ARCHIE vs. DON KIRSHNER: "CHOPPING AND CHANGING"
Salem Saberhagen presents
THE ARCHIES
Don Kirshner hired the writing and production team of Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss to helm Archies sessions not intended for cartoon soundtracks. These dudes had evolved from writing novelty tunes like "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" to crafting Pop fare for adult tastes. Veronica welcomed a chance to “grow up” musically: At heart, babe was an Adult-Contemporary singer! And she was overjoyed when she heard “When Julie Comes Around”, “I Remember”, “All The Young Women” and the other tunes Paul and Lee had prepared for The Archies. So was Jughead, tagged by the producers to sing lead on "Run, Sally, Run” and a cover of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.”
Jeff Barry International Productions’ four-year contract with Kirshner Records stipulated that all recorded material be either written or chosen by Jeff himself! Don Kirshner commissioning Vance-Pockriss for new songs clearly violated that contract. A lawsuit was in the works, but when Jeff obtained an acetate of the new Archies album and heard how well it had turned out, he decided to hold off. Dude had bonded strongly with the group, and he wouldn't do anything to impede their career trajectory. Jeff Barry isn’t the kind of man who has a cash register where his corazón ought to be!
ALBUM SESSION
“TRACY”
A VANCE-POCKRISS PRODUCTION
VILLAGE RECORDERS, HOLLYWOOD
TRACY
(LEE POCKRISS, PAUL VANCE)
- discarded
SHE LETS HER HAIR DOWN
(LEON CARR, PAUL VANCE)
- discarded
LAY A LITTLE LOVE ON ME
(LEE POCKRISS, PAUL VANCE)
- discarded
WHEN JULIE COMES AROUND
(LEE POCKRISS, PAUL VANCE)
- discarded
PUT A LITTLE LOVE IN YOUR HEART
(JACKIE DeSHANNON, JIMMY HOLLIDAY,
RANDY MYERS)
- discarded
HEATHER
(SHELLY PINZ, LEE POCKRISS)
- discarded
SALLY ANN
(LEE POCKRISS, PAUL VANCE)
- discarded
WHERE DO YOU GO?
(LEE POCKRISS, PAUL VANCE)
- discarded
I REMEMBER
(LEE POCKRISS, PAUL VANCE)
- discarded
ALL THE YOUNG WOMEN
(LEE POCKRISS, PAUL VANCE)
- discarded
SWEET CAROLINE
(NEIL DIAMOND)
- discarded
RUN, SALLY, RUN
(LEE POCKRISS, PAUL VANCE)
- discarded
THE ARCHIES
w/ARTIE KAPLAN’S NEW YORK
w/DILTON DOILEY
Music Supervisor:
DON KIRSHNER
Music Director:
RUPERT HOLMES
Arranger:
LEE POCKRISS
Producers:
PAUL VANCE, LEE POCKRISS
Sound Engineer:
TOM MOURGOS
Paul and Lee's up tempo material wasn’t on a par with what Jeff could write, but their ballads were sublime - almost Broadway musical-caliber songs. Arch and Roni had to be extensively coached in breath control by Chuck Clayton and Deanie Grundy before they could handle them (y claro, Don Kirshner knew nothing about this coaching)! They acquitted themselves admirably, but very few people got to hear The Archies' newly-acquired vocal prowess.
A dispute over rights and royalties arose between Kirshner and Vance-Pockriss Productions that couldn’t be resolved. The team stormed out of his office in a huff, taking their songs and album concept to another record label. To guard against them using tracks that he’d paid for, Kirshner had the album master erased! ¡Ay, puta! Veronica was all but inconsolable. Even The Archies being chosen to represent the USA at the 1989 Moscow Music Peace Festival didn't lift her spirits; but at least babe got to sing several selections from TRACY on stage with the band in Russia.
By the fall of 1989, nothing remained of the TRACY CD but session log entries and album cover artwork that would never be used! Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss re-recorded TRACY with another group called The Cuff Links, who subsequently scored a smash hit with the title track. When that happened The Archies felt hella cheated, but nobody was more disappointed than Dilton Doiley, their former music director!
For the first time, Don Kirshner had allowed Tony to play on an Archies date. As you know, dude had been the band’s first music director; finding him bossy and inflexible, Mr. K had maneuvered Tony out of the picture. Yet he was nothing if not tenacious; dude kept pushing hard for sideman status. “That little Chicano guy is a royal pain in the ass,” Kirshner complained after Vivian Song deflected yet another insistent phone call! But finally, he relented and hired Tony for the studio album sessions.
He took advantage of the opportunity to display his musical versatility, playing multiple woodwind and brass instruments. Dude was like a one-man chamber orchestra! Vance-Pockriss Productions were so pleased with his contributions, they invited him to take part in their Cuff Links project! Tony had ambitions of his own, and every right to pursue them; but out of loyalty to The Archies, he declined. Dude didn't lose his sideman status, though: With support from Artie Kaplan, who was equally impressed by his talents, Dilton Doiley became an ad hoc member of his New York studio ensemble.
Jeff Barry was most impressed by the sound quality of that album acetate he heard. A young engineer named Tom Mourgos was responsible for it! Jeff started using Tom on record dates for his Steed artists. At the turn of the century, the two of them purchased an abandoned Catholic church in Santa Barbara and transformed it into the legendary Chapel of Rock! Chapel became the West Coast equivalent of Jimi Hendrix's Electric Lady Studios, and The Archies were destined to cut several best-selling albums there.
EARLY AUGUST 1989
TV SPECIAL SOUNDTRACK
“ARCHIE + HIS NEW PALS”
A JEFF BARRY INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTION
THE CAPITOL TOWER, HOLLYWOOD
HEY, BOY!
(GENE ALLAN, RON DANTE)
- released by THE 8TH DAY
A MILLION LIGHTS
(GENE ALLAN, RON DANTE)
- released by THE 8TH DAY
IT TAKES THE RAIN
(TO MAKE FLOWERS GROW)
(GENE ALLAN, RON DANTE)
- released by THE 8TH DAY
BUILDING WITH A STEEPLE
(GENE ALLAN, RON DANTE)
- released by THE 8TH DAY
RAINING SUNSHINE
(GENE ALLAN, RON DANTE)
- released by THE 8TH DAY
JANIE, JANIE
(GENE ALLAN, RON DANTE)
- unreleased
THE BANDIT OF BRAZIL
(MICHAEL CARR, ALFREDO NASCIMENTO,
JOHN TURNER PHILLIPS)
- released by THE 8TH DAY
BRANDY
(GENE ALLAN, RON DANTE)
- released by THE 8TH DAY
LONG WINTER NIGHTS
(GENE ALLAN, RON DANTE, BOB FELDMAN)
- released by THE 8TH DAY
GLORY
(GENE ALLAN, RON DANTE)
- released by THE 8TH DAY
THAT GOOD OLD-FASHIONED WAY
(RON DANTE, BOB FELDMAN)
- released by THE 8TH DAY
HOW CAN I STOP LOVING YOU?
(RON DANTE, BOB FELDMAN)
- released by THE 8TH DAY
THE ARCHIES
w/ARTIE KAPLAN’S NEW YORK
w/PACHUCO BRASS
Music Supervisor:
DON KIRSHNER
Music Director:
DILTON DOILEY BRISEÑO
Arranger:
ARTIE BUTLER
Producer:
RON DANTE
Sound Engineer:
ZACHARY THAXTON
With sales for “Sugar, Sugar” still going through the roof, ”Jingle Jangle” breaking for a follow-up hit and ratings for the cartoon series sky-high, the Fox network asked Filmation Studios for a primetime "Archie" TV special. When he heard about it, an ambitious Ron Dante struck while the iron was hot: Dude urged Don Kirshner to commission all-new music for the telecast.
Ron knew that Jeff Barry was too busy to compose and produce a soundtrack on such short notice! He gambled that Mr. K would give him and his writing partner Gene Allan the song showcase they’d long been hungry for. Jeff had already produced several Dante-Allan tunes for The Archies, so he gave his approval - as long as his production company got credit. Ron and Gene immediately buckled down to work; they had less than a month to get the songs ready! “The Archie Comedy Hour” was scheduled to début on the morning of September 10th, and the TV special would air the evening of the following day.
It was "High School Musical" ten years before that Disney TV series hit the airwaves, but sized down to a single hour. Hot Dog's character played a big part in it, as did peripheral characters like Big Moose and Midgie - all based on actual friends of The Archies. Gene Allan wrote the book and Ron Dante composed nearly every note of music. Exceptions were the “A-R-C-H-I-E” theme song and “The Bandit Of Brazil”, a South-American copyright to which Jeff Barry had domestic publishing rights. With The Archies' growing Latino audience in mind, he suggested adding it to the show. "Janie Janie" was not written for the TV special; it was just a great Neil Diamond-style rocker that Gene and Ron hoped would be spun off as a single.
With Mr. K's permission, Ron Dante brought in a brass band to accompany The Archies. "That Blondie hit 'The Tide Is High' is one of my favorite records," he explained, "and I want that drunken mariachi sound on a couple of songs." He hired, and the versatile Dilton Doiley conducted, a small horn ensemble made up of players from East Los Angeles. Tony knew Foolkillah, Butcher Knife, Lechón Pig and the rest of the musicians personally; little did Ron, Gene and Artie know that they were all recent ex-convicts! "Pachuco Brass" would soon evolve into El Mariachi Lowrider, a firme opening act that later accompanied The Archies on several album dates and concert tours. "Archie + His New Pals" was their very first collaboration.
The TV special was a feather in the cap of all concerned - it was the rare animated production that earned critical praise, and unlike that pinche cochino BUTT NAKED BEACH PARTY, it drew a large number of viewers. The program was entirely animated except for the closing credits, over which the live-action Archies performed a gorgeous bolero called “How Can I Stop Loving You?” in five-part harmony. Behind the scenes again, Geraldine Grundy worked hard to perfect their parts, and they did her proud!
Don Kirshner promised Ron and Gene a consolation prize: "Janie Janie" would be a single. They prepared a single mix and he scheduled it for release; then, almost immediately he un-scheduled it! ¡Coño! A frustrated Ron Dante got tired of waiting: Dude got Kirshner's permission to use the soundtrack material elsewhere. Removing The Archies' vocals, he overdubbed the voices of an Italian group called The Eighth Day; Mr. K had just signed them in the hope of breaking a Pop act overseas. Their 1990 album L'OTTAVO GIORNO (ON THE EIGHTH DAY) was only available in Europe and it didn't sell too many copies! However, the CD quickly earned collector's item status because of its direct connection to The Archies.
Unfortunately, that soundtrack wasn't done getting overdubbed. When Filmation Studios syndicated their "Archie" cartoon shows in the mid-Nineties, a junior Filmation executive decided that the Kirshner-era music was dated. He brought in a Hip-Hop producer named DJ Kiddio to dub some "fresh beatz" onto the soundtracks.
Kiddio requested and got access to the master tapes but after he started chopping and changing, it turned out that his remixes hadn't been cleared with higher-ups. Filmation Studios paid dude off and sent him packing, and that upstart executive got his gun-jumping ass fired - but not before the two of them had done some hella serious damage to those masters.
When Archie and Veronica purchased the Kirshner Records catalog in 2005, they discovered that the TV special audio had been irrevocably altered, and so had most of the other 1989 recordings. They no longer existed in their original form - most had been stripped of vocal tracks!
"Archie + His New Pals" will have to be reconstructed with AI technology, after which it will début on vinyl many years from now. In 2006, The Archies re-recorded some of the lost Dante-Allan songs for their critically-acclaimed GET IT ON TODAY! album . . . but would you believe this wasn't the first time DJ Kiddio had his wicked way with Archies product? I'll give you the 411 about that when we get to the year 1991.
ARCHIE'S BITCHIN' SUMMER TOUR
August 1989
Iowa City IA - Hancher Auditorium
Chicago IL - Aragon Ballroom
Detroit MI - The Fillmore
"a little on the heavy side"
