Best Ever Albums

Re: Bubblegum Pop Favorites

roberto71 — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 00:51:15 GMT

Author: roberto71

Posted: 09/26/2025 04:51

Some more:

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Re: Bubblegum Pop Favorites

roberto71 — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 00:33:34 GMT

Author: roberto71

Posted: 09/26/2025 04:33

Some of my favorites are already here. Here's some more of the greatest ones:

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Re: Bubblegum Pop Favorites

neilgee — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 02:51:24 GMT

Author: neilgee

Posted: 08/29/2025 06:51

[quote="Johnnyo"]

baystateoftheart wrote:

albummaster wrote:

Johnnyo wrote:

T his has to be classed as Bubblegum. I loved this show as a kid

Link

\:D/

I remember watching those Banana Splits do 'Blockbuster' by The Sweet in the early 70's. I must have been about 12 but I couldn't see the point in a bad cover/straight copy like they were doing even then.

Re: Bubblegum Pop Favorites

Johnnyo — Mon, 25 Aug 2025 12:07:23 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 08/25/2025 16:07

baystateoftheart wrote:

albummaster wrote:

Johnnyo wrote:

This has to be classed as Bubblegum. I loved this show as a kid

Link

wow, used to love this as well \:D/

Fun theme! They also made one of my favorite bubblegum singles:

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Some other classic singles from bands that haven't been brought up yet:

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And there's also The Jackson 5 - many of their hits are bubblegum: I Want You Back, ABC, etc.

I’d completely forgotten about josie and the pussycats. Jackson 5! Great call.

Re: Bubblegum Pop Favorites

baystateoftheart — Sun, 24 Aug 2025 14:58:09 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 08/24/2025 18:58

albummaster wrote:

Johnnyo wrote:

This has to be classed as Bubblegum. I loved this show as a kid

Link

wow, used to love this as well \:D/

Re: Bubblegum Pop Favorites

baystateoftheart — Sun, 24 Aug 2025 14:45:28 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 08/24/2025 18:45

baystateoftheart wrote:

MadhattanJack wrote:

If I get a chance soon-ish (and assuming someone else doesn't get to it first), this comp from last year might be a good add for the BEA database — three CDs worth of classic bubblegum singles in one chewy box.

Good call on the Grapefruit compilation - was just eyeing it the other day. Placed an interlibrary loan request and will report back!

Reporting back - this is a great compilation and I definitely recommend it to bubblegum lovers!

The quality could have been more consistently strong if it were 2 discs instead of 3, but you get some cool rarities by taking a deeper dive.

Re: Bubblegum Pop Favorites

baystateoftheart — Sat, 12 Jul 2025 12:38:23 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 07/12/2025 16:38

Romanelli wrote:

It's an underrated fact that this song...

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...was the genesis of this song. The reach of bubblegum was farther than it ever gets credit far.

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Good call, totally hear the connection. Love Sugar, Sugar - an amazing song and The Archies' best. Believe it or not, this is my first time hearing Pour Some Sugar On Me... I guess I've been living under a rock 🫢

Re: Bubblegum Pop Favorites

baystateoftheart — Sat, 12 Jul 2025 12:27:55 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 07/12/2025 16:27

Johnnyo wrote:

If I were to recommend any monkees album to start with it would be

The Monkees by The Monkees

They were probably one of very few bubblegummers (I’m trademarking that term) who because an actual proper band and their later albums were more psychedelic. Another later album to try might be

Head by The Monkees

Weirder but pretty damn good IMO

Thanks! Added both to my to-do list. Love the singles from both and looking forward to checking out.

Re: Bubblegum Pop Favorites

Johnnyo — Sat, 12 Jul 2025 03:47:20 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 07/12/2025 07:47

imacgill wrote:

Link

You've got The Archies, The Banana Splits and The Monkees, so you also have to include The Partridge Family too.

Forgot about them. Absolutely needs to be included.

Re: Bubblegum Pop Favorites

imacgill — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 19:25:52 GMT

Author: imacgill

Posted: 07/11/2025 23:25

Link

You've got The Archies, The Banana Splits and The Monkees, so you also have to include The Partridge Family too.

Re: Bubblegum Pop Favorites

Johnnyo — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 13:12:30 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 07/11/2025 17:12

[quoteThe Monkees definitely have a lot of bubblegummy songs. I've only listened to them in compilation form, and love the singles. Any album recommendations?

I like The Turtles too, but not sure if I'd call them bubblegum. I've heard most of their singles, Happy Together is a really good album, and The Battle Of The Bands is on my to-do list.[/quote]

If I were to recommend any monkees album to start with it would be

The Monkees by The Monkees

They were probably one of very few bubblegummers (I’m trademarking that term) who because an actual proper band and their later albums were more psychedelic. Another later album to try might be

Head by The Monkees

Weirder but pretty damn good IMO

Re: Bubblegum Pop Favorites

baystateoftheart — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 12:11:16 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 07/11/2025 16:11

MadhattanJack wrote:

Not really - most commercial pop bands in the 60s actually had little control over their albums, as was illustrated in the movie That Thing You Do!... So the albums mostly ended up just being The New Single plus some filler, and doubt they even intended to sell that many copies.

That doesn't, or shouldn't, mean those two albums wouldn't qualify as "seminal," though, at least within the genre. Also, many people would argue that the Monkees and the Turtles (for example) were "bubblegum" bands, and while they're still best-known for their singles, some of their albums were pretty great.

Ironically the Ohio Express actually had more control over their albums than anything else. They were trying to make it as a psych band, but ended up being used mostly as a front for bubblegum studio musicians, who recorded all the hit singles. The actual band would tour regularly and only got to record the album filler. Apparently for one of their hit singles (Chewy Chewy), they weren't even aware it was recorded or released until fans started demanding it at concerts. Record company shenanigans touch all genres, but apparently were if anything more pronounced with bubblegum bands, with a pattern of the band not making the hits, being relegated to touring and recording filler, and barely if ever getting paid. For Buddah Records, home of Ohio Express, 1910 Fruitgum Company, and many more, Jeff Katz and Jerry Kasenetz were the production masterminds, and Joey Levine did lead vocals for the singles from many of their "bands."

The Monkees definitely have a lot of bubblegummy songs. I've only listened to them in compilation form, and love the singles. Any album recommendations?

I like The Turtles too, but not sure if I'd call them bubblegum. I've heard most of their singles, Happy Together is a really good album, and The Battle Of The Bands is on my to-do list.

Re: Bubblegum Pop Favorites

MadhattanJack — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 23:15:44 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 07/11/2025 03:15

baystateoftheart wrote:

...it's on my to-do list to listen to more by Ohio Express. I was going to go for a greatest hits, but would you recommend that LP instead?

Re: Bubblegum Pop Favorites

Romanelli — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 09:50:01 GMT

Author: Romanelli

Posted: 07/10/2025 13:50

It's an underrated fact that this song...

Link

...was the genesis of this song. The reach of bubblegum was farther than it ever gets credit far.

Link

Re: Bubblegum Pop Favorites

albummaster — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 04:18:06 GMT

Author: albummaster

Posted: 07/10/2025 08:18

Johnnyo wrote:

This has to be classed as Bubblegum. I loved this show as a kid

Link

wow, used to love this as well 🕺

Re: Bubblegum Pop Favorites

albummaster — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 04:11:55 GMT

Author: albummaster

Posted: 07/10/2025 08:11

baystateoftheart wrote:

Link to the original thread you're referring to?

sorry meant post not thread 🫢

Re: Bubblegum Pop Favorites

Johnnyo — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 03:38:11 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 07/10/2025 07:38

This has to be classed as Bubblegum. I loved this show as a kid

Link

Re: Bubblegum Pop Favorites

baystateoftheart — Wed, 9 Jul 2025 20:49:37 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 07/10/2025 00:49

albummaster wrote:

Bubblegum wasn't a genre I was very familiar with, but just been checking out some of the compilation albums in the original thread. Heard lots of these songs before, but never realised they were bubblegum (also hadn't realised Tiffany's '80s hit was a cover of a Ritchie Cordell track on one of those albums). I'll definitely be checking some more of these out. Good to give visibility to some of these genres and in agreement that BEA is thin around the edges in certain places.

Link to the original thread you're referring to?

Re: Bubblegum Pop Favorites

baystateoftheart — Wed, 9 Jul 2025 20:46:58 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 07/10/2025 00:46

MadhattanJack wrote:

That's a bit of a problem here, actually — if you look at the self-titled album by The Ohio Express, arguably the quintessential bubblegum album that nearly defined the whole subgenre (at least in the USA) along with "Simon Says" by the 1910 Fruitgum Co., these albums are hardly ranked on BEA at all. The former doesn't appear in a single chart here, and the latter has a Rank Score of 3.

The Ohio Express by Ohio Express

Simon Says by 1910 Fruitgum Co.

And then there's this:

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So yeah, not much love from the folks here, and I'm just as bad as everyone else when it comes to putting these albums into score-generating charts.

If I get a chance soon-ish (and assuming someone else doesn't get to it first), this comp from last year might be a good add for the BEA database — three CDs worth of classic bubblegum singles in one chewy box.

Maybe I'm part of the problem, because I haven't listened to either of those albums...

I do have the below compilation though, which I added to BEA, and it's on my to-do list to listen to more by Ohio Express. I was going to go for a greatest hits, but would you recommend that LP instead?

The Best Of The 1910 Fruitgum Company: Simon Says by 1910 Fruitgum Co.

Good call on the Grapefruit compilation - was just eyeing it the other day. Placed an interlibrary loan request and will report back!

Wow, that's a bleak sendup of bubblegum and pop culture nostalgia in general 😲

Re: Bubblegum Pop Favorites

Johnnyo — Wed, 9 Jul 2025 15:29:37 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 07/09/2025 19:29

[quote="baystateoftheart"]I've been a fan of late 60s / early 70s bubblegum pop since I was in high school, but I've been getting back into it recently (I suppose inspired by Lou Christie's passing) and listening to a boatload of bubblegum singles. It's been a lot of fun to hear more singles from familiar groups and discover some new artists.

I can't stop playing this new discovery in particular:

Link

This was one that had been buried in the far flung reaches of my brain. Having just listened to it it does bring back memories of my sister playing all of this stuff over and over again. She was a huge fan of bubblegum. Going to have to tap into her memories and share a few

Interesting thread