People don’t know it, but the background group on all those Manilow records is The Archies.The Archies version Background That song led me to jingles, which led me to working with Barry Manilow. Those are the things that make life worthwhile. Q: What is the reaction when you play that song live?Ī: Everybody smiles, everybody sings along. The guy played it, and the phones lit up. He said, “Just play it! It’s a mystery group.” A promotion man in San Francisco took the label off and took it to the top radio station there. It was the third single from this group, and the DJs were getting kind of antsy since there was no touring group. You hear it flapping on the recording.Ī: Radio didn’t want to play it. Andy didn’t have a pick he played the guitar with a matchbook. We recorded it in about two hours, and I knew there was something cool about that song. Jeff wrote the verse, Andy wrote the chorus. Andy also wrote “Rock Me Gently.” Jeff told Andy we needed a song for The Archies, and Andy came up with it on the phone. 1 on the charts.Ī: It was written very quickly by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim. 9 when “Sugar Sugar” by The Archies was No. I was the voice of The Cufflinks and we had a big hit called “Tracy.” That was No. Q: Were you also the voice of other groups?Ī: I was the voice of three or four “ghost groups” at the time. When I had a hit record with The Archies, my commercial business went through the roof. I sang commercials for everybody during those years. I was also singing for Dr Pepper, Coke, Pepsi - you name it. Q: Was there any frustration in creating this body of work that people thought was a cartoon?Ī: There was no frustration because it was set up in front. My mom called me and said, “You’re on Ed Sullivan!” I said, “Not quite.” 1, Ed Sullivan played the cartoon on his show. I was just happy to be working and using my voice. I was a jingle and background singer at the time.
The show was on for four years.Ī: Nobody knew it was me at the time.
I recorded that day and went on to do a hundred songs for The Archies five albums. I met the songwriter Jeff Barry (“Be My Baby,” “Hanky Panky”). I said, “You need a lead singer.” He said, “Come over.” I called him up and asked him if I could come over and audition for the part of Archie. I heard he was doing, not the new Monkees, but something just as big. He had singed me in the ‘60s to his publishing company when I was a teenager. Q: How then did you end up as the voice of The Archies?Ī: I knew Don Kirshner, the very famous music mogul. I wanted to work on, this so I gave them a better deal. My friend Joey Levine, who was the singer and songwriter behind the Ohio Express and had hits with “Yummy Yummy Yummy” and “Chewy Chewy,” auditioned for The Archies before I did. Q: Is it true you almost didn’t end up the lead singer of The Archies?Ī: Yes. We’ve had our really great years and then some years where nobody wanted to return a phone call. Q: What’s that bond that keeps you friends over the decades?Ī: It’s a common history that connects us because we’ve experienced similar things. My friends I have today go back to the ‘60s: Peter Noone, Micky Dolenz, Gary Lewis.
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