Bubblegum pop
Encyclopedia
Bubblegum pop is a genre of pop music
with an upbeat sound contrived and marketed to appeal to pre-teens and teenagers, produced in an assembly-line process, driven by producers, often using unknown singers.
Bubblegum's classic period ran from 1967 to 1972. The second wave of bubblegum started two years later and ran until 1977 when disco
took over and punk rock
emerged (some critics have claimed bubblegum influenced punk).
The genre was predominantly a singles
phenomenon rather than an album-oriented one, the presumption being that teenagers and pre-teens had less money to spend on records and were thus more likely to buy singles than albums. Also, because many acts were manufactured in the studio using session musicians, a large number of bubblegum songs were by one-hit wonder
s. Among the best-known acts of bubblegum's golden era are 1910 Fruitgum Company
, The Ohio Express
and The Archies
, an animated group which had the most successful bubblegum song with Sugar, Sugar
, Billboard Magazines #1 single for 1969. Singer Tommy Roe
, arguably, had the most bubblegum hits of any artist during this period.
.
Bubblegum songs are also defined as having a catchy melody
, simple chord
s, simple harmonies
, dancy
(but not necessarily danceable) beats
, repetitive riff
s or "hook
s", use of solfege
syllables and a vocally-multiplied refrain. Bubblegum rarely has guitar solos, usually feature the organ, and often use a single handclap or double handclap as prominent percussion.
The song lyrics often concern romantic love
, but many times are about just feeling good or being happy, with references to sunshine, loving one another, toys, colors, nonsense words, etc. They are also notable for their frequent reference to sugary food, including sugar, honey, butterscotch, jelly and marmalade. Cross-marketing with cereal and bubblegum manufacturers also strengthened the link between bubblegum songs and confectionery
. Cardboard record
s by The Archies
, The Banana Splits, The Jackson 5
, The Monkees
, Bobby Sherman
, Josie and the Pussycats
, H.R. Pufnstuf
and other acts were included on the backs of cereal boxes in the late 1960s and early 1970s, while acts including The Brady Bunch
had their own brands of chewing gum as a result of licensing deals with TV networks and record companies.
and Jeff Katz
have claimed credit for coining the term "bubblegum music", saying that when they discussed their target audience, they decided it was "teenagers, the young kids. And at the time we used to be chewing bubblegum and my partner and I used to look at it and laugh and say, 'Ah, this is like bubblegum music'." The term was seized upon by Buddah Records
label executive Neil Bogart
. Music writer and bubblegum historian Bill Pitzonka confirmed the claim, telling Goldmine magazine: "That's when bubblegum crystallized into an actual camp. Kasenetz and Katz really crystallized it when they came up with the term themselves and that nice little analogy. And Neil Bogart, being the marketing person he was, just crammed it down the throats of people. That's really the point at which bubblegum took off."
' "Green Tambourine
", 1910 Fruitgum Company
's "Simon Says
" and The Ohio Express
' "Yummy Yummy Yummy
", but music critics have identified novelty songs including The Dixie Cups
' "Iko Iko
" and Patti Page
's "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?
" as possible precursors.
A breeding ground for the genre has also been found in the field of 1960s garage rock
, the songs of which shared an overriding simplicity with bubblegum. Garage and bubblegum groups were also both generally singles
acts. Several garage punk bands, including Shadows of Knight
, later recorded bubblegum tracks, while Ohio Express, one of the major 1960s bubblegum bands, began their recording career with punk-rooted tunes.
Between those two camps emerged Florida
group The Royal Guardsmen
, who scored a US No.2 hit in 1966 with their novelty hit "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron
", and The Fifth Estate
, whose 1967 song "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead" reached No. 11 in the US.
Tommy James and the Shondells are also seen as a major influence, with such songs as 1964's "Hanky Panky","It's Only Love"('66), "I Think We're Alone Now"('67) and "Gettin Together"('67), as is Tommy Roe
, but critics are divided on one possible major bubblegum band prototype: The Monkees
. Although the band began as a prefabricated, fictional rock group concocted to sell records and TV advertising time, the band later staged a coup and wrested creative control from their creators.
) was followed by a wave of bubblegum delivered by the Super K Productions
team of Kasenetz and Katz, who had scored their first hits in 1967 with the Music Explosion's "Little Bit o' Soul" (No. 2, May) and The Ohio Express
's "Beg, Borrow and Steal" (No. 29, October).
In early 1968, the pair signed New Jersey
band Jekyll and the Hydes, changed the band's name to 1910 Fruitgum Company, and released two singles that made the Billboard Hot 100
– "Simon Says" (No. 4, February 1968) and "May I Take a Giant Step (Into Your Heart)" (No. 63). In May 1968, The Ohio Express (who had also undergone an enforced name change under the Super K team's tutelage, from Sir Timothy and the Royals) also scored a No. 4 hit with "Yummy Yummy Yummy".
The latter, written by teenager Joey Levine
and accomplished songwriter Artie Resnick, was intended as a demo for Ohio Express to emulate, featuring vocals by non-band member Levine and backing by session musicians. The song was released as an Ohio Express single without Levine's knowledge. Two follow-ups, "Down at Lulu's" (No. 33, August 1968) and "Chewy Chewy" (No. 15, October 1968), also charted - both featuring vocals by Levine (who had never met the band), and neither featuring any members of Ohio Express. The real Ohio Express toured, supporting The Beach Boys
, The Who
and Herman's Hermits
, with bassist Dean Kastran performing the vocals for the hits, emulating Levine's nasal-punk singing style.
Kasenetz and Katz developed a strong relationship with Buddah Records
, releasing a series of hits by 1910 Fruitgum Company, Ohio Express and one-offs such as "Quick Joey Small" by The Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus, a Levine-fronted group of studio players. Kasenetz and Katz also scored on Bell Records
in early 1969 with "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin" by another manufactured band, Crazy Elephant
.
The dominance of the Kasenetz-Katz team was challenged in 1969 by music publisher Don Kirshner
and "Hanky Panky"'s co-author, Brill Building
writer/producer Jeff Barry
. In early 1967, after almost a year of success directing the music team behind made-for-TV pop band The Monkees
, the band rebelled against Kirshner's strict creative controls and after an acrimonious confrontation, involving lawyers and fisticuffs, wrested control of their career from Kirshner.
A battered and resentful Kirshner envisioned a manufactured group over which he could have permanent and total control: Filmation
's cartoon band The Archies
, based on the Archie Comics
characters. He enlisted Barry and Andy Kim
as songwriters, session musicians including Hugh McCracken
, Gary Chester
, Chuck Rainey
and Ron Frangipane to provide the music and Ron Dante
as vocalist. Dante, also of the Cuff Links
, with whom he scored a No. 9 bubblegum hit, Tracy
during the same period, would go on later to produce hits for Barry Manilow
in the early 70s. The fictional band's "Sugar Sugar" (a song which Kirshner had originally intended for the Monkees to record) was the best-selling single of 1969, and the band would score five more Hot 100 singles including "Who's Your Baby?", "Bang Shang-a-Lang" and "Jingle Jangle."
Numerous cartoon, costumed and even animal bands appeared during 1969-72 in response to the Archies' success. Cartoon producers Hanna-Barbera
created The Banana Splits, for a Saturday morning cartoon show featuring costumed actors miming to pre-recorded tracks a'la the early Monkees. Hanna-Barbera's Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!
was originally developed as cartoon band show, but even after that idea was dropped, the 1970-1971 season included seven episodes that each used a different bubblegum song for extended chase scenes - each performed by Austin Roberts
. Hanna-Barbera's Josie and the Pussycats
became the studio's new cartoon band show.
Other animated acts featuring bubblegum music included Filmation
's The Hardy Boys
, and Groovie Goolies
, Sugar Bears, and (in the UK) The Wombles
. The all-simian bubblegum band Evolution Revolution appeared on ABC-TV's Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp
from 1970 to 1972 featuring vocals by Steve Hoffman, and studio musicians from The Grass Roots
providing backup.
Sesame Workshop
, then called Children's Television Workshop, also jumped on the bubblegum bandwagon with a juvenile group called "The Short Circus" from its new series, The Electric Company
, who would also double as kid cast members in various sketches in the show.
The initial era of bubblegum carried on into the early 1970s, with hits from The Cowsills
, The Partridge Family
(a made-for-TV group inspired by the real-life Cowsills, starring Shirley Jones
and featuring David Cassidy
), The Jackson 5
, The Osmonds
, The DeFranco Family
featuring Tony DeFranco and others. Many British
acts of the first glam rock
era (approximately 1971-1975) also incorporated bubblegum influences, including Gary Glitter
, Alvin Stardust
, T.Rex, and such Nicky Chinn
/Mike Chapman-produced acts as Sweet
, Mud
, and American expatriate Suzi Quatro
. These acts had great success in the UK, Asia, Europe and Australia, charting many singles. They were less successful in the US, however.
Bubblegum had a resurgence however and maintained a minor presence on the US charts in the mid-to-late 1970s, particularly through Shaun Cassidy
(David's half-brother) and Leif Garrett
, both of whom also maintained television acting careers. The last big act of the 70s featuring obvious bubblegum elements were the Scottish
band the Bay City Rollers
, who charted from 1975 through 1978.
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
with an upbeat sound contrived and marketed to appeal to pre-teens and teenagers, produced in an assembly-line process, driven by producers, often using unknown singers.
Bubblegum's classic period ran from 1967 to 1972. The second wave of bubblegum started two years later and ran until 1977 when disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
took over and punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
emerged (some critics have claimed bubblegum influenced punk).
The genre was predominantly a singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
phenomenon rather than an album-oriented one, the presumption being that teenagers and pre-teens had less money to spend on records and were thus more likely to buy singles than albums. Also, because many acts were manufactured in the studio using session musicians, a large number of bubblegum songs were by one-hit wonder
One-hit wonder
A one-hit wonder is a person or act known mainly for only a single success. The term is most often used to describe music performers with only one hit single.-Characteristics:...
s. Among the best-known acts of bubblegum's golden era are 1910 Fruitgum Company
1910 Fruitgum Company
The 1910 Fruitgum Company is an American bubblegum pop band of the 1960s. The group's biggest hits included "Simon Says," "1, 2, 3, Red Light," "May I Take A Giant Step," "Special Delivery," "Goody Goody Gumdrops," and "Indian Giver." Guitarist Frank Jeckell claimed to have adopted the name from a...
, The Ohio Express
The Ohio Express
Ohio Express was a musical recording unit, mainly active from 1967 through 1970, and occasionally since that time.Though marketed as a band, it would be more accurate to say that the name "Ohio Express" served as a brand name used by Jerry Kasenetz's and Jeffrey Katz's Super K Productions to...
and The Archies
The Archies
The Archies are a garage band founded by Archie Andrews, Reggie Mantle, and Jughead Jones, a group of adolescent fictional characters of the Archie universe, in the context of the animated TV series, The Archie Show...
, an animated group which had the most successful bubblegum song with Sugar, Sugar
Sugar, Sugar
"Sugar, Sugar" is a pop song written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim. It was a four-week 1969 number-one hit single by fictional characters The Archies. Produced by Jeff Barry, the song was originally released on the album Everything's Archie. The album is the product of a group of studio musicians...
, Billboard Magazines #1 single for 1969. Singer Tommy Roe
Tommy Roe
Tommy Roe is an American pop music singer-songwriter.Best-remembered for his hits "Sheila" and "Dizzy" , critic Bill Dahl wrote that Roe was "widely perceived as one of the archetypal bubblegum artists of the late 1960s, but Roe cut some pretty decent rockers along the way, especially early in his...
, arguably, had the most bubblegum hits of any artist during this period.
Characteristics
The chief characteristics of the genre are that it is pop music contrived and marketed to appeal to pre-teens and teenagers, is produced in an assembly-line process, driven by producers, often using unknown singers and has an upbeat sound. The songs typically have singalong choruses, seemingly childlike themes and a contrived innocence, occasionally combined with an undercurrent of sexual double entendreDouble entendre
A double entendre or adianoeta is a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways. Often the first meaning is straightforward, while the second meaning is less so: often risqué or ironic....
.
Bubblegum songs are also defined as having a catchy melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
, simple chord
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
s, simple harmonies
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
, dancy
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
(but not necessarily danceable) beats
Beat (music)
The beat is the basic unit of time in music, the pulse of the mensural level . In popular use, the beat can refer to a variety of related concepts including: tempo, meter, rhythm and groove...
, repetitive riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
s or "hook
Hook (music)
A hook is a musical idea, often a short riff, passage, or phrase, that is used in popular music to make a song appealing and to "catch the ear of the listener". The term generally applies to popular music, especially rock music, hip hop, dance music, and pop. In these genres, the hook is often...
s", use of solfege
Solfege
In music, solfège is a pedagogical solmization technique for the teaching of sight-singing in which each note of the score is sung to a special syllable, called a solfège syllable...
syllables and a vocally-multiplied refrain. Bubblegum rarely has guitar solos, usually feature the organ, and often use a single handclap or double handclap as prominent percussion.
The song lyrics often concern romantic love
Romantic love
Romance is the pleasurable feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love.In the context of romantic love relationships, romance usually implies an expression of one's love, or one's deep emotional desires to connect with another person....
, but many times are about just feeling good or being happy, with references to sunshine, loving one another, toys, colors, nonsense words, etc. They are also notable for their frequent reference to sugary food, including sugar, honey, butterscotch, jelly and marmalade. Cross-marketing with cereal and bubblegum manufacturers also strengthened the link between bubblegum songs and confectionery
Confectionery
Confectionery is the set of food items that are rich in sugar, any one or type of which is called a confection. Modern usage may include substances rich in artificial sweeteners as well...
. Cardboard record
Cardboard record
Cardboard records were a type of cheaply-made phonograph record made of plastic-coated thin paperboard. These discs were usually small, had poor audio quality compared to vinyl or acetate discs, and were often only marginally playable due to their light weight, slick surface, and tendency to warp...
s by The Archies
The Archies
The Archies are a garage band founded by Archie Andrews, Reggie Mantle, and Jughead Jones, a group of adolescent fictional characters of the Archie universe, in the context of the animated TV series, The Archie Show...
, The Banana Splits, The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5 , later known as The Jacksons, were an American popular music family group from Gary, Indiana...
, The Monkees
The Monkees
The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...
, Bobby Sherman
Bobby Sherman
Robert Cabot "Bobby" Sherman, Jr. , is an American singer, actor and occasional songwriter, who became a popular teen idol in the late 1960s and early 1970s.He graduated in 1961 from Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, California...
, Josie and the Pussycats
Josie and the Pussycats
Josie and the Pussycats are a fictional rock band created by Dan DeCarlo.They have been featured in a number of different media since the 1960s:...
, H.R. Pufnstuf
H.R. Pufnstuf
H.R. Pufnstuf was a children's television series produced by Sid and Marty Krofft in the United States. It was the first Krofft live-action, life-size puppet program. The seventeen episodes were originally broadcast September 6, 1969 to September 4, 1971...
and other acts were included on the backs of cereal boxes in the late 1960s and early 1970s, while acts including The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...
had their own brands of chewing gum as a result of licensing deals with TV networks and record companies.
Etymology
Producers Jerry KasenetzJerry Kasenetz
Jerry Kasenetz is an American bubblegum pop producer who worked with Jeff Katz, the two working together as the Super K production company, to manufacture and produce bands like The Music Explosion, 1910 Fruitgum Company, Crazy Elephant, and The Ohio Express....
and Jeff Katz
Jeff Katz
Jeffrey Katz is an American music producer, one of the first exponents of bubblegum pop.-Music career:He is one half of a hitmaking duo with Jerry Kasenetz, the two working together as the Super K production company...
have claimed credit for coining the term "bubblegum music", saying that when they discussed their target audience, they decided it was "teenagers, the young kids. And at the time we used to be chewing bubblegum and my partner and I used to look at it and laugh and say, 'Ah, this is like bubblegum music'." The term was seized upon by Buddah Records
Buddah Records
Buddah Records was founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's founding...
label executive Neil Bogart
Neil Bogart
Neil Bogart was an American record executive. He is perhaps best known as the founder of Casablanca Records, with Peter Guber....
. Music writer and bubblegum historian Bill Pitzonka confirmed the claim, telling Goldmine magazine: "That's when bubblegum crystallized into an actual camp. Kasenetz and Katz really crystallized it when they came up with the term themselves and that nice little analogy. And Neil Bogart, being the marketing person he was, just crammed it down the throats of people. That's really the point at which bubblegum took off."
History
The birth of bubblegum is generally dated from the success in 1968 of The Lemon PipersThe Lemon Pipers
The Lemon Pipers were a 1960s psychedelic pop band from Oxford, Ohio, known chiefly for their song "Green Tambourine", which reached No. 1 in the United States in 1968...
' "Green Tambourine
Green Tambourine
"Green Tambourine" was the primary hit by the 1960s Ohio-based rock group The Lemon Pipers, as well as the title track to their debut-album Green Tambourine. The song has been credited as being the first bubblegum pop chart-topper. Released towards the end of 1967, it peaked at number one on the U.S...
", 1910 Fruitgum Company
1910 Fruitgum Company
The 1910 Fruitgum Company is an American bubblegum pop band of the 1960s. The group's biggest hits included "Simon Says," "1, 2, 3, Red Light," "May I Take A Giant Step," "Special Delivery," "Goody Goody Gumdrops," and "Indian Giver." Guitarist Frank Jeckell claimed to have adopted the name from a...
's "Simon Says
Simon Says (1910 Fruitgum Company song)
"Simon Says" is a bubblegum pop song, written by Elliot Chiprut and originally recorded by the 1910 Fruitgum Company in 1967.The song was based on the children's game "Simon says." Produced by Jerry Kasenetz, Steve Katz, and Chiprut, the single was issued by Buddah Records and entered the U.S. Hot...
" and The Ohio Express
The Ohio Express
Ohio Express was a musical recording unit, mainly active from 1967 through 1970, and occasionally since that time.Though marketed as a band, it would be more accurate to say that the name "Ohio Express" served as a brand name used by Jerry Kasenetz's and Jeffrey Katz's Super K Productions to...
' "Yummy Yummy Yummy
Yummy Yummy Yummy
"Yummy Yummy Yummy" is a bubblegum pop song by Arthur Resnick and Joey Levine, first recorded by Ohio Express in 1968. Their version reached #4 in the U.S. Pop Singles chart and #5 in the UK Singles Chart. It has since been covered by many artists. Ohio Express was a studio concoction and none of...
", but music critics have identified novelty songs including The Dixie Cups
The Dixie Cups
The Dixie Cups are an American pop music girl group of the 1960s. They are best known for their 1964 million selling disc, "Chapel of Love".-Career:...
' "Iko Iko
Iko Iko
"Iko Iko" is a much-covered New Orleans song that tells of a parade collision between two "tribes" of Mardi Gras Indians. The song, under the original title "Jock-A-Mo", was written in 1953 by James "Sugar Boy" Crawford in New Orleans. The story tells of a "spy boy" or "spy dog" "Iko Iko" is a...
" and Patti Page
Patti Page
Clara Ann Fowler , known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and has sold over 100 million records...
's "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?
(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?
" That Doggie in the Window?" is a popular novelty song written by Bob Merrill and Ingrid Reuterskiöld in 1952. The best-known version of the song was recorded by Patti Page on December 18, 1952 and released by Mercury Records as catalog number 70070, with the flip side being "My Jealous Eyes". It...
" as possible precursors.
A breeding ground for the genre has also been found in the field of 1960s garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
, the songs of which shared an overriding simplicity with bubblegum. Garage and bubblegum groups were also both generally singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
acts. Several garage punk bands, including Shadows of Knight
Shadows of Knight
The Shadows of Knight are an American rock band from the Chicago suburbs, formed in the 1960s, who play a form of British blues mixed with influences from their native city. At the time they first started recording, the band's self-description was as follows: "The Stones, Animals and Yardbirds...
, later recorded bubblegum tracks, while Ohio Express, one of the major 1960s bubblegum bands, began their recording career with punk-rooted tunes.
Between those two camps emerged Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
group The Royal Guardsmen
The Royal Guardsmen
The Royal Guardsmen are an American rock band, best known for their 1966 hit single "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron".-Snoopy vs. the Red Baron:...
, who scored a US No.2 hit in 1966 with their novelty hit "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron
Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron
"Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron" is a novelty song written by Phil Gernhard and Dick Holler and recorded in 1966 by the Florida based rock band, The Royal Guardsmen. The song was recorded at the Charles Fuller Productions studio in Tampa, Florida, and was released as a single on Laurie Records...
", and The Fifth Estate
The Fifth Estate (band)
The Fifth Estate was a rock and roll band, originally formed in Stamford, Connecticut as The D-Men in early 1964.-Early years :...
, whose 1967 song "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead" reached No. 11 in the US.
Tommy James and the Shondells are also seen as a major influence, with such songs as 1964's "Hanky Panky","It's Only Love"('66), "I Think We're Alone Now"('67) and "Gettin Together"('67), as is Tommy Roe
Tommy Roe
Tommy Roe is an American pop music singer-songwriter.Best-remembered for his hits "Sheila" and "Dizzy" , critic Bill Dahl wrote that Roe was "widely perceived as one of the archetypal bubblegum artists of the late 1960s, but Roe cut some pretty decent rockers along the way, especially early in his...
, but critics are divided on one possible major bubblegum band prototype: The Monkees
The Monkees
The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...
. Although the band began as a prefabricated, fictional rock group concocted to sell records and TV advertising time, the band later staged a coup and wrested creative control from their creators.
1960s and 1970s
The success of The Lemon Pipers' "Green Tambourine" (US No. 1, February 1968, produced by Paul LekaPaul Leka
Paul Leka was an American songwriter, pianist, arranger, and orchestrator, most notable for his writing associations with the 1960s hits "Green Tambourine" and "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye", the latter of which has become a standard song at sporting events.-Life and career:Born in Bridgeport,...
) was followed by a wave of bubblegum delivered by the Super K Productions
Super K Productions
Super K Productions was a 1960s American recording production company under Buddah Records, headed by producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffrey Katz, whose groups specialized in bubblegum pop. Their biggest successes were The Ohio Express, The 1910 Fruitgum Company, Crazy Elephant and The Music Explosion...
team of Kasenetz and Katz, who had scored their first hits in 1967 with the Music Explosion's "Little Bit o' Soul" (No. 2, May) and The Ohio Express
The Ohio Express
Ohio Express was a musical recording unit, mainly active from 1967 through 1970, and occasionally since that time.Though marketed as a band, it would be more accurate to say that the name "Ohio Express" served as a brand name used by Jerry Kasenetz's and Jeffrey Katz's Super K Productions to...
's "Beg, Borrow and Steal" (No. 29, October).
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
band Jekyll and the Hydes, changed the band's name to 1910 Fruitgum Company, and released two singles that made the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
– "Simon Says" (No. 4, February 1968) and "May I Take a Giant Step (Into Your Heart)" (No. 63). In May 1968, The Ohio Express (who had also undergone an enforced name change under the Super K team's tutelage, from Sir Timothy and the Royals) also scored a No. 4 hit with "Yummy Yummy Yummy".
The latter, written by teenager Joey Levine
Joey Levine
Joey Levine is an American singer, songwriter and record producer of pop music, who has been active since 1966.-Career:...
and accomplished songwriter Artie Resnick, was intended as a demo for Ohio Express to emulate, featuring vocals by non-band member Levine and backing by session musicians. The song was released as an Ohio Express single without Levine's knowledge. Two follow-ups, "Down at Lulu's" (No. 33, August 1968) and "Chewy Chewy" (No. 15, October 1968), also charted - both featuring vocals by Levine (who had never met the band), and neither featuring any members of Ohio Express. The real Ohio Express toured, supporting The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
, The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
and Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits are an English beat band, formed in Manchester in 1963 as Herman & The Hermits. The group's record producer, Mickie Most , emphasized a simple, non-threatening, clean-cut image, although the band originally played R&B numbers...
, with bassist Dean Kastran performing the vocals for the hits, emulating Levine's nasal-punk singing style.
Kasenetz and Katz developed a strong relationship with Buddah Records
Buddah Records
Buddah Records was founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's founding...
, releasing a series of hits by 1910 Fruitgum Company, Ohio Express and one-offs such as "Quick Joey Small" by The Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus, a Levine-fronted group of studio players. Kasenetz and Katz also scored on Bell Records
Bell Records
Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 by Arthur Shimkin in New York, the owner of children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benny Bell who used the Bell name to issue risque novelty records. A...
in early 1969 with "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin" by another manufactured band, Crazy Elephant
Crazy Elephant
Crazy Elephant was a short-lived American bubblegum pop band noted for their 1969 hit single, "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'". Crazy Elephant was a studio concoction, created by Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz of Super K Productions...
.
The dominance of the Kasenetz-Katz team was challenged in 1969 by music publisher Don Kirshner
Don Kirshner
Don Kirshner , known as "The Man With the Golden Ear", was an American song publisher and rock producer who is best known for managing songwriting talent as well as successful pop groups, such as The Monkees, Kansas and The Archies.-Early life:Don Kirshner was born to Gilbert Kirshner, a tailor,...
and "Hanky Panky"'s co-author, Brill Building
Brill Building
The Brill Building is an office building located at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood...
writer/producer Jeff Barry
Jeff Barry
Jeff Barry is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer.-Early career:...
. In early 1967, after almost a year of success directing the music team behind made-for-TV pop band The Monkees
The Monkees
The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...
, the band rebelled against Kirshner's strict creative controls and after an acrimonious confrontation, involving lawyers and fisticuffs, wrested control of their career from Kirshner.
A battered and resentful Kirshner envisioned a manufactured group over which he could have permanent and total control: Filmation
Filmation
Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live action programming for television during the latter half of the 20th century. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1963...
's cartoon band The Archies
The Archies
The Archies are a garage band founded by Archie Andrews, Reggie Mantle, and Jughead Jones, a group of adolescent fictional characters of the Archie universe, in the context of the animated TV series, The Archie Show...
, based on the Archie Comics
Archie Comics
Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, New York, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Jughead Jones. The characters were created by...
characters. He enlisted Barry and Andy Kim
Andy Kim
Andrew Youakim, performing as Andy Kim, is a Lebanese Canadian pop rock singer and songwriter. He grew up in Montreal, Quebec in Canada. Kim is known for a number of hit singles that he released in the late 1960s and early 1970s such as "Rock Me Gently", which topped the US singles charts. In 1968,...
as songwriters, session musicians including Hugh McCracken
Hugh McCracken
Hugh McCracken is a rhythm guitar player and session musician, arranger and producer based in New York.Especially in demand in the 60s, 70s and 80s, he appears on many recordings by Steely Dan, as well as albums by Donald Fagen, Jimmy Rushing, Billy Joel, Roland Kirk, Roberta Flack, B. B...
, Gary Chester
Gary Chester
Gary Chester was one of the 20th century's busiest studio drummers. Gary is counted as one of the greats when it comes to studio session musicians. His work appears on thousands of tracks, including hundreds of hit records from the '50s, '60s and '70s...
, Chuck Rainey
Chuck Rainey
Chuck Rainey, is an American bass guitar session musician, known for playing with many well-known American musicians and acts, including Donald Byrd, Steely Dan, Quincy Jones, and Aretha Franklin.-Biography:Rainey's youthful pursuits included violin, piano and trumpet...
and Ron Frangipane to provide the music and Ron Dante
Ron Dante
Ron Dante is an American singer, songwriter, session vocalist, and record producer...
as vocalist. Dante, also of the Cuff Links
The Cuff Links
The Cuff Links were an American rock/pop studio group from Staten Island, New York. The band had a U.S. No. 9 hit in 1969 with "Tracy", with rich harmonised vocals provided entirely by Ron Dante...
, with whom he scored a No. 9 bubblegum hit, Tracy
Tracy
Tracy is originally a British personal name, that refers to the family de Tracy or de Trasci from Tracy-Bocage in Normandy, France...
during the same period, would go on later to produce hits for Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
in the early 70s. The fictional band's "Sugar Sugar" (a song which Kirshner had originally intended for the Monkees to record) was the best-selling single of 1969, and the band would score five more Hot 100 singles including "Who's Your Baby?", "Bang Shang-a-Lang" and "Jingle Jangle."
Numerous cartoon, costumed and even animal bands appeared during 1969-72 in response to the Archies' success. Cartoon producers Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
created The Banana Splits, for a Saturday morning cartoon show featuring costumed actors miming to pre-recorded tracks a'la the early Monkees. Hanna-Barbera's Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!
Scooby-Doo, Where are You!
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! is the first incarnation of the long-running Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon Scooby-Doo. It premiered on September 13, 1969 at 10:30 a.m. EST and ran for two seasons on CBS as a half-hour long show. Twenty-five episodes were produced...
was originally developed as cartoon band show, but even after that idea was dropped, the 1970-1971 season included seven episodes that each used a different bubblegum song for extended chase scenes - each performed by Austin Roberts
Austin Roberts (singer)
Austin Roberts is an American singer and songwriter. His most successful recording was 1975's "Rocky"; a transatlantic Top 40 hit single.-Early years:...
. Hanna-Barbera's Josie and the Pussycats
Josie and the Pussycats (TV series)
Josie and the Pussycats is an American animated television series, based upon the Archie Comics comic book series of the same name created by Dan DeCarlo....
became the studio's new cartoon band show.
Other animated acts featuring bubblegum music included Filmation
Filmation
Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live action programming for television during the latter half of the 20th century. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1963...
's The Hardy Boys
The Hardy Boys
The Hardy Boys, Frank and Joe Hardy, are fictional teenage brothers and amateur detectives who appear in various mystery series for children and teens....
, and Groovie Goolies
Groovie Goolies
Groovie Goolies is an American animated television show that had its original run on network television between 1970 and 1972. Produced by Filmation, Groovie Goolies was a spinoff of Sabrina the Teenage Witch...
, Sugar Bears, and (in the UK) The Wombles
The Wombles
The Wombles are fictional pointy-nosed, furry creatures that live in burrows, where they help the environment by collecting and recycling rubbish in useful and ingenious ways. Wombles were created by author Elisabeth Beresford, originally appearing in a series of children's novels from 1968...
. The all-simian bubblegum band Evolution Revolution appeared on ABC-TV's Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp
Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp
Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp is an American action/adventure comedy series that originally aired on ABC from September 12, 1970, to September 2, 1972...
from 1970 to 1972 featuring vocals by Steve Hoffman, and studio musicians from The Grass Roots
The Grass Roots
The Grass Roots is an American rock band that charted between 1966 and 1975 as the brainchild of songwriting duo P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri.In their career, The Grass Roots achieved two gold albums, one gold single and charted singles a total of 21 times. Among their charting singles, they...
providing backup.
Sesame Workshop
Sesame Workshop
Sesame Workshop, formerly known as the Children's Television Workshop , is a Worldwide American non-profit organization behind the production of several educational children's programs that have run on public broadcasting around the world...
, then called Children's Television Workshop, also jumped on the bubblegum bandwagon with a juvenile group called "The Short Circus" from its new series, The Electric Company
The Electric Company
The Electric Company is an educational American children's television series that was produced by the Children's Television Workshop for PBS in the United States. PBS broadcast 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons from October 25, 1971 to April 15, 1977...
, who would also double as kid cast members in various sketches in the show.
The initial era of bubblegum carried on into the early 1970s, with hits from The Cowsills
The Cowsills
The Cowsills are an American singing group from Newport, Rhode Island. They specialized in harmonies and the ability to sing and play music at an early age. The band was formed in the spring of 1965 by brothers Bill, Bob, and Barry, then shortly thereafter added John...
, The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family is an American television sitcom about a widowed mother and her five children who embark on a music career. The series originally ran from September 25, 1970 until August 31, 1974, the last new episode airing on March 23, 1974, on the ABC network, as part of a Friday-night lineup...
(a made-for-TV group inspired by the real-life Cowsills, starring Shirley Jones
Shirley Jones
Shirley Mae Jones is an American singer and actress of stage, film and television. In her six decades of television, she starred as wholesome characters in a number of well-known musical films, such as Oklahoma! , Carousel , and The Music Man...
and featuring David Cassidy
David Cassidy
David Bruce Cassidy is an American actor, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his role as the character of Keith Partridge in the 1970s musical/sitcom The Partridge Family. He was one of pop culture's most celebrated teen idols, enjoying a successful pop career in the 1970s, and...
), The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5 , later known as The Jacksons, were an American popular music family group from Gary, Indiana...
, The Osmonds
The Osmonds
The Osmonds are an American family music group with a long and varied career—a career that took them from singing barbershop music as children, to achieving success as teen-music idols, to producing a hit television show, and to continued success as solo and group performers...
, The DeFranco Family
The DeFranco Family
The DeFranco Family featuring Tony DeFranco was a 1970s pop music group and family from Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada. The group, all siblings, consists of Benny DeFranco , the guitarist; Marisa DeFranco , the keyboardist; Nino DeFranco , the second guitarist; Merlina DeFranco , the...
featuring Tony DeFranco and others. Many British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
acts of the first glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
era (approximately 1971-1975) also incorporated bubblegum influences, including Gary Glitter
Gary Glitter
Gary Glitter is an English former glam rock singer-songwriter and musician.Glitter first came to prominence in the glam rock era of the early 1970s...
, Alvin Stardust
Alvin Stardust
Alvin Stardust is an English pop singer and stage actor.-Career:...
, T.Rex, and such Nicky Chinn
Nicky Chinn
Nicky Chinn born Nicholas Barry Chinn, 16 May 1945, London, UK) is a British songwriter and record producer. Together with Mike Chapman he had a long string of hit singles in the UK and US in the 1970s and early 1980s, including several number-one records...
/Mike Chapman-produced acts as Sweet
Sweet (band)
Sweet was a British rock band that rose to worldwide fame in the 1970s as one of the most prominent glam rock acts, with the classic line-up of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bass player Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott, and drummer Mick Tucker.Sweet was formed in 1968 and achieved their first...
, Mud
Mud (band)
Mud were an English glam rock band, formed in February 1968, best remembered for their single "Tiger Feet", which was the UK's best-selling single of 1974...
, and American expatriate Suzi Quatro
Suzi Quatro
Susan Kay "Suzi" Quatro is an American singer-songwriter, bass player, and actor.She scored a string of hit singles in the 1970s that found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland, and had a recurring role on the popular American sitcom Happy Days.-Music:Quatro began her...
. These acts had great success in the UK, Asia, Europe and Australia, charting many singles. They were less successful in the US, however.
Bubblegum had a resurgence however and maintained a minor presence on the US charts in the mid-to-late 1970s, particularly through Shaun Cassidy
Shaun Cassidy
Shaun Paul Cassidy is an American actor, singer, writer, and producer. He is the eldest son of Academy Award winning actress Shirley Jones, and the second son of Tony award-winning actor Jack Cassidy...
(David's half-brother) and Leif Garrett
Leif Garrett
Leif Garrett is an American singer and actor. He became famous in the late 1970s as a teen idol, but received much publicity in later life for his drug abuse and legal troubles.-Early life:...
, both of whom also maintained television acting careers. The last big act of the 70s featuring obvious bubblegum elements were the Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
band the Bay City Rollers
Bay City Rollers
The Bay City Rollers were a Scottish pop band who were most popular in the 1970s. The British Hit Singles & Albums noted that they were "tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh", and were "the first of many acts heralded as the 'Biggest Group since The Beatles' and one of the most screamed-at...
, who charted from 1975 through 1978.