Don Kirshner

Don Kirshner (April 17th, 1934 – January 17th, 2011) was a music producer, writer, and publisher, best known for producing music for The Monkees and The Archies, and for his syndicated musical variety show, Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert. Kirshner first worked with Bobby Darin, writing jingles for commercials and songs. Darin and Kirshner split ways in 1958, and Kirshner teamed up with Al Nevins, founding a music publishing company, Aldon Music. Aldon worked with Connie Francis, Little Eva, The Drifters, and The Ronettes. In 1963, Aldon was bought by Columbia Records, and Kirshner became president of Screen Gems, Columbia’s music publishing division. Kirshner was later hired to produce the music for the NBC sitcom The Monkees. The Monkees weren’t a band in the traditional sense, being made specifically for the show. In every episode, The Monkees would sing a song. The Monkees became very popular, even rivalling The Beatles. After a dispute with the band, Kirshner was removed from Screen Gems. After his removal, Kirshner joined a project very similar to the Monkees, with one big difference; they didn’t really exist. The “band” would be the main characters from Archie Comics, Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead, and Reggie, with Ron Dante and Toni Wine portraying them. In 1968, CBS, Archie Comics and Filmation needed songs for their new Saturday-Morning Cartoon The Archie Show, and hired Don Kirshner to produce. Kirshner brought Jeff Barry, also formerly with The Monkees to write some of the songs.The Archies were also a huge hit, and their song “Sugar, Sugar” was one of the biggest songs of 1969. The Archies would “disband” in 1972. After The Archies, Kirshner would briefly work with ABC on their In Concert series, before making Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert, a syndicated variety show running from 1973 to 1981. The show featured acts like The Rolling Stones, Kansas & Led Zepplin. Kirshner mostly retired following the end of the series, dying of heart failure on January 14th, 2011. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.