MONKEE SEE, MONKEE REDUXNO LONGER THE YOUNG GENERATION, ROCK'S PREFAB FOUR'S STILL GOT SOMETHING TO SAY

The last Monkees record, Changes, finds the group pared down to just the actors, Mickey and Davy. Though it reunites the twosome with "I'm a Believer" producer Jeff Barry, it's serviceable product at best. Davy's bitter comments about the record in the reissue's liner notes reveal that this album was simply a rejected Andy Kim album with his vocals wiped off and Davy and Mickey's substituted. Changes' cover art imitated life, with the two remaining Monkees venturing off in opposite directions. Several years ago, there was a lame attempt to launch a "New Monkees." It failed because there are only four universally accepted Monkees, the ones that Rhino is currently negotiating with for a possible Monkees movie in 1996. So what's it all about, Mickey?

"Well, we don't know yet," he says, laughing. "It's early days, but we are talking about it. I think it'll be more like the original show than Head was."

You mean four guys pushing 50, still living in a beach house, trying to hustle gigs, getting hassled by their landlord and finding secret microfilms planted in their instrument cases?

"You'll just have to wait and see. It'll have to be a surprise."
In the meantime, stick with the albums; they're an even better surprise.