In order to understand why "Sugar, Sugar" was so good, you have to know its pedigree. It traces its lineage back to the exceptional talents of three men, all highly respected inside the music industry. During the late '50s and early '60s, song publisher and pop music impresario Don Kirshner nurtured the talents of legendary songwriters such as Neil Sedaka, Barry Mann, and Carole King. His Aldon Music company gave the world unforgettable tunes like "On Broadway," "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do," "Up On The Roof," and "Will You Love Me Tomorrow." Credit Kirshner with the vision and dealmaking prowess that brought the Archie comic strip characters to video and vinyl. Jeff Barry, the man Kirshner put in charge of The Archies' music, crafted their million dollar sound. Barry was also a major mover and shaker in '60s rock 'n' roll. He'd burst onto the scene the very first year of that decade, penning Ray Peterson's classic tearjerker, "Tell Laura I Love Her." Three years later, he and his then-wife Ellie Greenwich almost single-handedly defined the girl group genre. Together, they wrote and/or produced "Chapel Of Love," "Leader Of The Pack," "Da Doo Ron Ron," "Be My Baby," "Iko Iko," and many other enduring hits for the likes of The Crystals, Ronettes, Chiffons, Dixie Cups and Shangri-Las, often in collaboration with eccentric masterminds like Phil Spector and George "Shadow" Morton. Barry and Greenwich even scored a pop hit of their own ("The Kind Of Boy You Cant Forget") as The Raindrops. Their success extended into the British Invasion/garage band era, with #1 smashes for Manfred Mann ("Doo-Wah-Diddy") and Tommy James and The Shondells ("Hanky Panky"). In 1965, the couple discovered Neil Diamond and produced his first nine hit singles. Whenever you hear "Cherry, Cherry," "Kentucky Woman" or "Thank The Lord For The Night Time" on the radio, you're hearing the rudiments of what would later become the Archies Sound.

The paths of Jeff Barry and Don Kirshner intersected when Barry placed some of Diamond's tunes with Kirshner's new publishing house, Screen Gems Music. At the time, Kirshner was executive producer for The Monkees' wildly popular TV show. He subsequently hired Barry to supervise the group's recording of Neil Diamond's "I'm A Believer," and as a single, it became one the biggest-selling rock platters of all-time. By 1967, creative differences had ended both Kirshner's association with The Monkees and Barry's partnership with Ellie Greenwich. Both men promptly launched their own record labels. Kirshner founded Calendar Records in July of 67, and in September, he arranged distribution through RCA Victor. Then on May 18, 1968, Billboard Magazine reported the following: "Don Kirshner is readying another TV-berthed group for the record market. Kirshner . . . is now involved with Filmation (Studios) and publisher John Goldwater in the formation of a new rock n roll music group . . . which has been created for Filmations animated "Archie" TV series. The series is set to bow on CBS-TV in the fall. Filmations Norm Prescott, Lou Scheimer and Hal Sutherland have signed Kirshner as music director of "Archie," and to build a singing group to vocalize over an animated quintet called The Archies." Not entirely true. The title Kirshner chose for himself was "Music Supervisor," and for the actual hands-on music direction, he engaged Jeff Barrys services. Kirshner and Barry shared the belief that rock 'n' roll created for children could be commercial enough to get on the radio. Together, they set out to prove themselves right. During the summer of 1968, they auditioned dozens of singers at RCA Victors Manhattan recording studios. Barry also found himself writing a slew of new songs for the TV series, even while he ran his Steed label and nurtured the recording career of his star artist, Andy Kim.