Song of the Day: The Monkees, “I’m A Believer”

Song of the Day 1 Minute

Happy 76th birthday to Micky Dolenz, singer, drummer, and member of the "Prefab Four," who along with Peter Tork, Davy Jones, and Michael Nesmith starred in the 1966-68 music and comedy series The Monkees. As the members got more comfortable in their roles, they turned into an actual rock band, even writing their own songs and playing their own instruments. "I’m A Believer" was written by Neil Diamond (yes, that one) and was recorded in 1966 as one A side, the other side being "Stepping Stone." We went on a ski weekend (where we didn’t ski) shortly after my father died, and the restaurant attached to the hotel had that single in its jukebox, and between the three Holton boys we played the grooves off of it. It reached #1 at the end of December 1966 and stayed there for seven weeks.

Published by John Holton

Internet disc jockey, lover of old TV (especially the commercials), inveterate wise guy.

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23 thoughts on “Song of the Day: The Monkees, “I’m A Believer””

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  3. You know I am a real Monkees fan, I’ve seen various incarnations of the group live, most recently when Mike and Micky went on tour two years ago.

    When Neil sings this in concert, he sings it as a ballad. Then, he tells how the Monkees put a twist on the song, and he sings an arrangement similar to the one they use.

    When Micky sings it in concert, he talks about Smash Mouth covering it in Shrek.

    You mentioned that the B side was “Stepping Stone”. That was originally recorded by Paul Revere and the Raiders. I’ve seen Mark Lindsay and Micky Dolenz tour together, and they sing “Stepping Stone” as a duet.

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  9. Great song- I remember being surprised hearing that it was written by Neil Diamond. His version is fine- but The Monkees took it to another level.

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    1. Sometimes I think Neil should have stuck to songwriting, only because he was so good at it. “Red Red Wine” was another: it was an okay song when he did it, but UB40’s reggae version was superb.

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