The 3 Best Duets Of '60s Bubblegum Pop

Though the 1960s were the decade in which the youth counterculture changed popular music forever, in many ways it was a much more innocent time — and you only have to look at the decade's penchant for bubblegum pop to prove it. Intentionally disposable, teen-oriented songs that are light-hearted and simplistic yet wildly catchy, these tracks typically focused on youthful feelings of first love and romance. Understandably, the '60s appetite for uncomplicated pop produced many effective duets, with straightforward vocal lines lending themselves well to two voices.

Here are three of our favorite '60s bubblegum pop duets. Our first pick — from the little-known duo Twinn Connexion — is unquestionably bubblegum in its upbeat tone, while the others deviate from the genre in terms of tempo but nevertheless maintain bubblegum's association with teenage themes and catchy melodies. 

Though not as well remembered today, perhaps, as some of the defining duets of the '60s such as those performed by Sonny and Cher, these tracks each have bags of charm, and it is clear why bubblegum duets found an audience among the young listeners of the era. If you remember any of these names, there's a good chance you were in bubblegum's target audience.

Made up of real-life identical twins James and Jerry Hopkins, Twinn Connexion traded in psychedelia-infused bubblegum pop with an undeniably weird edge. "Sixth Avenue Stroll," the opening track and lead single of the duo's 1968 debut album, is their best-known song, though physical copies of their work are difficult to come by. The song begins with stomps, percussive taps, and an anxiety-inducing discordant chord before the arrival of the pair's tinny vocals describing a surreal street scene populated by pretty girls and ominous men smoking strange cigars.

Fun and mischievous, "Sixth Avenue Stroll" also reveals the brattier side of bubblegum: It's as if the Beatles' "Penny Lane" had been rewritten for the Monkees, though Twinn Connexion only had a fraction of the Monkees' incredible commercial success. Their debut single also bears a similarity to the work of the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson in particular. The song was not a hit, and Twinn Connexion soon fell out of the limelight, but they maintain an enthusiastic cult following.

Baton Rouge-area vocal duo Dale and Grace were only a short-lived union, but the pair managed to score a huge No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit with "I'm Leaving It Up to You" in November 1963. A woozy waltz with delicate strings, contrasting vocals from veteran songwriter Dale Houston and teen singer Grace Broussard, and an endearingly simplistic guitar solo, it's an infectious track that stays in your mind long after its two-and-a-half-minute runtime ends.

Though arguably only bubblegum-adjacent due to the its downbeat tone, the track's sentiment — of lovers asking one another to decide the fate of their relationship — chimes well with teenage feelings of romantic angst and vulnerability, which goes some way toward explaining the song's impact on the Billboard charts. Though Dale and Grace split up after only a few more releases, with "I'm Leaving It Up to You" they delivered a classic that perfectly encapsulates the sound of the pre-Beatles era.

Another bubblegum hit — and another waltz — Paul and Paula's "Hey Paula" is a sugary teen devotional that tells the story of two teenagers who have waited to finish high school so they can be married. It may be a somewhat antiquated notion of romance nowadays, but the song certainly struck a chord when it was first released in 1962.

Paul and Paula were the stage names of Ray Hildebrand and Jill Jackson, whose self-penned song sees the pair serenading each other with voices that are clear as a bell. Just listen to how Jackson comes in for her first verse, and you'll likely feel the hairs go up on the back of your neck.

"Hey Paula" spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1963, and it also hit the top of the R&B chart — quite an achievement for the first song the duo recorded together. Though Paul and Paula split as early as 1965, their hit was well remembered, and they occasionally reunited to sing it together again.