what Frank is listening to #19 – THE ARCHIES – Jingle Jangle – (RCA) – 1969
At the outset I must admit I have always been a sucker for 1960s bubblegum. The late 60s wasn't all beads, flowers, acid and communes … there was also a truck load of pop … just look at the charts. Iggy may have been wailing away in Detroit like a one armed caveman in a fight with a woolly mammoth but in NYC sugar was being poured over pop music.
There were many hits from the Banana Splits, Kasenetz-Katz, 1910 Fruitgum Company, Ohio Express, Cowsills and other bubblegum bands though not all late 1960s pop is bubblegum of course. Bubblegum usually has a chorus of voices and harmonies with lyrics a little inane – but hey its freaking "bubblegum" – its meant to be light, happy and get your feet tapping … and it does, especially after a couple of pina coladas …or maybe whiskey sours.
The Archies like most other bubblegum bands were a batch of faceless session musos put together by a manager (usually a mini svengali) and then given some songs to record. Their success is largely dependent on whether the manager has his finger on the pulse of young middle America. The manager in this case was Don Kirshner – the man behind the creation of The Monkees as well the man behind the music publishing of Gerry Goffin, Carole King, Neil Diamond, Neil Sedaka, Cynthia Weill, Barry Man, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, Bobby Darin etc … "The Man with the Golden Ear" they called him apparently ….. and there were many hits, so you cant argue with success can you ? (though I draw the line at Stock, Aitken, Watermen in using success as a justification for existence).
The Archies here were the band in the popular kids cartoon "The Archie Show" … which as we all remember (I trust) was the adventures of Archie, Jughead, the cute blonde chick (I cant remember her name), et al, with songs every 10 minutes or so … much the same concept as The Monkees though the chance of fame (and roots) here is limited – as you are the voice of an animated character so no one knows who you are.
The producer Jeff Barry was another product of the Brill Building and also isn't a slouch – he wrote many hits ("Tell Laura I Love Her", "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Be My Baby", "River Deep Mountain High"), produced many hits for The Monkees, Neil Diamond and even demo-ed records for Elvis.
If you don't know what the Brill Building is….you should
Best tracks:
Side 1:
- Jingle Jangle" was the single and a hit (and the chicks voices are Ron Dante singing in falsetto) – #10 in the US.
- "Whopee Tie Ai A" is a nice country bubble gum stroll, the rest is pretty straightforward bubblegum.
Side 2 – is more "experimental bubblegum"!
- "Get on the Line" has the peace and love lyrics of the era.
- "You Know I Love You" is psychedelic-y.
- "Sugar and Spice" – any song where "groovy" appears as well as references to "magic carpet rides" cant be all bad.
What holds everything together though is the lead vocalist Ron Dante (aka Carmine Granito from Staten Island) who is a bit of a legend. I had some of his singles and he sure can sing … solo or in the bubblegum band format. He had been the lead voice in "The Detergents" and "The Cuff Links" who both had hits.
Sound:
the single:
and a rare live appearance – doing "Sugar Sugar":
The band is a product of its times and I don't think pop really surpassed what was created in the 1960s (and early 1970s) and I think I will (might) keep this album.
It may be a good talking point at parties. Though, would you really want to go to a party where the host puts a Archies LP on the turntable?
(originally posted: 01/05/2009)
