"Sugar, Sugar" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by The Archies | ||||
from the album Everything's Archie | ||||
B-side | "Melody Hill" | |||
Released |
| |||
Recorded | 1969 | |||
Genre | Bubblegum pop [1] [2] | |||
Length | 2:48 | |||
Label | Calendar/Kirshner | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Jeff Barry | |||
The Archies singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Sugar, Sugar" on YouTube |
"Sugar, Sugar" is a song written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim, produced by Barry and recorded by The Archies, a fictional bubblegum pop band from Archie Comics. It was released as the group's third single on the Calendar Records label on May 24, 1969, rereleased on the Kirshner Records label in July 1969, and included on their second album, Everything's Archie . In the autumn of 1969, it topped both Billboard 's Hot 100 (for four weeks) and the UK Singles Chart (for eight weeks), ranking number one for the year in both America and the UK. It is the most successful bubblegum pop single of all time, and is widely regarded as the apotheosis of the late-1960s/early-1970s bubblegum music genre. In mid-1970, R&B/soul singer Wilson Pickett achieved success on both the US soul and pop charts with a cover version.
Produced by Jeff Barry, the Archies' recording of "Sugar, Sugar" features a group of studio musicians managed by Don Kirshner, former music supervisor to the Monkees. Ron Dante provided the lead vocals, accompanied by Toni Wine and songwriter Andy Kim. Together they provided the voices of the Archies using multitracking. The single was initially released in late May 1969 on Kirshner's Calendar label (as with the Archies’ two previous singles), achieving moderate success in the early summer in several radio markets. When re-released in mid-July 1969 (with pressings also on the Kirshner label), it attained enormous success nationwide across several months. [3] The track was also made available (along with two other Archies singles) on the back of boxes of Post breakfast cereal Super Sugar Crisp. “Sugar, Sugar” features on the LP Everything's Archie – the second album credited to the Archies, released in November 1969.
Upon the song's initial release Kirshner had promotion men play it for radio station personnel without revealing the group's name, as the Archies' previous single, "Feelin' So Good (S.K.O.O.B.Y.-D.O.O.)", had peaked at No. 53 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. [4] [5] In an article published in The Washington Times , lead vocalist Ron Dante recounts that the label was removed from the record. It was taken to a top radio station, 1260 KYA in San Francisco, where the program director was told: "Just play it! It's a mystery group." [6]
In the issue of Billboard magazine dated September 20, the single started a four-week run at number one on the Hot 100, replacing the Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Women". It spent a then-lengthy 22 weeks on the Hot 100 (longer than any other single in 1969), and was one of only ten singles to spend 12 weeks in the Top Ten during the decade. [4] It topped Billboard's year-end list of the Top Hot 100 Singles of 1969. In August 1969 the record was certified gold by the RIAA for sales of one million. [8] (In 1989 the gold threshold was lowered to 500,000.) [9] In 2018 “Sugar, Sugar” ranked 81 in Billboard's Hot 100 60th Anniversary chart. [10]
Between late October and mid-December 1969 the single spent eight weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart. "Sugar, Sugar" was awarded a gold disc in January 1970. [11] In February 2024 the song was certified Silver by the BPI for selling 400,000 units since it was made available digitally in November 2004. [12]
In the chart dated September 13, 1969, "Sugar, Sugar" topped the RPM 100 national singles chart in Canada, where it remained for three weeks. It also peaked at number one on the South African Singles Chart. [13] 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. [14]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Germany | — | 500,000 [52] |
Mexico | — | 300,000 [53] |
United Kingdom (BPI) [54] 1969 original release | Gold | 1 000 000 [55] |
United Kingdom (BPI) [56] 2004 digital re-release | Gold | 400,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [57] | Gold | 3,000,000 [58] |
Summaries | ||
Worldwide 1969 sales | — | 6,000,000 [59] |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
The studio musicians on the Archies song are:
"Sugar, Sugar" | ||||
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Single by Wilson Pickett | ||||
from the album Right On | ||||
B-side | "Cole, Cooke & Redding" | |||
Released | April 1970 | |||
Recorded | 1969 | |||
Studio | Criteria (Miami) | |||
Genre | Soul | |||
Length | 3:00 | |||
Label | Atlantic | |||
Songwriter(s) | Andy Kim, Jeff Barry | |||
Producer(s) | Dave Crawford, Jerry Wexler, Rick Hall, Tom Dowd | |||
Wilson Pickett singles chronology | ||||
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In 1970 American R&B/soul singer Wilson Pickett recorded a cover version of "Sugar, Sugar" (titled "Sugar Sugar", with no comma) in his Criteria Studios sessions. Pickett's rendition of the song was produced by Dave Crawford, Jerry Wexler, Rick Hall and Tom Dowd. The track was released by Atlantic Records as the second single from Pickett's tenth studio album, Right On .
In May 1970 Pickett's cover of "Sugar, Sugar" reached No. 4 on Billboard's R&B chart, then in June peaked at No. 25 on the Hot 100. The parent album Right On reached No. 197 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Pickett's recording was used in Ang Lee's 1997 film The Ice Storm . In Canada, "Cole, Cooke & Redding" was the A-side and charted first, reaching No. 58 in April 1970. [60]
Chart (1970) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report) [61] | 77 |
Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [62] | 18 |
US Billboard Hot 100 | 25 |
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ( Billboard ) | 4 |
The Archies are an American fictional rock band featured in media produced by, and related to, Archie Comics. They are best remembered for their appearance in the animated TV series The Archie Show. In the context of the series, the band was founded by guitarist/vocalist Archie Andrews, drummer Jughead Jones, bassist Reggie Mantle, percussionist/vocalist Betty Cooper and keyboardist/vocalist Veronica Lodge. In the cartoons, Veronica is shown playing a large keyboard instrument styled after the X-66, a then-current top-of-the-line organ made by the Hammond Organ Company.
Androwis Youakim, better known as Andy Kim, is a Canadian pop rock singer and songwriter. He grew up in Montreal, Quebec. He is known for hits that he released in the late 1960s and 1970s: the international hit "Baby, I Love You" in 1969, and "Rock Me Gently", which topped the U.S. singles chart in 1974. He co-wrote "Sugar, Sugar" in 1968 and sang on the recording as part of the Archies; it was #1 for four weeks in the USA and was "Record of the Year" for 1969.
"Someday We'll Be Together" is a song written by Johnny Bristol, Jackey Beavers, and Harvey Fuqua. It was the last of twelve American number-one pop singles for Diana Ross & the Supremes on the Motown label. Although it was released as the final Supremes song featuring Diana Ross, who left the group for a solo career in January 1970, it was recorded as Ross' first solo single and Supremes members Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong do not sing on the recording. Both appear on the B-side, "He's My Sunny Boy".
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Everything's Archie is the second studio album by The Archies, a fictional bubblegum pop band from Archie Comics. It was produced by Jeff Barry and released on the Calendar Records label in 1969. The album's first single, "Feelin' So Good (S.K.O.O.B.Y.-D.O.O.)", peaked at No. 53 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album's second single, "Sugar, Sugar", peaked at No. 1 on the pop chart, selling over six million copies and being awarded a golden disc; it was ranked as the number one song of the year in 1969, according to Billboard. The album peaked at No. 66 on the Billboard 200 chart. As of September 1969, the album sold over 700,000 copies.
"Jingle Jangle" is a song written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim, produced by Barry and recorded by The Archies, a fictional bubblegum pop band from Archie Comics. It was released as the group's fourth single on the Kirshner Records label in November 1969, and included on their third album, Jingle Jangle. It reached number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 27 on the U.S. Easy Listening chart in 1969. In January 1970, it went to number 1 for one week in Canada.
The Archies is the debut studio album by The Archies, a fictional bubblegum pop band from Archie Comics. It was produced by Jeff Barry, co-produced by Don Kirshner and released on the Calendar Records label in 1968. The album includes the band's debut single, "Bang-Shang-A-Lang", which peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song "Seventeen Ain't Young" became a Top 40 hit in Australia for Frank Howson. The album peaked at No. 88 on the Billboard 200 chart.
"Bang-Shang-A-Lang" is a song written and produced by Jeff Barry, and recorded by The Archies, a fictional bubblegum pop band from Archie Comics. It was released as the group's debut single on the Calendar Records label on August 31, 1968, and included on their self-titled album. It peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
"Sunshine" is a song written by Jeff Barry and Bobby Bloom, produced by Barry and recorded by The Archies, a fictional bubblegum pop band from Archie Comics. It was released as the group's sixth single on the Kirshner Records label in 1970, and included on their fourth album, Sunshine. It peaked at No. 57 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; it is their last Hot 100 hit to date.
Sunshine is the fourth studio album by The Archies, a fictional bubblegum pop band from Archie Comics. It was released on the Kirshner Records label in 1970. All tracks were produced by Jeff Barry, with the exception of four songs, which were written and produced by Neil Brian Goldberg; they were mistakenly credited to Barry, as Goldberg was a staff writer working under Barry's supervision at the time. The album's first single, "Sunshine", peaked at No. 57 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album's second single, "A Summer Prayer For Peace", was only released overseas and topped the charts in South Africa. The album peaked at No. 137 on the Billboard Top LPs chart.
"Who's Your Baby?" is a song written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim, produced by Barry and recorded by The Archies, a fictional bubblegum pop band from Archie Comics. It is a non-album single, released on the Kirshner Records label on February 28, 1970. Its B-side, "Senorita Rita", was included on the group's third album, Jingle Jangle. It peaked at No. 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It is their last top 40 hit.
"Easy Come, Easy Go" is a song written by Jack Keller and Diane Hildebrand that was a hit single for Bobby Sherman in 1970.
This is the discography of American bubblegum pop band the Archies.
Tracks that cemented their places in history as a part of the first wave of bubblegum pop include 'Saturday Night' by Bay City Rollers, 'Sugar Sugar' by the Archies and 'Indian Lake' by the Cowsills.
In Britain the disc (RCA label) was No 1 for eight weeks and sold over a million there
In Britain the disc (RCA label) was No 1 for eight weeks and sold over a million there
It got to No 1 for four weeks with 22 weeks in the bestsellers, and by October passed the three million sale in the U.S.A.
It was also No 1 in many countries including Spain, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Germany, and Mexico, and sales brought the global tally up to six million, making it the top disc of 1969