It was by far the #1 requested song for months when I programmed HCRM in Quito.And, for the record, both Josie and the Pussycats and the Archies had singles released under their names though they were only cartoon characters (Josie) or cartoon and comic strip characters (The Archies). The Archies had the biggest bubble gum hit ever in 1969 when they took "Sugar, Sugar," all the way to #1 in both the U.S. and the UK, and it ultimately became the #1 song of the year 1969 in the U.S. per Billboard magazine.
Yet the ratings in Quito only included adults, and the over-18 listeners definitely liked it per our research. My wife and I, definitely not pre-teens, loved it then. Sample size of 2, but the station was overwhelmingly #1 in the market.It was noted in an earlier comment that these songs were aimed at the preteen set.