Was Colgems seriously considering reissuing
the Monkees’ catalog in late 1969/early 1970?
Part 3 Golden Hits
By Ed Reilly
In the April 12th, 1969, issue of Billboard Magazine, alongside the announcement of the series’ return to TV, there was also word that the next Colgems release would be known as “Golden Hits”. Plans were in the works to release the first hits package in April 1969, but, with the album now in full creative control of the Monkees, the cover design was given to the Monkees’ friend and local artist, Neko Chohlis.
Neko had been working on a 3-dimensional art piece from an idea provided by Micky Dolenz. A mockup of the album cover design was presented to the label, which reviewed and rejected the concept. Colgems loved the idea but the manufacturing of the cover would have been extremely difficult with the way it was laid out and the cost would have been astronomical. Coming off the cost and headache of the mylar Head cover, the label requested Neko to do a revision.
Mockup Front Jacket
Inside Gatefold
Mockup Rear Jacket
Photos - Ed Reilly
With that in mind, the second design was paired down with the cover laid out flat with instructions so that the buyer could put it together to form their own three-dimensional cover. Again Colgems rejected it.
Front & Rear Second Mockup
Three-Dimensional Cut Out
Photos - Ed Reilly
By this time the label was under the gun for a release and advised Neko that a cover needed to be completed within a week’s time. Alas, with time not on his side, Neko came up with the design that we see today and the title of the release was changed from Golden Hits to The Monkees Greatest Hits.
"Each one of the stares(sic) and half moons were cut out by me, it took a long time to do this cover. The middle circle was going to be a pop-up drawing of the boys. It was going to cost way too much to print the cover, (which they absolutely loved) so I did a remake with instructions for a do-it-yourself cover. I knocked the price down for 57 cents a cover to 27 cents and it was still too much. They were cheapskates (Colgems) back in those days. They were used to paying 6-10 cents a cover. Months of work gone down the drain. They gave me 2 days to give them another cover or I wouldn't get paid. I got pissed off and gave them the orange on the black front cover and black on orange for the back cover. I think the dumb ass printing company misspelled my name, again. It's Chohlis, not Cholis. Too bad they didn't print it, I would have easily won record cover of the year at the Grammy's."
Neko Chohlis – March 2019
Final Design - Front Cover Slick
Continue to Part 4 The Monkees Greatest Hits