Hot, sweet, super-cool / More hits than Paula Abdul

Hey, let's check in with our trio of sweethearts and their pals (and that witch Alexandra) from Midvale, U.S.A., in the middle of the dale and just over the river and across the dale from Riverdale, which explains all those 1970s crossovers between Josie and Archie and both of their entourages. What are the odds that two relatively talented teen bands would evolve within the same county during the same era? Why, the Riverdale/Midvale/Greendale area has given rise to more bands at the same time than Seattle did during the nineties! Remember when everyone in the nation was rocking out to the macabre music of the Groovie Ghoulies? Why, sure you do. The Pussycats, the Archies, and the Ghoulies were all headliners at the Steve Jobs-founded 1976 music super concert FilmationStock. You know what they say: if you can remember being at FilmationStock, you weren't really there. Mama Bull once told me that she met Papa there for the first time. She was wearing flowers in her ears, which later, she ate. (The flowers, not her ears.) They listened to the great rock sounds of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids, The Brady Kids, The Junkyard Band, The Super Seven, and Rick Springfield.



Unfortunately, the roads aand parkways around FilmationStock were blocked by large traffic snarls caused by the Ark II, Mentor's RV, the Batmobile, the microscopic flying sub Voyager, and a cartoon U.S.S. Enterprise. Joint state governors Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott sent in Lassie's Rescue Rangers to tackle the situation. Later, Earth was destroyed, but by the star year 3732 young adventurers set forth into the stars aboard man's most magnificent achievement in the conquest of space, the man-made planetoid Space Academy.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves here. What were the kicky teens and ginchy young adults of Midvale up to in the mid-to-late 1970s? Knowing the youth of America of that time...up to no good. But at least they were doing it accompanied by the rich delicious taste of Hostess Snack Cakes: Twinkies, Fruit Pies, Cupcakes, and Ding Dongs, which were known west of the Mississipi as King Dons. (That's why the Archie/Valerine romance will never truly work out...he calls 'em Ding Dongs and she calls 'em King Dons.)

So, let's find out what our Terrific Trio is up to! Take it away, Josie Jones James McCoy, Valerie Brown Smith, and Melody Jones Valentine are up to! If we're lucky, we'll also catch up on Melody's delightful alien companion Bleep, or maybe Alexandra's cat Sebastian, a generation's old warlock trapped in cat form. (It's canon, fanboys!) Whatcha up to, girls?:




Inspired by the famous Billie Jean King/Bobbie Riggs match of '73, Midvale hosts Battle-of-the-Sexes Soccer!

Ad from Betty and Veronica #264 (December 1977)


Before Xanadu, Josie taught us the XanaDON'Ts of roller disco!

Ad from Betty and Veronica #290 (February 1980)


Oh yes, it's true...everybody was kung-fu fighting!

Ad from Betty and Veronica #274 (October 1978)


The seventies...when it was still absolutely okay to make dumb blonde jokes!

Ad from Betty and Veronica #282 (June 1979)


But, you may be asking by now, Marvel and DC superheroes used their Hostess cakes to fight crime. The Pussycats never did that, you tell me? Au contraire, savoir faire!

Ad from Betty and Veronica #288 (December 1979)


So, to sum up: Moist chocolate cakes. Baked pies with delicious fruit fillings. Golden sponge cake with smooth cream inside. Is there any other kind of cake that Hostess served up in the 1970s?

Oh, yes...

CHEESECAKE!


Ad from Betty and Veronica #286 (October 1979)

Play us off, Keyboard (Pussy)Cats!