Worldwide Monkee discography for picture sleeves and record 45s
and all CDs, LPs, and Tapes from the USA.
Monkee45s.net
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LATEST UPDATES:
OCTOBER 25:
This reissue CD came out last week on the Oldays label in Japan
The packaging is fantastic, like most Japanese releases.
OCTOBER 24:
I've learned that the picture sleeves with the thumb tabs were manufactured
by Bert-Co of Los Angeles
and mostly distributed with the records produced
at the Hollywood pressing plant.
The sleeves with the straight-cut top were manufactured by
Queens Litho of Edison, NJ
and Indianapolis, IN and
and were distributed
with the records produced at the Rockaway and Indianapolis pressing plants.
I can confirm that the sleeves with the less common thumb tab found on these
singles shipped with the records pressed at the Hollywood pressing plant.
These include:
There were a few records that were only sold with one type of sleeve (thumb tab or straight-cut).
It is speculated that perhaps either manufacturer was unable
to meet the
scheduling demands.
It is also possible
that RCA just decided
to use only one manufacturer
for the sleeves
and then distribute those nationally.
I've also updated the Colgems singles pages for font types, picture sleeve variations,
and pressing plants.
OCTOBER 20:
When I started collecting I noticed there were small differences in the Colgems labels
both for the singles and LPs. When I started this website I was stumped
at how to categorize them.
I tried using the
pressing plants as a guide
but there was too much overlap so that proved worthless.
I ended up using vague descriptions and divided them into 3 categories:
the Columbia/Screen Gems labels with the black lines or borders around the white areas,
those without the black lines and finally the Colgems circle symbol.
However I recently stumbled upon 45 sleeves.com (which had been down for a couple years),
and I wanted to give them props because they divided the label into four different versions.
So I used their idea and settled on calling them simply: Types 1-4.
For the singles I created this page which provides a good overview
for each label type, including the promotional records as well.
And the LPs on this page.
There can be alot of label variations:
For first LP, there is Jean vs Gene,
and on Headquarters "Randy Scouse Git"
had the early pressings credited as "Mickey Dolenz" which was later corrected.
This one is not as well known and no one pays more money for the misspelled versions.
I've recenly discovered that RCA contracted with MGM and Mercury Records to press LPs
to meet the excessive demand for product. That's in addition
to the three regular RCA plants.
I have 15 different label variations
for "More of the Monkees" and
I haven't even found all of them yet. It's insane!
I also recently discovered more singles pressed on POLYstyrene instead of vinyl.
To date, I've found "Little Bit Me...", "Pleasant Valley Sunday", "Daydream Believer"
and "Porpoise Song" on polystyrene, could there be more?
Polystyrene was used when RCA (due to excessive demand for Monkees records)
used alternate pressing plants, such as the Allied Record company in Hollywood
or the Columbia's plant in Terra Haute.
I also revamped my description for the picture sleeves. I had previously called the
ones with thumb tabs 'west coast' and the straight edge 'east coast',
so I just simplified it calling them thumb tab A-side or thumb tab B-side vs. straight edge.
I've added the matrix codes to each page and all of them can be found here
with an explanation of what each character means.
OCTOBER 19:
Recent finds include these Australian picture sleeves with the
updated RCA symbols on the reverse:
It's likely RCA also reissued "I'm A Believer", "Alternate Title" & "D. W. Washburn"
but those haven't turned up yet.
These running changes speak to the continuing popularity of the Monkees there
as RCA needed to reissue their records to meet demand.
OCTOBER 19:
Added the Target exclusive version of the "Christmas Party" CD:
Both bonus songs sound fantastic!
OCTOBER 13:
Christmas Party CD
Get your copy today! or wait for the Target version next Friday.
OCTOBER 4:
An Introduction to the Monkees Vol. 2 will be released tomorrow.
I got an early copy. They list two songs, "Goin' Down"& "Listen To The Band"
as the single versions, but after a much more careful listening, they are not.
GD is mono and about the right length, but the mix is slightly different.
SEPTEMBER 28:
Thanks to ED Reilly for sharing his pictures of these Arista Japan cassettes:
And here's a RCA promo for the 8-Track version of Headquarters:
Usually they used the single from the LP for these promotional only tapes,
but HQ didn't have one, so I though it was interesting they chose "Forget That Girl".
A bunch of these came up for sale and I've added them all to the Colgems 8-track page.
SEPTEMBER 20:
Rhino announced today that it will be releasing The Monkees'
Christmas Album "Christmas Party".
It’ll be available in stores
and for downloading/streaming on October 12.
Track List:
“Unwrap You At Christmas”
“What Would Santa Do”
“Mele Kalikimaka”
“House Of Broken Gingerbread”
“The Christmas Song”
“Christmas Party”
“Jesus Christ”
“I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day”
“Silver Bells”
“Wonderful Christmastime”
“Snowfall”
“Angels We Have Heard On High”
“Merry Christmas, Baby”
Bonus Tracks:
"Riu Chiu"
"Christmas Is My Time Of Year"
(Target exclusive)
The first single will be “Unwrap You At Christmas”. Let's see if Rhino makes
some promo CD singles for the UK market as they did for "Good Times".
No vinyl for the LP until 2019, maybe not until next Christmas.
Zilch #124 MONKEES CHRISTMAS PARTY NEWS
Great interview with Andrew Sandoval and John Hughes.
They are promoting this LP just like "Good Times" with high expectations.
SEPTEMBER 16
Using Oricon, Cash Box and Billboard I updated all the charts & release dates
for the Japanese singles and LPs on RCA and Arista records.
What got me started was the Wikipedia LP chart positions from Japan.
They list the positions as the RCA releases, but in fact they are from the
1980s reissues on Arista, which I didn't realize had charted.
Found a different label for the "More Of The Monkees" EP from Thailand on MTR:
SEPTEMBER 15
Found a third variation on Australia's "Daydream Believer" picture sleeve.
The RCA logo in black:
Added Jamaica to the LP section after a recent find from Takao Murakoshi:
Jamaica used a Canadian sleeve with an RCA sticker
covering the "His Master's Voice" logo.
SEPTEMBER 7
Heading out to Austin to see Nez and the First National Band and I hope many
of you are able to see him on this tour. Andrew on FB today said he didn't think
they would do any more dates, so this may be it!
SEPTEMBER 6
A later Japanese "Daydream Believer" pressing with the Shorty Rogers credit:
I've also found this updated label used in Germany & the USA and I suspect
this might be found on later copies in the UK and Australia
but I haven't found any yet.
In The Beginning...
When I started collecting Monkee 45s and EPs back in 2006 I spent quite alot of time searching the net to see what was out there. Typically, fan sites will show what records they've found locally, plus a few odds and ends. There was a handful of good sites like this (see links) but thats it.
Then there are online forums where old collectors will occasionally post photos of what they have found. Hoffman music forums is the best I've seen of this.
The bane of collecting is that once you buy it, it just sits in a closet and you never look at it again. So I made this site so I can look at my collection and share it and the knowledge of what is out there worldwide.
Credit where Credit is due:
Hey most of these photos are mine, but some are from:
StewMac
Ben Belmares
Ed Reilly
Andrew Sandoval
Lisa Manekofsky
Akira Suzuki
Kevin Schmid
Takao Murakoshi
Peter Cooke
and many others I've met along the way. If I know it's yours, I'll give you credit.
I'm not profiting from this site (free of ads), so if you have any photos of items I'm missing, please share them with me and I'll give you credit.