Frazz by Jef Mallett for March 04, 2015

Really?

Who cares if it was a real band or not? Sugar Sugar is a great song!

Ron Dante was the lead singer on Sugar Sugar. He produced several of Barry Manilow’s albums

Somebody must like him. But then a lot of people like a lot of Kenny G too.

Wow! That was one big shoe to drop there, Frazz! And just when it looked like Caulfield made it to where he was ready to take a chance again. (Hey, at least I didn’t post a video.)

Haha, really great one today!!

Bash Manilow all you want, chances are that if you ask any random people on the street to name three of his songs, they can do it with no problem. There was an episode of Family Guy that all the men admitted to secretly liking Manilow. Manilow is a part of our pop culture like it or not.

part of what makes it part of pop culture is the ridicule of something so corny

I thought the song was written by Paul Anka?

Ron Dante was not just the lead singer, he sang all the parts, including Betty and Veronica.I’ll have to try to forgive him for Manilow.

Caulfield’s not alone. A Cracked editor complained that “Sugar Sugar” topped CCR’s “Fortunate Son.”

Of course everyone knew The Archies were a cartoon. Now, Milli Vanilli, on the other hand…

Also, The Archies, as a music entity, were created after Don Kirshnir got fired by The Monkees, who were POed that their second album was assembled and released without them even being consulted. Kirshnir wanted to make sure he had total control with his next project.

bigpuma: Never make a flippant comment on these discussion – someone will call you on it.

Barry Manilow also wrote a bunch of jingles for TV. I don’t know how to post a link, but here are his most recognized.

https://vimeo.com/100051913

Manilow started writing commercial jingles, I think he wrote “You deserve a break today…..at McDonalds”. I personally would rather listen to that than his hits. (More of a Springsteen guy)

What is the direct connection between The Archies and Barry Manilow? This is awfully judgmental from a character who is supposed to be a songwriter. Any kind of professional writing is a tough business, you take your successes where you can find them. Is Mallett — a pro cartoonist — aware of this?

I had “Sugar Sugar” stuck in my mind all afternoon yesterday. It’s back again now.

Ron Dante was also “The Cuff Links”, who had the hit, “Tracy”.

Can’t speak to the pop hits of 1924, but, just off the top of my head, in Vienna it was the year of Emmerich Kálmán’s “Countess Mariza”, and, in Milan, of Arrigo Boito’s posthumous “Nero”.

This smartass kid is quite a musical connoisseur for an 8-year-old.

It’s not so much about being a snob to pop but the fact that, depending on your race and background you either made it big and became rich or worked hard and got ripped off. Look up the history of Motown

Barry Manilow did not write “You Deserve a Break Today,” but he did perform it on various early 70s McDonalds commercials. He did, however, co-write some notable jingles, including “Like a good neighbor” for State Farm, and “I am stuck on Band-Aid.” He also sang on a bunch more as a session performer (Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, KFC…).

Oddly, back in 1969, my favorite album from my parents’ record collection was ‘Highlights from Gilbert and Sullivan’. How far back does that push your boundaries?

You’d be surprised what middle school students have on the devices….It’s a little of everything. 60’s rock is high on the list…Of course Beatles, Stones, Moody Blues, Zeplin, even Yes….They go a lot farther back than I ever did. In the sixties, after the Beatles came a long, I though Elvis Presley was old and crusty…..Anything before that did not exist. I did, in my 30’s, eventually play the hell out of my Dad’s old swing records., Goodman and the others

As we advance in years, we realize that more and more we must do the things that bring us joy. Listening to great music is one of those things. For what it’s worth (and because someone brought him up), I’ll offer this bit of “who cares?” trivia: Kenny G and I attended the same high school — at very different times of course!

I totally like Barry Manilow. Kenny G. is a putz that could only make the saxophone sound monotonous. Which it isn’t in the hands of someone talented.

bigpuma: On the other hand, I could sing a few bars of about 40% of them, and I am a trombonist, not a singer, and would have no particular need to know the lyrics..comicsssfan: Flippancy? I thought your autobiographical comments were straight whining.

Wait ’til the kid finds out about “Josie and the Pussycats”.