Sweet Inspiration: Bubblegum Soul From The Seventies

Photo by Caju Gomes on Unsplash

Pop radio in the 1970s was a delightfully diverse thing. Tune in your transistor to a Top 40 station and you’d hear everything from easy listening to acid rock. But lost amidst the mythology of that tempestuous time are dozens of sweet, catchy, lightning-in-a-bottle hit records. Nowadays we call them bubblegum or sugar pop. It is a genre of pop music with an upbeat sound contrived and marketed to appeal to pre-teens and teenagers, which may be produced in an assembly-line process, driven by producers and often using unknown singers. In short, songs that were meant to become hits or at least meant to enjoy a large audience. So in a way the premanufactured sound of Motown (“the hit factory”) and even the Philly sound of Gamble and Huff could be called bubblegum for a great part as well, although there are many exceptions, of course. Best example of Motown’s bubbblegum are the Jackson 5 who did not play and hardly sang themselves (The Ron Hicklin Singers did) on their first records. They eventually left the company to gain more artistic freedom.

Bubblegum's classic period ran from 1967 to 1972. A second wave of bubblegum began two years later and ended in 1977, when disco took over. Some of the sugar pop artists scaled the upper reaches of the charts and were never heard from again, others became successful in other genres, like disco, soul and even hard rock. Before they became an archetypical rock band, The Sweet (what’s in a name?) recorded a couple of sugar pop songs and they even made a cover version of the Motown classic Reflections, which sounds pretty good. Another Motown inspired song is Highwire by Linda Carr, written by Kenny Nolan. It reached number 15 on the U.K. charts and was followed by a handful of singles that were less successful.

Enjoy these soulful sweets from the seventies!

Tracklist:

Johnny Johnson And The Bandwagon ‎– Sweet Inspiration (1970)
C.J. & Co. – Brassband (1970s)
New York City – I'm Doin’ Fine Now (1973)
The Drifters ‎– There Goes My First Love (1975)
Linda Jones & Whatnauts ‎– I'm So Glad I Found You (1972)
Jim Gilstrap ‎– Swing Your Daddy (1975)
The Sweet – Reflections (1971)
Brown Sugar ‎– The Game Is Over (1976)
The New Birth – Never Can Say Goodbye (1971)
The Jackson 5 ‎– I Found That Girl (1970)
Honey Cone ‎– Sittin' On A Time Bomb (Waitin' For The Hurt To Come) (1972)
Linda Carr & The Love Squad ‎– Highwire (1975)
The Tymes ‎– Ms. Grace (1974)
The Three Degrees – Can’t You See (What You’re Doing To Me) (1973)
Mac And Katie Kissoon – Sugar Candy Kisses (1974)
The Fantastics ‎– Something Old, Something New (1971)
Billy Butler ‎– Sugar Candy Lady (1977)
Double Exposure ‎– My Love Is Free (1976)
First Choice ‎– Indian Giver (1977)
The Real Thing ‎– You To Me Are Everything (1976)
The Futures – Don’t Close The Book (1975)
Chairmen of the Board – You’ve Got Me Dangling On A String (1970)
Lou Christie – I’m Gonna Make You Mine (1969)
The Four Tops – Just Seven Numbers (1970)
The Friends Of Distinction ‎– Love Or Let Me Be Lonely (1970)