''The Monkees Greatest Hits'' is a 1976

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

of songs by

the Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conc ...

released by

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...

and a reissue of an earlier

Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benny ...

compilation, '' Re-Focus''. While the Monkees were among the top-selling bands of the mid-1960s, their decline was sharp, and their last new albums and singles sold poorly. Earlier greatest hits collections (the first two from their original label,

Colgems Records Colgems Records was a record label that existed from 1966 to 1971. History Colgems was a joint venture between Screen Gems, the television division of Columbia Pictures, and RCA Victor to issue records by The Monkees and other artists affiliated ...

) had seen only limited release and were hard to find in stores. (The first compilation was also called ''

The Monkees Greatest Hits ''The Monkees Greatest Hits'' is a 1976 greatest hits compilation album of songs by the Monkees released by Arista Records and a reissue of an earlier Bell Records (1950s-70s), Bell Records compilation, ''Re-Focus (album), Re-Focus''. While the M ...

,'' but its track listing was very different.) Several of the Monkees' hits had become radio staples, though, and with the sale of their

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

into

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

in 1975, they found a new audience on daytime TV. Popular demand from old and new Monkees fans prompted the album's release. The cover included a photo of the group on the front and a still from the show on the back. The songs were an all-

stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

mix of both

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

s and album tracks featured in the series, with the exception of "Listen to the Band" which was not featured in the original series and was first heard (in a different live version) on 1969's post-series Monkees TV special '' 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee''. (The single version of "Listen to the Band" was dubbed into a rerun episode of ''The Monkees'' during its time airing on Saturday afternoons.) Of the group's first six A-sides, only "Valleri" does not appear, although that and several successful B-sides would later show up on 1982's ''

More Greatest Hits of the Monkees More or Mores may refer to: Computing * MORE (application), outline software for Mac OS * more (command), a shell command * MORE protocol, a routing protocol * Missouri Research and Education Network Music Albums * ''More!'' (album), by Booka ...

.'' The album became a best-seller and remained available through the 1980s, with

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in the ...

and

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

editions also appearing. Also, in 1981, ''The Best of the Monkees'' appeared in the UK; it had the same track lineup as ''Refocus'' and this ''Greatest Hits'' collection. When

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

reissued the entire Monkees catalog during 1995, this and all previous Monkees compilations were deleted. In early 2019, however, this album returned to print in vinyl format.

Track listing

(Theme from) The Monkees "(Theme from) ''The Monkees''" is a 1966 pop rock song, written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart as the signature tune for the TV series ''The Monkees''. Two versions were recorded – one for their first album ''The Monkees'' and a second shorter r ...

" (

Tommy Boyce Sidney Thomas "Tommy" Boyce (September 29, 1939 – November 23, 1994) and Bobby Hart (born Robert Luke Harshman; February 18, 1939) were a prolific American duo of singer-songwriters. In addition to three top-40 hits as artists, the duo is ...

, Bobby Hart) #"

Last Train to Clarksville "Last Train to Clarksville" is a song by American pop rock band the Monkees. It was released as the band's debut single on August 16, 1966, and was later included on the group's self-titled album, which was released on October 10, 1966.''The Monk ...

" (Boyce, Hart) #"She" (Boyce, Hart) #"

Daydream Believer "Daydream Believer" is a song composed by American songwriter John Stewart shortly before he left the Kingston Trio. It was originally recorded by the Monkees, with Davy Jones singing the lead. The single reached No. 1 on the U.S. ''Billboard ...

" (

John Stewart John Stewart may refer to: Business * John Aikman Stewart (1822–1926), American banker * John Killough Stewart (1867–1938), businessman and philanthropist in Queensland, Australia * John K. Stewart (1870–1916), American entrepreneur and inve ...

) #" Listen to the Band" (

Michael Nesmith Robert Michael Nesmith or Mike Nesmith, (December 30, 1942 – December 10, 2021) was an American musician, songwriter, and actor. He was best known as a member of the pop rock band the Monkees and co-star of the TV series ''The Monkees'' (1966� ...

) #" A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You" (

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...

) #"

I'm a Believer "I'm a Believer" is a song written by Neil Diamond and recorded by the Monkees in 1966 with the lead vocals by Micky Dolenz. The single, produced by Jeff Barry, hit the number-one spot on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart for the week en ...

" (

) #" I Wanna Be Free" (Boyce, Hart) #"

Pleasant Valley Sunday "Pleasant Valley Sunday" is a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, most famous for the version recorded by the Monkees in 1967. Inspired by a street named Pleasant Valley Way and their move to suburban West Orange, New Jersey, Goffin an ...

" (

Gerry Goffin Gerald Goffin (February 11, 1939 – June 19, 2014) was an American lyricist. Collaborating initially with his first wife, Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the List of Billboard number-one ...

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

) #"

(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" is a rock song written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. It was first recorded by Paul Revere & the Raiders and appeared on their album '' Midnight Ride'', released in May 1966. The song is simple musically, with a ...

" (Boyce, Hart) #"

Shades of Gray Variations of gray or grey include achromatic grayscale shades, which lie exactly between white and black, and nearby colors with low colorfulness. A selection of a number of these various colors is shown below. Chart of computer web color ...

" (

Barry Mann Barry Mann (born Barry Imberman; February 9, 1939) is an American songwriter and musician, and part of a successful songwriting partnership with his wife, Cynthia Weil. He has written or co-written 53 hits in the UK and 98 in the US. Early li ...

Cynthia Weil Cynthia Weil (born October 18, 1940) is an American songwriter who wrote many songs together with her husband Barry Mann. Life and career Weil was born in New York City, and was raised in a Conservative Jewish family. Her father was Morris Wei ...

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monkees Greatest Hits, The The Monkees compilation albums 1976 greatest hits albums Arista Records compilation albums