UPDATE HISTORY
2026

MAY

MAY 30:

New find: the Japanese Bell 8-track Gold 20
(Courtesy of Ed Reilly)

We thought this probably existed; foreign 8-tracks rarely come up for sale

 

Found a paper box case for the Colgems Oliver cassette

If RCA had kept the Monkees recordings (instead of Bell)
and they stayed in print they would have been released like this in the early 70's.

 

 

MAY 27:

Rhino announces another "new" release for July 24: Greatest Hits.
This yellow flame vinyl was previously released back in 2023
as a part of their Rocktober series.

Link to the Monkees store.

 

Rhino also releases "Love's What I Want" as a digital single to promote
the Good Times! Deluxe CD set to be released in 2 days.

 

MAY 23:

Found a MOTM from India that was reportedly sold in the UK.
The labels are blacked out on the rims where it says "Made In India".

There is also a gold RCA sticker on the rear jacket covering the
"Manufactured & Distributed by the Gramophone Company of India"

Regular rear jacket/label of MOTM from India

 

MAY 21:

While Ed Reilly and I were working on something completely different,
Ed spotted one of his first LPs that had a slightly different copyright:

 

First/Second pressings on their first album (Jean & Gene) have this:

The "RCA, New York, N.Y." was first used when Headquarters was released in May 1967.
I had always thought that RCA must have updated the first two LPs to match
this copyright but didn't find any copies at the time...and then I forgot about it.

Every time RCA changed something on the jacket they would add an "RE or RE2, RE3, etc.
to the end of the catalog number, so when manufacturing pulled the master sheet
they would know which one to use. Apparently, RCA did not destroy the older ones.
Anyway, they forgot to change the catalog numbers for these two LPs -
so it is not an obvious thing to notice.

Here is MOTM:

Original first pressing

second pressing issued summer 1967

 

Now these two jackets were updated again 6-9 months later when RCA added
the Colgems symbol to the rear jackets and they also changed the copyright yet again
to match their Pisces album. That's when an RE2 (The Monkees) and RE (More of the Monkees)
were added to their catalog numbers.

 

All this to say that if your jacket copyright has has the "New York, N.Y." on it -
it's not a first pressing. I have found mono & stereo pressings for each album
(The Monkees & More Of The Monkees), but haven't seen a sealed copy yet.

Both album pages are now updated.

 

MAY 12:

A new find for yet another label from Taiwan, Hua Sun Records -
and this one is a 10" record, very unusual. The album's title translates
roughly to Latest West Pop Songs and has songs from their first two LPs.
(Courtesy of Louisa Thomsen)

 

 

MAY 10:

A promo copy of Then & Now from Spain with a biography insert
(Courtesy of Ed Reilly)

The rear jacket confirms the existence of this one on a tape,
which I have never seen before.

 

MAY 8:

Pisces ad for Montgomery Wards department store.
Found in "The Beat", a top 40 weekly newspaper put out by
the Los Angelos radio station KLRA.

Monkeemania ad for the second wave of Rhino reissues from June 1986

A&S (NY Department Store) Top 50 Charts
(Courtesy of Ed Reilly)