Songoftheday 6/14/12 - I never needed to hear the truth, you never wanted to know...

Neil Diamond - "Be Mine Tonight"

from the album On The Way To The Sky (1981)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #35 (two weeks)

Weeks in the top-40: 4

Today's Song of the Day is by the veteran singer/songwriter from Brooklyn, Neil Diamond. Writer of many big 60s hits, like the Monkees' "I'm A Believer", Diamond's first solo single to make the charts was "Solitary Man" in 1966, which made the lower half of the chart. The followup single, "Cherry Cherry" did exponentially better, becoming his first top-10 hit the summer of that same year.

In 1970, he had the first of his three pop number-one singles in the US, "Cracklin' Rosie". Through the 70s, his sound drifted from being a deep-voiced troubadour to a soft-rock romantic crooner, and his stardom rose quickly, culminating in his #1 duet with the female voice of the time, Barbra Streisand, on "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" in 1978.

But as the 80's got into full gear, Diamond's style of ballad was still selling, but not being played as much on pop radio as on adult contemporary (soft-rock). His 1981 album On The Way To The Sky produced three top-5 AC singles, with the third single, "Be Mine Tonight" making it all the way to #2 on that list. It also spent a month on the pop top-40, and helped make the album a million-seller.

The next time Neil graced the pop chart, it was with a little help from a Speilberg movie. These days, Diamond has released a few acclaimed roots-rock albums a la Johnny Cash under the helm of Rick Rubin.

Up Tomorrow: Deep Purple outcast finds the gold with a pop metal crunch.