Monday, Monday

"Monday, Monday"
Single by The Mamas & the Papas
from the album If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears
B-side	"Got a Feelin'"
Released	March 1966
Format	7" single
Genre	Sunshine pop, folk rock
Length	3:00
Label	Dunhill
Writer(s)	John Phillips
Producer(s)	Lou Adler
Certification	Gold (RIAA)
The Mamas & the Papas singles chronology
"California Dreamin'" (1965) "Monday, Monday" (1966) "I Saw Her Again" (1966)

"Monday, Monday" is a 1966 song written by John Phillips and recorded by the Mamas & the Papas using background instruments played by members of The Wrecking Crew^[1] for their 1966 album If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears. It was the group's only number-one hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.^[2]

Phillips said that he wrote the song quickly, in about 20 minutes.^[3] The song includes a false ending, when there is a pause before the coda of the song, and goes up a half note for the bridges and refrains of the song. It was the second consecutive number-one hit song in the U.S. to contain a false ending, succeeding "Good Lovin'" by the Young Rascals, and the first time this novelty had occurred between consecutive number one hits.

On March 2, 1967, The Mamas & the Papas won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for this song.

Arguably the best live or studio version of the song was performed at the Monterey Rock Festival (California) in 1967.^[4] The performance was recorded for film at the time but not in a solo album.^[5]

The song appears on the soundtrack of Michael Apted's film Stardust.

Track listing

7-inch vinyl

1. "Monday, Monday" (Phillips) – 3:27
2. "Got a Feelin'" (Doherty, Phillips) – 2:44

Cover versions

• Petula Clark on her album I Couldn't Live Without Your Love (1966)
• The Beau Brummels on their album Beau Brummels '66 (1966)
• Neil Diamond on The Feel of Neil Diamond (1966)
• Jay and the Americans on their album Livin Above Your Head (1966)
• Sérgio Mendes on his instrumental album The Great Arrival (1966)
• Marianne Faithfull on Faithfull Forever (1966)
• Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass on their album The Beat of the Brass (1968)
• Ed Ames from the album Who Will Answer? and Other Songs of our Time (1968)
• The Cowsills on The Johnny Cash Show
• The 5th Dimension on their album The 5th Dimension/Live!! (1971)
• Dionne Warwick on Only Love Can Break A Heart (previously unreleased recording)(1977)
• Galenskaparna och After Shave, Swedish parodic text Bandy, Bandy about bandy (1988)
• The Adventures on Lions and Tigers and Bears (1993)
• Hear'Say on Popstars (2001)
• Wilson Phillips three times: a modern rock take on their album California (2004) and an a cappella single version the same year, and a straightforward take paying tribute to the original on the album Dedicated (2012)
• Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs on their album Under the Covers, Vol. 1 (2006)

References in popular culture

• ESPN announcer Chris Berman referred to Rick Monday as "Monday, Monday".
• The Mamas and the Papas' version of "Monday, Monday" is heard in a chase scene in the 2010 movie The Other Guys.
• The song is used in one of the Discovery Channel's promos for the reality TV series Dirty Jobs, which ran for eight seasons.
• The Daredevil villain, Typhoid Mary, sings this song while fighting Yakuza.

References

1. Hartman, Kent (2012). The Wrecking Crew. St. Martin’s Griffin. pp. 261–263. ISBN 978-1-250-03046-7.
2. The Mamas and the Papas
3. John Phillips interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1969)
4. City Paper, DC 1996
5. Hammond Times Music Reviews

External links

• Monday, Monday at Myspace (streamed copy where licensed)
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics