The Archies

The Archies were a make-believe group based on the comic book and mid-'60s cartoon series of the same name. "Sugar, Sugar," cowritten by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim, was a #1 hit and the biggest-selling single of 1969, with 6 million copies sold worldwide. Songwriter Barry produced the Archies: studio musicians (among them Hugh McCracken, Dave Appell, and Bobby Bloom) were hired to provide the cartoon series' soundtrack. The singing Archie, voiced by Ron Dante, led his group, which included songwriters Ellie Greenwich and Andy Kim, through a number of hits, including "Bang-Shang-a-Lang" (#2, 1968), "Jingle Jangle" (#10, 1969), and "Who’s Your Baby" (#40, 1970).

Dante later produced several Barry Manilow hits and records by Cher and Pat Benatar. In 1971 he became editor of the literary magazine Paris Review. He continued to work as a composer through the ’90s. Among his most familiar recent “performances” is the “You deserve a break today” theme from McDonald’s commercials. Andy Kim went on to a successful pop career, with a number of Top 40 singles, among them “Baby I Love You” (#9, 1969) and “Rock Me Gently” (#1, 1974).

from The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001)