A perfect single
The Archies (Betty, Archie, Jughead, Reggie, Veronica) “Sugar, Sugar”. This sweet, piece of bubblegum pop hit #1 on the charts in 1969. The Archies were created to be the real live musical group behind the Saturday morning TV cartoon series The Archie Show that debuted in 1968. The show’s music was the work of Don Kirshner, who was also behind the Monkees, and producer Jeff Barry. “Sugar Sugar” sold six million singles! The group had another top ten single in 1970 with “Jingle Jangle”. The studio group included Ron Dante who sang lead. Dante went on to produce most of Barry Manilow’s hits in the 70’s but previously he was with the Detergents who had a top ten hit with “Leader of the Laudromat” a take off of “Leader of the Pack”. The female singers were Ellie Greenwich (Brill Building composer of “Leader of the Pack” and many other huge hits) and Toni Wine. Another Archies backup singer, Andy Kim, had his own #1 hit in 1974 with “Rock Me Gently”.
(25 votes, average: 3.68 out of 5)
Loading ...
January 7th, 2009 at 12:24 am
Not one comment? A crime! The Archies were wonderful! No sarcasm here.
Don Kirshner, the original producer of the Monkees was fired after their second album, and he went on to create the premiere animated band, the Archies.
Believe it or not, “Sugar Sugar” was first offered to the Monkees, but they turned it down. Kirshner revived it for the Archies, and it is certainly their most recognized hit.
Look for the album “Jingle Jangle” — tho all of the Archies albums are great ‘guilty pleasure’ bubblegum pop, “Jingle Jangle” is the band at the top of their game! Strong album, imo… despite its ‘dubious’ origins.
January 7th, 2009 at 1:17 am
In spite of national ratings, my regional radio stations rated “Sugar, Sugar” as the number one hit single for that year. Everything was really Archie!
May 8th, 2019 at 4:41 pm
The Duke & Duchess of Sussex must have been big fans of this group…if they have another son, I wonder if they will consider the name “Jughead” (his grandpa is already “JugEars”)
August 10th, 2021 at 8:23 pm
Love this album, bubblegum rock is a guilty pleasure of mine.