A fictional American band of teenagers based on the characters from the popular animated TV series The Archie Show, The Archies were active from 1968 through 1973 and produced a string of bubblegum hits, the most successful of which, "Sugar, Sugar," became one of the biggest hits of bubblegum pop genre that flourished from the late 1960's to the early 70's. The music was recorded by session musicians, fronted by Ron Dante on lead vocals and released as a series of singles and albums mainly produced by the great Jeff Barry under the supervision of Don Kirshner. Famous names like Andy Kim, Ritchie Adams, Mark Barkan and Bob Levine contribued to the songwriting process. "Essentials" is a comprehensive collection spanning 44 tracks recorded between 1968 and 1971 and contains all of their most popular songs including the #1 "Sugar, Sugar." All selections have been newly remastered for this exclusive release.