1969 Song of the Day is’ The Real Thing” by Russell Morris. This was the debut single by Russell Morris, an Australian- it was a huge hit in his native Australia but failed to make the Billboard Hot 100 in the US- reaching #107. It was a popular song on the radio in New York City and Chicago. The song was written by Johnny Young. Young originally thought of it as a Strawberry Fields Forever type song but when producer Ian Meldrum heard it he changed it from an acoustic ballad to a heavily produced  over 6 minute long song for Russell Morris. The single did go to #1 in Australia. Morris is still around-having released an album earlier this year- he has had 9 Top 40 hits in Australia but was never able to made a dent in the charts in America.