The Monkees

The Monkees Greatest Hits was a 1976 greatest hits compilation album of songs by the Monkees released by Arista Records, and a reissue of an earlier Bell Records 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 best-of collections (the first two from their original label, Colgems Records) had seen only limited release, and were hard to find in stores. Several of the Monkees’ hits had become radio staples, though, and with the sale of their television series into 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 mix of both hit singles 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 album became a best-seller, and remained available through the 1980s, with cassette and compact disc editions also appearing.

When Rhino Records reissued the entire Monkees catalog during 1995, this and all previous Monkees compilations were deleted. The song selection was largely repeated on Rhino’s own Monkees Greatest Hits collection, though not all the versions presented were the same.

Track listing

1. “(Theme from) The Monkees” (Boyce & Hart)
2. “Last Train to Clarksville” (Boyce & Hart)
3. “She” (Boyce & Hart)
4. “Daydream Believer” (Stewart)
5. “Listen to the Band” (Nesmith)
6. “A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You” (Diamond)
7. “I’m a Believer” (Diamond)
8. “I Wanna Be Free” (Boyce & Hart)
9. “Pleasant Valley Sunday” (King & Goffin)
10. “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone” (Boyce & Hart)
11. “Shades of Gray” (Mann & Weil)