Which is cool and great, but: You see, Kirshner is credited for having invented the Archies, and apparently he co-wrote the “band”'s “Sugar Sugar” he was also partly responsible for creating the concept and putting together the songs for the Monkees.Īll of which should've earned Kirshner the right to rest on his laurels in comfy retirement in Florida. Kirshner, born in 1934, got his start in the '50s as a manager (Connie Francis) then as a music publisher and promoter, writing commercial jingles with Bobby Darin, and founding his Aldon company, which published songs by a lot of your Brill Building greats (Neil Sedaka, Goffin & King, Mann-Weil, etc.) Kirshner also co-wrote a major load of hit singles for groups like the Drifters and the Ronettes. It could've been a mix of all three of the latter, in Kirshner's case: he was responsible for getting to our ears and minds and hearts some of the best and most relevant music going down anywhere from the late '50s to early '80s - well, at least the music that dominated the charts and airwaves at the time, much of which, looking at it now, has stood the test of time. In fact, the very shape of our existence was arguably engineered by this particular showman's gut instincts, or brainy showbiz savvy or even something called pretty good taste. Now, some of us who were around back in “the day” might appreciate a bit of context-putting-in for Kirshner, because we remember the enormous impact this man had on our daily lives. Don Kirshner, who died today at the age of 76. history.Just a word here about the passing of a giant, Mr. Moreover, the song remains a moment of levity for those living through a turbulent time in U.S. Many people who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s still remember cutting out The Archies albums attached to the back of cereal boxes and playing the them on their record players. Over the years, "Sugar, Sugar" has been covered by other artists such as "There was this song that just showed up." "The year of Woodstock, the year that we landed on the moon, the year everyone was talking about Charles Manson and The Beatles were breaking up and they had that concert on the roof," he says. Kim says he was "really, really blown away" when it was announced as the No. Selling nearly 1 million copies in 1969 alone. 1 in countries around the world such as Belgium, South Africa and the U.K. 1 on theīillboard charts in the U.S., but it is also the only group to reach such heights without ever performing the song live onstage. The Archies is not only the first fictitious band to reach No. "Sugar, Sugar" would spend 22 weeks in theīillboard Hot 100, four of those weeks - Sept. Once radio did start playing it, there was no looking back. "As if it didn't mean anything, there was no value to it." "I had no idea what was going on except a lot of people were putting the song and the record down, as if it was fluff," Kim says. Kim says at first, stations wouldn't play it. Initially released on May 24, 1969, the song didn't hit it big until July, when it was rereleased on Calendar/Kirshner Records. "Sugar, Sugar," which was co-written by Andy Kim and Jeff Barry, who also lent their talents for the background vocals, was the fictional group's most successful song. Some of these songs were released as real-life albums and singles. The group of friends would appear in the show as the band The Archies and perform songs. The Archie Show, which launched in the fall of 1968, followed the misadventures of Riverdale High School's Archie Andrews and his friends: Reggie, Veronica, Betty and Jughead.
"Betty had a lower voice Veronica had a higher voice." "Ronnie was Archie and I was Betty and Veronica," she says. Getty Images Singer-songwriter Toni Wine, pictured here in 1972, sang the roles of Betty and Veronica on "Sugar, Sugar." The Monkees, brought them onto the project. Toni Wine, one of the real singer-songwriters behind The Archies' hit, says.Īs Wine explains, she and singer Ron Dante were doing commercials and background voice work in New York when legendary music producer "It was very catchy, it had a great hook, it was very singable and we laughed - we had a good time doing it,"
It was also a great year for music - but who knew that the year that produced songs like "Fortunate Son," "Age Of Aquarius" and "Everyday People" would crown a bubblegum pop tune by a fictional cartoon band as its top song of the year?īillboard's Year-End Countdown in 1969. Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the moon. Woodstock brought nearly 1 million people together to celebrate peace, love and music, and The Stonewall Riots invigorated the gay-rights movement, By and large, 1969 was a transformative year in the U.S.
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