[3] Producer Jeffry Katz claimed credit for coining "bubblegum", saying that when they discussed their target audience, they decided it was "teenagers, the young kids.
[13] Most bubblegum acts were one-hit wonders (notable exceptions included The Cowsills, the Partridge Family and Tommy Roe) and the sound remained a significant commercial force until the early 1970s.
Commentators often debate the scope of the genre and have variously argued for the exclusion or inclusion of dance-pop, disco, teen pop, boy bands, and especially the Monkees.
[13] The 2001 book Bubblegum Music Is the Naked Truth rules out teen pop or boy bands as inherently bubblegum and defines the term as: The artists were typically singles acts, with songs commonly featuring sing-along choruses, seemingly childlike themes and a contrived innocence, occasionally combined with an undercurrent of sexual double entendre.
"[3] Music critic Lester Bangs described the style as "the basic sound of rock 'n' roll – minus the rage, fear, violence and anomie".
British bubblegum was born out of the same talent glut of session musicians and songwriters and shared a sweet tooth, but it was quite different in approach, owing rock almost nothing and rarely placing much of a premium on kid energy."
Producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz have claimed credit for coining "bubblegum" for this music, saying that when they discussed their target audience, they decided it was "teenagers, the young kids.
[16] Robin Carmody of Freaky Trigger writes that British bubblegum from 1968 to 1972 was distinct from the "more worldly and sophisticated American equivalent" by being "simplistic, childish, over-excited, innocent, full of absolute certainties and safe knowledges", while noting that it "essentially bridged the gap between the poppier end of the mid-60s beat boom and glam rock".
Most bubblegum acts were one hit wonders (notable exceptions included the Partridge Family and Tommy Roe) and the genre remained a significant commercial force until the early 1970s.
[17] Although it is rarely acknowledged by music critics, who typically dismissed the genre, bubblegum's simple song structures, upbeat tempos, and catchy hooks were carried into punk rock.
[19] The Ramones were the most prominent of the bubblegum-influenced punk bands, adopting cartoon personae and later covering two bubblegum standards "Little Bit O' Soul" and "Indian Giver".