The stuff may have been silly, but it was sure fun. In an era when rock bands like Yes and Led Zeppelin were producing heavy rock on epic-length albums, guys like Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz were imagining groups with names like The 1910 Fruitgum Company on a series of 45 singles meant to appeal to pre-teens. Disposable but catchy as heck, the tunes were fantastic, the sort of things that would inspire groups like The Ramones and Devo later.
This new set, Pour A Little Sugar On It - The Chewy Chewy Sounds of American Bubblegum 1966-1971, out today from Cherry Red Records, may be one of the most comprehensive compilations of this bubblegum rock sound released to date. What makes me say that is how the compilers of this set have shown through the track selection a good understanding of the genre and the era itself. I mean, it makes perfect sense when you hear it that "Who Loves the Sun" by The Velvet Underground segues neatly into "Jingle Jangle" by The Archies. And some familiar hits -- "I'm Gonna Make You Mine" by Lou Christie; "The Joker Went Wild" by Brian Hyland; "Baby I Love You" by Andy Kim -- are ones I never thought of as quite bubblegum rock, but when heard here, in context next to bonafide genre gems, things made perfect sense.
Some of the biggest hits of the genre were due to producers and writers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz, whose output is well represented in Pour A Little Sugar On It - The Chewy Chewy Sounds of American Bubblegum 1966-1971. Well-known hits like "Chewy Chewy" by The Ohio Express sit near "Latin Shake", a pretty infectious bit of business from Lt. Garcia's Magic Music Box (whoever they were). The Kasenetz-Katz sound went far and wide, with even bands outside their reach approximating a similar vibe. Even mainstream acts like The Beach Boys and Mama Cass make appearances here, thanks to rare tracks that either have connections to the bubblegum genre, or attributes that make these era nuggets part of the sound itself.
Wisely, for a lot of these bands, the compilers decided to include the big hit and a lesser-known gem. That explains why we get "Green Tambourine" by The Lemon Pipers, and the outfit's "Jelly Jungle (of Orange Marmalade)", a cornball bit of bubblegum that sounds like The Move doing a tune from a Sid and Marty Kroft show. But it's not all silly stuff here. "Things Goin' Round In My Mind" by Merrell Fankhauser and H.M.S. Bounty sounds like the best early Posies number we've never heard until now. That one example -- and there are many here -- shows how this genre and the songwriters and musicians operating within it at the time, really did set out to create fun, catchy music. That it seemed disposable at the time almost doesn't matter now as, thanks to the folks at Cherry Red Records, these nuggets of AM radio pop have been saved from obscurity.
Pour A Little Sugar On It - The Chewy Chewy Sounds of American Bubblegum 1966-1971 is out today on Cherry Red Records.
[Photos: Cherry Red Records]