American Bubblegum

In the late summer of 1966, manufactured pop quartet The Monkees, a Beatles inspired concept inevitably nicknamed the Prefab Four, made their TV and vinyl debut. Overseen by industry veteran Don Kirshner, whose Brill Building honed team supplied most of the songs, The Monkees were aimed at the pre-teen market effectively disenfranchised by the increasingly sophisticated nature of mid 60's pop.

The venture's runaway success encouraged numerous other backroom songwriting and production teams to step forward, with the New York-based Kasenetz-Katz partnership coining the term 'bubblegum', as shorthand for the manufactured pop process.

Kasenetz-Katz hit big with such names as Ohio Express, 1910 Fruitgum Co and Crazy Elephant, while Don Kirshner and his favoured producer Jeff Barry, both sidelined when The Monkees rose up against their puppet masters, returned with cartoon pop group The Archies, and the biggest selling single of 1969, "Sugar, Sugar".

"Pour A Little Sugar On It : The Chewy Chewy Sounds Of American Bubblegum 1966-1971" examines the bubblegum phenomenon in forensic detail, with all of the aforementioned acts joined by hits from The Lemon Pipers, Tommy Roe, Tommy James & The Shondells, The Cuff Links, The Box Tops, Lou Christie, Andy Kim and others, as well as numerous cult 45's (The Rasberry Pirates, Cartoon Candy Carnival, The Four Fuller Brothers, etc).

Also featuring some unlikely names who occasionally left their fingerprints in the sticky stuff (The Electric Prunes, The Beach Boys, Sparks, Velvet Underground), the album is housed in a 3 CD clamshell box that includes a 48 page booklet with rare photos and the stories behind all 91 tracks.

It's gonna make your life so sweet!

Cherry Red Records, September 27th, 2024.