Episode 30: The Sweet Sounds of Bubblegum Music of the 70s
SHOW NOTES
Bubblegum music was as beloved by its fans as it was maligned by critics. In this episode of the podcast, Amy makes the case that bubblegum music was as good as any pop music that was recorded and even though some of the bubblegum bands were fake, the music was not. In the U.S., bubblegum music of the 60, such as that produced by the 1910 Fruitgum Company and The Archies, morphed into a market for teen idols who could not only sing, but could sell concert tickets and merchandise. To compare bubblegum to other genres of pop or rock is not a fair comparison, given the audience and the reason for bubblegum’s existence. It was meant to be happy and upbeat rather than comment on society and politics. Even when the taste for bubblegum died out in the late 70s, its style lived on in punk and punk-adjacent bands.
PLAYLIST
Sugar, Sugar by The Archies (1969)
I Think I Love You by The Partridge Family (1970)
Puppy Love by Donny Osmond (1972)
Little Willy by Sweet (1972)
Rock Me Gently by Andy Kim (1974)
Saturday Night by the Bay City Rollers (1975)
Blitzkrieg Bop by The Ramones (1976)
Da Doo Ron Ron by Shaun Cassidy (1977)
SOURCES
Bangs, Lester. “Bubblegum” in Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll. New York: Random House. 1980.
boom 97.3. “Behind the Vinyl: ‘Sugar Sugar’ with Andy Kim.” YouTube. December 5, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx-Hhb8KKJE&t=14s
boom 97.3. “Behind the Vinyl: ‘Rock Me Gently’ with Andy Kim.” YouTube. November 29, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtCefKWsubI
Breihan, Tom. “The Number Ones: Andy Kim’s ‘Rock Me Gently.’” Stereogum. June 5, 2019. https://www.stereogum.com/2046399/the-number-ones-andy-kims-rock-me-gently/columns/the-number-ones/
Breihan, Tom. “The Number Ones: Bay City Rollers’ ‘Saturday Night.” Stereogum. August 16, 2019. https://www.stereogum.com/2054959/the-number-ones-bay-city-rollers-saturday-night/columns/the-number-ones/
Cooper, Kim and David Smay. Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth. Los Angeles: Feral House. 2001.
Green, Robin. “Naked Lunch Box.” Rolling Stone. May 11, 1972.
Greene, Andy. “Watch David Cassidy Sing ‘I Think I Love You’ at Last Concert.” Rolling Stone. November 28, 2017. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/flashback-david-cassidy-sings-i-think-i-love-you-at-last-concert-127322/
McKeown, Les. Shang-A-Lang: My Life with the Bay City Rollers. Edinburg: Mainstream Publishing Company. 2003.
Mervis, Scott. “Rotten to the Core.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. May 13, 2010.
“New York Punk’s Bubblegum Roots.” Downtown Pop Underground. https://dsps.lib.uiowa.edu/downtownpopunderground/story/new-york-punks-bubblegum-roots/
Nyosito. “Don Kirshner Explaining How the Archies Were Created.” YouTube. May 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH0cBuOIkL4
’’Schafer, William J. "Beyond Bubblegum: Randy Newman and Harry Nilsson." American Quarterly 22, no. 3 (1970): 742-60. Accessed May 9, 2020. doi:10.2307/2711625.
Robinson, Lisa. “Rock Talk.” Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
“Rollers Rooters Riled, Reporter Rapped.” Ottawa Citizen. August 20, 1976.
“Shaun Loyalists Rush to Defend Hero.” That Atlanta Constitution. August 28, 1977.
Tepper, Ron. “Kids Build Idols Not Record Labels, Marketer Stresses.” Billboard. July 22, 1972.
Woshala, Steve. “In the Groove Original Interview: Sweet.” Messenger-Press (Allentown, New Jersey.) July 13, 1978.
Zurawick, Dave. “Shaun Cassidy: Just a Normal Teen.” Detroit Free Press. June 12, 1977.