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Although critics and disgruntled music fans are quick to point out the shallowness of the current music circuit, shallow, sugary, manufactured pop has been a mainstay in the music industry for years. Take, for instance, the Archies. Using top Brill Building songwriters and session musicians, entertainment Svengali Don Kirshner attempted to recreate his success with the Monkees by completely fabricating a band out of the popular cartoon series. The track "Sugar Sugar" ended up being one of the best-selling singles of the '60s and opened the doors for other prefab artists like Josie and the Pussycats and Banana Splits. Musically, it was formulaic, catchy Bubblegum that dealt with weighty issues like sugar, spice and hot dogs, but it opened the industry up to the idea that music can be sold as a commodity without a genuine artist behind it -- a fact that does not go unnoticed today.
- Jon Pruett
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