JUKEBOX: Saccharine Goodness and Sweet Treats
As the weather grows warmer, one can’t help but think of sweet treats, whether it’s ice cream on the beach, cotton candy at a fair, or simply an ice-cold Arnold Palmer on your front porch. This week’s JUKEBOX spotlights songs inspired by sugary indulgences. I mean, these bands are just singing about literal candy, right?
1) “I Want Candy,” The Strangeloves (1965)
Although the Bow Wow Wow cover is more well-known, this track was written by Bert Berns, Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein, and Richard Gottehrer. Excluding Bert Berns, these men had already written the hit “My Boyfriend’s Back” for the Angels and decided to create an elaborate backstory for their career as the Strangeloves, saying the band consisted of three Australian ex-sheep farmers named Giles, Miles, and Niles Strange, who made a fortune by finding a new way to crossbreed sheep.
2) “Sugartown,” Nancy Sinatra (1967)
Lee Hazlewood penned this unlikely tune about LSD after watching a group of kids preparing to take it at a club, describing it as “sugar town.” Hazlewood has responded to critics of the lyrics, saying, “Hey, I spent a lotta time writing a bad lyric like that! The words are as stupid as I could get ‘em.”
3) “1-2-3,” Len Barry (1965)
Sued by Motown for its’ similarities to the Supremes “Ask Any Girl,” Len Barry and the track’s co-authors must have also thought plagiarism was “like taking candy from a baby,” but they ended up paying 15% of its royalties to the Motown writers anyway.
4) “Sugar, Sugar,” The Archies (1969)
Fictional garage band the Archies, based on the titular character in Archie Comics and his pals, “recorded” this song. (In reality, folks like Ron Dante and Toni Wine can be heard on the actual track.) It beat out songs by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, the Jackson 5, David Bowie, and Elvis Presley to hit #1.
5) “Yummy Yummy Yummy,” The Ohio Express (1968)
Much like the Archies, the Ohio Express was a commercially created group whose name was essentially a front for a rotating cast of artists directed by Jerry Kasenatz and Jeffrey Katz. This song was the fictional enterprise’s biggest hit by far.
6) “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You),” James Taylor (1975)
This track was originally recorded by Marvin Gaye and written by Holland-Dozier-Holland (the same people who brought us “I Can’t Help Myself [Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch]”), but James Taylor recorded it as a tribute to his then-wife Carly Simon, who also contributed vocals.
7) “Candy Man,” Roy Orbison (1961)
I didn’t manage to shoehorn Harry Nilsson in here this time, but this track was written specifically for Roy Orbison by Fred Neil (who wrote “Everybody’s Talkin'”) and Beverly “Ruby” Ross a member of the group who originally recorded…
8) “Lollipop,” The Chordettes (1958)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-DuC0tE7V4
Beverly “Ruby” Ross wrote this song with Julius Dixson after Dixson was late to a songwriting session because his daughter got a lollipop stuck in her hair. So remember, be careful about what excuse you use for tardiness, it may end up being the title of a hit single. After all, we all know the song “Got Stuck by a Train.”
More sweetness below!
What’s your favorite saccharine-sweet song? Let us know in the comments!
