1989 NORTH AMERICAN / JAPANESE TOUR

1989 NORTH AMERICAN / JAPANESE TOUR

Dolenz, Jones and Tork

(July – September 1989)

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

• Hello Hello, I’m Back Again
• Pleasant Valley Sunday
• A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You
• D. W. Washburn
• No Time
• Long Title: Do I Have To Do This All Over Again
• She Hangs Out
• Goin’ Down
• Your Auntie Grizelda
• Hangin’ By A Thread
• Zilch / Mary, Mary (or) Through The Looking Glass
• I Wanna Be Free
• That Was Then, This Is Now
• Valleri
• As We Go Along
• Sea Change
• Last Train To Clarksville
• Cripple Creek
• Acoustic Set:
• -When Love Comes Knockin’  (Davy)
• -Sometime In The Morning  (Micky)
• -Take A Giant Step  (Peter)
• What Am I Doing Hangin’ ‘Round?
• She
• Baby, You’ll Soon Be Sixteen
• (I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone
• Daydream Believer
• Encore:
• Ditty Diego / Monkees Rap
• Listen To The Band
• I’m A Believer
• Later in the tour, “Mary, Mary” was dropped and “Through The Looking Glass” (with Peter on keyboards) was added. “Circle Sky” was played at the first couple of dates on the tour, but was dropped and replaced with “Goin’ Down.”

 

The Monkees’ 1989 summer tour featured one of their best stage shows ever (with rarely performed songs such as “D.W. Washburn,” “She Hangs Out,” “Mary Mary,” “What Am I Doing Hangin’ ‘Round?” and “As We Go Along” featured), but the tour on the whole lacked the public enthusiasm and media publicity garnered by the two previous North American tours.

Before the 1989 summer tour commenced, Micky and his manager Kevin Allyn had proposed a three-year plan for the Monkees that would culminate in 1991 with the band’s 25th anniversary.  On the other hand, Davy was reluctant to tour the United States without a new album to draw songs from.  (Jones also had a lucrative offer on the table to act in a theater production.)  Plans for a follow-up studio album to Pool It! had been in the works at the time but nothing was ever recorded.  With Dolenz and Allyn claiming that future recording deals and projects were in jeopardy without a summer tour, Jones agreed to go out on the road.  A full band meeting was to be held after the July California dates to look over offers on the table and other possible projects.  It was around this time that Micky suddenly told his bandmates that he would be taking time off immediately after the summer tour to pursue solo endeavors.  As a result, internal tensions flared and all future Monkees activities were abruptly cancelled.

Before the rift in the band took place in early July, the summer began with all four Monkees appearing on “The Mark & Brian Show” in June on KLOS Radio in Los Angeles, California.  The quartet was on the air for two and a half-hours and sang “Daydream Believer” with Peter playing acoustic guitar.  Nesmith appeared with the trio to hype his upcoming guest concert appearance with the Monkees in Los Angeles, California. The full quartet also appeared on the Rick Dees radio program.

The final portion of the 1989 world tour in North America and Japan found Micky playing drums on most of the songs that he didn’t sing the lead vocal.  Peter supplied rhythm and lead guitar work, and played the banjo on “Cripple Creek” and “What Am I Doing Hangin’ ‘Round?”.  Davy would play the tambourine and maracas.  Two of Davy’s solo songs, “Hangin’ By A Thread” and “Baby, You’ll Soon Be Sixteen,” were added to the set, as was Peter’s solo song, “Sea Change,” which later was released on his 1994 solo album, Stranger Things Have Happened.  The 1989 summer concerts opened up with an old Gary Glitter hit, entitled appropriately enough “Hello Hello, I’m Back Again.”  The Monkees appeared on “The Pat Sajak Show” and “Nashville Now” (the latter which included rare live television performances of “D.W. Washburn” and “What Am I Doing Hangin’ ‘Round?”) to promote the tour. The backing band consisted of Jerry Renino (bass), Doug Trevor (rhythm guitar), Frankie Hepburn (guitar), Lawren Roper (drums), Jim Belin (keyboards), Lawrie Hayley (backing vocals) and horn players Les (last name unknown), Scott Wright and Mike Schmitt.

By 1989, the enthusiasm generated from the initial reunion in 1986 had subsided.  Attendance was no where as strong in America as it had been in 1986 and 1987.  On the other hand, a lot of media attention was generated when Nesmith joined Dolenz, Jones and Tork onstage in Los Angeles, California on July 9, 1989 at the Universal Amphitheatre.  The following day, the four Monkees attended a ceremony in their honor when they received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  Though the Japanese dates, the first since 1968, attracted large and excited crowds, the 1989 world tour ended in September to little fanfare.  Because of bad feelings leftover from the band meeting earlier in the summer, the Monkees immediately disbanded.