Pool It!

Pool It! is the tenth studio album by the Monkees, issued by Rhino Records in 1987. It was the first Monkees studio album of new material since Changes in 1970 and the first Monkees album to feature Peter Tork since the 1968 Head soundtrack.

Pool It!
Studio album by
the Monkees
ReleasedAugust 1987
RecordedMay–July 1987, Cherokee Studios, Hollywood [1]
GenreRock, pop rock
Length41:44
LabelRhino Records
ProducerRoger Bechirian
The Monkees chronology
Missing Links
(1987)		 Pool It!
(1987)		 Missing Links Volume Two
(1990)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [2]

Production

While Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones and Peter Tork had reunited the previous year for a 20th anniversary tour, with Micky and Peter contributing vocals to three tracks for the 1986 compilation album Then & Now... The Best of The Monkees, Pool It! served as the band's first proper "reunion album." Much like the group's early work, the writing of the album was largely handled by outside writers and the instrumentation by session musicians, with the Monkees themselves contributing lead vocals and Peter Tork providing guitar for his own song, "Gettin' In." Michael Nesmith chose not to participate in the album, although he had made a surprise appearance on stage with the band at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on September 7, 1986.[3]

Release

The book The Monkees Tale by Eric Lefcowitz claims Pool It! and its two singles were recorded by "Dolenz, Tork & Jones," as opposed to "The Monkees."[4] However, the billing on the LP itself is attributed to "Peter, Micky, Davy — The Monkees."

A deluxe CD/DVD version of this album was released on April 24, 2012, by Friday Music, along with a "180 gram audiophile vinyl" copy of the original album. The CD included Peter Tork's "MGBGT" (the live B-side to the "Heart and Soul" single) and the remixed single version of "Every Step of the Way" as bonus tracks. The DVD included the contents of the 1988 video cassette Heart & Soul: The Official Monkee Videography, featuring videos for "Heart and Soul," "Every Step of the Way" and "Don't Bring Me Down," along with interviews and more.[5]

Music videos

Two promotional music videos were produced for Pool It!:

The first video was for "Heart and Soul," filmed in Los Angeles on July 5 and 6, 1987.[6] The video, which stylistically borrows heavily from The Monkees' TV series, begins in an ice factory in 1967 with the song "Last Train to Clarksville" playing in the background. Inside the ice factory, Davy, Micky and Peter are found frozen in blocks of ice and wearing their outfits from the Monkees television show. The video fast-forwards to 1987 where the three Monkees are thawed and learn how much has changed since the late 1960s. They decide to produce a music video in an effort to land a job and, after some comic mishaps, the video producers hand the Monkees what they claim is their video. When their prospective employer sees the video, it turns out to be taped over with a cooking show, which impresses the employer who then hires the band to work in a kitchen. The video for "Heart & Soul" was banned from airplay on MTV, due to a dispute over the Monkees bowing out of an MTV Super Bowl special,[7] although it received rotation on other cable outlets, including Nickelodeon.[8]

The second video was for "Every Step of the Way," filmed in Los Angeles on October 9, 1987.[9] In this video, Davy, Micky and Peter are dressed in leather gang outfits and, as the song's lyrics suggest, "hang out in [an] alley way," as an unspecified woman, the apparent object of Davy's affections, wanders in and out of the alley. Meanwhile, Micky mimes a performance on drums with trash cans, Peter mimes guitar with a broom and Davy sings into a carrot and later mimes a saxophone solo into a lead pipe. The video is also interspersed with footage of the Monkees' 1987 concert tour and concludes with on-screen dialogue detailing the ultimate fates of the girl and the three Monkees. "Every Step of the Way" debuted on Nickelodeon's Nick Rocks on November 6, 1987.[10]

Track listing
Side 1
No.TitleLead vocalsLength
1."Heart and Soul" (Simon Byrne/Andrew Howell)Micky Dolenz3:55
2."(I'd Go The) Whole Wide World" (Eric Goulden)Dolenz2:56
3."Long Way Home" (Dick Eastman/Bobby Hart)Davy Jones3:50
4."Secret Heart" (Brian Fairweather/Martin Page)Dolenz3:46
5."Gettin' In" (Peter Tork)Peter Tork3:03
6."(I'll) Love You Forever" (Davy Jones)Jones3:22
Side 2
No.TitleLead vocalsLength
1."Every Step of the Way" (Mark Clarke/Ian Hunter)Jones3:21
2."Don't Bring Me Down" (Tommy James/Tom Teeley/Glenn Wyka)Dolenz3:39
3."Midnight" (John David)Dolenz4:28
4."She's Movin' in With Rico" (Howell)Jones3:21
5."Since You Went Away" (Michael Levine)Tork2:36
6."Counting on You" (Alan Green)Jones5:46

Personnel

[11]

  • Curly Smith - drums
  • Mark Christian - guitar
  • George Hawkins, Davey Faragher - bass
  • Mike Egizi - keyboards, programming, string arrangements
  • Craig Ostbo, Roger Bechirian - percussion
  • Peter Tork - guitar on "Gettin' In"
  • Andy Cahan - piano on "Love You Forever"
  • Lou Natkin - guitar on "Every Step of the Way," "Love You Forever," and "She's Movin' in With Rico"
  • Dan Sawyer - acoustic guitar on "Counting on You" and "Love You Forever"
  • Dave Sutton - bass on "She's Movin' in With Rico"
  • Jim Thompson - sax on "Secret Heart" and "Every Step of the Way"
  • Roger Bechirian - synthesizer on "Gettin' In"[12]
  • Matt Harris - background vocals on "Heart and Soul" and "Every Step of the Way"[13]

Reception

The album was not a particular commercial or critical success, only reaching No. 72 on the Billboard 200. Only one single from the album, "Heart and Soul," managed to make Billboard's Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 87. The follow-up single, a remixed version of "Every Step of the Way," failed to chart.

The album cover was featured in Pitchfork Media's list of "The Worst Record Covers of All Time."[14]

Weekly charts
Chart (1987) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[15] 72

References
  1. http://monkeessessionography.tripod.com/86_89.html
  2. https://www.allmusic.com/album/r74931
  3. https://www.monkeeslivealmanac.com/1986-20th-anniversary-north-american-tour.html
  4. Lefcowitz, Eric. The Monkees Tale - Revised Edition. Last Gasp, 1989, p. 103.
  5. https://www.discogs.com/The-Monkees-Pool-It/release/3632779
  6. https://www.monkeeslivealmanac.com/blog/monkee-business-fanzine-covers-the-release-of-heart-and-soul-single-in-1987
  7. https://www.monkeeslivealmanac.com/blog/the-monkees-vs-mtv-in-1987
  8. https://www.monkeeslivealmanac.com/blog/heart-and-soul
  9. https://www.monkeeslivealmanac.com/blog/second-single-from-pool-it-gets-video-treatment
  10. https://www.monkeeslivealmanac.com/blog/second-single-from-pool-it-gets-video-treatment
  11. https://www.monkeeslivealmanac.com/uploads/7/8/9/5/7895731/5128715_orig.jpg
  12. Sandoval, Andrew. Listen to the Band box set liner notes. Rhino Records, 1991.
  13. Sandoval, Andrew. Listen to the Band box set liner notes. Rhino Records, 1991.
  14. http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/6194-the-worst-record-covers-of-all-time/
  15. "The Monkees US Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
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