Ron Dante is better known these days as a producer and session sidekick to Barry Manilow, but in the 60's, he created a number of novelty bands, including the Detergents, who parodied the Shangri-La's' "Leader of the Pack" with "Leader of the Laundromat", before being tapped by Don Kirshner in 1968 to be the lead vocalist for the Archies. In this clip, taken from an airing on VH1 Classic way before they adopted their current logo, Dante resorts to multiple exposures of himself, playing all the instruments (apparently Andy Kim, Toni Wine, and whomever else was in the studio with him back in '68 wasn't available) to perform "Sugar, Sugar", the Archies' signature #1 hit.
Edit: 1/31/25: Had to change the video. This version includes a side-by-side of Dante's live-action solo act with footage from The Archie Show.
2 comments:
One of my all time favorite songs!
I can't help but wonder if this was the reason why Phil Collins developed a penchant for using "clones" of himself for his solo videos.
Actually, I think Collins might've gotten the idea from Paul McCartney, whom in turn got it from some Buster Keaton silent movies.......
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