Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of unruly 50-year-old men arguing whether Betty or Veronica is the hottest Saturday morning cartoon character ever… in the new new media capitol of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida!
I still remember the first time I heard the song.
It was September 1969, I was a new fourth grader in Mrs. Arnesan’s class at Judd Elementary School in North Brunswick, New Jersey, riding the school bus home. We were on Black Horse Lane, then a shady, rural road, driving all the way to the end of it to drop off one of my classmates at her secluded home.
As usual when we had our regular driver at the wheel, WABC 77 AM was blasting through the tinny speakers.
Order ‘The Archies’ (Digitally Remastered) featuring singer Ron Dante, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the CD cover above!
It’s the kind of moment that sticks with you a lifetime – at least it did with me.
It also launched a million questions: How come Archie sounded so squeaky when he spoke but sang “Sugar Sugar” so smoothly? Were girls made of candy? Who was hotter, Betty or Veronica? (Okay, 9-year-old Mr. Media probably didn’t use the word “hotter,” but the intent was the same.) Did Miss Grundy look that ugly when she was my age?
In the years since, Dante – who was essentially discovered by Don Kirshner – has been a singer and record producer, having worked most famously with a young Barry Manilow, producing all of Manilow’s platinum albums and 18 Top Ten singles from 1973 through 1981. He also did production work for Cher, Irene Cara, Pat Benatar and John Denver.
Order ‘Favorites’ by Ron Dante, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the CD cover above!
moody, depressed, and angry boy that media often creates and then society wants to fix.
Nabb threw nine consecutive touchdown passes of distances of seven yards or less.