Today in Music (1967): The Monkees “Daydream Believer” hit #1

Daydream Believer The Monkees

Writer(s): John Stewart (see lyrics here) Released: October 25, 1967 First Charted: November 3, 1967 Peak: 14 BB, 143 GR, 13 HR, 12 CL, 5 UK, 11Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.6 UK, 5.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 4.0 radio, 93.82 video, 196.54 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “There’s a beautiful conundrum at the heart of the Monkees. Here we had a fake band, created for a TV show, who turned out to be more successful as a band than they were as a TV show.” SG The show ran 59 episodes from 1967 to ’68 while the group kept going through 1970 (plus a reunion in 1986). At the height of their popularity in 1967, however, they took the bold move of demanding more control over their music. “By the time the Monkees landed the last of their three #1 singles, they looked practically respectable.” SG “All four Monkees play or sing on ‘Daydream Believer,’ something that wasn’t true of their other #1s.” SG Davy Jones sings lead, Michael Nesmith plays guitar, Peter Tork is on piano, and Micky Dolenz provides backing vocals. “Daydream Believer” was written by John Stewart of the Kingston Trio. He wrote it “about one half of a couple staring into a mirror and realizing that his marriage has lost its magic.” SG It was the third in a trilogy. WK The record company insisted on changing the word “funky” to “happy” in the line “You once thought of me as a white knight on a steed / Now you know how funky I can be.” Stewart eventually relented RC which changed the song “from a sober reckoning to a dizzy love song.” SG “As a love song, it works well.” SG Producer Chip Douglas, formerly with the Turtles, “effortlessly pulls in the strings and horns of that first baroque pop period (just as he’d previously done on ‘Happy Together’), adapting the Monkees’ starry-eyed pop to the psychedelic moment.j The song doesn’t have the same immediate punch as ‘I’m A Believer’ or ‘Last Train to Clarksville,’ but…it remains a gem.” SG Resources: FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 233. RC Rod Couch (2015). The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era: 1955-2015. Page 190. SG Stereogum (10/24/2018). “The Number Ones” by Tom Breihan WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 4/24/2024.