Good Clean Fun: Rhino Preps New Monkees Singles Collection
Following last year’s deluxe box of The Monkees’ Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones, Ltd., Rhino has announced its first release from the band in 2026. The A’s, The B’s and The Monkees, at long last, brings together on 2 CDs all of the band’s commercial singles originally released between 1966 and 1970, from “Last Train to Clarksville” b/w “Take a Giant Step” through “Oh My My” b/w “I Love You Better.” The set is due from Rhino on January 30. (Some copies ordered directly from Rhino are already shipping.)
The A’s, The B’s and The Monkees is arranged with its 15 A-sides on Disc One and 15 B-sides on Side Two. The As from Messrs. Jones, Dolenz, Nesmith, and Tork include songs from Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, Neil Diamond, John Stewart, Carole King and Gerry Goffin, and Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller: the chart-topping “Last Train to Clarksville,” “I’m a Believer,” and “Daydream Believer,” along with the hits “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You” (No. 2), “Pleasant Valley Sunday” (No. 3), “Valleri” (No. 3), and “D.W. Washburn” (No. 19).
The Bs are no less filled with fan favorites, with more compositions from Goffin and King (“Take a Giant Step”), Boyce and Hart (“(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone,” “I Wanna Be Free,” “Words”), Mike Nesmith (“The Girl I Knew Somewhere,” “Tapioca Tundra”), and Paul Williams and Roger Nichols (“Someday Man”). The latter features here as the B-side of Nesmith’s charting single “Listen to the Band,” though early pressings have “Someday Man” as the A-side and “Listen” as the flipside. Note that the 1971 Bell single “Do It in the Name of Love” b/w “Lady Jane,” credited to Mickey [sic] Dolenz and Davy Jones, is not included here.
All tracks are heard in their original single mixes, with audio supervised by Bill Inglot and sourced from tape. Longtime Monkees historian (and co-author of the forthcoming The Kinks – All Day and All of the Night: The Day-by-Day Story Part I: 1940-1971 from Beatland Books) Andrew Sandoval has penned comprehensive new liner notes for The A’s, The B’s and The Monkees which appear in the package designed by Steve Stanley. A vinyl edition is also available as part of Rhino’s Start Your Ear Off Right campaign. You’ll find the track listing and pre-order links below. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
The Monkees, The A’s, The B’s and The Monkees (Rhino R2 728467, 2026) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Disc 1: A-Sides
- Last Train to Clarksville
- I’m a Believer
- A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You
- Pleasant Valley Sunday
- Daydream Believer
- Valleri
- D.W. Washburn
- Porpoise Song (Theme from Head)
- Tear Drop City
- Listen to the Band
- Good Clean Fun
- Oh My My
Disc 2: B-Sides
- Take a Giant Step
- (I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone
- The Girl I Knew Somewhere
- Words
- Goin’ Down
- Tapioca Tundra
- It’s Nice to Be with You
- As We Go Along
- A Man Without a Dream
- Someday Man
- Mommy and Daddy
- I Love You Better
Disc 1, Track 1 and Disc 2, Track 1 released as Colgems single 66-1001, 1966. Original versions from The Monkees – Colgems COM/S-101, 1966
Disc 1, Track 2 and Disc 2, Track 2 released as Colgems single 66-1002, 1966. Original versions from More of The Monkees – Colgems COM/S-102, 1967
Disc 1, Track 3 and Disc 2, Track 3 released as Colgems single 66-1004, 1967
Disc 1, Track 4 and Disc 2, Track 4 released as Colgems single 66-1007, 1967. Original versions from Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd. – Colgems COM/S-104, 1967
Disc 1, Track 5 and Disc 2, Track 5 released as Colgems single 66-1012, 1967. Original version of Disc 1, Track 5 from The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees – Colgems COM/S-109, 1968
Disc 1, Track 6 and Disc 2, Track 6 released as Colgems single 66-1019, 1968. Original versions from The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees
Disc 1, Track 7 and Disc 2, Track 7 released as Colgems single 66-1023, 1968
Disc 1, Track 8 and Disc 2, Track 8 released as Colgems single 66-1031, 1968. Original versions from Head – Colgems COSO-5008, 1968
Disc 1, Track 9 and Disc 2, Track 9 released as Colgems single 66-5000, 1969. Original versions from Instant Replay – Colgems COS-113, 1969
Disc 1, Track 10 and Disc 2, Track 10 released as Colgems single 66-5004, 1969. Original version of Disc 1, Track 10 from The Monkees Present – Colgems COS-117, 1969
Disc 1, Track 11 and Disc 2, Track 11 released as Colgems single 66-5005, 1969. Original versions from The Monkees Present
Disc 1, Track 12 and Disc 2, Track 12 released as Colgems single 66-5011, 1970. Original versions from Changes – Colgems COS-119, 1970
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7 thoughts on “Good Clean Fun: Rhino Preps New Monkees Singles Collection”
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Those are two painfully short discs that could have fit on one.
I agree with Andrew Sandoval’s recent observation that he would have sequenced the set differently (A side followed by the B side, etc).
Agreed, Kevin. When I sequence singles collections, I always prefer A-side followed by B-side. And yes, both discs could have fit on one CD. But this is a top-notch set design-wise, sound-wise, and annotation-wise, so credit where it’s due to Messrs. Stanley, Inglot, and Sandoval.
“Original single mixes”–mono? Stereo? This is what it is, as advertised track-wise, but even though I haven’t run the numbers wouldn’t all of these tracks fit one one CD?
All are presented as originally released on their commercial singles. I believe “Tear Drop City” b/w “A Man Without a Dream” was the first Monkees single to be released in stereo. (I’m sure someone here will correct me if I’m wrong!) The tracks prior to that are all in mono.
That is correct. Tracks 1-8 are mono and 9-12 are stereo on each disc.
In the news articles it says that each cd has 15 tracks?
It would have been nice if the post 1970 singles also had been included. Like “It was then this is now” from 1986. which I believe was a top 20 hit on Billboard.
It’s a great collection, but since they went with two CD’s, they should have included the four Monkees singles from 1986 & 1987, to make the collection complete!