50 Years Later, The Archies' 'Sugar, Sugar' Is Still 'Really Sweet'

By Ashley Westerman

Friday, September 20, 2019 • 5:05 AM EDT

By and large, 1969 was a transformative year in the U.S. The Stonewall Riots invigorated the gay-rights movement, Woodstock brought nearly 1 million people together to celebrate peace, love and music, and Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the moon.

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.

As Wine explains, she and singer Ron Dante were doing commercials and background voice work in New York when legendary music producer Don Kirshner, who also produced for The Monkees, brought them onto the project.

"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.

The song also hit No. 1 in countries around the world such as Belgium, South Africa and the U.K. The song went on to reach gold status, selling nearly 1 million copies in 1969 alone.

Kim says he was "really, really blown away" when it was announced as the No. 1 song of 1969. "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. "There was this song that just showed up."

Over the years, "Sugar, Sugar" has been covered by other artists such as Tom Jones, Tina Turner and Wilson Pickett. 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. Moreover, the song remains a moment of levity for those living through a turbulent time in U.S. history.

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Kim admits that, at the time, he didn't understand the magnitude of the song. "Until I got a little older and saw it from a different point of view," he says. "And now, 50 years later, I'm look at it from someone who's on the back porch of his days and it's kind of really sweet."

Transcript

NOEL KING, HOST:

1969 was a transformative year in this country and you can really hear that in the music.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "AQUARIUS/LET THE SUNSHINE IN")

THE 5TH DIMENSION: (Singing) This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius - age of Aquarius...

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EVERYDAY PEOPLE")

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE: (Singing) I am everyday people, yeah...

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FORTUNATE SON")

CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL: (Singing) It ain't me. It ain't me. I ain't no fortunate one, no...

KING: NPR's Ashley Westerman has this story about the surprise No. 1 song of 1969.

ASHLEY WESTERMAN, BYLINE: Who knew that the year that produced the Stonewall Riots, a man on the moon and Woodstock would have a No. 1 song like this?

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUGAR, SUGAR")

ARCHIES: (Singing) Sugar - oh, honey, honey - you are my candy girl. And you got me wanting you.

WESTERMAN: Yes, that's "Sugar, Sugar" by the Archies. It hit No. 1 for the first time on this day in 1969. And it went on to become the overall No. 1 song of that year.

TONI WINE: It was very catchy. It had a great hook. It was very sing-able. And we laughed. We had a good time doing it.

WESTERMAN: Singer-songwriter Toni Wine was one of the real people behind the Archies, a made-up band based on characters from a comic. That comic became an animated TV series and a band cobbled together by legendary music producer Don Kirshner.

WINE: He had already done the Monkees. And the Archies came up. It was a Screen Gems cartoon program. And they needed voices. And he asked me and Ronnie Dante to do those voices.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUGAR, SUGAR")

ARCHIES: (Singing) I'm going to make your life so sweet. Yeah, yeah, yeah...

WESTERMAN: Initially released in May of 1969, "Sugar, Sugar" didn't hit the charts until July. Andy Kim co-wrote the song with Jeff Barry and says, at first, the stations wouldn't play it.

ANDY KIM: I had no idea what was going on except that a lot of people in the know were putting the song and the record down as if it was fluff, it didn't really mean anything. There was no value to it.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE ARCHIES SONG, "SUGAR, SUGAR")

WESTERMAN: But once radio did play it, there was no looking back. The Archies became the first group to hit No. 1 without ever performing live on stage. Its popularity was thanks in part to some genius marketing that slapped the record on the cereal boxes.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: On Super Sugar Crisp, get a free Archie record.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EVERYTHING'S ARCHIE")

ARCHIES: (Singing) Everything's Archie...

WESTERMAN: It would also hit No. 1 in countries around the world such as Belgium, South Africa and the U.K.

Again, songwriter Andy Kim.

KIM: I was really, really blown away by the fact that it became record of the year.

WESTERMAN: Over the years, "Sugar, Sugar" has been covered by Tom Jones, Tina Turner and Wilson Pickett.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUGAR, SUGAR")

WILSON PICKETT: (Singing) Sugar - honey, honey...

WESTERMAN: The song also remains a moment of levity for those who lived through the 1960s and '70s, when so much was happening. Andy Kim says, at the time, he didn't understand the magnitude of it all...

KIM: Until I got a little older and then saw it from a different point of view. And now, 50 years later, I'm looking at it all from someone who's on the back porch of his days. And it's kind of really sweet.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUGAR, SUGAR")

ARCHIES: (Singing) Ah, sugar - honey, honey...

WESTERMAN: Ashley Westerman, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUGAR, SUGAR")

ARCHIES: (Singing) You are my candy girl...

CORRECTION

Sep. 20th, 2019

A previous version of this story misspelled Ron Dante's last name as Donte.