1900 Yesterday  "1900 Yesterday" is a song written by John Cameron and Lee Simmons, which was a hit single in 1970 and 1971 for Liz Damon's Orient Express. The song was originally released by Betty Everett in 1969 on the album "There'll Come a Time". Liz Damon's version was originally released as a single on the Hawaii based Makaha label, before White Whale acquired the worldwide distribution rights in December 1970. In 1971, the song was released on the album "Liz Damon's Orient Express". The song spent 12 weeks on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 33, while reaching No. 4 on "Billboard"s Easy Listening chart, No. 29 on the "Cash Box" Top 100, No. 15 on Canada's "RPM" 100, and No. 16 on "RPM"s "MOR Playlist". The song was ranked No. 21 on "Billboard"s year-end ranking of 1971's "Top Easy Listening Singles". The lines that precede the song's title -- "Like smoke from a cigarette/Dreams that you soon forget" -- appear in the 1966 song "Fading Away," written by Smokey Robinson, Warren "Pete" Moore, and Bobby Rogers of the Motown act The Miracles, and first recorded by The Temptations for their 1966 album "Gettin' Ready".