>>Been thinking about this for a while--Lou Christie was really the king--everything that would be bubblegum music is layed out in "Lightening Strikes"--it was really great music, disdained at the time, but the new wave in the late seventies really took a lot of the sound and made it hip--"Cruel to Be Kind" is probably the high point--<<

We've included "Lightning Strikes" as a pre-gum. I can remember Lou Christie very well. I think that power falsetto in pop naturally lends itself to bubblegum interpretations. We've also included the Four Seasons' "Big Girls Don't Cry" as a pre-gum. There's just something "kiddy" in that falsetto.

What is little acknowledged about bubblegum and where it had a tremendous, indelible influence on all contemporary music is that production values and arrangements. While it may have been contrived, quick-buck muzak, it was also extremely well arranged, recorded and produced muzak--mostly because the guys doing WERE producers (such as Joey Levine).

Did you Lou Christie did ALL his own backing vocals? The only voice you hear on "Lightning Strikes" is Christie's. For the mid-sixties, that was pretty damned advanced recording techniques. Another example is "Tracy" by the Cuff Links. This was sung by Ron Dante--the singing voice of Archie. Again, all the vocals on it are Dante. When you listen to the piece--gummy though it certainly is--you can't deny the producers did a fantastic job with it. Really, I'm awed that they could put that together like that in 1969.