by Steve Fuji

If I tell someone I’m a singer/musician, the first question asked is invariably “What kind of music do you do?” and the answer that I’ve come up with is “The kind I like.”
It seems to be human nature to want to define, categorize and label everything, but music, like most things in life, represents a vast spectrum of variables that make it impossible to positively and neatly fit into categories.

So then what is this music we call bubblegum? If you ask 10 people, you’ll get at least 20 different answers and most purists will be insistent that it isn’t bubblegum unless it meets their strict criteria. The factors that everyone seems to agree on are that it was intended to appeal to pre-teens and there is a tangibly recognizable sound that is sweet, upbeat, light, happy and danceable. The rest is up for debate. Many insist that bubblegum records must be credited to “ghost groups” – faceless singers with studio musicians using fictitious names, while others assert that real bands and teen idols can also be bubblegum. It is usually agreed that the classic era of bubblegum is the late 60’s-early 70’s but some people will categorize any music that fits the other criteria as bubblegum.

It may be helpful to examine when the name “bubblegum music” first came into common usage. My recollection is that it was in 1968 in connection with records produced by the team of Kasenetz and Katz on the Buddah label. The term is believed to have been coined by Buddah Records executives and inspired by the band name 1910 Fruitgum Company and song titles like “Yummy Yummy Yummy” and “Chewy Chewy.” But there was nothing unique or new about the music, the formula or their motivations for making these records. It was all part of an evolutionary process that is probably traced back to the mid-50’s, when the record industry began to recognize pre-teens as potential record buyers. And it continued with other record makers following the same formula whose product all came to be known as bubblegum music.

In 1968, I was 12 years old and thus part of the target audience for these bubblegum records. By that time, I was already a veteran collector, my life-long love of records having begun as a toddler when I was fascinated by watching records play on my grandfather’s “hi-fi” set. I had started with children’s records and grew up through The Chipmunks, novelty records, teen idols, girl groups, the British Invasion and The Monkees. Somewhere in those records may be the evolution that led to bubblegum.

So in my future blogs on this site, I will try to stay as close as I can to the generally accepted parameters that define bubblegum music, but with the awareness that there is music that may not be considered pure bubblegum by many people but will at least be acknowledged as an influence to or influenced by bubblegum.