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Propiniquity: The Monkees' "Instant Replay" Box Set Is Finally Here

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You've probably seen the hints on Twitter, and the clues on Facebook.  Now the real deal has been announced.  The Monkees' 1969 Instant Replay is following in the footsteps of The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees and Head and receiving a 3-CD deluxe box set from the fine folks at Rhino Handmade.  It could represent one disc for each Monkee, as Peter Tork had already departed the band by the time of the album's release in February 1969.  Instant Replay is a veritable grab-bag of tracks recorded between 1966 and 1969.  But with writers like Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, Carole King and Gerry Goffin, and Neil Sedaka and Carole Bayer (pre-Sager), the end result is as appealing of any of the group's more cohesively-assembled sets.  It would become the Monkees' final Top 40 album, reaching No. 32 on the Billboard chart, and the penultimate album to feature Michael Nesmith before he, too, departed.

The new Instant Replay, due November 21, has been created by the same team behind the previous Monkees boxes, including producer/annotator Andrew Sandoval and designer Steve Stanley of the Now Sounds label.  It's bolstered by a cornucopia of unreleased material, from alternate mixes to backing tracks and more, for a grand total of 87 tracks on three CDs, 58 of which are unreleased!  If that's not enough for you, each copy of the set will come with a 45 RPM single with two more unreleased tracks!

Hit the jump for the full details and complete track listing, plus a pre-order link!

Four tracks on Instant Replay came from the pens of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, returning to the band that they had helped launch with songs like the Monkees' "Theme" and "Last Train to Clarksville."  Two of these tracks ("Don't Listen to Linda" and "Through the Looking Glass" dated back to More of the Monkees.  "Tear Drop City" was another oldie, dating from 1966 and a sound-alike of "Clarksville."  The Boyce and Hart track of contemporary vintage was the Beatles-inspired "Me Without You," with a vocal by Davy Jones, of course.

Carole King and Gerry Goffin brought two songs to the album.  "I Won't Be the Same Without Her" was produced by Mike Nesmith in 1966, and unlike the other Instant Replay songs, wasn't subject to overdubs or re-recording.  The duo's majestic "A Man Without a Dream" featured a Davy Jones vocal and a Bones Howe production (arranged by Howe, Bob Alcivar and Bill Holman) that compares favorably to his work with The Association and The 5th Dimension.   Neil Sedaka and Carole Bayer's gently wistful "The Girl I Left Behind Me" also came from 1966, one of only two Sedaka songs officially recorded by the band.  For the other tracks, the Monkees flexed their own writing muscles.  Nesmith turned in "Don't Wait for Me" and "While I Cry."  Micky Dolenz contributed "Just a Game" and "Shorty Blackwell," and even Davy Jones got in on the act, writing "You and I" with Bill Chadwick.

Rhino's 1995 expanded reissue included seven bonus tracks.  Six were previously unreleased, and one was the Bones Howe-produced single of Paul Williams and Roger Nichols' pop classic "Someday Man."  It turned out to be Howe's second and final production for The Monkees.  "Someday Man" is indeed on this new release in its single version as well as its 1969 mono mix, another alternate mix and one take of its backing track. On first glance, the other bonus tracks appear to be carried over, other than the 1968 alternate mix of "Through the Looking Glass."  That mix was originally intended for The Birds, The Bees and the Monkees, and was included on that album's deluxe box in 2010.  In its place is a previously unreleased version with fuzz guitar overdubs.

The three discs of the new Instant Replay are arranged by mixes.  The first disc is dedicated to stereo and contains a newly-remastered and restored transfer of the original album, expanded with 16 additional stereo mixes including "nearly all" of Mike Nesmith's 1968 Nashville sessions. Micky Dolenz's "Mommy And Daddy," an anti-war song that was rewritten for 1969's The Monkees Present, is heard in its original version.

Disc Two, then, is entirely in mono.  Instant Replay was never issued in true mono, with The Birds, The Bees and the Monkees the band's last Colgems album to see such a release.  But most of the album's songs were mixed into mono, so those tracks make their first appearances here.  Rare and unreleased recordings, of course, supplement them. Among these tracks are never-before-heard backing tracks for "All The Grey Haired Men" (a song recorded for Birds, Bees but never completed) and Nesmith's 1969 "My Share Of The Sidewalk."

The third disc will be of particular interest to those fans of the great producer Bones Howe.  The producer of many of the most classic sides for The Association and The 5th Dimension, not to mention the early albums of Tom Waits, only briefly worked with The Monkees.  Chief among his assignments with the group was producing the music for their television special 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee.  The final tapes of Howe's
productions for the television special have been lost since 1969, but this collection premieres all that remains of these performances. Included here are the backing tracks for "String For My Kite," "Naked Persimmon" and "Goldie Locks Sometime,"as well as the completed versions from the only surviving video master of the special.

Instant Replay is due from Rhino Handmade on November 21, 2011, and pre-orders are currently being accepted by the label!  You'll find the link just below.

The Monkees, Instant Replay: Deluxe Edition (Colgems 113, 1969 - reissued Rhino Handmade, 2011)

CD 1

  1. Through the Looking Glass
  2. Don't Listen to Linda
  3. I Won't Be the Same Without Her
  4. Just a Game
  5. Me Without You
  6. Don't Wait for Me
  7. You and I
  8. While I Cry
  9. Tear Drop City
  10. The Girl I Left Behind Me
  11. A Man Without a Dream
  12. Shorty Blackwell
  13. Someday Man
  14. Carlisle Wheeling (Alternate Stereo Mix) (*)
  15. Mommy and Daddy (Stereo Mix) (*)
  16. Look Down
  17. If I Ever Get to Saginaw Again (LP Version)
  18. Me Without You (Alternate Stereo Mix) (*)
  19. Smile
  20. Nine Times Blue
  21. Shorty Blackwell (Alternate Stereo Mix) (*)
  22. St. Matthew (LP Version)
  23. Some of Shelley's Blues (1968 Stereo Mix)
  24. Hollywood (1968 Stereo Mix) (*)
  25. Don't Wait for Me (1968 Stereo Mix) (*)
  26. Propiniquity (I've Just Begun to Care) (1968 Stereo Mix)
  27. The Crippled Lion (1968 Stereo Mix) (*)
  28. How Insensitive

CD 2

  1. Through the Looking Glass (1969 Mono Mix) (*)
  2. Don't Listen to Linda (1968 Mono Mix)
  3. I Won't Be the Same Without Her (1966 Mono Mix)
  4. Just a Game (Alternate Vocal - Mono Mix) (*)
  5. Me Without You (Fuzz Guitar Version - Mono Mix)
  6. Don't Wait for Me (Mono Mix) (*)
  7. You and I (Mono Mix)
  8. While I Cry (U.K. Mono Mix)
  9. Tear Drop City (Mono Promo Single Mix)
  10. A Man Without a Dream (Mono Promo Single Mix)
  11. Someday Man (1969 Mono Mix)
  12. Hollywood (Mono Mix) (*)
  13. Mommy and Daddy (1968 Mono Mix) (*)
  14. You and I (1968 Rough Mix) (*)
  15. Carlisle Wheeling (Alternate Vocal - 1969 Mono Mix) (*)
  16. Rosemarie (1969 Mono Mix) (*)
  17. Changes (1968 Mono Mix) (*)
  18. Good Clean Fun (Mono Mix) (*)
  19. Through the Looking Glass (Fuzz Guitar Version - Mono Mix) (*)
  20. All the Grey Haired Men (Mono Backing Track) (*)
  21. War Games (1968 Mono Mix) (*)
  22. Propiniquity (I've Just Begun to Care) (Mono Mix) (*)
  23. My Share of the Sidewalk (Version 2 Mono Mix) (*)
  24. Party (Mono Mix) (*)
  25. The Crippled Lion (Mono Mix) (*)
  26. If I Ever Get to Saginaw Again (Mono Backing Track) (*)
  27. Some of Shelly's Blues (1968 Mono Mix) (*)
  28. Smile (1968 Mono Mix) (*)
  29. Nine Times Blue (Mono Mix) (*)

CD 3 (*)

  1. Through the Looking Glass (Backing Track Take 11)
  2. Don't Listen to Linda (Backing Tracks Take 1-3)
  3. I Won't Be the Same Without Her (Backing Track Take 1)
  4. Carlisle Wheeling (Backing Track - Take 1)
  5. Nine Times Blue (Backing Track - Take 6)
  6. Look Down (Backing Track - Take 1)
  7. Just a Game (Backing Track - Takes 1-2)
  8. You and I (Backing Track - Take 1)
  9. That's What It's Like Loving You (Backing Track - Take 1)
  10. Smile (Backing Track - Take 1)
  11. A Man Without a Dream (Backing Track - Take 1)
  12. A Man Without a Dream (Alternate Vocal - Take 14)
  13. Someday Man (Backing Track - Take 1)
  14. Someday Man (Alternate Mix)
  15. (I Prithee) Do Not Ask for Love (1968 Backing Track - Take 12)
  16. I Go Ape (Backing Track - Take 10)
  17. Wind Up Man (Backing Track - Take 1)
  18. String for My Kite (Version 1 Backing Track - Take 1)
  19. Naked Persimmon (Backing Track - Take 1)
  20. Goldie Locks Sometimes (Backing Track - Take 4)
  21. String for My Kite (Version 2 Backing Track - Take 1)
  22. Darwin (Backing Track - Take 2)
  23. St. Matthew (Alternate Vocal)
  24. Do Not Wait for Me (Alternate Stereo Mix)
  25. Rosemarie (Alternate Stereo Mix)
  26. (I Prithee) Do Not Ask for Love (1968 Version)
  27. Naked Persimmon
  28. Goldie Locks Sometimes
  29. Darwin
  30. I Go Ape

45 RPM Single: Previously Unreleased Acetate Versions (*)

  1. (I Prithee) Do Not Ask for Love
  2. I Go Ape

(*) denotes previously unreleased track

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Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, has released newly-curated collections produced by Joe from iconic artists such as Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Chet Atkins, and many others. He has contributed liner notes to reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, and Andy Williams, and has compiled releases for talents including Robert Goulet and Keith Allison of Paul Revere and the Raiders. Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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