Album of the Day

The Monkees’ TV show debuted on this day in 1966 and the quartet’s popularity soon rivaled that of any British Invader. When it was clear that Monkees records were taking off, producer Don Kirschener, songwriters Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart and Micky, Davy, Mike and Peter themselves all had their own ideas of what they should sound like. On the group's second album, MORE OF THE MONKEES, that meant a dozen fine songs, including Boyce & Hart's “I'm Not Your Stepping Stone,” a brace of Brill Building tunes (Gerry Goffin & Carole King's “Sometime In The Morning,” Neil Diamond's chart-topping “I'm A Believer”) and a pair of Nesmith numbers: “Mary Mary” and “The Kind Of Girl I Could Love.” MORE OF THE MONKEES became the group’s most successful album, racking up a staggering 70 weeks on the Billboard chart – 18 of them at #1.