Sugar, Sugar
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| “Sugar, Sugar” | ||||||||||||
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| Single by The Archies from the album Everything's Archie |
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| Released | 1969 | |||||||||||
| Recorded | 1969 | |||||||||||
| Genre | Bubblegum pop | |||||||||||
| Length | 2:48 | |||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Andy Kim Jeff Barry |
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| Producer | Jeff Barry | |||||||||||
| The Archies singles chronology | ||||||||||||
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"Sugar, Sugar" was a 4-week 1969 number-one hit single, originally released on the album Everything's Archie and later re-named "Sugar Sugar", however, it was only available on an 8-track tape by fictional characters The Archies. The product of a group of studio musicians managed by Don Kirshner. Produced by Jeff Barry and written by Barry and Andy Kim, "Sugar, Sugar" is considered the canonical example of the bubblegum pop musical genre. In spite of popular belief, the song was never offered to The Monkees.[1]
Ron Dante's lead vocals were accompanied by those of Toni Wine (who sang the line "I'm gonna make your life so sweet"), Andy Kim, and Ellie Greenwich. Together, they provided the voices of the various Archies using multitracking. Ray Stevens, the comic singer, provided the hand claps to the song.
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[edit] History
"Sugar, Sugar" was the number one single of 1969, according to Billboard, a feat yet to be duplicated by any other fictional band. It spent four weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 from September 20, 1969 and eight weeks at the top of the UK singles chart. The following year, in 1970, singer Wilson Pickett hit the U.S. Top Forty with his own version of the song. (Pickett also had covered the number one single of 1968, "Hey Jude" by The Beatles, with his top-40 version in late 1968.) In the United Kingdom, singer/producer Jonathan King had a top 20 hit with his rock cover of it under the name Sakkarin. Later, it was covered by Tom Jones, Ike & Tina Turner, Bob Marley & the Wailers, Big Youth and The Germs. Studio group Stars on 45 included it in their Beatles-heavy, 1981 "Stars on 45 Medley". Blue Orchids covered the song on their " Bud" album, released in 2004. Praga Khan covered the song on their Electric Religion album, also released in 2004.
In 1980, co-composer Andy Kim recorded "Sugar, Sugar" under the name Baron Longfellow, as a track on his self-titled LP. On February 5, 2006, "Sugar, Sugar" was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, as Kim is originally from Montreal, Quebec.
On September 4, 2006, Dante and Wine performed the song together on the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon. This was the first time they had publicly performed the song together. They performed it again at one of Toni Wine's performances at the Genghis Cohen in West Hollywood.
President George W. Bush has said "Sugar, Sugar" is one of his favorite songs.
[edit] In pop culture
The song is featured in The Simpsons episode, "Boy-Scoutz N the Hood." Homer has a hallucination during a heat wave while listening to the song on his personal stereo, but as the batteries run down, the song gradually slows down and stops, ending his dream.[citation needed]
[edit] Covers
Pop-rap artist Nitty sampled "Sugar, Sugar" for his 2004 single "Nasty Girl".
| Preceded by "Honky Tonk Women" by The Rolling Stones |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single September 20, 1969 |
Succeeded by "I Can't Get Next to You" by The Temptations |
| Preceded by "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" by Bobbie Gentry |
UK number one single October 25, 1969-December 13, 1969 |
Succeeded by "Two Little Boys" by Rolf Harris |
| Preceded by "Hey Jude" by The Beatles |
Billboard Hot 100 Number one single of the year 1969 |
Succeeded by "Bridge over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel |
[edit] References
- ^ Source: Ron Dante. Ron also clarifies this on a DVD called "Archie's Funhouse", a three-disc set that features Ron Dante in a bonus segment.
- The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, fifth edition.
- "Sugar, Sugar" Songfacts.
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