A Month of Monkees: An Alternate Reality

About a month ago, a friend of mine sent me a link to a photo set on Flicker called "Monkees Alternate Reality Mini-LPs". The photo set was a bunch of Monkees albums had they been released in an alternate reality. They were all really cool and were created by an artist named Michelle 66. They started with More of The Monkees and continued on with The Monkees Third Album (an album not released in this reality but in an alternate reality), Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, LTD, Present and Changes. All of the albums were different from the actual releases. Some were just a changing of the song order and cover art while others were complete recreations of the albums as well as completely new albums that did not exist. I was intrigued with these albums and contacted the artist to ask if I could could put these albums together in real life and offer them on the World of Wonder. After a volley back and forth of ideas about how I could present them, she gave me her kind permission to use her art as well as her concept. So all month long I will be featuring these "alternate reality" LPs right here on the World of Wonder! For the most part, I stuck to her original plans with a few minor changes here and there. I also came up with a few "alternate reality" LPs of my own! Today I present the first one for you: More of The Monkees!

As Monkee fans may know, after Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart finished work on the songs for the Monkees' first LP, they started recording a lot more for future use - including the inevitable second LP. But for some reason, Don Kirshner brought in other producers (most notably Jeff Barry), and Boyce and Hart's involvement with the Monkees was curtailed - with only two of their songs appearing on the real "More of the Monkees". This Alternate Reality LP imagines how "More Of The Monkees" might have been different if Boyce & Hart had continued to be the primary songwriters and producers. It follows the same basic structure as the first LP: most of the LP by Boyce & Hart, and two songs produced by Mike Nesmith.

1. She
2. I'll Spend My Life With You
3. Hold On Girl
4. Through the Looking Glass
5. You Just May Be The One
6. (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone
7. Valleri
8. Mr. Webster
9. Don't Listen To Linda
10. Apples, Peaches, Bananas and Pears
11. I Don't Think You Know Me
12. Words

In the original art work of the "alternate reality" More of The Monkees, Michelle 66 added "Bonus Tracks" to her own mini-lp. I opted not to include bonus tracks but instead remained pure to an original "alternate reality" release. Also, not all of these songs are the original versions that were officially released in the 60s. Many of them are alternate takes or recordings. Again, adding to the whole "alternate reality" concept. Here it is for you now. Enjoy! (and keep a look out for all of the others throughout the month!)

The Monkees-More of The Monkees Alternate Reality LP

BTW, for those of you who want to see the original Flicker collection, you can find them here. Drop her a line and tell her the Dartman sent you!