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"That Was Then, This Is Now"
Single by The Monkees
from the album Then & Now... The Best of The Monkees
B-side
ReleasedJune 27, 1986[1]
RecordedMay 30, 1986[2]
GenreNew wave, synthpop
Length4:02
LabelArista
Songwriter(s)Vance Brescia
Producer(s)Michael Lloyd
The Monkees singles chronology
"Christmas Is My Time of Year"
(1976) 		"That Was Then, This Is Now"
(1986) 		"Daydream Believer (remix)"
(1986)
Alternative cover
UK picture sleeve

"That Was Then, This Is Now" is a song written by Vance Brescia for his band the Mosquitos and recorded as the title track of their 1985 EP.[3] Clive Davis of Arista Records heard it and picked it to be the Monkees' comeback single and theme of their 20th Anniversary Tour in 1986.[4]

Background

The Monkees (actually only Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork) covered the song for Arista Records, who released their recording as a single and on the compilation album Then & Now... The Best of The Monkees in June 1986.[2] The compilation album with three newly recorded songs was released by Arista and went platinum during the tour. “That Was Then, This Is Now” became the band's new single and a video for it was filmed at the Arena at Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey on July 25. The video received heavy airplay on MTV, making the song a Billboard Top 20 hit the summer of 1986.[5]

Reception

The song was a surprise hit, capitalizing on Monkees nostalgia at the time, reaching No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100[6] (the band's first Top 40 hit since "D.W. Washburn" in 1968), and No. 24 on the adult contemporary chart. It has since been featured on several compilation albums by the band. Despite the highly publicized reunion of three original members of the Monkees and their successful 20th Anniversary Tour in that year, it was the band's last US Top 20 hit.

References

  1. ^ Wang, Kenneth K. "1986–1989." The Monkees Sessionography. Last updated 2 May 1999. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
  2. ^ a b Wang, Kenneth K. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
  3. ^ Buscareno, Blair and Bill Jones. "The Mosquitoes." Yahoo! Groups. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
  4. ^ "Along the Way - A salute to NOW and THEN". Vancebrescia.com. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  5. ^ "Monkees 1986 Reunion Tour". Monkeeslivealmanac.com. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  6. ^ "The Monkees". Billboard. Retrieved 2021-11-05.


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