complete stop.

Thanks to Mark and Lee for doing this panel and I hope Part 2 happens. It was really interesting! It also makes me wish Peter had recorded a solo album in the '80s with all of the songs he had at that point. The stuff he did with the New Monks and the Peter Tork Project were great. The demos showed promise.

Freddie Fredder

8/1/2021 12:15:56

I'd love to get Henry Diltz' raw perspective of what happened during that time.

Scott Scottsman

8/2/2021 18:41:47

...well, Bechirian has been pretty up-front about what an awful experience it was (see link above). That's a good place to start...

Lesnar

8/2/2021 10:40:48

Other than the singles I hated Pool It! Purchased it on release day and hated it! Besides revisiting the singles on box sets I hadn't listened to it since. Then a couple of years ago I gave the Fridays music reissue a spin and...it's Not so bad actually. Weird how time can change your perspective. Now I'm not saying it's great or anything.Far from it! But I do enjoy it more now except for the bad cover,that hasn't changed,haha!
It's actually a pretty good "Monkees does an '80s album". Still my least favorite Monkees album.

As far as Justus goes. I thought it was great then and I think it's great now. I know I'm in the minority but I love that album. Not enough Nez tracks for whatever reason but I think it's a stellar release.

JJ Lloyd

8/2/2021 16:18:29

The only complaint I had with Justus (then and now) is not enough Nez on lead vocals. A re-do of Circle Sky and nothing else disappointed me to no end. He should have had at least 2 more songs.

Dan

8/3/2021 00:28:12

I agree. I think that the Monkees project was obviously a deeply alienating experience for all four guys, and one that they never really came to terms with. It probably didn't help that Nez had this stellar career following the Monkees, that is artistically important, but never reached the commercial heights of the Monkees. Unlike Paul, who processed being a Beatle by going off and being Wings, and being Paul, and being super successful as a person... the Monkees individually never really had that opportunity... and I think it really impacted the reunion years. Nez speaks about not knowing what the Monkees were, or are, and even now you can tell he still doesn't get it. So if I had to guess, he probably had some ideas about doing a Monkees record, and then when it came time to cut vocals, he took a step back. Plus, with Pool It a recent memory (Davy Micky and Peter were all touring in some iteration well into the 90's) and Davy still being a very prominent ass in interviews... it makes sense that he would try and be a little less visible.

I mean, even in 2011, we now learn via Andrew that Nez was on board to come on that tour, and it was Peter and Davy who put an end to it. I'm just glad he and Micky were so prominent on GoodTimes and The Mike and Micky Show (hands down the best Monkees live show since the 60s)

Freddie Fredder

8/2/2021 11:46:00

Nothing brings out the haters (myself included) like the topic of Pool It !

James Rollner

8/3/2021 15:40:44

Like many people, I did not like Pool It when it first came out, but, as the years went by, my appreciation for it (and '80s music in general) has grown. Whereas, I initially really liked Justus, but, since have come to see that as their worst album. Pool It isn't in the same league as even Changes or Present, but, it is a pretty interesting take on what The Monkees were about in the 1980s. Mark Kleiner also makes for a hilarious and slightly subversive host!

Freddie Fredder

8/3/2021 20:35:41

The only thing worse than Pool It !, Justus , and X Mas party is that 1997 reunion special written by Nez.

EugeneTMaleska

8/30/2021 13:53:33

So true! OMG, it is terrible.

Panel celebrates '80s Monkees album

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Panel celebrates '80s Monkees album

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Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart returns