Someone must have recorded this song, though. "Sugar, Sugar" was a huge hit, but the band itself was fictional. I was enjoying the song as a trip down Nostalgia Lane when I had a a rare moment of mental clarity. Pure bubblegum pop, and a very catchy song. It was "The Archies" big hit, and I remember hearing it on their cartoon show. I have fond memories of that song from my childhood. As of late July 2016, Dante remained active as a singer, producer, and concert performer.I was eating lunch today at a local restaurant, and the 60s music loop included "Sugar, Sugar." Dante's most recent high-profile appearance was with the CBS Orchestra on The Late Show with David Letterman on July 28, 2010. The extended play "California Weekend" CD was released in 2006. An album, "Favorites", was issued in 1999, and another CD, "Saturday Night Blast", was released in 2004. Into the mew millennium Dante remained active as a singer, producer and concert performer. He was also involved in the development of new recording artists, as well as appearing in concert, across the United States. Over the years, Dante has finished producing several videos which include The Association, The Grass Roots, Mark Lindsay, Lou Christie, and Brian Hyland just to name a few. His voice can also be heard on dozens of radio and TV commercials. Dante also co-wrote many songs performed by Jay And The Americans and Johnny Mathis, and was musical producer for Disney's TV series The Little Mermaid.ĭante can be heard singing background vocals on numerous hits including the McCoys' "Hang On Sloopy", Tommy James' "Draggin' the Line" and the Manilow hits of the '70's. The song was a takeoff of "Leader of the Pack," sung by the Shangri-Las. Previously, with The Detergents in the mid-'60s, he helped take "Leader of the Laundromat" into the Top Ten. Some of Ron Dante's other production credits include, Cher, Ray Charles, John Denver, Dionne Warwick, Pat Benatar, Paul Schaeffer and of course, The Archies. Barry asked Ron to listen to some of his songs that day and the two went on to turn out some of the biggest hits of the seventies. The other singers on that commercial were Valerie Simpson and Melissa Manchester. Dante met Manilow while both were singing a commercial which Barry had written. Another backup singer, Andy Kim, had a #1 hit in 1974 with a solo song, "Rock Me Gently". Ellie Greenwich and Toni Wine, the female vocalists, enjoyed lengthy careers as a songwriter and session vocalist, respectively. Ron Dante, who sang all the lead vocals, went on to sing other Bubble gum tunes like the Billboard #9 hit "Tracy" (as The Cuff Links) and produced most of Barry Manilow's chart successes in the seventies. The group is also notable for the singers who provided the voices of The Archies, all of whom went on to successful careers. The group also enjoyed another Top 10 hit in 1970, with "Jingle Jangle", before Bubble gum music gave way to Disco. It went to #1 in the Summer of 1969, selling six million copies and knocking The Rolling Stones off the top of the charts in the process. "Sugar Sugar" was an infectious tune built on rich boy-girl harmonies and a catchy instrumental hook played on the xylophone. But it was a song released the next year that won the animated group its biggest success. The first one, "Bang-Shang-A-Lang" was a #22 hit on the Pop charts and got the band off to a good start. The Archies' songs were also issued as singles. Kirshner tapped veteran Pop producer Jeff Barry to assemble the snappy, kid-friendly songs The Archie Show needed. The show's music was supervised by Don Kirshner, the man who put together the music for The Monkees. Each episode featured a song and dance segment performed by the characters. The Archies began their animated lives when The Archie Show debuted on Saturday morning in September of 1968. Why? Because they were cartoon characters. However, despite this success they never did any live performances or touring. The Archies were a Bubblegum Pop group that had a #1 hit, appeared frequently on Saturday morning television, and put out three hit albums.
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