Does anyone here have the balls to admit they like bubblegum music?  I do like the classic bands, such as 1910 Fruitgum Company and Ohio Express, along with the Monkees and the Bay City Rollers. I also like bands that have elements of bubblegum, or who were clearly influenced by bubblegum, or who have recorded songs that have hints of bubblegum to them, such as the Ramones, KISS, Cheap Trick, the Cars, the Go Gos, and Manda and the Marbles.

I'm bringing this up because of my earlier post about the "Archie Meets KISS" comic book series, and because bubblegum has some of its roots in garage rock, so I thought it would be an interesting question for this place.

I GUESS MOST PEOPLE THINK SO....THERE IS ANOTHER , MORE RECENT "BUBBLEGUM" BOOK , THAT FOCUSES MORE ON BOY BANDS , SPICE GIRLS , BRITNEY , WHOEVER , AND THE ACTUAL LATE 60'S - EARLY 70'S STUFF IS ONLY MENTIONED AS AN AFTERTHOUGHT. I DON'T THINK KASENETZ - KATZ EVEN GOT NAME-DROPPED. THE "ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BAD TASTE " HAD A CHAPTER ON BUBBLEGUM THAT
  MENTIONS UK GLAM ROCK , NOT IN A FLATTERING LIGHT (FUCK EM.) , BUT , MAKES THE POINT , WHICH OTHERS HAVE , TOO , THAT MUCH OF THAT STUFF IS AN EXTENSION OF BUBBLEGUM . BUT,THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THAT , AND BRITNEY , BIEBER , ETC. , IS GLAM ROCK , LIKE EARLY BUBBLEGUM , IS SO DAMNED CATCHY !
Chris Henniker said:

I've heard of the book, which even covers Eurovision. Aren't people like Britney Spears and a certain Mr Justin Bieber contemporary bubblegum?

I have an internet rock and roll radio show on monday nights called, Kustom City Sounds and I celebrate the Bubblegum Classic of the Week during the third hour of the show, each week.  

https://www.facebook.com/groups/kustomcitysounds/

I too love me some Bubblegum music and anyone who doesn't like it can eff off! :)

Professor Bubblegum's Echo Valley Podcast is hands down the best B-Gum podcast on the net.

Check it out for some of the more well known + LOADS of obscure B-Gum gems.

Kim Cooper & David Smay's "Bubblegum Music Is The Naked Truth" is a fantasic book all about B-Gum in all it's Capitalist, Snake Oil glory.

Yours,

Frank 

I love Bubblegum!  People talk about the music of the late 60s-70s like it was all Janis Joplin or Jimi Hendrix, but Bubblegum is what actually got played on the radio (AM, at least).  It was one of the only styles that kept to three minute long 45s in the heavy heavy "prog" or whatever era, making it a real important touchstone for the first punk rockers.  I really dig K & K Super Cirkus ("Quick Joey Small" the first song The Cramps learned!)  The Shadows Of Knight's Bubblegum numbers and out there stuff like "Captain Groovy's Bubblegum Army"!  Where's the Rhino Records Boxed set on this stuff!

"Up Against The Wall" is a song I loved ages ago and somehow forgot about.  Thanks for the reminder.  Looks like I need to pick up another OhEx album.  

You are correct as regards GG doing "Up Against The Wall" off the fourth ((!)) Ohio Express album. I believe it is on the EP with "No Rules" "NYC Tonight" and "A Fuckup." I had no idea it was a cover until years later, when i picked up the "Mercy" album and was like...HEYYYYyyy!!!!

I think even GG Allin did "Up Against The Wall" by Ohio Express, when he was with the Jabbers. The JAMC were also indebted to bubblegum pop, just with more feedback (no, make that loads more feedback).

I'M AMAZED NO ONE HAS SAMPLED "I CAN FEEL YOUR HEARTBEAT" (THO MAYBE THEY HAVE. I TRY NOT TO FOLLOW STUFF THAT SUCKS. IT JUST FOLLOWS ME) , BUT , IT'S GOT THAT STONE COLD FUNK GUITAR (WAKKA TAKKA ! WAKKA TAKKA ! LOVE !LOVE ! CAN''T YOU FEEL MY HEARTBEAT? WAKKA TAKKA WAKKA TAKKA)......"CRAZY HORSES" HAS BEEN WIDELY COVERED , WITH GOOD REASON , IT'S THE SHIT !!!

TANK (NWOBHM band with Algy Ward , ex- Damned) , DEMENTED ARE GO , SENSATIONAL ALEX HARVEY BAND
 , AND EVEN SOME BAND ON WAX TRAX DID IT (BUT I DON'T FOLLOW STUFF THAT SUCKS. THE RECORD STORE WAS FANTASTIC , THE UNBELIEVABLY OVERRATED LABEL IS NOT.). I'm not a huge Partridge Family fan , but , I admit they had some good tunes. Even the REAL faux Partridge Family (Pre - David Cassidy and Shirley Jones involvement) are perfectly passable wanabee Cowsills Sunshine Pop.

DJ Johnson said:

Yep, Redd Kross did a cover of Crazy Horses when they were putting Third Eye together.  There's a release (probably unofficial) called Third Eye Demos that has the track.  I got an MP3 of the song off a website someone attached to Redd Kross was running way back when.  Love their covers.  Especially "Dancing Queen" and "Pretty Please Me".  

Bubblegum is my semi-guilty pleasure.  I was just the age they were aiming at when a lot of it first came out in 1969.  Still love The Archies and 1910 FGC (and even got to see them in concert opening for The Monkees, though who the hell knows who was actually in the "band" that night), Ohio Express, a lot of the one hit wonders and, most of all, The Cowsills.  Something about them always made me very happy.  And "Mr. Flynn" was a pretty great tune I still have to hear often.  I even like The Partridge Family, which makes a lot of people assume I wear a foil hat.  I know most of the stuff released by that faux band falls under the category of light pop or even easy listening, but there are some great gum tracks mixed in ("I Can Feel Your Heartbeat" being my fave).  I mix questionable stuff into my gum playlists, but to me it fits.  Stuff like Blondie, Bonnie Hayes & The Wild Combo, Go-Go's, etc.  



Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

I think "Crazy Horses" was also done by Redd Kross but I'm not sure.

Yep, Redd Kross did a cover of Crazy Horses when they were putting Third Eye together.  There's a release (probably unofficial) called Third Eye Demos that has the track.  I got an MP3 of the song off a website someone attached to Redd Kross was running way back when.  Love their covers.  Especially "Dancing Queen" and "Pretty Please Me".  

Bubblegum is my semi-guilty pleasure.  I was just the age they were aiming at when a lot of it first came out in 1969.  Still love The Archies and 1910 FGC (and even got to see them in concert opening for The Monkees, though who the hell knows who was actually in the "band" that night), Ohio Express, a lot of the one hit wonders and, most of all, The Cowsills.  Something about them always made me very happy.  And "Mr. Flynn" was a pretty great tune I still have to hear often.  I even like The Partridge Family, which makes a lot of people assume I wear a foil hat.  I know most of the stuff released by that faux band falls under the category of light pop or even easy listening, but there are some great gum tracks mixed in ("I Can Feel Your Heartbeat" being my fave).  I mix questionable stuff into my gum playlists, but to me it fits.  Stuff like Blondie, Bonnie Hayes & The Wild Combo, Go-Go's, etc.  



Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

I think "Crazy Horses" was also done by Redd Kross but I'm not sure.

Fuck, yeah! The Ramones could be called a bubblegum group, covering Indian Giver, and they had those beats.

Also, there's that Ohio band that did the Standells 'Try It'.

So many of the original punks remember that stuff from their childhood, it stuck with them.

There's a band now called Pink Filth who do all of that stuff, but put it through effects/pitch shifter boxes. LP is 17 Bubblegum Smashes, plus 1 45 where they sing the lyrics of 'Convoy' to the tune of  'Funky Cold Medina'. (useless trivia: they have a found-noise band called Crevice Worship. TMI?).

And the Queers and any band that came after them may have put too much bubblegum into their stuff.

It's very possible.

Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

I think "Crazy Horses" was also done by Redd Kross but I'm not sure.

John Battles said:

YEAH , EXACTLY. THERE WAS ALWAYS A CONNECTION BETWEEN BUBBLEGUM AND PUNK/NEW WAVE /WTF.      The very first song The Cramps recorded was "Quick Joey Small". Slaughter and The Dogs did it later. Talking Heads did "1-2-3 Red Light", MANY bands did Yummy , Yummy , Yummy , of course , Like The Nervebreakers and even The Residents , but , Lithium Xmas ' Heavy Psych version of "Green Tambourine" must be heard too be believed. The Osmonds' departure from their stereotype BUBBLEGUM IMAGE, "Crazy Horses" was covered by Alexander Harvey , James Last ( of course) , Demented are Go , Tank , and some outfit on Wax Trax records. Wax Trax was one of the greatest record stores in the world , but , you invariably had to hear Industrial Dance music  from their label.

Once , an employee tried to scratch a record along to a Gene Vincent and The Blue Caps album. I looked at him , and said "Sacrilege" . He stopped.
 
Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

The Ramones did more than their fair share of bubblegum covers when starting out and also recorded a couple of classics (Indian Giver, Little Bit O'Soul) and a lot of decent 80s garage bands threw in a bublegum song or two into their set.  There's a lot of good stuff out there whether or not it's by studio musicians.  Sometimes it's the song, not the singer that should be listened to.

I think "Crazy Horses" was also done by Redd Kross but I'm not sure.

John Battles said:

YEAH , EXACTLY. THERE WAS ALWAYS A CONNECTION BETWEEN BUBBLEGUM AND PUNK/NEW WAVE /WTF.      The very first song The Cramps recorded was "Quick Joey Small". Slaughter and The Dogs did it later. Talking Heads did "1-2-3 Red Light", MANY bands did Yummy , Yummy , Yummy , of course , Like The Nervebreakers and even The Residents , but , Lithium Xmas ' Heavy Psych version of "Green Tambourine" must be heard too be believed. The Osmonds' departure from their stereotype BUBBLEGUM IMAGE, "Crazy Horses" was covered by Alexander Harvey , James Last ( of course) , Demented are Go , Tank , and some outfit on Wax Trax records. Wax Trax was one of the greatest record stores in the world , but , you invariably had to hear Industrial Dance music  from their label.

Once , an employee tried to scratch a record along to a Gene Vincent and The Blue Caps album. I looked at him , and said "Sacrilege" . He stopped.
 
Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

The Ramones did more than their fair share of bubblegum covers when starting out and also recorded a couple of classics (Indian Giver, Little Bit O'Soul) and a lot of decent 80s garage bands threw in a bublegum song or two into their set.  There's a lot of good stuff out there whether or not it's by studio musicians.  Sometimes it's the song, not the singer that should be listened to.

YEAH , EXACTLY. THERE WAS ALWAYS A CONNECTION BETWEEN BUBBLEGUM AND PUNK/NEW WAVE /WTF.      The very first song The Cramps recorded was "Quick Joey Small". Slaughter and The Dogs did it later. Talking Heads did "1-2-3 Red Light", MANY bands did Yummy , Yummy , Yummy , of course , Like The Nervebreakers and even The Residents , but , Lithium Xmas ' Heavy Psych version of "Green Tambourine" must be heard too be believed. The Osmonds' departure from their stereotype BUBBLEGUM IMAGE, "Crazy Horses" was covered by Alexander Harvey , James Last ( of course) , Demented are Go , Tank , and some outfit on Wax Trax records. Wax Trax was one of the greatest record stores in the world , but , you invariably had to hear Industrial Dance music  from their label.

Once , an employee tried to scratch a record along to a Gene Vincent and The Blue Caps album. I looked at him , and said "Sacrilege" . He stopped.
 
Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

The Ramones did more than their fair share of bubblegum covers when starting out and also recorded a couple of classics (Indian Giver, Little Bit O'Soul) and a lot of decent 80s garage bands threw in a bublegum song or two into their set.  There's a lot of good stuff out there whether or not it's by studio musicians.  Sometimes it's the song, not the singer that should be listened to.

THE DEAL WAS , JUST  LIKE ALL THE GREAT 50'S NOVELTY ROCK RECORDS ,

THE 60'S BUBBLEGUM ERA HAD SOME BRILLIANTLY CRAFTED SONGS THAT DEFY YOU TO GET 'EM OUT OF YOUR HEAD

!Jersey City Mods said:

The "How Not to be Seen" sketch and the whole band was hiding in crates.

Rev. Norb said:

I dunno, but it was a crate singing it...or a guy hiding in a crate singing it.

Ditto on "Little Willy" as an apparent return to musical sanity back in the day!!!

Norb

John Battles said:

OK , I also remember The Beatles , but "Yummy Yummy Yummy" was THE CUT , as the hip flipster kiddies say , today.   I took to "Little Willy" a few years later , because it sounded like a Kasenetz - Katz CREATION TO ME AT THE TIME.....Not knowing The Sweet had already gone thru Bubble Gum , and the material on their (US) first LP actually shocked DJs and critics with how far they'd come from Bubble Gum...and would , still.
 
John Battles said:

me , too !

doornail said:

Yummy, Yummy, Yummy I got love in my tummy for Bubblegum Music. The first music I remember as a wee lad.  

OK , I also remember The Beatles , but "Yummy Yummy Yummy" was THE CUT , as the hip flipster kiddies say , today.   I took to "Little Willy" a few years later , because it sounded like a Kasenetz - Katz CREATION TO ME AT THE TIME.....Not knowing The Sweet had already gone thru Bubble Gum , and the material on their (US) first LP actually shocked DJs and critics with how far they'd come from Bubble Gum...and would , still.
 
John Battles said:

me , too !

doornail said:

Yummy, Yummy, Yummy I got love in my tummy for Bubblegum Music. The first music I remember as a wee lad.  

I have a copy of it , but , have'nt seen it in a while....It's supposed to be a TV show , and the crate part is probably correct , bu t, not ingrained in my memory....The camera just pans in and out at ....no one. YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY....It was'nt a very old song , yet , then. theirs was a studio re-recording . Not bad , at that. Look up "Do Not Adjust Your Set" with Eric Idle and The Bonzo Dog Band doing "Captain Fantastic" with extras dressed as Batman , Superman , etc.
 
Chris Henniker said:

"Yummy, Yummy, Yummy" was featured in a Monty Python sketch, which one was it?
 It's been a while since I saw it.
Rev. Norb said:

Not surprisingly, i endorse bubblegum music. I was fortunate/unfortunate enough to have been 3 or 4 when the bubblegum counterrevolution hit at the end of the sixties, and two of my favorite songs of all time to this day are "Yummy Yummy Yummy" and "Chewy Chewy." Huzzah!

me , too !

doornail said:

Yummy, Yummy, Yummy I got love in my tummy for Bubblegum Music. The first music I remember as a wee lad.  

That's right, "How Not To Be Seen!"

The "How Not to be Seen" sketch and the whole band was hiding in crates.

Rev. Norb said:

I dunno, but it was a crate singing it...or a guy hiding in a crate singing it.

I dunno, but it was a crate singing it...or a guy hiding in a crate singing it.

"Yummy, Yummy, Yummy" was featured in a Monty Python sketch, which one was it?
 It's been a while since I saw it.
Rev. Norb said:

Not surprisingly, i endorse bubblegum music. I was fortunate/unfortunate enough to have been 3 or 4 when the bubblegum counterrevolution hit at the end of the sixties, and two of my favorite songs of all time to this day are "Yummy Yummy Yummy" and "Chewy Chewy." Huzzah!

Not surprisingly, i endorse bubblegum music. I was fortunate/unfortunate enough to have been 3 or 4 when the bubblegum counterrevolution hit at the end of the sixties, and two of my favorite songs of all time to this day are "Yummy Yummy Yummy" and "Chewy Chewy." Huzzah!