Monday, Monday



"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 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.

Phillips said that he wrote the song quickly, in about 20 minutes. 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. The performance was recorded for film at the time but not in a solo album.

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)

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.