The band's new music coordinator (and former road manager), Brendan Cahill, believed that releasing previously unused tracks recorded in 1966—prior to the group's seizing control of their own recording process—was the way for the group to regain commercial success. The album's lead single, "Tear Drop City," written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, was one of the songs taken from the vault and was identified by Michael Nesmith as their intended first single in 1966. Notably similar to the group's first hit "Last Train to Clarksville" (also written by Boyce & Hart), the song was sped up around 9 percent from the original recording, changing the song's key from G to A-flat. The track was not a major hit, only managing to reach No. 56 on the U.S. charts, while reaching No. 34 in Australia. Despite the single's poor chart performance, the album charted on the Billboard Top 40 Albums chart at No. 32.