The Monkees‘ earliest hits spoke of girls, love, and good times. However, as they evolved as musicians and grew in the public eye, their music also changed. Songs with more topical themes were explored in the band’s fourth album, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, & Jones Ltd. One included a song that exposed how musicians felt about groupies in the 1960s.
The Monkees released ‘Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.’ in 1967
Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. was the fourth album of four released by The Monkees. It was their final LP of 1967.
With that record, The Monkees broke a record that remains. Per Billboard, the band had four number-one albums in one calendar year.
The group dropped their eponymous debut album at the end of 1966, where it remained locked at the number one position for eight weeks. The Monkees spent the first five weeks of 1967 in the top spot until the album was replaced in February by the group’s second album, More of the Monkees. That album remained at number one for 18 consecutive weeks.
The Monkees’ third album, Headquarters, stood at number one in June 1967. Then it spent the next 11 weeks at No. 2 behind The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
By the end of 1967, the group returned to the top spot of the Billboard album charts. Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd., spent the last five weeks of the year at No. 1.
The Monkees fourth album contained experimental songs, including one about the groupie movement of the 1960s. It spoke of how musicians felt about the women who followed popular bands.
The Monkees talk about groupie culture in ‘Star Collector’
“Star Collector” was a song penned by Carole King. The 1967 tune addressed the groupie movement of the late 1960s. The lyrics reflect how transactional some of these relationships were for musicians.
At the beginning of the song, Davy Jones sings about allowing the young woman who asked for his autograph to continue walking on. However, he soon realizes if they have a relationship, he will be another notch on her romantic belt.
Lyrics such as “She only aims to please young celebrities” and “How can I love her when I don’t respect her” took pointed digs at groupies. King discussed the crux of many groupie relationships by writing, “When everything is goin’ my way/She wants to be close at hand.”
He continued, “She moves to some other doorway/When things don’t go the way she planned.” This song depicts these relationships as black and white, and Davy Jones’ snappy delivery drives the words home.
‘Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd’ featured the first time this instrument was used in pop music
The Monkees fourth album featured one of the first uses of the Moog synthesizer in popular music. Dolenz owned one of the first twenty ever sold. Pisces was one of the first commercial recordings to reach a broad audience featuring the Moog. “Star Collector” incorporated the instrument into its musical backbone.
The Monkees joined an elite group of musicians recording with a Moog Synthesizer. These included The Doors, who used it on their 1967 album Strange Days. Also, the Rolling Stones used the instrument on Their Satanic Majesties Request. The Byrds also used the Moog in 1968 on The Notorious Byrd Brothers.
The Monkees also featured the instrument on an episode of their weekly TV show. Micky Dolenz played the synthesizer, or at least pretended to, while “Daily Nightly” was heard.
The Monkees would record one more album, the soundtrack to the movie Head, with all four original band members after Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, & Jones Ltd. These members included Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, Mike Nesmith, and Davy Jones.
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