The A’s, The B’s and The Monkees
Printed From: Top 40 Music on CD
Category: Top 40 Music On Compact Disc
Forum Name: Chat Board
Forum Description: Chat away but please observe the chat board rules
URL: https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10327
Printed Date: 28 February 2026 at 9:39am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.07 - https://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: The A’s, The B’s and The Monkees
Posted By: Indy500
Subject: The A’s, The B’s and The Monkees
Date Posted: 13 January 2026 at 8:27pm
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Rhino has announced its first release from the band in 2026. The A’s, The B’s and The Monkees, at long last, brings together on 2 CDs all of the band’s commercial singles originally released between 1966 and 1970, from “Last Train to Clarksville” b/w “Take a Giant Step” through “Oh My My” b/w “I Love You Better.” The set is due from Rhino on January 30. All tracks are heard in their original single mixes, with audio supervised by Bill Inglot and sourced from tape. |
Replies:
Posted By: LunarLaugh
Date Posted: 13 January 2026 at 9:34pm
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Interestingly, Rhino was planning on putting this release together without the assistance of Andrew Sandoval or Bill Inglot until they realized that all the Monkees mono single mixes were not already neatly compiled onto one reel. ------------- https://thelunarlaugh.bandcamp.com/ - Listen to The Lunar Laugh! |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 13 January 2026 at 10:36pm
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Hopefully, they found all the tapes this time around. The 2006 deluxe version of More has a vinyl cleanup for the mono version of "I'm A Believer" and at least a few other mono tracks. ------------- Aaron Kannowski http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop |
Posted By: LunarLaugh
Date Posted: 13 January 2026 at 11:33pm
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According to Andrew, all the tracks are sourced from tape (not "needledrops" as the Rhino marketing campaign confusingly mentions). ------------- https://thelunarlaugh.bandcamp.com/ - Listen to The Lunar Laugh! |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 13 February 2026 at 2:23pm
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Mine finally came in the mail, and "I'm A Believer" sounds like a tape source vs. the 2006 box set's vinyl cleanup. ------------- Aaron Kannowski http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop |
Posted By: crapfromthepast
Date Posted: 13 February 2026 at 8:39pm
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I spot-checked a handful of tracks. Mastering seems great! Plenty of headroom, great dynamic range, reasonable EQ, no evidence of any added noise reduction on any of the fades (at least on the handful I examined), and seemingly good source tapes. Although I haven't compared these versions to any earlier releases yet, my initial impression is very, very positive. ------------- There's a lot of crap on the radio, but there's only one http://www.crapfromthepast.com" rel="nofollow - Crap From The Past . |
Posted By: PopArchivist
Date Posted: 13 February 2026 at 10:44pm
Great! Always thrilled when tape source is used for 60's songs. ------------- Favorite two expressions to live by on this board: "You can't download vinyl" and "Not everything is available on CD." |
aaronk wrote:Posted By: LunarLaugh
Date Posted: 14 February 2026 at 7:42am
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Inglot did the CD mastering and Bernie Grundman cut the vinyl version. ------------- https://thelunarlaugh.bandcamp.com/ - Listen to The Lunar Laugh! |
Posted By: crapfromthepast
Date Posted: 14 February 2026 at 10:59pm
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The CD booklet says that it was mastered by Dave Schultz and Bill Inglot. Both do excellent work. The booklet is superb, with a paragraph dedicated to each song, and musician/producer/discography info for each song. I compared this disc sonically against all my previous favorites for their big hits, and this disc is equal to or better than anything I had before. Last Train To Clarksville - much fuller bass than Arista's Then And Now (1986), slightly smaller dynamic range, less noisy source tape I'm A Believer - from tape source for the first time; sounds just a teeny bit cleaner than Rhino's More Of The Monkees deluxe edition (2006), which is from vinyl A Little Bit Me A Little Bit You - much improved EQ from Headquarters deluxe edition and extends about 3 beats longer Pleasant Valley Sunday - tames the bass a little from the 1995 Greatest Hits, but otherwise the sound quality comparable; too bad the drums are mixed so low so that you really can't hear any of the great cymbal work from drummer Eddie Hoh Daydream Believer - tames the high end from Rhino Handmade's The Birds The Bees And The Monkees, slightly more dynamic range Valleri - Is a differently EQ'd digital clone of The Birds The Bees And The Monkees deluxe edition. Overall, this seems to be the best collection yet of the single versions. I'm quite impressed. ------------- There's a lot of crap on the radio, but there's only one http://www.crapfromthepast.com" rel="nofollow - Crap From The Past . |
Posted By: crapfromthepast
Date Posted: 15 February 2026 at 8:00pm
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Porpoise Song - It's in mono, but for the first 3:48, the left channel is exactly 1 dB louder than the right channel. From 3:48 onward, both channels are the same volume. That's an odd mastering error. ------------- There's a lot of crap on the radio, but there's only one http://www.crapfromthepast.com" rel="nofollow - Crap From The Past . |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 16 February 2026 at 7:28pm
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Will this album be listed in the database, including any length or pitch differences? ------------- John Gallagher Erie, PA Celebrating 29 years as a full-time wedding & special event DJ! |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 16 February 2026 at 11:35pm
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The album is now included in the database with the exact run times. As far as I can tell, the CD run times line up very closely with previously reported run times of the 45s, but I don't have 45 dubs on my hard drive to compare the lengths and speeds for every song. For example, a YouTube dub of "Last Train To Clarksville" runs exactly 1% faster than the CD. The YT 45 dub runs 2:39, while the CD runs 2:41. The song fades out at the same point, so the lengths are identical between the CD and 45. ------------- Aaron Kannowski http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop |
Posted By: LunarLaugh
Date Posted: 20 February 2026 at 8:58am
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I don't like that they separated the A sides from the B sides instead of presenting all the singles together in sequence. Also, this tracklist could have easily all fit onto one CD as opposed to two. ------------- https://thelunarlaugh.bandcamp.com/ - Listen to The Lunar Laugh! |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 20 February 2026 at 9:14am
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I agree that the choice to put all the B-sides on the second disc is a little strange, as is spreading it out over two discs. Still, I'm glad that all the mono singles have been gathered together in one package with nice sound quality. It's a win in my book. ------------- Aaron Kannowski http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop |
Posted By: JMD1961
Date Posted: 20 February 2026 at 9:58am
It's not an untried style. The Roy Orbison Monument Collection used the same approach with the a-sides on the first disc and the b-sides on the second. Though, I have to agree that the only reason to do it here was to make a one-disc collection into a double disc one. But if that was the only way it was going to happen, I'll accept it. |
Posted By: LunarLaugh
Date Posted: 20 February 2026 at 11:06am
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It makes more sense for the vinyl iteration, for sure. But IMHO, if you're going to charge people for 2 CDs, you should add the incentive of CD-only bonus tracks and, once upon a time, Rhino used to do exactly that. Of course, Rhino exists pretty much in name only and, sadly, only a few remain from its glory days. ------------- https://thelunarlaugh.bandcamp.com/ - Listen to The Lunar Laugh! |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 20 February 2026 at 5:48pm
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The 2 disc collection is also on Qobuz for those that wish to buy it digitally. Price is 17.59. ------------- John Gallagher Erie, PA Celebrating 29 years as a full-time wedding & special event DJ! |
Posted By: Hykker
Date Posted: 21 February 2026 at 7:57am
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Is "Tear Drop City" in mono or stereo on this set? Stock copies were stereo, I believe promos were mono. This is not a song that folds well. |
Posted By: EternalStatic
Date Posted: 21 February 2026 at 10:28am
| I don't have the physical release yet, but going off of the samples at iTunes, this one ("Tear Drop City") certainly sounds 'stereo' to my ears. |
Posted By: LunarLaugh
Date Posted: 21 February 2026 at 11:57pm
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"Tear Drop City" appears in stereo as I believe the mono was just a fold-down. ------------- https://thelunarlaugh.bandcamp.com/ - Listen to The Lunar Laugh! |