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The Monkees passed on the opportunity to record “Sugar, Sugar,” which became a huge hit for The Archies. Subsequently, The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz recorded a solo version of the song. Dolenz’s rendition added new lyrics. Dolenz called his cover of “Sugar, Sugar” “dirty” and he liked it a lot.

The Monkees' Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork on a boat
The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork | NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

Micky Dolenz revealed why The Monkees didn’t record The Archies’ ‘Sugar, Sugar’

During an interview with MusicRadar, Dolenz explained why The Monkees didn’t record The Archies’ 1969 single “Sugar, Sugar.” “As you know, [The Monkees’ producer] Don Kirschner presented that as [our next] tune,” Dolenz recalled. “I was going to record it. That’s when Mike Nesmith led the palace revolt and we fought for the right to have at least some sort of control over the music. I didn’t go to the session — I’d gone to England, and that’s when I met The Beatles.”

During an interview with HuffPost, Dolenz discussed collaborating with producer David Harris on the 2012 album Remember. Dolenz explained why a cover of “Sugar, Sugar” appeared on Remember. “I told [Harris] the story of ‘Sugar Sugar,’ and he said, ‘That’s a great story. I’d really like to try and come up with an idea for that,'” Dolenz recalled.

How The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz changed the song

Dolenz didn’t want to record “Sugar, Sugar” at first. “I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me! I can’t do ‘Sugar Sugar,'” he recalled. “But now it’s one of my favorite tracks.”

Dolenz liked “Sugar, Sugar” even though The Monkees turned it down. “You know, the song’s not a bad song, and I love the version that we’ve done,” he said. “It’s a rude song [laughs] — it’s pretty dirty.” Dolenz’s “Sugar, Sugar” includes has different instrumentation from The Archies’ version. Dolenz sings “Pour a little sugar on it, yeah!” in an enthusiastic way and his vocals are breathy at times.

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The way the world reacted to The Archies’ Sugar, Sugar’

The Archies’ “Sugar, Sugar” became a massive hit. In 2018, Billboard released its list of the 600 most successful songs in the history of the chart. Billboard ranked “Sugar, Sugar” No. 81 on the list. “Sugar, Sugar” appeared on the album Everything’s Archie. Everything’s Archie peaked at No. 66 on the Billboard 200, remaining on the chart for 36 weeks.

“Sugar, Sugar” became a hit in the United Kingdom as well. According to The Official Charts Company, the song spent 26 weeks on the chart. It was No. 1 for eight of those weeks.

Notably, Everything’s Archie did not chart in the U.K. A remix of “Sugar, Sugar” charted at No. 91 in 1987. None of The Archies’ other songs charted there. “Sugar, Sugar” remains a classic bubblegum pop hit and it has an interesting connection to The Monkees.

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