101 # 1 Song of the Day 1-2-13

The 101 Number One Song of the Day was written for a TV show by a young songwriter who was discovered singing in a Greenwich Village coffee house.  Today’s featured single put him on the map but he’d go on to have a lot more hits.

Producer Jeff Barry had gotten a call from music publisher Don Kirshner who was looking for a follow up song for a foursome he had brought together for a new TV show.  They had already had a record go to number one but Kirshner felt they were not living up to their full potential.  He asked Barry if he had anything they could use.  He immediately thought of a song he had heard being performed in that coffee house in the Village.  The new group recorded it and with their new TV show giving them a boost it wound up with over a million in advance sales.  It debuted on Billboard’s Hot 100 in December and arrived at number one three weeks later where it was on this date in 1967.  The group was the Monkees and the young songwriter was Neil Diamond: “I’m a Believer.”