PETER'S FRIENDS:  THE ALBUM   -   VARIOUS ARTISTS

YEAR:  1992
LABEL:  Epic
TRACK LISTING:  Everybody Wants To Rule the World  -  Tears For Fears,  My Baby Just Cares For Me  -  Nina Simone,  You're My Best Friend  -  Queen,  Girls Just Want To Have Fun  -  Cyndi Lauper,  If You Let Me Stay  -  Terence Trent D'Arby,  Hungry Heart  -  Bruce Springsteen,  Don't Get Me Wrong  -  The Pretenders,  The King of Rock 'N' Roll  -  Prefab Sprout,  What's Love Got To Do With It  -  Tina Turner,  Give Me Strength  -  Eric Clapton,  Love and Regret  -  Deacon Blue,  Let's Stay Together  -  The Pasadenas,  Rio  -  Michael Nesmith,  Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)  -  Paul Young,  I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues  -  Elton John,  As the Days Go By  -  Daryl Braithwaite
IMPRESSIONS:    I usually watch PETER'S FRIENDS in the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve.  Almost every year, in fact, I pop in the DVD because it's perfect viewing for the dwindling year.  Set on December 30th through January 1st, the film which has unfairly been called "the British BIG CHILL" finds a group of college friends (who graduated in 1982) who meet up again in the year 1992 with all their neuroses and baggage dragging along behind them.  The film, if you're interested, is much better than "THE BIG CHILL" and it's sure a whole lot funnier.  However, the soundtrack is one of the most perfect fits for any film I've seen.  Merely a collection of (mostly) 80's pop songs (a soundtrack practice for which I'm usually more than a little dubious), the selection of songs is so expertly chosen as to really compliment the film.  The "backward-looking" 80's songs naturally call up nostalgia for Peter's Friends themselves but also for those of us who were around in the 80s too; and the inevitable melancholy which accompanies these songs as they are juxtaposed with the "present life" of the characters speaks all the more clearly to the disappointment with the way their lives have unfolded.  Each song seems to fit perfectly its corresponding scene in the film:  the Tears For Fears song during the opening credits accompanies a "time capsule" of clips from the years 1982-1992, the Pretenders' "Don't Get Me Wrong" bouncing along during the joyous dinner scene, or the sedate early morning fog-enshrouded perambulations around the estate grounds to the strains of Eric Clapton's "Give Me Strength" are just a few of the nice touches.  Now, this isn't a perfect soundtrack album -- there are several songs which appear on the soundtrack which are not in the film at all and they can be safely skipped over -- but the songs on this soundtrack are so well-chosen that I even like the songs I don't really like!  For instance, I can't stand Bruce Springsteen but "Hungry Heart" gets a pass from me simply because it's in this film!  I will not listen to that song under any other circumstances . . . except if I'm listening to the PETER'S FRIENDS album.  Now, that's some accolade for a soundtrack album!
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  Everybody Wants To Rule the World  -  Tears For Fears,  My Baby Just Cares For Me  -  Nina Simone,  You're My Best Friend  -  Queen,  Hungry Heart  -  Bruce Springsteen,  Don't Get Me Wrong  -  The Pretenders,  What's Love Got To Do With It  -  Tina Turner,  Give Me Strength  -  Eric Clapton,  Rio  -  Michael Nesmith
FACT SHEET:  PETER'S FRIENDS - THE ALBUM is the soundtrack for the 1992 film written by Rita Rudner and Martin Bergman and produced and directed by Kenneth Branagh.  The film stars Stephen Fry, Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Imelda Staunton, Alphonsia Emmanuel, Hugh Laurie, Phyllida Law and Tony Slattery.

THE BIRDS, THE BEES & THE MONKEES - The Monkees

YEAR: 1968

LABEL: Colgems

TRACK LISTING: Dream World, Auntie's Municipal Court, We Were Made For Each Other, Tapioca Tundra, Daydream Believer, Writing Wrongs, I'll Be Back Up On My Feet, The Poster, P.O. Box 9847, Magnolia Simms, Valleri, Zor and Zam

BONUS TRACKS: (on the 1994 Rhino reissue): Alvin, I'm Gonna Try, P.O. Box 9847 (Alternate Mix), The Girl I Left Behind Me, Lady's Baby

IMPRESSIONS: You know, I've always called this the Monkees' "Sgt. Pepper" but I think I may just be wrong about that. It's possibly more like their "White Album". Or maybe it really IS their "Sgt. Pepper" now that I think of it. It's far too psychedelic to be their "White Album". However, you squeeze it, "TBTB&TM" is an album I have had my entire life; in fact, I've had it so long I cannot even remember how it came into my possession or when. It certainly must've been only a couple years after it's release in 1968. I'd say I must've had it since I was 4 or 5 years of age, definitely. Yesterday's death of Davy Jones brought to mind my childhood when I never missed a Monkees rerun on telly (Channel 48 played them, dontcha know). The classic TV show was probably my young mind's first encounter with absurdist humour which I would come to worship in the coming years in such comedy gods as "MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS", The Marx Brothers and "THE GOON SHOW". But I think THE MONKEES actually wormed its way into my mind a couple years before the Marx Brothers movies. As far as the music is concerned, the Monkees always got a bad rap for not playing their instruments or writing their songs. Somehow that's supposed to be a bad thing. I don't seem to recall Mario Lanza getting flak for not playing an instrument or Ella Fitzgerald slagged off for not writing her own songs. The Pre-Fab Four were certainly nowhere near the same league but they were a nice-enough pop group that benefitted from a stable of excellent songwriters: Neil Diamond, Harry Nilsson, Carol Bayer Sager, Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart, John Stewart and Neil Sedaka are just a few of the top drawer talent providing songs for the group. Well respected songwriters all and the songs were good regardless of who was singing them. Here we have the Monkees beating their heads against the wall for respect. Tired of the prepackaged label, the Monkees insisted on more creative control and were allowed to play their own instruments with their previous album "PISCES, AQUARIUS, CAPRICORN & JONES LTD." which is generally considered their finest album. I wouldn't know because I don't own it. This is the one I've owned all my life and it's a damn fine album as well. Here Mickey Dolenz, Davy Jones, Peter Tork & Michael Nesmith have jumped feat first into the 60's psychedelic era with the trippiest song cycle since the HEAD soundtrack. The elaborate cover practically announces they're going for a SGT. PEPPER-type album; the album recording sessions began only a couple months after the Beatles' released PEPPER in 1967. There is no way I can listen to this album without being transported right back to my single digits; I even recall an early birthday party where this album was used for the music to a game of musical chairs! The album is a psychedelic 60s treasure trove: the record scratches and skips on Nesmith's "Magnolia Simms", the propulsive bombast of "Valleri", the kitchen-sink bubblegum of "Daydream Believer", the mystical medieval majesty of "Zor and Zam" or the LSD inspired "Tapioca Tundra" are all minor masterpieces. This is an album which always puts a big grin on my kisser.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Dream World, Auntie's Municipal Court, Tapioca Tundra, Daydream Believer, I'll Be Back Up On My Feet, P.O. Box 9847, Magnolia Simms, Valleri, Zor and Zam, Alvin

GUEST ARTISTS: Harry Nilsson (piano on "Auntie's Municipal Court"), Bill Martin (percussion on "Daydream Believer"), Hal Blaine (drums on "The Poster"), Stephen Stills (electric guitar on "Lady's Baby")

FACT SHEET: THE BIRDS, THE BEES & THE MONKEES is the Monkees' fifth album. It sold over a million copies but was the first Monkees album that didn't reach number one; it made it to number three. After finally gaining artistic control and recording together as a band on their previous album, TBTB&TM saw the four members basically coming up with and recording their own tracks separately from the others often in different studios; although all recordings were agreed to bear the legend "Produced by The Monkees" this is somewhat the same thing that happened on the Beatles' "White Album". The resulting album is something of a fractured affair (although in the best possible way) featuring contrasting musical styles between Mike Nesmith's country/western or LSD trippy tracks, Davy Jones' Broadway pop/bubblegum style and Mickey Dolenz's straitforward rock and roll. Peter Tork, very disturbed by the group's not working together as a unit, found most of his songs considered for the album but eventually not included; Tork's participation is almost non-existent with his sole appearance on the album consisting of his playing piano on "Daydream Believer". "We Were Made For Each Other" was written by Carole Bayer & George Fischoff. Former Kingston Trio member John Stewart wrote the smash number one hit "Daydream Believer". Perennial Monkees songsmiths Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart wrote "P.O. Box 9847" and "Valleri".