My first inductee for a Gummy Award is The Archies (band) who first appeared in the comic book, Life with Archie #60 (April 1967). The Andy Hardy[1] movies were an inspiration for John L. Goldwater[2] to have a comic book about a relatable normal person. Teenaged Archibald “Chick” Andrews debuted with Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones in Pep Comics #22 (Dec. 1941), in a story by writer Vic Bloom and artist Bob Montana. In 1967, inspired by the success of the 1966 TV series The Monkees, Don Kirshner[3] wanted a musical act that he could fully control.
The Monkees had become increasingly irritated at being micromanaged, leading to a dispute that culminated in Kirshner being fired. Kirshner commissioned a band based on cartoon characters—if the session musicians tried to rebel or leave, they could be replaced seamlessly. The early stories copied the TV show’s fast cuts and action.
The Cartoon Band
- Archie Andrews – guitars, vocals
- Reggie Mantle – bass
- Forsythe “Jughead” Jones – drums
- Betty Cooper – vocals, percussion
- Veronica Lodge – keyboards, vocals
The Archies’ records were initially released on the Calendar Records label, but the name was shortly thereafter changed to Kirshner Records. In 1968, they released the “Bang Shang-A-Lang” /” Truck Driver” single. It would break the Billboard Top 40, entering the Hot 100 on September 28, remaining there for 13 weeks, and peaking at #22.
A set of studio musicians was assembled by Don Kirshner in 1968 to perform The Archies’ music. These songs would be released on singles, albums, cut-out cereal box records, and on the Saturday morning cartoon. Ron Dante, Jeff Barry, and Toni Wine were some of these studio musicians. The songs were written by Jeff Barry & Andy Kim (“Barry – Kim “), Ritchie Adams, Mark Barkan, Al Gordon, Bob Levine, Bob Gengo, Gene Allan, Ron Dante, Howard Greenfield, and Richard Kim Milford.
Some of the Musicians
- Guitar: Dave Appell, Sal DiTroia, Andy Kim, Hugh McCracken
- Keyboards: Ron Frangipane
- Bass: Chuck Rainey, Joey Macho
- Drums: Gary Chester, Buddy Saltzman
- Hand claps: Toni Wine, Jeff Barry, Ray Stevens
- Vocals – Ron Dante, Bob Levine (“Love is Living inYou”)
- Female Duet Vocals – Toni Wine, Donna Marie (1970), Merle Miller (1971)
- Background Vocals – Jeff Barry, Andy Kim, Ellie Greenwich, Susan Morse, Ritchie Adams, Maeretha Stewart, Bobby Bloom, and Lesley Miller
- Bass Vocals – Jeff Barry
- Sound Engineer – Fred Weinberg
The Archies’ first album was released in 1968. The next single was from the second studio album, Everythings Archie. “Feelin’ So Good (S.K.O.O.B.Y.-D.O.O.)”/Love Light” was released in December of 1968 and peaked at number 53 on the Billboard Hot 100. The next single was the record everyone knows, “Sugar, Sugar”/”Melody Hill”.
Sugar, Sugar entered the Hot 100 on July 26, 1969, and was number one in eight weeks. It sold over 3 million copies and it was on the charts for 22 weeks. Sugar, Sugar was the Billboard Number One Single of 1969 beating out other bands like The 5th Dimension, The Rolling Stones, The Temptations, Sly and the Family Stone, Tommy Roe, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Beatles, and Elvis Presley.
The Jingle Jangle Album was released in 1969. “Jingle Jangle”/”Justine” was the next single released in November of 1969. It entered the Hot 100 on 11/29/69. It peaked at number 10 in its 13-week stay. The non-LP track “Who’s Your Baby?” /”Senorita Rita” (from the Jingle Jangle LP) single was released in February 1970. It entered the Hot 100 on 3/7/70. It peaked at number 40 in its 7-week stay.
The next studio album was Sunshine released in 1970. The single “Sunshine” /”Over and Over” entered the Hot 100 on 7/4/70, and peaked at number 57 in its 7-week stay. The Greatest Hits was released in 1971 (it did contain “Who’s Your Baby”). This was followed, also in 1971, by the This is Love LP. “Together We Two”/ “Everything’s Alright” entered Billboards Bubbling Under the Top 100 chart on 1/9/71. It peaked at number 122 in its 2-week stay.
Some Albums
- The Archies 1968 Calendar (KES-101) [Studio]
- Everything’s Archie 1969 Calendar (KES-103) [Studio]
- Jingle Jangle 1969 Calendar (KES-105) [Studio]
- Sunshine 1970 Calendar (KES-107) [Studio]
- The Archie’s Greatest Hits 1970 Kirshner (KES-109)
- This Is Love 1971 Kirshner (KES-110) [Studio]
- The Archies 1979 51West (Q-16002)
- The Archies Greatest Hits Evergreen (2690572)
- 20 Greatest Hits 1988 Black Tulip (2636262) Holland
- So Good 1982 Brylen (BN-4415)
- The Archies 1977 RCA Special Products (DVL2-0221)
- The Best Of The Archies 1988 Hit Avenue (32GD-7004) Japan
- The Archies Straight A’s 1981 Accord (SN-7149)
- Grooviest Hits of the Archies 1984 Back-Trac (P17893)
Tracks – Match numbers to Albums
- Archie’s Party 3,11
- Archie’s Theme (Everything’s Archie) 1,11
- Bang Shang A Lang 1,5,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14
- Bicycles Rollerskates And You 2,9,11,12
- Boy’s & Girls 1,11,12
- Carousel Man 6
- Catchin’ Up On Fun 1,12
- Circle Of Blue 2
- Comes The Sun 4
- Dance 4
- Don’t Need No Bad Girl 6,10
- Don’t Touch My Guitar 2,9,11,12
- Easy Guy 6,10
- Everything’s Alright 3,5,9,11,13
- Feelin’ So Good (Skooby Doo) 2,5,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14
- Get On The Line 3,5,8,9,10,13
- Hide and Seek 1,12
- Hold On To Lovin’ 6
- Hot Dog 2,12
- I’m In Love 1
- Inside Out-Upside Down 2,9,12
- It’s The Summertime 4
- Jingle Jangle 3,5,7,8,9,11,12,13,14
- Justine 3
- Kissin’ 2,9,11,12
- La Dee Doo Down Down 1,12
- Little Green Jacket 6,10
- Look Before You Leap 3
- Love And Rock ‘n Roll Music 4
- Love Light 2
- Maybe I’m Wrong 6
- Melody Hill 2,9,12
- Mr. Factory 4
- Nursery Rhyme 3
- One Big Family 4
- Over and Over 4,5,7,8,9,10,13,14
- Ride, Ride, Ride 1,11,12
- Rock and Roll Music 2,9,11,12
- Senorita Rita 3,11
- Seventeen Ain’t Young 1,5,7,9,11,12,13,14
- She’s Putting Me Thru Changes 3
- Should Anybody Ask 6
- Suddenly Susan 4
- Sugar & Spice 3,5,7,8,9,11,13,14
- Sugar, Sugar 2,5,8,7,9,10,11,12,14
- Summer Prayer For Peace, A 4
- Sunshine 4,5,7,8,9,11,13,14
- This Is Love 6,10
- This Is The Night 6,10
- Throw A Little Love My Way 6
- Time For Love 1,12
- Together We Two 6
- Truck Driver 1
- Waldo P. Emerson Jones 4,5,7,8,9,11,13,14
- What Goes On 6
- Who’s Gonna Love Me 4
- Who’s Your Baby 5,7,8,9,11,14
- Whoopie Tie Ai A 3
- You Know I Love You 3
- You Little Angel, You 2,9,12
- You Make Me Wanna Dance 1,11,12
On the cartoon show, there were many songs that were used and recorded by these same guys. Here is a list of some of these Unreleased tunes from the third & final cartoon series
“ARCHIE’S FUNHOUSE” (Sept ”70-Sept ”71).
Unreleased Songs
- Anyone Can Be Anything
- Ballad Of 51st Street Park
- Candy Kisses
- Don’t Let It Get You Down
- Don’t Run From Love
- Falling In Love Is Fun
- Hey, Little One
- Honey
- Jungle George
- La La La La Love
- Little By Little
- Looks That Say I Love You
- Love Land
- Love Vibrations
- One Big Family (alternate version)
- Love Went Round
- Lucky Me
- Monkey See, Monkey Do
- My Singing Guitar
- Oh, Sweet Suzie
- Puppet On A String
- Row Boat Ride
- Somebody Likes You
- Sweet Saturday Night
- The Big Boat
- The Laughing Song
- The Lonely Cricket
- The Ways I Love You
- Young Love
Footnotes
- Andrew “Andy” Hardy is a fictional character best known for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer series of 16 films in which he was played by Mickey Rooney. The films were released from 1937 to 1946, except for a final one made in 1958 in an unsuccessful attempt to continue the series. Early films in the series were about the Hardy family as a whole, but later entries focused on the character of Andy Hardy. Rooney was the only member of the ensemble to appear in all 16 films. The Hardy films, which were enormously popular in their heyday, were sentimental comedies, celebrating ordinary American life. [Back]
- John Leonard Goldwater (February 14, 1916 – February 26, 1999) co-founded (with Maurice Coyne and Louis Silberkleit) MLJ Comics (later known as Archie Comics) and served as editor and co-publisher for many years. In the mid-1950s he was a key proponent and custodian of the comic book censorship guidelines known as the Comics Code Authority. [Back]
- Donald Kirshner (April 17, 1934 – January 17, 2011) was an American music publisher, music consultant, rock music producer, talent manager, and songwriter. Dubbed “the Man with the Golden Ear” by Time magazine, he was best known for managing songwriting talent as well as successful pop groups, such as the Monkees, Kansas, and the Archies. [Back]
Further Reading
Sources
