In the bubblegum world, not only do the Beatles rule, but so do the Ohio Express, the 1910 Fruitgum Co. and the Lemon Pipers.
Yes, it is a very strange, very gooey world, but 2018 is the 50th anniversary of the height of this music, and with just a few days to go before this year ends, we have to hurry a bit to honor it in its proper 50-year context.
To review, here are the top 20 bubblegum hits of all time, as chosen by yours truly:
1) Archies - "Sugar Sugar"
1) Archies - "Sugar Sugar"
2) Monkees - "I'm a Believer"
3) Ohio Express - "Yummy Yummy Yummy"
4) 1910 Fruitgum Co. - "1, 2, 3 Red Light"
5) Beatles - "I Want To Hold Your Hand"
6) Tommy James and the Shondells - "I Think We're Alone Now"
7) Tommy Roe - "Dizzy"
8) 1910 Fruitgum Co. - "Simon Says"
9) Ohio Express - "Chewy Chewy"
10) Beatles - "She Loves You"
11) Lemon Pipers - "Green Tambourine"
12) Herman's Hermits 0 "I'm Henry VIII, I Am
13) Jackson 5 - "ABC"
14) Jackson 5 - "I Want You Back"
15) Partridge Family - "I Think I Love You"
16) Bobby Sherman - "Julie, Do Ya Love Me"
17) Tommy James and the Shondells - "Mony Mony"
18) Shirley Ellis - "The Name Game"
19) American Breed - "Bend Me, Shape Me"
20) Monkees - "Valleri"
11) Lemon Pipers - "Green Tambourine"
12) Herman's Hermits 0 "I'm Henry VIII, I Am
13) Jackson 5 - "ABC"
14) Jackson 5 - "I Want You Back"
15) Partridge Family - "I Think I Love You"
16) Bobby Sherman - "Julie, Do Ya Love Me"
17) Tommy James and the Shondells - "Mony Mony"
18) Shirley Ellis - "The Name Game"
19) American Breed - "Bend Me, Shape Me"
20) Monkees - "Valleri"
And here are numbers 20 through 25 ... well, sort of.
21) Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart - "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight": No list of bubblegum songs would be complete without this tune, written and performed by the "Lennon and McCartney" of bubblegum writers/producers/singers. The song, which reached No. 8 in late 1967, exudes the bubblegum spirit, with its innocent lyrics leading into some minor adult themes. Forever known for their Monkees connection, I bet you didn't know that Boyce and Hart had their hands on the themes to the TV shows "Bewitched" and "Days Of Our Lives" and several movies, including "Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows" and "The Ambushers." This song simply personifies what bubblegum is all about--fun, more fun, and a very slight leering attitude.
22) Cuff Links - "Tracy": Another song that absolutely must be on any true list of the best of bubblegum music, the made-up studio group was led by Ron Dante as its lead singer on much of its output--yes, the same guy who led the Archies! This song, written by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss and which reached No. 9 in 1969, again is so very innocent, but also has that leering attitude that makes bubblegum music exactly what it is. And this supposed "group," which was supposed to hail form the rock and roll bastion of Staten Island, New York, was simply Dante with studio musicians, who would record a half dozen songs a day and stick different group names on the songs, hoping for radio airplay and success. This was one of the concoctions that succeeded.
23) Strangeloves - "I Want Candy": One of the weirdest acts to come out of this era was the Strangeloves, who were said to come out of Australia and played the part whenever they were interviewed, with thick, heavy accents directed toward the Aussie way of life. Nothing could be further from the truth. This act was actually made up of singers/writers.producers Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer, together or individually producers of the likes of the Angels, the McCoys and the Go-Gos. But this tune, written by the trio, reached No. 11 in 1965, is another bubblegum staple, recorded by many acts including Bow Wow Wow. It has that Bo Diddley beat, and is another of the great earworms of this era.
24) Cowsills - "We Can Fly": Well, if the Partridge Family is on this list, you almost have to have the real life family band, the Cowsills, on the list too. Honestly, they had bigger hits, but their very bubblegum existence was defined with this tune, which only reached No. 21 on the chart in early 1968. Written by the group and Artie Kornfeld--later greatly associated with the Woodstock concert--the song is light and airy and kind of psychedelic in its approach to things. Not as a big a hit as "The Rain, the Park and Other Things" or "Indian Lake," this is still the Cowsills at their sunshine pop best, and yes, Susan Cowsill is on this record, which makes it all that much better.
OK, here is where things get off kilter and weird on our list.
25) Vik Venus: "Moonflight'/Rock and Roll Dubble Bubble Trading Card Co. of Philadelphia 19141: "Bubble Gum Music": Goodness, where do I begin? These two tunes absolutely, positively have to be on our list, so I kind of stretched the bubblegum truth, we have 26 songs on the list, not 25. The former was a traditional "cut-in" song, reaching No, 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969, where a storyline was created--here, a reporter ("your main moon man") interviewing the crew of a rocketship going to the moon. This was the height of the moon craze, with astronauts actually landing on the moon, and this record goes with it, cutting into the story with soundbites of various Buddah label acts, including the Ohio Express and the 1910 Fruitgum Co. And what makes it even stranger is that Vik Venus actually was ... popular New York City disk jockey Jack Spector, who, many years later, actually died while on the air. The latter song, which reached No. 74 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969, pretty much summed up the entire bubblegum music scene, but threw into its name-dropping tune the likes of the Monkees, the Ohio Express, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, and such bubblegum "stalwarts" as "Herbie" Alpert and ... the Grateful Dead! And the song was written and produced by Bob Feldman and Jerry Goldstein, two thirds of the Strangeloves! Yes, it does not get any better than these two songs, so they both had to be included on our list.
Honorable mentions have to go to "Quick Joey Small" by the Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus; "Red Rubber Ball" by the Cyrkle; Indian Giver by the 1910 Fruitgum Company; and "Little Willy" by the Sweet. That last song listed here was a bubblegum song per se, but broke just about every rule related to the genre, including being so forward and outward with its sexual message that it heralded the next mutation of bubblegum, "glitter," which really didn't take over in the U.S. as it did in Europe, but did produce some hits, including several by the Sweet, Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll (Part 2)" and T. Rex's "Bang a Gong."
And this includes David Bowie's early gaggle of tunes, too, when the Spaceman was finding his way on the early path to his unique career.
Later bubblegum songs by the likes of the Bay City Rollers--"Saturday Night"--and Cheap Trick ("I Want You To Want Me," and yes, they are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)--would have been on this list for sure, but they came too late in the 1970s for inclusion.
And even though I hate to admit it, bubblegum music, to a certain extent, morphed into disco music, which hit in the mid-1970s, and hit it big, combining studio creations with a lifestyle that was so overtly sexual and drug-related that it kind of made its origins in bubblegum music non-existent for a while.
But in 2018, with the 50th year of the height of bubblegum music in the air, how can "Push Push (In the Bush)" even compare one iota to "Yummy Yummy Yummy?"
It can't, and that is the point: bubblegum music really is the naked truth, allowing your mind to create whatever storyline you want with the music and lyrics--and that is what makes it so special.
I hope you enjoyed this list as much as I did creating it.
21) Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart - "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight": No list of bubblegum songs would be complete without this tune, written and performed by the "Lennon and McCartney" of bubblegum writers/producers/singers. The song, which reached No. 8 in late 1967, exudes the bubblegum spirit, with its innocent lyrics leading into some minor adult themes. Forever known for their Monkees connection, I bet you didn't know that Boyce and Hart had their hands on the themes to the TV shows "Bewitched" and "Days Of Our Lives" and several movies, including "Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows" and "The Ambushers." This song simply personifies what bubblegum is all about--fun, more fun, and a very slight leering attitude.
22) Cuff Links - "Tracy": Another song that absolutely must be on any true list of the best of bubblegum music, the made-up studio group was led by Ron Dante as its lead singer on much of its output--yes, the same guy who led the Archies! This song, written by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss and which reached No. 9 in 1969, again is so very innocent, but also has that leering attitude that makes bubblegum music exactly what it is. And this supposed "group," which was supposed to hail form the rock and roll bastion of Staten Island, New York, was simply Dante with studio musicians, who would record a half dozen songs a day and stick different group names on the songs, hoping for radio airplay and success. This was one of the concoctions that succeeded.
23) Strangeloves - "I Want Candy": One of the weirdest acts to come out of this era was the Strangeloves, who were said to come out of Australia and played the part whenever they were interviewed, with thick, heavy accents directed toward the Aussie way of life. Nothing could be further from the truth. This act was actually made up of singers/writers.producers Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer, together or individually producers of the likes of the Angels, the McCoys and the Go-Gos. But this tune, written by the trio, reached No. 11 in 1965, is another bubblegum staple, recorded by many acts including Bow Wow Wow. It has that Bo Diddley beat, and is another of the great earworms of this era.
24) Cowsills - "We Can Fly": Well, if the Partridge Family is on this list, you almost have to have the real life family band, the Cowsills, on the list too. Honestly, they had bigger hits, but their very bubblegum existence was defined with this tune, which only reached No. 21 on the chart in early 1968. Written by the group and Artie Kornfeld--later greatly associated with the Woodstock concert--the song is light and airy and kind of psychedelic in its approach to things. Not as a big a hit as "The Rain, the Park and Other Things" or "Indian Lake," this is still the Cowsills at their sunshine pop best, and yes, Susan Cowsill is on this record, which makes it all that much better.
OK, here is where things get off kilter and weird on our list.
25) Vik Venus: "Moonflight'/Rock and Roll Dubble Bubble Trading Card Co. of Philadelphia 19141: "Bubble Gum Music": Goodness, where do I begin? These two tunes absolutely, positively have to be on our list, so I kind of stretched the bubblegum truth, we have 26 songs on the list, not 25. The former was a traditional "cut-in" song, reaching No, 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969, where a storyline was created--here, a reporter ("your main moon man") interviewing the crew of a rocketship going to the moon. This was the height of the moon craze, with astronauts actually landing on the moon, and this record goes with it, cutting into the story with soundbites of various Buddah label acts, including the Ohio Express and the 1910 Fruitgum Co. And what makes it even stranger is that Vik Venus actually was ... popular New York City disk jockey Jack Spector, who, many years later, actually died while on the air. The latter song, which reached No. 74 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969, pretty much summed up the entire bubblegum music scene, but threw into its name-dropping tune the likes of the Monkees, the Ohio Express, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, and such bubblegum "stalwarts" as "Herbie" Alpert and ... the Grateful Dead! And the song was written and produced by Bob Feldman and Jerry Goldstein, two thirds of the Strangeloves! Yes, it does not get any better than these two songs, so they both had to be included on our list.
Honorable mentions have to go to "Quick Joey Small" by the Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus; "Red Rubber Ball" by the Cyrkle; Indian Giver by the 1910 Fruitgum Company; and "Little Willy" by the Sweet. That last song listed here was a bubblegum song per se, but broke just about every rule related to the genre, including being so forward and outward with its sexual message that it heralded the next mutation of bubblegum, "glitter," which really didn't take over in the U.S. as it did in Europe, but did produce some hits, including several by the Sweet, Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll (Part 2)" and T. Rex's "Bang a Gong."
And this includes David Bowie's early gaggle of tunes, too, when the Spaceman was finding his way on the early path to his unique career.
Later bubblegum songs by the likes of the Bay City Rollers--"Saturday Night"--and Cheap Trick ("I Want You To Want Me," and yes, they are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)--would have been on this list for sure, but they came too late in the 1970s for inclusion.
And even though I hate to admit it, bubblegum music, to a certain extent, morphed into disco music, which hit in the mid-1970s, and hit it big, combining studio creations with a lifestyle that was so overtly sexual and drug-related that it kind of made its origins in bubblegum music non-existent for a while.
But in 2018, with the 50th year of the height of bubblegum music in the air, how can "Push Push (In the Bush)" even compare one iota to "Yummy Yummy Yummy?"
It can't, and that is the point: bubblegum music really is the naked truth, allowing your mind to create whatever storyline you want with the music and lyrics--and that is what makes it so special.
I hope you enjoyed this list as much as I did creating it.
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