Neil Diamond Television Appearances
1966
June 8 -
Wing Ding
(Neil was on a local Washington, DC, show
called "Wing Ding" on Wednesday, June 8, 1966. It was a show similar
to "American Bandstand". The show was on WDCA Channel 20.
In the 1960s, TV station WDCA, Channel 20, in Washington, DC, aired a program called "Wing Ding". This show was very similar to the nationally popular show, "American Bandstand". Teenagers who lived in the area danced to the current hits of the day, and some of the hitmakers appeared on the show to lip-sync along with the records.
On Wednesday, June 8, 1966, several kids from my school appeared on the show, so naturally I made sure to watch it. And one of the lip-synching guests that day was the guy who sang the "Belinda, Jim, and Sue Song" that I was hearing on the radio. I didn't know the name of this song, so I made up my own title based on the names of two gals and one guy that were mentioned near the beginning. This particular singer was attired in cowboy gear, including a Stetson-type hat.
At the end of the song, the host of the show, Kirby Scott, interviewed this singer, whose name I had not bothered to learn, either. One question I remember was, "What state do you come from?" Based on the way this guy was dressed, I expected to hear an answer like Texas or Oklahoma. But instead, he replied, "I come from the state of Brooklyn." Kirby Scott then commented, "I guess they haven't gotten around to making that a state yet."
Eventually, I found out that the singer's name was Neil Diamond and that the song was called "Solitary Man". He even went on to some amount of success. - Regina Litman)
June 25 - American Bandstand
(According to "The History of American Bandstand" by
Michael Shore with Dick Clark, Neil appeared on "American Bandstand"
on Saturday, June 25, 1966, and sang "Solitary Man". The book notes
that it was not only his "American Bandstand" debut but his TV debut.
Now, I had seen him on a similar local show in Washington 17 days earlier, so I
think they mean national TV debut. - Regina Litman)
September
17 - American Bandstand
(According to "The History of American Bandstand" by Michael Shore
with Dick Clark, Neil appeared on the show on Saturday, September 17, 1966, and
sang "Cherry, Cherry". A clip of this turned up on one of the
"American Bandstand" anniversary shows.
Incidentally, by the time that Neil made his 1966 appearances on the show, it was being done in Hollywood, not Philadelphia, and it was only being shown on Saturdays, not weekday afternoons. - Regina Litman)