Neil Diamond Wrote A 1966 No. 1 Hit For The Monkees That Is Still One Of Their Catchiest Songs

In the 1960s, a decade loaded with jangly, hooky pop-rock, the Monkees made some of the best music that leaned into those attributes, including "I'm a Believer." Spending a stellar seven weeks at No. 1 in 1966, the tune actually came from the mind and pen of Neil Diamond. While 1970 was arguably the best year of Diamond's career, he got his start as a songwriter, composing material meant to be performed by others. Well before he filled arenas as a rock star in his own right, Diamond wrote hits for a wide variety of other acts. Some of the musicians who made Diamond songs their own are overlooked and forgotten in the 21st century, like Billy Fury and Jay and the Americans. Others he'd written for, like the Monkees, went on to score four No. 1 albums in just one year. 

In addition to the 1967 No. 2 hit "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You," Diamond wrote the assembled-for-TV band's biggest hit ever, "I'm a Believer." It's an absolutely irresistible song that's vital to how the Monkees dominated the radio and the charts for a fleeting period in the 1960s. 

Before superstar stardom beckoned, Neil Diamond worked as a songwriter, quitting college to take a $50-per-week job with music publisher Sunbeam Music. That led to a single flop record, and he spent most of the first half of the '60s composing for various publishers and playing small gigs. Producer Jeff Barry saw Diamond perform in New York City and recognized that a jaunty, acoustic guitar-driven uptempo rocker about the joyful, transformative power of love at first sight would be an ideal song for his project. Barry was recording material for the Monkees, a Beatles-like, teen idol-type band assembled for a TV sitcom that would feature original rock 'n' roll music. The Monkees' brand of music was exceptionally catchy, youth-oriented, and radio-friendly. Diamond's song, "I'm a Believer," fit the bill.

Shortly after "The Monkees" the series hit the airwaves in September 1966, the Monkees became a pop culture phenomenon as a band. "I'm a Believer" rose all the way to No. 1 on December 31, 1966, just three weeks after its initial release. By that time, Diamond's own performing career had finally taken off, too. During the first wave of the Monkees craze, Diamond's "Cherry, Cherry" — a quick-stepping ode to an idealized woman, with a groovy acoustic guitar lick and funky breakdowns, not unlike "I'm a Believer," became his first Top-40 hit, climbing into the Top 10 in October 1966.