1986 ‘SOUNDS OF THE MONKEES’ AUSTRALIAN TOUR

1986 ‘SOUNDS OF THE MONKEES’ AUSTRALIAN TOUR

Jones and Tork

(February – March 1986)

For updated information on this article, see the web site: monkeesconcerts.com

“Every date was jammed not only with teary-eyed original fans but with wildly enthusiastic teenagers who appeared to sing along with the lyrics of every number.  Each show was laced with the slapstick lunacy that the audience would have recognized from the television series, which had been rerun in Australia over the previous two years.”
-Glenn A. Baker, author of Monkeemania: The True Story of the Monkees

• Last Train To Clarksville  (Davy & Peter lead vocal)
• A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You
• (I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone  (Davy & Peter lead vocal)
• Valleri
• Cuddly Toy
• Your Auntie Grizelda
• I’ll Be True To You
• Sometime In The Morning  (Peter lead vocal)
• I’m In Love (With Six Girls)   (Davy lead vocal)
• Daydream Believer
• What Am I Doing Hangin’ ‘Round?  (Davy & Peter lead vocal)
• I’ll Love You Forever
• Peter’s Oldies Medley:
• -Whole Lotta Shakin’
• -I Want You, I Need You, I Love You
• -Lucille
• Gonna Buy Me A Dog  (Davy & Peter lead vocal)
• Shades Of Gray  (Davy & Peter lead vocal)
• Star Collector
• I Wanna Be Free
• Cripple Creek
• Higher And Higher
• Randy Scouse Git  (Davy & Peter lead vocal)
• Pleasant Valley Sunday  (Davy & Peter lead vocal)
• Encore:
• I’m A Believer  (Davy & Peter lead vocal)

 

In 1985 Peter Tork attended a concert in New York City featuring the ‘Happy Together’ tour, which showcased several regrouped sixties rock and roll bands.  Tork was so impressed with the dynamics of the show that he approached its promoter, David Fishof, after the concert and expressed interest in the Monkees doing something similar.  Fishof quickly began an effort to reunite the band.

This low-key tour of Australia by Davy and Peter was the first of many concert tours the soon-to-be reformed Monkees would undertake during the next three years.  It was actually scheduled before the deal had been finalized to officially reunite the Monkees.  With American music channel MTV airing the television series and Rhino Records already re-releasing the group’s nine original albums (the reissue campaign had initially begun in 1985), plans were underway for Dolenz, Jones, Nesmith and Tork to embark on a small 20th anniversary reunion tour of the United States in the summer of 1986 to commemorate the occasion.  Little did Davy and Peter know that when Micky eventually joined them later that summer in America that Monkeemania II would explode, ushering in a new era in the history of the Monkees.

Davy and Peter played to full houses everywhere on this Australian tour, giving strong performances of Monkees songs with extra treats here and there during the set. For the most part, they shared lead vocal duties on Micky’s songs.