Music producer and publisher Don Kirshner dies (1934-2011)

Don Kirshner, the man behind the Monkees and the Archies, passed away yesterday in Boca Raton, Florida. He was 76 years old. Kirshner was the producer for the the Monkees, who had their own TV show for two seasons. Kirshner, however, wanted the Monkees to be more of a fictional band although the guys in the band wanted to play their own instruments and be a real band. Kirshner left the Monkees around 1968 and went on to produce the Archies, a fictional band based on the popular Archie comics. The "band" scored a hit with "Sugar, Sugar". In 1973, Kirshner started his own music variety show called Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. The show's first band to perform was the Rolling Stones. The show lasted up until 1981.