Don Kirshner, a rock promoter and music publisher who helped garner hits for the make-believe groups The Monkees and The Archies and boosted the careers of Billy Joel, Neil Diamond and the Police, has died. He was 76.
Promoter Jack Wishna, a close friend and business associate, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Kirshner, whom Time magazine once dubbed "The Man with the Golden Ear," was in a hospital in Boca Raton being treated for an infection when he died on Monday.
"Donny Kirshner would take a kid off the street ... and turn him into Neil Diamond, Carole King, James Taylor, on and on," Wishna said. "I haven't spoken to anyone in the music business that Donny hasn't either discovered, promoted, or touched in some way.
"I've never seen anybody like this in my life," he said.
The Bronx-born Kirshner started off in the business as a songwriter, penning "My First Love" for Bobby Darin. But he had more success in tapping songwriting talents like Diamond, King and Neil Sedaka.
Kirshner's songwriters were tapped in the 1960s to create music for a group manufactured for TV — The Monkees. They became a huge sensation in both the TV and the rock world and had hits including "I'm a Believer," which Diamond wrote.
"I'm saddened to learn of the loss of Don Kirshner. He was the king of Tin Pan Alley — there never was a better song plugger," Diamond said in a statement to the AP. "ll always be grateful to him for pairing 'I'm A Believer' and other songs of mine with the Monkees. The music business never had a better supporter."
Kirshner also was behind the music that made magic for The Archies, based off the comic strip characters, including the classic "Sugar Sugar."
"Don Kirshner's Rock Concert," which premiered in 1972 and ran a decade, gave national exposure to musicians including Joel and the Police. Kirshner also helped launch the careers of Prince, The Eagles, Lionel Richie and Ozzy Osborne. The show also boosted careers of comics including Billy Crystal, Arsenio Hall and David Letterman.
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