The Archies
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- For the self-titled syndicated version of the 1968-1978 animated television franchise that The Archies were part of, please see The Archie Show.
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.
[edit] The fictional group
The Archies play a variety of contemporary popular music, consistent with the era in which the comic is drawn. They seem to have a preference for rock and roll, however.
Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge later also joined the group. Every member sings vocals, with Jughead handling the bass voice on a few tracks.
The roles the teens play in the fictional band were:
- Archie - Lead Guitar
- Reggie - Second Guitar (or Bass Guitar; see below)
- Jughead - Drums
- Betty - Tambourine/Percussion/Guitar (occasional)
- Veronica - Organ/Keyboard
- Hot Dog - mascot
An unusual distribution mode for their music was as cardboard records embossed directly onto the backs of breakfast cereal boxes so that the cardboard record could be cut out and played on a turntable.
The Archies are sometimes jokingly compared to the seminal 60s rock band The Doors, as the Doors also had no bass player.[citation needed] However, there is some controversy over whether Reggie played bass or not; in most drawings, his guitar looks identical to Archie's, making him the band's second (or co-lead) guitarist. On the other hand, the recordings of the Archies' songs regularly featured a bass player, suggesting that Reggie's instrument is bass.
[edit] The real group
A set of studio musicians were assembled by Don Kirshner in 1968 to perform various songs. The most famous is "Sugar, Sugar", written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim, which went to #1 on the pop chart in 1969 and earned the group a gold record (in fact, in Billboard magazine's Hot 100, it was ranked as the number one song of that year, the only time a fictional band has ever claimed Billboard's annual Hot 100 top-spot). Other Top Forty songs recorded by The Archies include "Who's Your Baby?," "Bang-Shang-A-Lang," and "Jingle Jangle."
Male vocals for the fictional Archies group were provided by The Cuff Links lead singer Ron Dante and female duet vocals were provided by Toni Wine. Wine was succeeded in 1970 by Donna Marie, who in turn was replaced on the final recordings by Merle Miller. The only Archies song not to feature Ron Dante on lead was 1971's "Love Is Living In You," sung by Richie Adams. The last single released 1972 was "Strangers in the Morning;" its B-side song was "Plum Crazy." Jeff Barry, Andy Kim, Susan Morse, Joey Levine, Maeretha Stewart, Ellie Greenwich, Bobby Bloom and Leslie Miller contributed background vocals at various times, with Barry contributing his trademark bass voice (portrayed as being sung by Jughead in the cartoon) on cuts such as "Jingle Jangle," "Rock 'n' Roll Music", "A Summer Prayer For Peace" (which hit #1 in South Africa in 1971) and "You Little Angel, You." Musicians on Archies records included guitarist Hugh McCracken, bassists Chuck Rainey and Joey Macho, keyboard player Ron Frangipane and drummers Buddy Saltzman and Gary Chester.
Most of the Archies' songs were produced, written or co-written by Jeff Barry.
However, the music for the U.S. of Archie program, which aired in 1975, was produced by Jackie Mills, a Hollywood producer, who also produced Bobby Sherman and the Brady Bunch Kids. The vocalist for these shows was Tom McKenzie, who also sang on some Groovie Goolie segments, and was a regular member of the popular singing group, the Doodletown Pipers.
[edit] External links
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