The Archies
| The Archies | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Origin |
New York City, New York, U.S. (actual) Riverdale (fictional) |
| Genres | Bubblegum, Rock and roll |
| Years active | 1968–1973 |
| Labels | RCA |
| Associated acts | Ron Dante, Andy Kim |
| Past members |
Archie Andrews Jughead Jones Reggie Mantle Veronica Lodge Betty Cooper |
The Archies were an American fictional garage band founded by Archie Andrews, Reggie Mantle, Jughead Jones, Veronica Lodge, and Betty Cooper, a group of adolescent characters of the Archie universe, in the context of the animated TV series, The Archie Show. The group is also known for their real world success, through a virtual band.
The fictional band's music was recorded by session musicians, featuring Ron Dante on lead vocals and Toni Wine on duet and backing vocals, and released as a series of singles and albums. Their most successful song, "Sugar, Sugar", became one of the biggest hits of the bubblegum pop genre that flourished from 1968 to 1972.
The Archies play a variety of contemporary popular music, consistent with the era in which the comic is drawn. They seem to have a preference for rock and roll, however.
Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge later also joined the group. Every member sings vocals, with Jughead handling the bass voice on a few tracks. Though their singing voices were soft and appropriate for pop vocals, their speaking voices are much different. The roles the teens played in the fictional band were:
The Archies were sometimes jokingly compared to The Doors, as they had no bass player; there was some confusion over whether Reggie played bass or not. In most drawings, his guitar looks identical to Archie's, making him the band's second (or co-lead) guitarist—but a number of drawings clearly show Reggie's instrument to have four tuning keys, the most common bass design. Six-string bass guitars do exist, however, and the Archies' recordings regularly featured a bass player. In more than one comic strip, Reggie is described as playing bass (although this is not necessarily canon, as storylines and hobbies/activities in the Archie world change from story to story). Finally, in the liner notes for 2008's The Archies Christmas Album, Reggie is listed as the bass guitarist.
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