Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1969


Sugar, Sugar

Buy Sugar, Sugar now from Amazon

First, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.

Wikipedia article




{{Infobox song

| name = Sugar, Sugar

| cover = The archies sugar sugar 1969 US vinyl.jpg

| alt =

| caption = A-side label of original 1969 U.S. vinyl release

| type = single

| artist = The Archies

| album = Everything's Archie

| B-side = Melody Hill

| released = May 24, 1969 (Calendar label); Rereleased July 1969 (Kirshner label)

| recorded = 1969

| studio =

| genre = Bubblegum pop

| length = 2:48

| label = Calendar, Kirshner, RCA Records

| writer = Andy Kim, Jeff Barry

| producer = Jeff Barry

| prev_title = Feelin' So Good (S.K.O.O.B.Y.-D.O.O.)

| prev_year = 1968

| next_title = Jingle Jangle

| next_year = 1969

| misc =

}}

"'Sugar, Sugar'" is a song written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim. It was originally recorded by the cartoon band the Archies. This version reached No. 1 in the US on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 chart in 1969 and remained there for four weeks. It also reached No. 1 on the UK Singles chart in that same year for eight weeks. The song became a hit again in 1970 when rhythm and blues and soul singer Wilson Pickett's version was listed on music charts.

The Archies version



Background

Produced by Jeff Barry, the Archies' "Sugar, Sugar" was originally released on the album 'Everything's Archie.' The album was the product of a group of studio musicians managed by Don Kirshner. Ron Dante's lead vocals were accompanied by those of Toni Wine and songwriter Andy Kim. Together they provided the voices of the Archies using multitracking. The song was initially released in late May 1969 on the Calendar label (the same label as with the two previous Archies singles), achieving moderate chart success in the early summer in some radio markets. When the song was re-released in mid-July 1969 on the Kirshner label, it attained enormous success nationwide by the late summer/early fall. The song was also made available, (along with two other Archies singles), on the back of boxes of Super Sugar Crisp cereal.

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 only reached No. 53 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 chart. In an article published in 'The Washington Times', lead vocalist Ron Dante recounts that the label was removed from the record, taken to a top radio station (KYA)in San Francisco, where the Program Director was told: "Just play it! It's a mystery group".

"Sugar, Sugar" is written in the key of D major.

Reception

After topping the 'RPM 100' national singles chart in Canada on September 13, 1969 (where it spent three weeks), the single went on to spend four weeks at the top of the U.S. 'Billboard' Hot 100 from September 20 through October 11. It spent a total of 22 weeks in the 'Billboard' Hot 100 and was the 1969 US number-one single of the year. The song was classified by the RIAA as a gold record in August 1969,
Search 'Artist: Archies'
meaning it had sold one million units (the gold threshold was later lowered to 500,000). It ranked #81 on 'Billboard''s "Hot 100 60th Anniversary" chart.

The single also spent eight weeks at the top of the UK singles chart and peaked at #1 on the South African Singles Chart. 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.

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 had sold over one million units. The awards relied on record companies correctly compiling and supplying sales information, and "Sugar, Sugar" was erroneously awarded a gold disc in January 1970 despite having sold approximately 945,000 copies, as RCA Records had informed 'Disc' that one million copies had been shipped, but not all were sold. Nevertheless, following the introduction of music downloads in 2004, "Sugar, Sugar" passed the one-million sales mark. In April 2020 the song was certified Silver by the BPI for selling 200,000 units since it was made available digitally in November 2004.

Charts



Weekly charts



Year-end charts



All-time charts



Certifications and sales



Personnel

The studio musicians on the Archies song are:

*Ron Dante lead vocals

*Toni Wine backing vocals, handclaps

*Andy Kim - backing vocals, handclaps

*Ray Stevens handclaps

*Ron Frangipane keyboards

*Gary Chester drums

*Joe Mack, also known as Joey Macho bass

*Dave Appell guitar

*Sal DiTroia guitar

Wilson Pickett version



Background

In 1970, American singer Wilson Pickett recorded a cover version of "Sugar, Sugar" 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'.

Reception

Pickett's cover of "Sugar, Sugar" peaked at #25 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 chart. It also reached No. 4 on the R&B chart. The parent album 'Right On' reached No. 197 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Pickett's recording was later used in the 1997 film 'The Ice Storm'.

Chart performance



Personnel

*Wilson Pickett vocals

*Eddie Hinton, Jim O'Rourke, Jimmy Johnson guitar

*David Hood, Harold Cowart bass

*Barry Beckett, Billy Carter keyboards

*Roger Hawkins, Tubby Zeigler drums

Other versions



*Sakkarin, a pseudonym of Jonathan King, released a version of "Sugar Sugar" in 1971 which reached No. 12 in the UK chart, as well as No. 20 in Ireland, and No. 21 in Germany.

References



Other sources



* 'The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits', fifth edition. . Billboard Books. 2003

Category:1969 songs

Category:1969 singles

Category:1970 singles

Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles

Category:Cashbox number-one singles

Category:RPM Top Singles number-one singles

Category:Number-one singles in South Africa

Category:UK Singles Chart number-one singles

Category:Number-one singles in Germany

Category:Number-one singles in Norway

Category:Irish Singles Chart number-one singles

Category:Number-one singles in Austria

Category:Number-one singles in Belgium

Category:Number-one singles in Brazil

Category:Number-one singles in Mexico

Category:Number-one singles in Spain

Category:The Archies songs

Category:Wilson Pickett songs

Category:Jonathan King songs

Category:Songs from television series

Category:Songs written by Jeff Barry

Category:Songs written by Andy Kim

Category:RCA Records singles

Category:Atlantic Records singles

Buy Sugar, Sugar now from Amazon

<-- Return to songs from 1969



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1108656185.