Sugar, Sugar

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This article is about the song. For the confectionery company, see Sugar Sugar, Inc. For other uses, see Sugar Sugar (disambiguation).
"Sugar, Sugar"
Single by The Archies
from the album Everything's Archie
Released July 26, 1969
Recorded 1969
Genre Bubblegum pop
Length 2:48
Label Calendar, RCA
Writer(s) Andy Kim, Jeff Barry
Producer Jeff Barry
The Archies singles chronology
"Feelin' So Good (S.K.O.O.B.Y.-D.O.O)"
(1969)		 "Sugar, Sugar"
(1969)		 "Jingle Jangle"
(1969)
Audio sample
file info · help

"Sugar, Sugar" is a pop song written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim. It was performed by The Archies, a band formed by a group of fictional teenagers in the television cartoon series The Archie Show. It reached number one in the US in 1969 and stayed there for four weeks.

Contents

Hit version [edit]

"Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies was produced by Jeff Barry, and the song was originally released on the album Everything's Archie. The album is the product of a group of studio musicians managed by Don Kirshner. Ron Dante's lead vocals were accompanied by those of Toni Wine (who sang the line "I'm gonna make your life so sweet"), and Andy Kim. Together they provided the voices of the Archies using multitracking.

When the song was initially released, Kirshner had promotion men play it for radio station execs without telling them the name of the group (due to the somewhat disappointing chart performance of the Archies' previous single, "Bang-Shang-a-Lang", which went to number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts). Only after most of the DJs liked the song were they told that it was performed by a cartoon group. The Archies' hit wound up as one of the biggest (and most unexpected) number-one hits of the year, one of the biggest bubblegum hits of all time, both in America and in Great Britain, thanks partly to association with the hit CBS-TV Saturday morning cartoon series.

The Archies' "Sugar, Sugar" was the 1969 number-one single of the year. A week after topping the RPM 100 national singles chart in Canada on September 13, 1969 (where it spent three weeks), it went on to spend four weeks at the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 from September 20 and eight weeks at the top of the UK singles chart. The song lists at number 63 on Billboard's Greatest Songs of All Time.[1] It also peaked at one in the South African Singles Chart.[2] On February 5, 2006, "Sugar, Sugar" was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, as co-writer Andy Kim is originally from Montreal, Quebec.

The song is said to have been earlier offered to The Monkees, although songwriter Jeff Barry denies this.[3] Don Kirshner has said that Mike Nesmith put his fist through the wall of the Beverly Hills Hotel refusing to do "Sugar, Sugar".[4] However, Monkees archival expert Andrew Sandoval has suggested that the band may instead actually have been offered a tune called "Sugar Man", but with the passage of time the parties involved simply mis-remembered it as being "Sugar, Sugar", in large part because it made a better anecdote.

Studio musicians on this song: Ron Frangipane - keyboard, Chuck Rainey - bass, Gary Chester - drums, Dave Appell - guitar, Harry Amanatian - guitar, Ray Stevens - handclaps

Cover versions [edit]

  • In 1969, Wilson Pickett covered the song in his Criteria Studios sessions.
  • Tommy Roe covered the song, which has been included on one of his greatest hits compilation.
  • The late singer-songwriter Alex Chilton recorded a cover of the song during the 1970s, which was later included on the 2011 compilation Free Again: The "1970" Sessions.
  • In 1970, Willie Henderson and the Soul Explosions recorded the song on their "The Funky Chicken" LP.
  • In 1971, British producer and singer Jonathan King recorded a rock version of the song that went to number 12 on the UK singles chart and sold 400,000 copies under the name Sakkarin.[5]
  • Gladys Knight & The Pips recorded a cover of the song, which was included on the 1975 compilation A Little Knight Music.
  • First-wave Los Angeles punk rock band the Germs included a version of "Sugar, Sugar" on their album Germicide, as taken from their first live concert in 1977.
  • In 1981, the song was covered by Dutch group Stars on 45 as part of their medley "Stars on 45", which went to number 1 in the US in June of that year.[citation needed]
  • In 1994, a reggae/rap cover was released by British artist Duke Baysee, reaching number 30 in the UK in September of that year. This version was used in the soundtrack of the 1995 Pierce Brosnan TV movie Night Watch.
  • In 1995, alternative band Semisonic covered the song with Mary Lou Lord for the compilation Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits.
  • In 2007, a Spanish cover by boy band Magneto was included on their album, La Historia de Magneto.
  • In 2010, indie band Paul & The Patients recorded a cover, which is available as a download from their official website.[6]

Sampling [edit]

  • In the 1970s, the song's melody and some of the lyrics were used in the reggae song "Sugar, Sugar" by Big Youth and Junior Byles, which was included on the 2001 compilation Natty Universal Dread 1973–1979.
  • In 1991, the chorus of the song was sampled for the house music song "Sugar, Sugar" by DJ Les and the Kool Kat.
  • In 1999, Australian electronica group The Avalanches sampled the melody for their song "Slow Walking" for their EP Undersea Community.
  • In 2004, pop rap artist Nitty sampled the song in "Nasty Girl", which also contains interpolations of "Sugar, Sugar".
  • In 2005, the song was sampled in a house/electro version by Beatfactory featuring Massiv4.

Chart performance [edit]

Although official music recording sales certifications were not introduced in the United Kingdom until the British Phonographic Industry was formed in 1973, Disc introduced an initiative in 1959 to present a gold record to singles that sold over one million units.[7] The awards relied on record companies correctly compiling and supplying sales information, and "Sugar, Sugar" was erroneously awarded a gold disc in January 1970 having sold approximately 945,000 copies; the RCA informed Disc that one million copies had been shipped, however not all were sold.[7][8] Nevertheless, following the introduction of music downloads in 2004, "Sugar, Sugar" passed the one-million sales mark.[9]

In the United States, "Sugar, Sugar" was classified by the RIAA as a gold record in August 1969,[10] meaning it sold 1 million units (the gold threshold was later lowered to 500,000).[11] The single also topped the 1969 Billboard Year-End chart.[12]

"Sugar, Sugar" is also considered to be the most produced recording ever after the breakfast cereal company Post Cereal placed millions of the records on the back of their Super Sugar Crisp cereal boxes. [1]

Chart (1969) Peak
position
Canada (RPM) 1[13]
United Kingdom (UK Singles Chart) 1[14]
United States (Billboard Hot 100) 1[15]
Spain (Los 40 Principales) 1
Preceded by
"Laughing" by The Guess Who		 Canadian RPM number-one single
September 13, 1969 (three weeks)		 Succeeded by
"Jean" by Oliver
Preceded by
"Honky Tonk Women" by The Rolling Stones		 US Billboard Hot 100 number one single
September 20, 1969 (four weeks)		 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 (eight weeks)		 Succeeded by
"Two Little Boys" by Rolf Harris

References [edit]

  1. ^ "The Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs (70-61)". Billboard. Retrieved 2008-11-01. 
  2. ^ Brian Currin. "South African Singles Chart". Rock.co.za. Retrieved 2010-12-27. 
  3. ^ Cooper, Kim; Smay, David, eds. (2001). Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth: The Dark History of Prepubescent Pop, From the Banana Splits to Britney Spears. Feral House. p. 77. ISBN 0-922915-69-5. 
  4. ^ Kirshner interview on "Popular Song: Soundtrack of the Century episode Modern Pop"; Ron Dante also clarifies this on a DVD called "Archie's Funhouse," a three-disc set that features Ron Dante in a bonus segment.
  5. ^ "Part 5". 65mylifesofar.com. Retrieved 2012-06-10. 
  6. ^ http://patp.bandcamp.com/track/sugar-sugar
  7. ^ a b Smith, Alan. "UK First Charts & Silver Discs". Dave McAleer's website. Retrieved 4 November 2010. 
  8. ^ "Stats and Facts: Million Sellers". The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 16 April 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2010. 
  9. ^ "Digital generation pushes the oldies into the million-sellers club". Music Week. 6 September 2010. 
  10. ^ "Gold & Platinum: Searchable database". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 12 November 2010. 
    Search Artist: Archies
  11. ^ Grein, Paul (May 14, 1989). "New Golden Rule: 500,000 Sales Mark for All Singles". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 12 November 2010. 
  12. ^ "Year End Charts - Year-end Singles - The Billboard Hot 100". Billboard.com. Archived from the original on 2007-11-11. Retrieved 2010-11-12. 
  13. ^ "Item Display: Top Singles - Volume 12, No. 4, September 13, 1969". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 12 November 2010. 
  14. ^ "Artist Chart History Details: Bobby Vee". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 August 2010. 
  15. ^ "The Archies: Billboard singles". Allmusic. Retrieved 12 November 2010. 
  • The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, fifth edition.

External links [edit]

Archie Comics properties in other media
TV series
Archie
Sabrina
Additional
Films
Music
Billboard Year-End number one singles (1960–1979)
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