The Monkees…Michael Nesmith, Mickey Dolenz, Davey Jones, and Peter Tork.
A song by a group that for a decade took pop music by storm. Popular in nearly every form of media, The Monkees churned out a handful of hits that put them at the top of all-time best lists…none bigger than this one.
I wish that I had paid closer attention at the time.
Because, when a group from Los Angeles – Peter Tork, Mickey Dolenz, Davey Jones and Michael Nesmith – became America’s favorite pop group in the late 60s, much of their rise to stardom passed me by. I never watched their TV show, and the only radio in the house wasn’t in the house. It was in the car. I was aware of them, but I couldn’t appreciate just how good they were.
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I never owned a Monkees record!
They came like a meteor, with hits like A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You, I’m Not Your Steppin’ Stone, Last Train To Clarksville, and I’m A Believer, and it happened with such rapid-fire success that people accustomed to the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and other foreign groups welcomed the emergence of an American group whose sound was something they wanted to hear. With 45 rpm singles and albums alone, they sold an estimated 22 million copies in the United States, alone, from 1966 to 1970.
One of those singles, I’m A Believer, released in 1966, seemed to include every nuance of popular music at the time. Written by Neil Diamond in 1965, Diamond called it a love ballad and recorded it himself in 1967 and it became a minor moment in Diamond’s incredible list of songs and hits…many made popular by other artists.
But Mickey Dolenz did something more with I’m A Believer, adding tempo and a bouncy personality that caught the pop dance market’s attention and acceptance. Billboard called it ‘an easy-going dance mover’. Incorporating the sound of 60s keyboard and electronics imagination, it appealed to teenagers without offending older listeners. It had universal appeal. Here’s an example.
In 1967, Ohio State University Marching Band arranger John Tatgenhorst liked the song and wrote a two-minute chart for all brass that complemented the band’s already-growing-popularity with Hang On Sloopy, a McCoys’ tune the band began playing in 1965. Band director Charlie Spohn smartly played I’m A Believer during timeouts of games where the Buckeyes were trailing in the second half, trying to catch up. Students and fans figured out its symbolism, and loved it.
But that was small potatoes to what the song was doing on the national and world-wide market. I’m A Believer rose to #1 on Billboard in December of 1966, and remained there for an incredible seven weeks, becoming the biggest-selling single for 1967.
At the same time the group was promoting the song by playing it constantly on their TV series (The Monkees), and by February of 1967 it became the #1 song in Europe and remained so for more than a month. It was at about that time when Diamond seized on the opportunity and recorded his own version.
The song’s popularity pushed sales of their other hits, and Daydream Believer made lead voice Davey Jones a household heart-throb as the group, itself, was losing steam by 1970. Officially, I’m A Believer ranks #3 of all-time Monkees hits, behind the Monkees theme song (Hey, Hey, We’re The Monkees), and I’m Not Your Steppin’ Stone.
The group disbanded after 1970, citing individual differences and separate directions, only to make occasional reunion appearances in later years that further fueled the fervor and recollection of a time when their music was a good time for everyone. Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever.
Mickey Dolenz, at present, is the only living member of the group. Davey Jones died of a heart attack in 2021…Peter Tork died in 2019…and Michael Nesmith recently passed in 2021.
“I’m still with them every day, in many ways, especially when I sing the songs or watch the videos,” said Dolenz in a published interview.
He spoke, no doubt, for millions…a little bit me, and a little bit you.
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