The Modernist wrote:George P. Smackers wrote:"Cherry, Cherry"?
"I'm a Believer"?
I like "I'm a Believer", just youtubed the other one you mentioned, it's okay..decent pop very much of its time. I just don't know how highly I'd praise something like that. He comes across to me like a talented hack, the sixties equivalent of Diane Warren or someone like that.
That's OK. I know what you mean about "Cherry Cherry" being pop of its time.
But a few things for it. The hook, "she got the way to move me," just sounds like it's always been there, like he was tapping into some eternal pop thing. So it's more an icon to me than just another "generic" version of a bland something. Of course it helps if you've heard it a million times, which you haven't.
I also think he brings a strong personality to the verses, with the freedom in how he sings the "no, no you don't" and so on. With Neil Diamond, his strong personality is often a liability. I mean with the "not EV-un the CHAIR" later stuff (which I actually often like, silly as it is).
But a lot of the generic pop of the 60s could use a little of the Neil drama because the pop vocals of that era can sound almost impersonal. Here we have almost generic pop but made into something unique because of how he sings it like big Neil.