Years later, The Archies’ ‘Sugar, Sugar’ is still ‘really sweet.
In 1969 Woodstock brought almost a million people together and Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the moon- it was also a great year for music!
The following written content by Ashley Westerman
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?
“Sugar, Sugar” by The Archies — yes, from the comics — was named No. 1 on Billboard‘s Year-End Countdown in 1969. The song first hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on Sept. 20 of that year.
“It was very catchy, it had a great hook, it was very singable and we laughed — we had a good time doing it,” Toni Wine, one of the real singer-songwriters behind The Archies’ hit, says.
Singer-songwriter Toni Wine, pictured here in 1972, sang the roles of Betty and Veronica on “Sugar, Sugar.”Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
“Ronnie was Archie and I was Betty and Veronica,” she says. “Betty had a lower voice; Veronica had a higher voice.”
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. The group of friends would appear in the show as the band The Archies and perform songs. Some of these songs were released as real-life albums and singles.
“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. Initially released on May 24, 1969, the song didn’t hit it big until July, when it was rereleased on Calendar/Kirshner Records. Kim says at first, stations wouldn’t play 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. “As if it didn’t mean anything, there was no value to it.”
Once radio did start playing it, there was no looking back. “Sugar, Sugar” would spend 22 weeks in the Billboard Hot 100, four of those weeks — Sept. 20 to Oct. 11 — atop the No. 1 spot.
The Archies is not only the first fictitious band to reach No. 1 on the Billboard charts in the U.S., but it is also the only group to reach such heights without ever performing the song live onstage. Read more from NPR.
