When the No. 1 success of “Sheila” launched Tommy Roe’s career in 1962, it did so with the help not just of radio, but two of radio history’s biggest names. In 1960, Roe promoted his first version of “Sheila” on Baltimore’s Buddy Dean Show. Two years later, then-WGST Atlanta DJ Paul Drew booked him for a local dance party that led to meeting producer Felton Jarvis, signing to ABC, and re-recording “Sheila,” initially the B-side of “Save Your Kisses.”
Drew was later the PD of CKLW Detroit and group PD of the Top 40 dominating RKO stations, making him one of the most influential PDs of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Dean came back into the picture by flipping “Save Your Kisses” and breaking the new version of “Sheila.” Dean remained a prominent DJ and later station owner, but he is best known to this generation as the inspiration for the movie Hairspray.
At the time, “Sheila” represented one of several turning point moments for Top 40 music, then recovering from its first doldrums, a 2-3 year stretch where the hits were often MOR’ish (even by teen acts) or folky. In 1962, the obvious comparisons were with Buddy Holly, but “Sheila” had a through-line to Roe’s mid-to-late ‘60s hits like “Sweet Pea” and “Dizzy” that helped define bubblegum, even before it had a name (or, for some, an epithet).
“Sweet Pea” and “Hooray For Hazel” hit at a moment in 1966 where almost everything on Top 40 radio was great. A few years later, hits like “Jam Up and Jelly Tight” were pop music asserting itself as Album Rock radio encroached. As a body, they all remain among my favorite records of the era and some of the best produced.
Roe retired from live shows in 2017 but has been recording prolifically in recent years. In June, he released Bubble Pop Rock, a 13-song compilation that highlights updated versions of songs spanning Roe’s career, along with a few covers that are of a piece with his hits, such as “Sugar Sugar” or the Andy Kim arrangement of “Baby I Love You.” But it follows Roe through his Country-tinged pop of the mid-‘70s and the ‘80s when he returned to radio as a Country artist, cracking the top 40 in 1986 with “Let’s Be Fools Like That Again.”
Roe also has two new holiday songs. “Son of God King of Kings” was recorded in Nashville in the mid-‘00s but just remixed and remastered at his Los Angeles studio. (It’s part of the New Holiday Songs 2025 playlist. It can also be downloaded here through PlayMPE.) This morning, he released “If I Could Spend Christmas with You,” co-written in the ‘80s with “Dizzy” co-writer Freddy Weller (later a Country hitmaker as well). Roe also has a new album in the works for early 2026.
There’s also a through-line from late ‘60s bubblegum to Top 40’s most recent moment of dominance, both in terms of structure and energy level. (“Turbopop” is this column’s early ‘10s coinage for the EDM-influenced pop hits of that era, but it’s a fair description of “Sheila” as well.) Where late ‘00s/early ‘10s pop differed most was in the critical reaction to the genre—it was no longer the music that nobody liked except the audience.
The current artist Roe most appreciates is Taylor Swift. “I really appreciate her creativity and songwriting ability. It’s probably hard for most people to comprehend what a gift it is to put words to music in a way that connects with so many. She has mastered that gift at a level that very few songwriters reach. I adore talent in any genre and try to learn more about my craft from their expertise. It’s just part of my DNA.” So, he says, is being in the studio. “I will continue to write and record new music as long as possible.”
Here’s Roe’s track by track rundown of the songs on Bubble Pop Rock and their history.
“You Might as Well Forget Him”—”Written by me in 1963 and originally recorded by the Tams. It was also recorded by British artist Tommy Quickly and numerous reggae bands. One of my favorite versions was by Jimmy Hughes, produced by Rick Hall at FAME studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala. I recorded it myself in 1963 but have been unable to find the original version.” The recent re-recording was produced in Nashville with friend Cliff Goldmacher.
“Kick Me Charlie”—Roe’s 1966 “It’s Now Winter’s Day” is a collector’s favorite, a psychedelic departure from the hits that came before and after. This bluesy B-side was a departure, too. Re-recorded in the mid-‘00s.
“Dizzy”—Roe has rerecorded the 1969 No. 1 several times. Co-writer Weller did the track in Nashville. He added vocals in California.
“Heather Honey”—The 1969 follow-up to “Dizzy.” Recently re-recorded at the suggestion of Orlando-based friend and producer Mike Franklin for 2023’s Here to Here album.
“Sugar Sugar”—A megahit for Roe’s friend Ron Dante as the vocalist of the Archies about six months after “Dizzy” and “one of my favorite bubblegum recordings.” Roe first recorded it in the mid-‘70s with Steve Clark who produced Roe’s “Sweet Pea” and “Hooray for Hazel.”
“Baby I Love You”—Written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich for the Ronettes, but an even bigger hit for Andy Kim during bubblegum’s peak moment. “One of my favorite songs from the ‘60s and recorded on the same session as ‘Sugar Sugar.’”
“Jam Up and Jelly Tight”—Roe calls it “without a doubt quintessential bubblegum.” Roe’s most lyrically provocative hit, a reflection of bubblegum becoming raunchier over its initial several years’ lifespan. Also co-written with Weller, it was top 10 in early 1970. Followed by the equally great and equally suggestive “Stir It Up and Serve It.”
“Memphis Me”—First recorded for the MGM South label in 1973 as Roe was segueing from pop to Country.
“Megin”—Written in 1978, when Roe was charting with Country remakes of the Bee Gees’ “Massachusetts” and Arthur Alexander’s “You Better Move On.” Not recorded until 2017.
“Dreaming Again”—Also written in 1978. It was released on Warner/Curb and reunited Roe with producer Steve Barri.
“I Can Be a Hero for You”—A gem from Roe’s mid-‘80s Country period of chart singles on Curb/MCA and Mercury. “I wrote and recorded it in Atlanta at Buddie Buie’s Studio One in 1986. I had forgotten about this song until I recently discovered the master in my files. It’s a different style for me, and probably why my record company never released it.” Heard now, however, it very much reflects the thread of early ‘60s rock that was running through Country music in that era.
“Love Is Knocking”—From the same session as “I Can Be a Hero for You.” Unreleased until Bubble Pop Rock.
“Without Her”—The most recent composition, written and recorded with Franklin in 2005.
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