at least as cool as canned, processed meat can be. Now there are Spam cook-offs, Spam recipes, Spam hats and T-shirts, and Spam fans, who not only are out of the closet but are proud to shout their adoration for the stuff in the blue can. Diamond established himself as part of the mainstream. Like     Velveeta, he has capitalized on his place in American culture, reaping the financial rewards of doing something well and sticking with it.     Creating the Sparkle   Neil Leslie Diamond (yes, thats his real name) was born on a cold Brooklyn night on January 24, 1941. His cultural roots stemmed from Russia and Poland, birthplaces of his maternal and paternal grandparents. Young Neil grew up with American core values and the discipline of a father who served in the U.S. Army. A New Yorker through and through, he moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, in 1945, where his father was stationed in the Army, exposing him to the rest of America. After military service, the family opened a dry goods store in Flatbush, eventually moving the business and the family home to Brooklyns Brighton Beach. Diamond learned in his early years about patriotism, a disciplined approach to delivering a quality product, family values, and a practical understanding of business, all of which he arguably brings to his music career. His musical journey began with the guitar he got for his sixteenth birthday and continued through singing with his high schools choral group. In 1958 he wrote his first song, "Hear Them Bells," as a tribute to the girl he later married in 1963. Perhaps his discipline and stage presence were affected by his acumen in the sport of fencing, which earned him a fencing scholarship at New York University, where he enrolled as a premed student. But his love for songwriting, and his lack of love for organic chemistry, lured him to leave college 10 cred- its short of graduation to take a job as a songwriter with a publishing company. Diamond says he never regretted that decision. Like many singer-songwriters, he struggled in the early years. He first appeared in 1960, while still attending NYU, at the Little Neck Country Club on Long Island, but it took until 1965 for Diamonds reign in rock and roll to begin. The string of hits that ensued read like a modern-day musical timeline (feel free to whistle along as we recap just a few). In 1965, Diamond the songwriter penned the hit "Im a Believer" for the Monkees, and Diamond the performer released his own top-10 hit, "Cherry, Cherry." Incorporating gospel and country sounds to give his music more emotional content, he overwhelmed ma d onna a nd n e i l d i a mond : s ex i n br a nd i ng |     his fans, and in turn they gave Diamond two million-selling records, "Sweet Caroline" and "Holly, Holy." "Cracklin Rosie" was his first number-one hit, followed in 1972 by another number-one smash, "Song Sung Blue." In 1973, he signed with Columbia Records, releas- ing Jonathan Livingston Seagull, which became his number-two all- time best seller and earned him Grammy and Golden Globe awards. Toward