The Archies are an American fictional rock band featured in media produced by, and related to, Archie Comics. They are best remembered for their appearance in the animated TV series The Archie Show. In the context of the series, the band was founded by guitarist/vocalist Archie Andrews, drummer Jughead Jones, bassist Reggie Mantle, percussionist/vocalist Betty Cooper and keyboardist/vocalist Veronica Lodge.

The music featured in the series was recorded by session musicians, including Ron Dante on lead vocals and Toni Wine on duet and backing vocals. The recordings were released as a series of singles and albums that achieved worldwide chart success. Their most successful song, "Sugar, Sugar", became one of the biggest hits of the bubblegum pop genre that flourished from 1968 to 1973.

In 2020, a new version of the band was introduced in the TV series Riverdale, with Kevin Keller replacing Reggie Mantle. However, the band continues to appear with the five original members in the comic books published by Archie Comics. A feature film of the Archies was produced for Netflix, and was released on December 7, 2023.

History

Conception

The Archies first appeared in a comic book, Life with Archie No. 60 (April 1967). The fictional band was inspired by the success of the 1966 TV series The Monkees; in particular, Don Kirshner, who had managed the initially fictional band, wanted a musical act that he could fully control: as the Monkees were fictional but still used the real musicians' names, the musicians themselves became increasingly irritated at being micromanaged, leading to a dispute that culminated in Kirshner being fired. To avoid a repeat of the Monkees fiasco while still allowing himself full control, Kirshner commissioned a band based on cartoon characters—if the session musicians tried to rebel or leave, they could be replaced seamlessly. The early stories copied the TV show's fast cuts and action: "There were pages that had no panel-to-panel continuity at all, just pure strings of nonsense, fantasy, fourth-wall breaking, and exasperated commentary from Betty and Veronica." In the Billboard Hot 100, it was ranked as the No. 1 song of that year, the only time a fictional band has ever claimed Billboards annual Hot 100 top spot. Other Top 40 songs recorded by the Archies include "Who's Your Baby?" (U.S. No. 40), "Bang-Shang-A-Lang" (U.S. No. 22), and "Jingle Jangle" (U.S. No. 10). In 2020, Sunset Blvd Records released Ron Dante's Funhouse!, which includes some of the unreleased songs and most of the "Dance of the Week" segments, all of them pulled straight from Archie's Funhouse and The Archie Show, respectively.

Some of the group's songs have appeared on episodes of the TV series Riverdale. The group made its debut in Riverdale, in the musical episode "Chapter Seventy-Four: Wicked Little Town", for only the second time in a live-action adaptation after the television film Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again in 1990. It includes KJ Apa as Archie, Cole Sprouse as Jughead, Lili Reinhart as Betty, Camila Mendes as Veronica and Casey Cott as Kevin Keller. For the first time, Kevin Keller is part of the group, replacing Reggie Mantle (played by Charles Melton). Kevin sings and plays keyboard. The song "Midnight Radio" was included in the series' musical episode soundtrack, which was released by WaterTower Music on April 15, 2020.

Live-action adaptation

On November 10, 2021, Netflix announced the Indian live-action feature film adaptation of the Archies of the same name. The film was produced by Tiger Baby Films and Graphic India with Zoya Akhtar as director, starring Agastya Nanda as Archie, Mihir Ahuja as Jughead, Vedang Raina as Reggie, Khushi Kapoor as Betty and Suhana Khan as Veronica, alongside others. Filming started on April 18, 2022, and then ended on December 19, 2022.

The film was released on December 7, 2023.

Fictional line-up

The Archies play a variety of contemporary popular music, consistent with the era in which the comic is drawn. Most of the members sing vocals, with Jughead handling the bass voice on a few tracks. Their singing voices were soft and appropriate for pop vocals, but their speaking voices were much different, as their speaking roles were played by voice actors. The roles that the teens play in the fictional band are:

  • Archie Andrews – guitars, vocals
  • Jughead Jones – drums
  • Reggie Mantle – bass (sometimes depicted as a guitar), vocals
  • Betty Cooper – percussion, vocals
  • Veronica Lodge – keyboards, vocals
  • Kevin Keller – keyboards, vocals (Riverdale only)

One distribution mode for the Archies' music was embossing cardboard records directly onto the back of cereal boxes, which were cut out and played on a turntable (although their music was also available on standard issue LPs and 45s).

Though the group no longer appears in animation, they are still frequently used in stories published by Archie Comics. In 2020, the group made its second live-action appearance on Riverdale, with Kevin Keller replacing Reggie Mantle. In this incarnation, Kevin sings and plays keyboard, and Veronica sings only.

Discography

  • The Archies (1968)
  • Everything's Archie (1969)
  • Jingle Jangle (1969)
  • Sunshine (1970)
  • This Is Love (1971)
  • The Archies Christmas Album (2008)

References

  • The Archies