POLL: Best track on The Monkees' "Pool It!"

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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2c/Monkees-Pool-It%21.jpg

While this is ostensibly a space dedicated to the near-impossible task of singling out a song from the album Pool It! which is more exemplary than the other songs from the album Pool It!, I hope it also inspires trenchant analysis of the Monkees' seminal 1987 classic Pool It! (for which there is puzzlingly no previous thread).

Poll Results

OptionVotes
"Gettin' In" (Peter Tork) 3
"Heart and Soul" (Simon Byrne, Andrew Howell) 1
"She's Movin' in with Rico" (Andrew Howell) 1
"Don't Bring Me Down" (Bill Teeley, Glenn Wyka) 1
"Since You Went Away" (Michael Levine) 0
"Midnight" (David) 0
"Every Step of the Way" (Mark Clarke, Ian Hunter) 0
"(I'll) Love You Forever" (David Jones) 0
"Secret Heart" (Brian Fairweather, Martin Page) 0
"Long Way Home" (Dick Eastman, Bobby Hart) 0
"(I'd Go The) Whole Wide World" (Eric Goulden) 0
"Counting on You" (Alan Green) 0


Low-Hanging Snark (Old Lunch), Thursday, 5 December 2013 18:45 (ten years ago) link

Yes I will listen to this and vote, because I am a masochist and because I love The Monkees

although dear lord, "Heart and Soul" is testing me already

SHAUN (DJP), Thursday, 5 December 2013 18:48 (ten years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=270LOvTrxWg

Low-Hanging Snark (Old Lunch), Thursday, 5 December 2013 18:49 (ten years ago) link

Wreckless!

Mark G, Thursday, 5 December 2013 18:49 (ten years ago) link

This is probably the most undeniably terrible album (I mean, it basically has no redeeming qualities whatsoever) that I listen to semi-regularly. I don't know why I do that. Except that I also otherwise love the Monkees.

Low-Hanging Snark (Old Lunch), Thursday, 5 December 2013 18:51 (ten years ago) link

two songs in, this is terrible and yet still better than The New Monkees

SHAUN (DJP), Thursday, 5 December 2013 18:53 (ten years ago) link

okay "Gettin' In" is genuinely enjoyable, what the hell is happening here

have I become acclimated to this album's level or am I that much of a sucker for David Byrne impersonations

SHAUN (DJP), Thursday, 5 December 2013 19:04 (ten years ago) link

fwiw I can safely say after "She's Moving In With Rico" and "Since You Went Away" that I have NOT become acclimated to this album's level, even though the end of "Since You Went Away" is kind of hilarious

SHAUN (DJP), Thursday, 5 December 2013 19:25 (ten years ago) link

I think my favorite thing about the album is that it delivers absolutely nothing (beyond the presence of a few Monkees) that a Monkees fan was likely to want or expect from a new, "twenty years later!" Monkees album. It's kinda like Santana's Supernatural minus cameos by flash-in-the-pan pop stars.

Low-Hanging Snark (Old Lunch), Thursday, 5 December 2013 19:30 (ten years ago) link

I like to think that Davy imagines himself as the titular Rico. It goes some way towards explaining the incongruously-upbeat tone of the song.

Low-Hanging Snark (Old Lunch), Thursday, 5 December 2013 19:31 (ten years ago) link

three weeks pass...

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Tuesday, 31 December 2013 00:01 (ten years ago) link

Had serious intentions of spending NYE finally checking out ''Pool It!,'' but it's looking less and less likely.

Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 31 December 2013 23:28 (ten years ago) link

haha i know for a fact i have heard this entire album multiple times but remember nothing beyond 'heart and soul'. i'm pretty sure the answer here is the tork one.

balls, Tuesday, 31 December 2013 23:43 (ten years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Wednesday, 1 January 2014 00:01 (ten years ago) link

The voter turnout speaks for itself

DDD, Wednesday, 1 January 2014 00:05 (ten years ago) link

ha, I actually have a distinct memory of balls bringing up "Pool It!" in a Monkees-related karaoke conversation like eight years ago

Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 1 January 2014 17:49 (ten years ago) link

interesting spread for a terrible album1

piscesx, Wednesday, 1 January 2014 17:57 (ten years ago) link

eight months pass...

For fucks' sake, Old Lunch. How was this thread not titled "POLL IT"?

how's life, Wednesday, 24 September 2014 13:34 (nine years ago) link

The same reason that a poll regarding versions of Junior Murvin's "Police and Thieves" should not be called "POLL ICE AND THIEVES"

Mark G, Wednesday, 24 September 2014 13:55 (nine years ago) link

Perhaps I'll correct the oversight when I run the inevitable poll for the videos from the Monkees' album Pool It!.

Truly Outrageous (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 24 September 2014 14:03 (nine years ago) link

Actually, that's unnecessary, as this is the undisputed champion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=270LOvTrxWg

Truly Outrageous (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 24 September 2014 14:05 (nine years ago) link

oh man, ten seconds in and i'm dying

Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 24 September 2014 16:13 (nine years ago) link

Yeah that's amazing. Slightly guilty lols when Davy opens the trash can and looks inside to see old footage of himself!

©Oz Quiz© (Adam Bruneau), Wednesday, 24 September 2014 16:33 (nine years ago) link

If you can imagine the dad on a third-rate '80s sitcom starting a band in his garage and performing with that band at his mortified daughter's school dance, this album is basically the recording of that performance.

Truly Outrageous (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 24 September 2014 19:34 (nine years ago) link

Totally, complete with attempts at self-deprecating wackiness which serve to demonstrate that actually, sincerely rocking is just totally beyond reach. Kinda a little bit okay given the Monkees' claims to fame, but no less lame for it.

Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 24 September 2014 22:42 (nine years ago) link

nine months pass...

The singles from this album sound very of their time when heard alongside other low-placing singles from '87. Why the Monkees thought their fans would be down with them cranking out the equivalent of late-period Survivor, though, remains an Unsolved Mystery.

Something Called Fudge (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 21 July 2015 19:44 (eight years ago) link

were the singles from this on heavy MTV rotation?

piscesx, Tuesday, 21 July 2015 19:48 (eight years ago) link

"Heart and Soul" got some play. "Every Step Of the Way" had an amazing video (see above) but I don't remember seeing it at the time. There's a companion VHS tape that I just discovered today (Pool It! having come up twice today for different reasons), so there may be even more stuff that I'm unaware of.

Something Called Fudge (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 21 July 2015 19:57 (eight years ago) link

five months pass...

I have a vast number of playlists that come and go on my iPod but this is the only album that I make sure is always on there. And yes, I do wish I were kidding.

Beef Wets (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 6 January 2016 13:43 (eight years ago) link

Thanks for this, Old Lunch. Every Step of the Way was such a big hit for me on Nick Rocks.

video in which the drum set is replaced by garbage cans

how's life, Wednesday, 6 January 2016 13:57 (eight years ago) link

one year passes...

This and Basia's Time and Tide have become my go-to comfort albums whenever I'm feeling out of sorts and need to ground myself. Maybe because they both sound like albums made by people with experience grounding other people (two weeks, no TV, and I mean it, mister).

I'm still amazed that my neighbor's dad and his friends from the paper factory were able to release an album under this band name without ever getting sued by the actual Monkees (who they sound nothing like, sorry Mr. Holcomb).

the scarest move i ever seen is scary move 4 (Old Lunch), Monday, 16 October 2017 13:04 (six years ago) link

one year passes...

'Guys, we're so close. We just need a cover and a title for the album and we're done.'
'Do you know who I am, Denny? Do you? I'm a fucking Monkee, Denny, and he's a fucking Monkee and he's a fucking Monkee. And as fucking Monkees, we're going to Monkee around in this goddamn Best Western pool as long as we goddamn feel like it. You got it, Denny? Your goddamn album cover can wait, because we operate on Monkee time.'
'A-alright, Mickey. All right.' (takes a few impromptu snaps of the guys Monkee-ing around, angrily resolves to call the album Pool It! out of spite)

Time to Make a Pizza Pact! (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 4 September 2019 14:36 (four years ago) link


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