Song · The Foundations
“Build Me Up Buttercup” by The Foundations
Released 1988
“Build Me Up Buttercup” by The Foundations appears on 5 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 2001 and 2025. It was first released in 1988. Its best result is #682 on The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #5,674 indie & aaa song of all time.
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"Build Me Up Buttercup" catches the Foundations at their most buoyant: a soul single from 1968, issued on Pye and Uni and written by Mike d'Abo and Tony Macaulay. It also put a new voice out front. Colin Young had stepped in for Clem Curtis in 1968, and this was Young's first hit as the band's lead singer.
It was a smash on both sides of the Atlantic: number one on the Cash Box Top 100 and number three on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1969, number two in Britain over two separate weeks, and an RIAA gold record for passing a million American sales. It keeps getting called back for duty, from There's Something About Mary in 1998 to The Kissing Booth 2 in 2020 and a run of Geico ads, and the Wisconsin Badgers play it at every home football game.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 1595 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2007 | 886 | WTMD | WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time | 897 |
| 2010 | 825 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) | 885 |
| 2020 | 1627 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
| 2025 | 682 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs | 800 |
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