Bubblegum Music

This was a genre of pop/rock music that was characterized by catchy melodies, simple harmonies, danceable beats, simple three-chord structures, and repeating "hooks." The lyrics were always lightweight and disposable, the song was short overall in length, and was always a very upbeat sound to it.

Bubblegum's classic era was from 1967-1972 (Accounts vary on this; some say 1967-1970. I personally would say 1968-1972.) The music came about for two basic reasons: There were many kids and preteens out there who were turned off by all the protest and psychedelic music.

Let's face it, if you were a kid then, were your main concerns about war, civil rights, or "The Man"? NO. YOUR world revolved around school (and surviving it), your parents ( pleasing them, allowances, what's for dinner), your friends, other kids, pets, the latest toys, favorite TV shows, teen idols, and if you were preteen, perhaps getting up the courage to ask Becky Sue to the junior high dance.

And bubblegum tapped into this world (or market, if you will) brilliantly. The music was designed to be FUN in spirit and intent. Kids (And I believe a lot of parents) loved it!

Most bubblegum groups were basically singles acts-such is the transient nature of this genre. But this genre's major players had the same roots as the psychedelic one; garage groups were mixed with session musicians brought together by agents and "the suits." There was also an assembly line process to the music-nameless singers, often studio groups or "cartoons" did the vocals. The producers were the actual stars.

Bubblegum evolved from other popular American musical forms, such as R + B, doo-wop, and pre-rock novelty songs like "Marzy Doats" (actual words: Mares eat oats!), "Abba DabbaHoneymoon", "Tutti Frutti" (which originally had vulgar lyrics), and "Wooly Bully", among others.

Many critics have said and still continue to say that this genre had no artistic merit and that the performers were singing puppets, that their looks counted more than anything. Many said the music was cheesy and it was manufactured pop, just put out to sell (But when you think about it, aren't MOST recordings put out to be sold?).
And I just bet that some of you former hippies out there secretly bought, played, and enjoyed bubblegum music, after a hard day of protesting and "The Man" bumming you out. I know you did.
And I imagine that a few rock groups secretly liked this music, too.

There were a few pivotal developments at this time to bring bubblegum to its full, chewing, popping glory: Buddah Records became a record label powerhouse (The label was started by Art Kass, an accountant from MGM Records, and three friends; They decided to form their own label as an outlet for new artists. The first release was "Yes, We Have No Bananas" by The Mulberry Fruit.) The company's new president was Neil Bogart (from another powerhouse label, Cameo-Parkway). And the first wave of pure bubblegum came with the ascent of producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz (the genre's greatest; they produced The Lemon Pipers, 1910 Fruitgum Company, and The Ohio Express, among others. And these two coined the phrase "bubblegum music".)

The duo formed Super K Productions and made their mark with "A Little Bit O' Soul" by the Music Explosion (1967). This was actually closer to garage band music (But some bubblegum can be garage rock, or vice versa.) Then staff songwriters Joey Levine and ElliotChiprut came on board; what these two did was supply the missing element of nursery rhyme/nonsense lyrics. The lineup was in place. And it was this year, 1968, that bubblegum was popping all over the charts as the Ohio Express, the Lemon Pipers (who got things rolling with the no. 1 smash "Green Tambourine" in February-That's why I said 1968-1972 earlier!), 1910 Fruitgum Company, and the Kasenatz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus scored a multitude of hits and smashes.

The Lemon Pipers hated being referred to as a bubblegum group; they actually had punk/garage band leanings; doing "gum" was merely to pay the rent. The Ohio Express (Their first hit was on Cameo, then they were also on the Buddah label) was a real, touring Midwest garage band, under contract to Kasenatz and Katz. Their hit singles were recorded by session musicians fronted by the aforementioned Joey Levine, who did double duty as a songwriter and lead singer. The actual group's material was only put on albums that had their name and pictures on the cover. And if a group could not produce a hit quickly, they were dropped (Don't a lot of record companies do this anyway?)

Others jumped on the bubblegum bandwagon, most notably music publisher Don Kirshner and writer/producer Jeff Barry (both of Brill Building fame). Their masterpiece? TheArchies (This started the sub-category, "cartoon rock"), a popular Saturday morning show based on the long-running comic books. "Bang Shang A Lang" was the "group's" first top 40 single, a no. 22 hit in '68 (Kirshner produced this after being booted from running the Monkees).

Barry and Andy Kim (Yes, THE Andy Kim-real name: Andre Youakin from Montreal) wrote for the group; "Sugar Sugar",one of their best, was a no. 1 smash and the biggest hit of 1969 (Besides his Brill Building work, Barry wrote or co-wrote "Hanky Panky" and "I Can HearMusic". Between 1969 and 1970, Barry and Kim wrote the majority of the first three Archies albums, the last Monkees album, "Changes", and put out five Andy Kim albums on Barry's own Steed label- Whew!).

Ron Dante was the lead singer of the Archies; Toni Wine was the lead female voice. (Update! I just got some information that says on "Sugar Sugar" Dante supplied ALL the voices. Accounts vary here.)

Wine was already an accomplished session singer and songwriter; you may not know the name, but you've certainly heard her. Besides her work with the Archies, Wine co-wrote "GroovyKind Of Love" with Carol Bayer (Yes, THE Carol Bayer Sager-she was known by this last name at the time). The song was a no. 2 smash by The Mindbenders (1966). Wine was also the lead singer of Dusk (Remember "Angel Baby"-NOT the Rosie and The Originals one; This one was much better!-and "I Hear Those Church Bells Ringing" from 1971-'72?) Dusk was a studio group composed of session singers and musicians (Legend has it that one of The Angels was a member!).

Born Carmine Granito, Ron Dante took his new first name from Ron Anderson (a guitarist, the best locally in Staten Island) and last name from the Spencer Tracy film, "Dante's Inferno".

Dante worked at Aldon Music (of Brill Building fame) singing demos. Don Kirshner encouraged him to write his own muusic. Dante then worked at TM Music (this was owned by Bobby Darin).

He was a member of The Detergents ("Leader Of The Laundromat", a no. 19 hit, Dec. 19th chart entry-1964). In 1966, he signed to write and produce acts for Greenlight Music, headed by Bob Feldman.

Feldman and partners Richard Gottenher and Jerry Goldstein wrote and produced "MyBoyfriend's Back" and recorded as The Strangloves ("I Want Candy", a no. 11 hit (1965) and "Night Time", which peaked at no. 30 (1966)-NOT the Ray Charles song-this one was a rocker!). And no, they weren't from Australia; THAT was all contrived and made up to add intrigue. Remember, this was the height of the British Invasion.

Dante was quite a talented man; with long-time writing partner, Gene Allan, the duo wrote one of the first rock musicals, Billy Budd. Dante also sang the theme from the film, "The BalladOf Josie" and was also lead singer of The Cuff Links("Tracy" was a no. 9 smash in 1969; "When Julie Comes Around" was also popular). He was also doing commercials and other session work.

On a friend's advice, Dante applied for vocal work for the new Archies project. He passed the audition! (The aformentioned Toni Wine was hired to do female voices.)

Dante also worked with Barry Manilow (They met while doing a commercial).

And would you believe that in later years, Ron Dante was publisher of the Paris Review between 1977 and '78 and was one of the backers of the hit Broadway musical, "Ain'tMisbehavin' "? What a guy!

Upon the success of the Archies, other cartoon rock soon followed. Noted cartoon producers Hanna-Barbera created The Banana Splits, four costumed actors (weren't these guys portraying rock-and roll gorillas?), miming to pre-recorded tracks for a Saturday morning show.
The Hardy Boys, The Groovy Ghoulies, The Sugar Bears, The Wombles (in the U.K.), and Josie and The Pussycats (The singers for this "group" included Cherie Moor-real name Cheryl Jean Stepplemoor-later known as Cheryl Ladd and Patrice Holloway, the sister of Motown star Brenda Holloway. And actually, the vocals were quite good! )

Many critics considered (and many still do) The Monkees as strictly bubblegum. In my personal opinion, I would say that it depended on the particular song ("Pleasant ValleySunday" and "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" I would NEVER consider as "gum". Some say that The Partridge Family (featuring David Cassidy), Leif Garrett, and The Osmonds were "gum ". And once again, I say that it really depended on the song. Now, The DeFrancoFamily? Strictly "gum"!

Many consider The Box Tops as bubblegum (I personally don't). But I guess they would qualify based on this: Producer Dan Penn was seeking a Southern-style "Monkees-type" group; He found a teenage group, fired their lead singer, and replaced him with Alex Chilton. Chilton was backed with local session musicians for Box Tops recordings. The rest of the group was sent on the road (I'm assuming here that Chilton also went. The guy had a distinct sound, so unless he had an absolute singing double, how could you duplicate his vocals?)

There was also British bubblegum: Tony Burrows was like the Ron Dante of the U.K. Backed by a studio group, he sang lead on several hits, such as "Love Grows (Where MyRosemary Goes)", credited to Edison Lighthouse and "My Baby Loves Lovin' ", credited to White Plains. He also sang on "United We Stand" by Brotherhood Of Man, and ThePipkins' "Gimme Dat Ding". Tony Macaulay wrote or co-wrote both of these, among many others. Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway were writer/producers who also worked in this genre; you may remember them better as David and Jonathan ("Michelle"-1966). Jonathan King ("Everyone's Gone To The Moon", 1965) became a one-man pop entrepreneur (Cambridge University graduate!). Among so many accomplishments, he discovered Genesis and 10CC, produced and wrote for Hedgehoppers Anonymous("It'sGood News Week"-1965) produced and wrote for a number of British bubblegum acts, some of which I supect were made up.

Bell Records had a roster of "gum" acts: The Partridge Family, David Cassidy, The Sweet,The Box Tops, Crazy Elephant, Edison Lighthouse, and Davey Jones.

And there was even Black bubblegum: The Jackson Five were the foremost example of this genre (The Sylvers ,The Soul Children, and The Five Stairsteps (and Cubie) were other versions).