The 1910 Fruitgum Company is an American

bubblegum pop Bubblegum (also called bubblegum pop) is pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is considered disposable, contrived, or marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a rock and pop subgenre, originating in the United States ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

of the 1960s. The group's ''Billboard'' Hot 100 hits were "

Simon Says Simon Says is a children's game for three or more players. One player takes the role of "Simon" and issues instructions (usually physical actions such as "jump in the air" or "stick out your tongue") to the other players, which should be follow ...

", "May I Take a Giant Step", " 1, 2, 3, Red Light", "Goody Goody Gumdrops", " Indian Giver", "Special Delivery", and "The Train".

Career

The band began as Jeckell and The Hydes in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

in 1966. The original members were Frank Jeckell, Mark Gutkowski, Floyd Marcus, Pat Karwan and Steve Mortkowitz - all from

Linden, New Jersey Linden is a city in southeastern Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area, located about southwest of Manhattan and bordering Staten Island, a borough of New York City, across the Arthur Kill ...

. During 1967, they were signed to

Buddah Records Buddah Records (later known as Buddha Records) was an American record label founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's foun ...

, where they released five LPs under their own name and a variety of

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

, as well as appearing on the LP ''The Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus'', which sounded like the usual Buddah

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

band in spite of its promotion as a "bubblegum superjam". Their first hit single, "Simon Says", was written by Elliot Chiprut. During the recording process, the band changed the beat and patterned the song after "

Wooly Bully "Wooly Bully" is a song originally recorded by novelty rock and roll band Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs in 1964. Based on a standard 12-bar blues progression, it was written by the band's frontman, Domingo "Sam" Samudio. It was released as a sin ...

" by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. "Simon Says" soon became a success, hitting #4 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent ...

. The track peaked at #2 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and was heard in the 1968

Frederick Wiseman Frederick Wiseman (born January 1, 1930) is an American filmmaker, documentarian, and theater director. His work is "devoted primarily to exploring American institutions". He has been called "one of the most important and original filmmakers wor ...

documentary ''High School''. Members of 1910 Fruitgum Company (1966)

The band started touring, opening for major acts such as

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...

. They also released these other chart hits: "May I Take a Giant Step" (U.S. #63), " 1, 2, 3, Red Light" (U.S. #5), "Special Delivery" (U.S. #38), "Goody, Goody Gumdrops" (U.S. #37), " Indian Giver" (U.S. #5) and "The Train" (U.S. #57). The original group disbanded in 1970. In the years of 1979-1980 the band was briefly resurrected through Jolly Joyce Agency out of Philadelphia with members Chuck Allen, Fred Eyer, Tony DiNiso, Cindy Tritz, Mike Schneider and Kevin. In 1999, original member Frank Jeckell and Mick Mansueto put the act back together. As of 2019, Fruitgum currently performs its own hits, in addition to other songs from the 1960s.

Million sellers

"Simon Says" sold three and a half million. "1, 2, 3, Red Light" and "Indian Giver" each sold over one million copies. All three were awarded gold discs.

Members, past and present

Current lineup

*Frank Jeckell (Original Member Guitar and Vocals) *Mick Mansueto (Lead Vocals and Percussion) *Glenn Lewis (Bass and Vocals) *Eric Lipper (Keyboards and Vocals) *Keith Crane (Drums) *John Roginski (Guitar, Keyboards and Vocals)

Former members

*Mark Gutkowski (Original Member Lead Singer on all the hits and Hammond B3 Organist) *Pat Karwan (Original Member Lead Guitarist and Vocals) *Steve Mortkowitz (Original Member Bass Player and Vocals) *Floyd Marcus (Original Member Drummer and Vocals) *Mick Mansueto (Lead vocals) *Jerry Roth (Tenor Sax) *Bob Brescia (Keyboards, Vocals and Music Director) *Thomas "Bart" Bartleson (Drums) *Mike Edell (Keyboards and Vocals) *John Korba-Guitar/Vocals *Ralph Cohen (Douglas) (Trumpet) *Pat Soriano (Hammond B3 Organist) *Bruce Shay (Bass and Vocals) *Rusty Oppenheimer (Drums and Vocals) *Larry Ripley (Bass, Woodwinds and Vocals) *Chuck Travis (Guitar and Vocals) *Richie Gomez (Guitar and Vocals) *Michael Stoppiello (Guitar and Vocals)

1980s road band members

* Randy Monaco (Lead Vocals) * Jim Bulkowski (Lead Guitar) * Russ Hoffmaster (Drums & Vocals) * Rick Gainor (Bass & Vocals) * John Siroky (Keyboards)

Discography

Singles

Albums

References

External links

Official website

* {{DEFAULTSORT:1910 Fruitgum Company Musical groups established in 1965 Musical groups from New Jersey Buddah Records artists American pop music groups Bubblegum pop groups 1965 establishments in New Jersey