Finding The Monkees (Records) In The 70’s!

(Taken from a discussion on the Steve Hoffman Music Board)

I live in New York City and in the 60’s and 70’s there were hundreds of record stores, some were ‘Mom & Pop’ run stores. There was one record store on East 14th Street near the old Academy of Music (later to become the Palladium) that carried the Monkees albums and singles, and I picked up the ‘Oh My My’ single when it first came out (I also got the Beatles ‘Let It Be’ single at the same store), where I also picked up the ‘Daydream Believer’ and ‘D.W. Washburn’ singles, still still in their picture sleeves. I picked up other Monkees albums, including ‘Head’, at little record stores near Delancy Street. ‘Instant Replay’ I purchased at the Mays department store on 14 Street and Union Square. I even found the Colpix ‘David Jones’ album at a little record store near Houston Street, still sealed!

Now in 1970, believe it or not, I picked up ‘Changes’ when it was newly released at Macy’s on 34th Street as a Junior High School Graduation gift from my Dad, I was still in my cap and gown when we went to the record department and there was ‘Changes’ on display with the other new albums that week. If I had known it was going to be such a rare record to get, I would have picked up more than one copy! I later purchased the ‘Barrel Full Of Monkees’ double LP at May’s when it was first released. I got the Colgems ‘Monkees Greatest Hits’ but passed on ‘Refocus’ for awhile and then later got it. I have all the original Colgems Monkees albums and some of the later Bell Records releases, including the Laurie House hits collection. I purchased all the solo Michael Nesmith albums as they were released, and picked up a cutout copy of the Bell ‘Davy Jones’ album at a record store that used to be across the street from the Strand Book Store. I purchased Nesmith’s ‘Live At The Palais’ at the late and lamented Colony Records. Stray singles by Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz I picked up at record stores in Greenwich Village and various Beatles and Record conventions.

In 1976 I purchased the ‘Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart’ album and the single ‘I Remember The Feeling’ when they were brand, spankin’ new. The same with Nesmith’s ‘The Prison’, ‘From A Radio Engine To The Photon Wing’ and ‘Infinite Rider On The Big Dogma’, which came out in 1979.

So, by 1980, I pretty much caught up on most of the Monkees group and solo recordings. The 80’s would bring forth more treasures to find!

Fred Velez, 2013