Sugar, Sugar and the Cartoon Band

The biggest hit of 1969, bubblegum pop song “Sugar, Sugar” was released on 24th May. The songwriters, Jeff Barry and Andy Kim, had a strong pedigree in penning 60s anthems. But the band itself was fictional - simply studio musicians providing a soundtrack to the Saturday morning TV cartoon ‘The Archie Show’, inspired by the Archie Comics.

The brainchild of promoter Don Kirshner, creator of the Monkees, the concept of establishing a band based on cartoon characters meant he could better control his performers. But it did present problems when they were called upon to perform live! 

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider why this classic earworm is so naggingly addictive; explain why DJs were initially loathe to play it; and uncover The Archies’ more ‘adult’ follow-on album…

Further Reading:

• ‘The Surprising Origins of the Archies' 'Sugar Sugar'’ (CBR, 2018): https://www.cbr.com/archies-sugar-sugar-origins/
• ‘Were the Archies Decades Ahead of Their Time?’ (Rolling Stone, 2021): https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/were-the-archies-review-1272309/
• ‘The Archies - Sugar, Sugar’ (Calendar RCA Records, 1969): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX28cgKHHyc

#60s #music #comics #TV

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

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