The Archies were a fictional group of a garage band with the characters Archie Andrews, Jughead Jones and Reggie Mantle. They were created in 1967 by Don Kirschner, who created The Monkees, in an animated TV Series – The Archie Show.
The group was comprised of session musicians and together they had several chart hits, including their most famous “Sugar, Sugar”. Most of their songs were written by Jeff Barry.
Five decades later the Archies made a come back when Ron Dante revived the name and with two new female vocalists released The Archies Christmas Party. In 2016 the five previous Archies albums were out together and released as Sugar, Sugar: The Complete Albums Collection.
Members
- Ron Dante (lead vocals) (1968-1971)
- Jeff Barry (vocals) (1968-1971)
- Toni Wine (vocals) (1968-1970)
- Donna Marie (vocals) (1970-1971)
- Merle Miller (vocals) (1970-1971)
- Leslie Miller (backing vocals) (??-1971)
- Bobby Bloom (backing vocals)(1968-1971?)
- Hugh McCracken (guitar)(1968-1971?)
- Charles Walter “Chuck” Rainey (bass).(1968-1971?)
- Joey Macho (bass)(1969/70?)
- Ron Frangipane (keyboards)(1968-1971)
- Buddy Saltzman (drums)(1970?)
- Gary Chester (drums)(1968-1971?)
The Archies recordings
Bang Shang-A-Lang (Jeff Barry)
Truck Driver (Jeff Barry)
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