Cover Connection: Sugar, Sugar

It's been called the “perfect pop song” and the “blueprint for Bubblegum,” but whatever you want to call it, "Sugar, Sugar" is a classic tune. It hit number one on this day in 1969 and stayed for four weeks. In England it hung on to the top spot for two months. Written by Jeff Barry (who produced The Monkees) and Andy Kim, the song was featured on The Archies cartoon show and very quickly climbed the charts.

Like the greatest of pop songs, "Sugar, Sugar" has hook chorus that you can’t get out of your mind once you hear it. (Don’t forget the “ba-ba-ba-ba ba-baa” part either.)

Sugar, ah honey honey
You are my candy girl
And you've got me wanting you.
Honey, ah sugar sugar
You are my candy girl
And you got me wanting you

I just can't believe the loveliness of loving you.
(I just can't believe it's true).
I just can't believe the wonder of this feeling too.
(I just can't believe it's true).

(chorus)

When I kissed you girl, I knew how sweet a kiss could be.
(I know how sweet a kiss can be)
Like the summer sunshine pour your sweetness over me.
(Pour your sweetness over me).

Oh (sugar) pour a little sugar on me honey
(honey honey) Pour a little sugar on me baby
I’m gonna make your life so sweet (Yeah Yeah Yeah.)
Pour a little sugar on me (oh yeah)
Pour a little sugar on me honey
Pour a little sugar on me baby
I’m gonna make your life so sweet (hey hey hey)
Pour a little sugar on me honey.

(chorus)

Some trivia about the song:
• The woman who sang Veronica's line (I'm gonna make your life so sweet) on The Archies' version was Toni Wine, a singer and songwriter who also gave us "A Groovy Kind of Love" and "Candida."
• Also helping out on background vocals was Ellie Greenwich, who wrote dozens of top 40 hits including The Ronettes' "Be My Baby" and the Crystals' "Da Doo Ron Ron."
• The title of one of Def Leppard's most popular songs, "Pour Some Sugar On Me," was taken from the coda section of The Archies' hit.
• Archies lead singer Ron Dante was also lead singer of The Cufflinks who scored a top 10 hit with "Tracy." The Cufflinks were, like The Archies, a nonexistant group, with Dante singing all the vocal parts in the studio. When the song became a hit, a group was assembled (without Dante) to perform it live.

"Sugar, Sugar" has been covered by lots of people, including Tom Jones and Ike & Tina Turner. It also has appeared as a Latin tune by Banda Comala, as a Ska tune by Big Thomas, and as a standard addition to dozens of kid-song records.

But while I’ll always have a soft spot for the original Archies version, I think the best cover is Wilson Pickett's take on "Sugar, Sugar," released in 1970. Pickett scrapes off the bubblegum and sings the song with an R&B grind that gives a whole new meaning to “sugar.” The song was one of Pickett's last hits for Atlantic before leaving the label in 1972.

Listen to The Archies Sugar, Sugar

Listen to Wilson Pickett Sugar, Sugar