ARCHIE VS. DON KIRSHNER: "A LITTLE ON THE HEAVY SIDE"
Salem Saberhagen presents
THE ARCHIES
The Archies' 1990 concert tour was called Archie's Saturday Night Blast, and while it didn't rack up 1989 numbers, it was lucrative enough. The band's star had begun to dim, but not that you'd notice: Don Kirshner's secretary Vivian Song made sure that The Archies always projected a celebrity image! They still had first-class airline travel, top hotels to stay in, fancy limos to arrive in, interviews with popular deejays and talk show hosts, the flashiest stage costumes, and the finest gourmet cuisine that money could buy!
The band's music rack was equipped with the very best instruments that Fender, Gibson and Yamaha had to offer, and their dressing rooms were always spacious, clean, well-lit and well-stocked with whatever the fuck they needed. If the backstage area at a given venue wasn't so nice, they'd find a large trailer waiting for them to retire to after the show. Inside, a hella tasty catered spread would be laid out. La comida was never less than on point, and you'd best believe Jughead appreciated that!
Officially no alcohol was allowed, but college students (which The Archies had been up until recently) always know how to smuggle in kegs; and like any young Rock band, they liked to party! Especially Archie and Reggie "Gino" Mantle. Gino liked to get a little groupie action going, too, so there were always sexy muchachas around (as well as a papichulo or two - young Mr. Mantle had babes and dudes in his date book)! Viji Kalyanasundaram, the tour manager and unofficial chaperone, made sure things never got out of hand. Roni kept an eye out, too: She'd rip Archiekins a fresh asshole if he ever did anything to embarrass her!
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While they grappled with that challenge, a battle for creative control was being waged behind the scenes. Don Kirshner saw the group like a father sees his children, and dude was a strict disciplinarian; but his niños were growing up much faster than he could hope to keep pace with; sooner or later, something had to give.
T R A P P E D !
. . . IN A ROCK CANDY GROOVE.
ALBUM SESSIONS
EP SESSIONS
SINGLES SESSIONS
EARLY JANUARY 1990
ALBUM SESSIONS
“WHO’S YOUR BABY?”
A JEFF BARRY INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTION
A + M STUDIOS, HOLLYWOOD
I WISH I HAD A MONKEY
(JEFF BARRY, BOBBY BLOOM)
- discarded
YOUR MUSIC 'N' MY MUSIC
(JEFF BARRY, BOBBY BLOOM)
- unreleased
A LITTLE ON THE HEAVY SIDE
(JEFF BARRY, BOBBY BLOOM)
- unreleased
WE NEED EACH OTHER
(JEFF BARRY, BOBBY BLOOM)
- unreleased
YELLOW SUNGLASSES
(JEFF BARRY, BOBBY BLOOM)
- unreleased
BLESS MY SOUL!
(JEFF BARRY, BOBBY BLOOM)
- unreleased
THREE TO GET READY
(JEFF BARRY, BOBBY BLOOM)
- unreleased
I FEEL BETTER
(JEFF BARRY, PAUL DAVIS)
- unreleased
I JUST WANNA MAKE YOU DANCE
(JEFF BARRY)
- unreleased
WHEN YOUR BABY SAYS GOODBYE
(JEFF BARRY)
- unreleased
WE GOT A THING GOIN’, BABY
(JEFF BARRY)
- unreleased
I’VE NEVER GOTTEN OVER YOU, BABY
(JEFF BARRY)
- unreleased
CHEER ME UP
(JEFF BARRY, JAMIE CARR, RON DANTE)
- unreleased
YOU CAN BET THEY DO!
(JEFF BARRY, ANDY KIM)
- unreleased
I BEEN MOVED
(JEFF BARRY, ANDY KIM)
- unreleased
WHO’S YOUR BABY?
(JEFF BARRY, ANDY KIM)
- single
THE ARCHIES
w/THE TRADE WINDS
w/NINO TEMPO + 5th AVENUE SAX
w/KEVIN KELLER
Music Supervisor:
DON KIRSHNER
Music Director:
JIMMY CALVERT
Arranger/Producer:
JEFF BARRY
Engineer:
BRYANT KARIMATSU
By 1990, the Surf/Rockabilly sound that powered early Archies hits like “Bang-Shang-A-Lang” and "You Little Angel, You!" had all but disappeared from their records. In its place was a blend of Folk Rock, Country and Sunshine Pop with Caribbean accents. Despite the “New Wave” tag Don Kirshner had saddled them with, they were never part of the Spandau Ballet crowd! Nobody ever perceived them that way, either. The biggest influence on how the public saw The Archies was the popularity of their cartoon series. Inevitably, this led to Rock critics dismissing them as a so-called Bubblegum act. They really piled that shit on, too!
Snubs like this one from Rolling Stones writer Rohase Piercy were typical: “Back in the UK, we call their sort of Pop ‘naff’ or ‘daft’ - rubbish music meant strictly for thumb-sucking baggage."” In concert, the band was rocking harder and tighter than ever: Their recent show at Hollywood's Whisky A-Go-Go was so fucking awesome, critics were hard-pressed to find fault . . . so what did those hijos de puta do? They just ignored the gig! Disses like that really pissed the group members off - Archie, Gino and Roni in particular. Jeff Barry thought he had the solution: A sharp left turn toward the soulful side of Pop!
In order to distinguish these new studio recordings from cartoon soundtrack material, Jeff decided to use different sidemen. He brought in The Trade Winds, another assemblage with roots on the East Coast. The members were guitarists Jimmy Calvert and Paul Naumann, bassist Norman Marzano, drummer Joe D’Andrea, and keyboard players Steve Feldman and Kenny Laguna. (In his side gig as a producer, Laguna produced Joan Jett, former leader of The Runaways.)
For a couple of tracks, Jeff also used Nino Tempo + 5th Avenue Sax. "If you want a traditional Rhythm + Blues horn section," he used to say, "you can't get a better one than Nino's guys!" Maybe taking work away from Don Kirshner’s old friend Artie Kaplan wasn’t such a smart thing to do, but rankled feelings weren’t top-of-mind for him. Dude was focused on getting a fresh sound on tape, using both new musicians and new singers - or rather, singers that had been there from the beginning but never got a chance to show what they could do!
The Archies had competently sung background vocals on their TV special, and Toni Wine had recently left Hollywood for Nashville. Both Jeff Barry and Ron Dante felt it was time for the group to take over full singing duties! What’s more, Jeff was hella impressed when he heard Jughead and Betty duetting in the studio lounge. From playing the TRACY album acetate, he knew what Juggy was capable of; but Betty's talent was a revelation! Dude was eager to track lead vocals on both of them. When Vivian Song rescheduled sessions for an Archies studio album, he started writing songs that were tailored for each group member. So commenced recording for WHO’S YOUR BABY? - an Archies album that was doomed from its inception!
Jeff knew that Don Kirshner had shit a cow when Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss chose Jughead to sing lead on two of their productions! Still, dude was confident that he could bring Mr. K around. He proceeded to diversify, cutting Gino on two lead vocals and Jughead and Betty on three leads each. Jeff also tracked a duet for Archie and Gino.; on stage, they often sang duet, so why not?In addition, he allowed Jughead and Gino’s buddy Kevin Keller to join in on backing vocals. At Riverdale High School, Kelly had been known for his harmonies hermosas; on sides like "You Can Bet They Do!", "Yellow Sunglasses" and "I Been Moved," dude proved that he hadn’t lost any of that singing ability.
The tracks without Archie or Veronica's vocals were so dope, Roni felt insecure! Betty’s singing voice had a heavy Country/Blues tinge (ironic, since Veronica was born in Biloxi and Ms. Cooper was a native New Englander). Juggy sounded like Barry White trapped in the body of a Japanese Jew (which he is!); and when provoked, Kelly could do a damn good Luther Vandross impression! But Roni had no reason to worry. None of that was what Mr. K wanted to hear on an Archies record! He damn sure wasn't interested in Gino's second-rate Elvis Presley imitations, either.
Don Kirshner thought the material on WHO’S YOUR BABY? was too much of a stylistic shift for The Archies. Dude didn’t realize how much the group had evolved by 1990! Had he taken the time to go hear them perform live anymore, he'd have been amazed at how totally down they sounded now. Their Gospel-trained vocal coach Chuck Clayton had been working with them for a year. A few months later, The Archies became even more deeply steeped in Soul when they played a pivotal gig at Harlem’s Apollo Theater.
Most of the band agreed (Veronica being the holdout), but it was a case of the irresistible force pitted against the immovable object! The album’s title track, featuring Kelly's prominent harmonies and Juggy’s bass vocal near the end, did get issued as the next Archies single; but the rest of what they believed was their best recording yet got shelved.
Mr. K made another concession: Gino, Juggy, Betty and Kelly were allowed to continue singing back-up. However, that change was arguably the start of him wanting to wash his hands of the group! The Archies may have been Don Kirshner's flagship act, but if they didn't conform to his musical vision he wouldn't hesitate to focus his attention elsewhere. “Who’s Your Baby?” underperformed on the charts, barely breaking Top Forty; Jeff Barry thought it would’ve gotten a bigger promotional push under less contentious circumstances.
Aún así, the song became a staple of Archies concerts for years, and the unreleased “Bless My Soul” would be revisited on their 2009 RETURN TO ARCHIE COUNTRY LP. Once again, other artists reaped the bounty of unreleased sides, in this case Bobby Bloom, Paul Davis, Andy Kim, The Globetrotters (session singers subbing for the famous exhibition basketball team), Gayle Haness and The Rock Flowers featuring Julia Waters "Ardie" Tillman.
Fortunately, this aborted CD wasn’t destined to be among the batch of Kirshner masters that would be lost. Once they secured ownership, Archie and Veronica would release most of the WHO’S YOUR BABY? tracks - just not in album form. Starting in 2006, they trickled out a few at a time as Archies Fan Club teasers. Decades later, they'd be collected on a 2065 compilation LP called ARCHIE SINGS SOUL. Finally in the year 2150, the complete 15-song album master will make its long-delayed début as part of a Kirshner albums box set.
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MID-JUNE 1990
EP SESSION
“YOU’RE THE ONE”
A JEFF BARRY INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTION
GANG STUDIOS, PARIS
YOU’RE THE ONE
(PETULA CLARK, TONY HATCH)
- YOU’RE THE ONE EP
THE HARLEM TANGO
(GERRY GOFFIN, CAROLE KING)
- single flipside (France)
THAT’S THE TUNE
(JOEY LEVINE, ARTIE RESNICK)
- YOU’RE THE ONE EP
MAGIC TOWN
(BARRY MANN, CYNTHIA WEIL)
- YOU’RE THE ONE EP
FIVE O’CLOCK WORLD
(ALLEN REYNOLDS)
- YOU’RE THE ONE EP
LAND OF MILK AND HONEY
(JOHN HURLEY, RONNIE WILKINS)
- YOU’RE THE ONE EP
PLEASE, MISTER SUN
(SIDNEY FRANK, RAMÓN GETZOV)
- YOU’RE THE ONE EP
CALL ME HIS
(NEIL DIAMOND)
- single (France)
THE ARCHIES
w/CRÈME DE COCO
w/KEVIN KELLER
Music Supervisor:
DON KIRSHNER
Music Director:
JEAN-EMMANUEL de LUXE
Arranger/Producer:
JEFF BARRY
Sound Engineers:
TOM MOURGOS, OLIVER SANTO
Before starting work on their next and last TV soundtrack album, The Archies all graduated from college! Archie Andrews and Juggy Jones received degrees from Boston University; Betty Cooper got hers from from Boston College; Veronica Lodge was awarded a Harvard diploma and Reggie "Gino" Mantle became a Yale University alumni. All but Gino missed their commencement ceremonies in order to play the aforementioned Apollo Theater date. Chuck Clayton subbed for him, and the gig went down large; singing Gospel-style like Chuckii taught them to, the tough-as-nails Apollo crowd ate them up with a spoon!
After that triumph, they took a promotional appearance tour of Europe with Kevin Keller (a recent UCLA grad) in tow. Kicking off with an SRO show at First Avenue in Minneapolis - that's the Rock club that Prince made famous - they flew to Amsterdam to play Club Paradiso. Then it was on to Belgium's Ancienne Belgique, The Sugar Shack in Germany, Teatro Antico in Italy, Sala Zeleste in Spain, The Olympia Theatre in Paris and three venues in the UK: The Manchester Apollo, Slane Castle and Camden Palace. The mini-tour wrapped up back in North America, at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia.
"Archie" cartoons weren’t telecast in Europe, but audiences fell in love with the group just for the quality of their music, Archie, Juggy and Gino's great showmanship, and the mucho sexy stage presence of Veronica and especially Betty! And once again, Hot Dog attracted a devoted fan base of his own - Kelly joked that the collie's legion of French admirers amounted to "a Parisian puppy posse!"
While performing at the Paris Olympia, the group took time out to cut a dance-oriented EP. Jeff Barry and Tom Mourgos flew over to work with them at the famous Gang Studios, where French superstars Johnny Hallyday and France Gall cut tracks. The Archie Records era is known for Archies tribute albums, but their first such recording dates back to the Kirshner years. YOU’RE THE ONE, a salute to Sixties Pop group The Vogues was Don Kirshner’s bid to break Archies music in dance clubs. “Sugar, Sugar” was a huge club hit, but there’d been none since.
The French music director that Mr. K hired for the date had una personalidad desagradable, and that's an understatement! Both a snob and a tyrant, Jean-Emmanuel de Luxe looked down his nose at the band. Given to frequently disparaging their music as “merdique” (shitty), he brought in his own band Crème de Coco to "improve their sound." Monsieur de Luxe's attitude merdique made for some turbulent dates: Jeff Barry kept dude at arm's length, but Archie and Gino clashed with him several times! Jughead, not known for salty language or violent outbursts was heard to grumble: “He's a stoned motherfucker! Somebody ought to kick his ass, and it just might be me!” Bueno, de Luxe making flirty eyes at Juggy’s soon-to-be fiancée Betty didn’t help the situation any!
Veronica wasn’t happy with “Monsieur” either - he was constantly on the receiving end of her deadly side-eye! But she chose to tolerate his nasty temperament; Roni had an excellent ear for dance music, and despite his maneras feas, she could tell that de Luxe did, too. Both she and Don Kirshner were pleased with the resulting club EP and French-only single that she sang lead on. Not so Archie; he considered them Disco records and loathed them like poison! When the compact discs failed to sell, dude heaved a sigh of relief; there was no reason to perform any of that material on stage. “Five O’Clock World” was the only number he could stomach!
However, just a few months later The Archies re-cut that song in Hollywood. In 2011, the band successfully remade “Magic Town” as part of HITS OF THE SIXTIES, their definitive collection of songs by Barry Mann + Cynthia Weil. That same year, Archie scored his only hit solo single with a Heavy Metal retooling of “Land Of Milk And Honey.” Just before those remakes were tracked, The Archies worked with Jean-Emmanuel de Luxe a second time; but dude found them - and Jughead in particular - far less willing to put up with his bitch-ass shit!
YOU’RE THE ONE is arguably the most coveted of the band’s Kirshner releases; it was immediately embraced by the UK’s Northern Soul dance club circuit. This EP (reissued in the 21st century with the French flipside "You, Baby" as a bonus track) will be considered The Archies’ only Northern Soul recording until their RIDE, RIDE, BABY LP hits the streets in 2028. Appropriately for a Vogues tribute, French pressings were marketed by the legendary Vogue label; a series of very collectible European Archies EPs were also released on Disques Vogue.
LATE JUNE 1990
SINGLES SESSIONS
A JEFF BARRY INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTION
A + M STUDIOS, HOLLYWOOD
WALDO P. EMERSON-JONES
(JEFF BARRY, ANDY KIM)
- single flipside
IT’S THE SUMMERTIME
(JEFF BARRY, ANDY KIM)
- SUNSHINE LP
A SUMMER PRAYER FOR PEACE
(JEFF BARRY)
- single
SUNSHINE
(JEFF BARRY, BOBBY BLOOM)
- single
THE ARCHIES
w/THE TRADE WINDS
w/KEVIN KELLER
w/DILTON DOILEY
Music Supervisor:
DON KIRSHNER
Music Director:
JIMMY CALVERT
Arranger/Producer:
JEFF BARRY
Sound Engineer:
BRYANT KARIMATSU
Jeff Barry dug the sound that The Trade Winds brought to Archies music and hired them again. Don Kirshner may have favored Artie Kaplan’s musicians but if Jeff wanted to hire other players, nobody was going to stop him! There was nothing in Jeff Barry International Productions’ contract with Kirshner Records that required specific people be used; so The Trade Winds became The Archies’ regular sidemen - at least on dates that Jeff produced. Tony Doiley was also welcome to sit in.
Grunge and Hip-Hop dominated the early Nineties - both genres that The Archies weren't likely to make inroads into! "A good ballad can break through no matter what the trend is," Kirshner told Jeff Barry. "So write one!" In response, Jeff created a somber meditation on war. It was a showcase for choral singing; Archie, Jimmy Calvert and Tony Doiley's acoustic guitars were the only instrumentation.
The song was inspired by Neil Brian Goldberg’s socially-conscious Rock (about whom and which you’ll hear more later). "A Summer Prayer For Peace" was such a radical departure for The Archies that Mr. K was initially against releasing it; but it was a strong ballad and Archie performed the lead vocal exceptionally well - dude put lots of passion into the lyric - so the gambler in him decided to take a chance.
American fans didn’t understand "A Summer Prayer For Peace," but the tune registered as an antiwar anthem overseas; it topped the charts in South Africa and went Top Ten in several other countries! Mr. K had gambled on a risky song concept and broke even, but dude wasn’t going to gamble again: The next Archies single had to be a stateside smash. Jeff Barry was sure he had one in the can: Destined for heavy rotation on the revamped cartoon series that would début in September, “Sunshine” was nothing less than The Archies’ greatest single to date!
¿Qué pasó? When The Archies previewed the number at The Butt Naked Lounge, the patrons went loquitos dancing to it - they jumped, wiggled and shook their asses so hard that bikini bottoms and swim trunks started dropping to the floor; Ziggy Butt Naked nearly had a conniption fit! For once, his Rock club lived up to its provocative name! "Sunshine" also went over big at Hollywood's famous Troubadour Club. There’s just no valid reason for this fabulous record to have stalled outside the Top Forty. Jeff Barry was devastated by its failure - all of his Pop instincts had been brought to bear!
All along there'd been behind-the-scenes tension between him and Don Kirshner, but the failure of “Sunshine” was a deal breaker. As Jeff saw it, a winning goal had been passed to the team captain, and dude had dropped the damn ball! “What the fuck!!?" he complained to sound engineer Bry Karimatsu. “Why am I giving my best material away to Donnie, just to see him let it wither and die on the vine?” He was surely referring to the unissued WHO’S YOUR BABY? album, too.
EARLY JULY 1990
SINGLES SESSIONS
A JEFF BARRY INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTION
THE CAPITOL TOWER, HOLLYWOOD
OVER AND OVER
(JEFF BARRY, RON DANTE)
- single flipside
WHO’S GONNA LOVE ME?
(GENE ALLAN, JEFF BARRY, RON DANTE)
- SUNSHINE LP
SUDDENLY SUSAN
(GENE ALLAN, JEFF BARRY, RON DANTE)
- single flipside
LOVE AND ROCK ‘N’ ROLL MUSIC
(GENE ALLAN, JEFF BARRY, RON DANTE)
- SUNSHINE LP
THE ARCHIES
w/ARTIE KAPLAN’S NEW YORK
w/KEVIN KELLER
Music Supervisor:
DON KIRSHNER
Arranger/Conductor:
RON FRANGIPANE
Producer:
RON DANTE
Sound Engineer:
ZACHARY THAXTON
With Ron Dante subbing for Jeff Barry at the production helm again, The Archies undertook to cut a flipside for “Sunshine.” Ron had high hopes for “Over And Over” and it did end up getting the nod; but what he considered a double A-side rocket firing on all cylinders crashed and burned! The commercial failure of “Sunshine”/”Over And Over” left Ron feeling just as crushed as Jeff Barry felt. A month after this recording session, he decided to follow Toni Wine's example: Dude stopped working with The Archies in order to embark on a solo career.
The band was no longer a priority for Jeff Barry, either, and besides that, dude was struggling under a heavy project workload. He was involved with off-Broadway stage productions and various other TV projects, not to mention running his own indie record label! However, his contract with Don Kirshner had a year left to go and Jeff had come to love The Archies; dude wasn’t ready to cut ties with them completely. Instead, he tapped a talented subordinate to replace him in the writer/producer role.
ARCHIE'S BITCHIN' SUMMER TOUR
August 1989
Indianapolis IN - Indiana Farmer's Coliseum
Memphis TN - Showplace Arena
Nashville TN - Nashville Municipal Auditorium
"we got jokes! we got songs!"
