“Simon Says” – Doyle’s Space: Music Hall of Fame – Gummy Award

“Simon Says” by the 1910 Fruitgum Company, the group’s breakout hit that firmly established them in the bubblegum pop movement of the late 1960s. Released in January 1968, “Simon Says” was written by Elliot Chiprut, though it was brought to mass appeal by producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz, the masterminds behind Super K Productions and Buddah Records.

The song exemplified the emerging bubblegum pop genre—a deliberately manufactured form of upbeat, catchy music aimed squarely at pre-teens and teenagers. The 1910 Fruitgum Company was largely a vehicle for this formula, and “Simon Says” was its poster child, transforming a classic children’s game into a gleefully catchy pop anthem. Lyrically, the song takes the format of the “Simon Says” game and applies it to the realm of dancing and adolescent romance.

Lines like “Put your hands in the air, Simon says / Clap your hands / Simon says / Do what Simon says” are sung in a call-and-response format, encouraging listeners to interact. This made the track especially appealing to young audiences and gave it built-in novelty appeal. Musically, it featured bright organ riffs, stomping drums, and singalong melodies—

all hallmarks of bubblegum pop’s simple and polished sound. Under the production of Kasenetz and Katz, the song gained a glossy finish that emphasized fun over depth, and it succeeded wildly at that. “Simon Says” quickly became a hit. It reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and charted internationally, hitting #2 in the UK Singles Chart,

making it one of the few American bubblegum hits to find equal popularity across the Atlantic. The success of “Simon Says” launched the 1910 Fruitgum Company into stardom and led to a flurry of similar releases, both by them and other Super K acts like the Ohio Express.

Its parent album, also titled Simon Says, was released in 1968 and included other playful, chant-like songs that followed the same formula. The cover art for the “Simon Says” single and album featured bright, psychedelic-inspired lettering and visuals consistent with the late ’60s aesthetic, but softened to be more inviting to younger buyers.

Often depicting the band in cheerful poses or using cartoon graphics, the imagery helped reinforce the playful innocence of the music. This blend of psychedelic design and childlike themes was part of bubblegum pop’s unique cultural niche—sugarcoated counterculture. In terms of legacy, “Simon Says” is frequently cited as one of the quintessential bubblegum pop songs.

It has been featured in various 1960s compilations and retrospectives, and while it was never widely covered in serious musical circles, it did inspire some parodies and nostalgic tributes. Interestingly, the original lineup of the 1910 Fruitgum Company was

gradually replaced by studio musicians, which has led some to describe the group as a brand more than a traditional band. This behind-the-scenes manipulation only added to the song’s legend as a product of pop industry engineering. Trivia worth noting: “Simon Says” was originally written in a more R&B style by Elliot Chiprut,

but under Kamenetz and Katz, it was reshaped into a bubblegum pop template. The 1910 Fruitgum Company’s name itself was reportedly chosen at random from a candy wrapper, emphasizing the confectionary branding of the genre. The band’s early members—including Mark Gutkowski (lead vocals), Frank Jeckell, and Floyd Marcus—

played on the original “Simon Says” sessions, but many later tracks were performed by anonymous session players. Ultimately, “Simon Says” is a cultural artifact of its time—sincere in its playfulness, manufactured in its purpose, but undeniably catchy and enduring in its ability to evoke a specific moment in pop history when innocence and commercialism danced hand in hand.