Songful Style Link Party #49: “Build Me Up Buttercup” by The Foundations

About Songful Style

Songful Style is a style challenge series hosted by Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge, Marsha of Marsha in the Middle, and Suzy of Suzy Turner, The Grey Brunette.

Each month we will share a song with the lyrics and video and we invite you to use whatever aspect of the song that inspires you to create an outfit. 

It is similar to Style Imitating Art where we use artwork to inspire our outfit creations. Except Songful Style gives you lyrics, music, video, and album artwork to inspire your fashion creativity. You may even find inspiration in a memory triggered by the selected song. It is all open to your own personal interpretation and just a fun way to discover new music and get a little bit more creative with your wardrobe.

Anyone is welcome to join us on a permanent basis or you can just play along without any obligation to do anything other than feel inspired. We are flexible and fun and just want to find more ways to play dress up because it’s what we enjoy doing! 

We will be posting on the last Monday of each month and will announce our song choice for the following month at the end of each post. You are welcome to style your own song inspired outfit and add it to the link party or link anything that you want to share even if it has nothing to do with the song.

Suzy chose this month’s song inspiration, “Build Me Up Buttercup” by The Foundations, and it seriously couldn’t make me happier because not only is a great song, it holds a very special meaning for me. Keep reading to find out why.

The Video

There is no official music video for this song, but here is a recording of a live performance from 1969.

But it was this lyric video that really inspired my outfit.

The Lyrics

Why do you build me up (build me up) Buttercup, baby
Just to let me down (let me down) and mess me around
And then worst of all (worst of all) you never call, baby
When you say you will (say you will) but I love you still
I need you (I need you) more than anyone, darlin'
You know that I have from the start
So build me up (build me up) Buttercup, don't break my heart

"I'll be over at ten", you told me time and again
But you're late, I wait around and then (bah-dah-dah)
I went to the door, I can't take anymore
It's not you, you let me down again

(Hey, hey, hey!) Baby, baby, try to find
(Hey, hey, hey!) A little time and I'll make you happy
(Hey, hey, hey!) I'll be home
I'll be beside the phone waiting for you
Ooo-oo-ooo, ooo-oo-ooo

Why do you build me up (build me up) Buttercup, baby
Just to let me down (let me down) and mess me around
And then worst of all (worst of all) you never call, baby
When you say you will (say you will) but I love you still
I need you (I need you) more than anyone, darlin'
You know that I have from the start
So build me up (build me up) Buttercup, don't break my heart

To you I'm a toy, but I could be the boy you adore
If you'd just let me know (bah-dah-dah)
Although you're untrue, I'm attracted to you all the more
Why do I need you so

(Hey, hey, hey!) Baby, baby, try to find
(Hey, hey, hey!) A little time and I'll make you happy
(Hey, hey, hey!) I'll be home
I'll be beside the phone waiting for you
Ooo-oo-ooo, ooo-oo-ooo

Why do you build me up (build me up) Buttercup, baby
Just to let me down (let me down) and mess me around
And then worst of all (worst of all) you never call, baby
When you say you will (say you will) but I love you still
I need you (I need you) more than anyone, darlin'
You know that I have from the start
So build me up (build me up) Buttercup, don't break my heart

I-I-I need you-oo-oo more than anyone, baby
You know that I have from the start
So build me up (build me up) Buttercup, don't break my heart

About the Band

Formed in Bayswater, London, in January 1967, the Foundations were a British soul band consisting of a diverse lineup of musicians from Britain, the West Indies, and Sri Lanka. Although they were primarily active for only a few years from 1967 to 1970, they attracted vast interest because of the size and structure of the band as well as their diversity in ethnicities, age, and musical backgrounds.

The original eight band members ranged in age from 18 to 38 years old and all were experienced musicians with backgrounds primarily in jazz and rock-and-roll. The first line up included West Indian Eric Allandale, who had previously led his own band, the New Orleans Knights, in the early 1960s; Pat Burke, who studied music at the London Music Conservatorium and had been playing in bands since arriving in the UK at the age of 15; Trinidadian Clem Curtis, who was an interior decorator, professional boxer, wrestler, and weightlifter before becoming a musician; tenor saxophonist Mike Elliot, who had played in various jazz and rock bands and recorded early ska and reggae records before joining the Foundations; keyboardist Tony Gomez, who worked as an architect’s clerk in County Hall before joining the band; London-born drummer Tim Harris, who was a deckhand on a merchant navy timber ship before transitioning to music; bassist Peter Macbeth was an English teacher and draughtsman in Singapore who also worked as a paperback publisher before turning to music; and guitarist Alan Warner, who was a member of various other groups before the Foundations.

The origins of the Foundations begins with the R&B/ska band, the Ramong Sound, which featured Clem Curtis as one of the lead singers along with Raymond Morrison. When Morrison went to jail, he was replaced by psychedelic shock rocker Arthur Brown, who influenced the band to begin experimenting with “underground-type music.” Later, the Ramongs tried to recruit Rod Stewart as their singer. Stewart turned down the offer because he preferred other musical genres, but his then girlfriend, Dee Harrington, ended up in the role of secretary for the Foundations’ management team.

The Foundations got their start in a basement coffee bar called the Butterfly Club in Bayswater, London. They practiced and played in the bar, but they were also the managers of the club. They performed their music every night while also handling the cooking and cleaning required in a bar establishment. They would open the bar at 8:00 p.m., play and serve their customers, getting to bed around 6:00 or 7:00 a.m. and sleeping until 4:00 p.m. to open again at 8:00 p.m. Yet, they barely made enough money to pay their rent, sometimes living off leftover food and a few pounds of rice.

Sometime in 1967, the band was forced out of the Butterfly Club by a protection racket gang, which prompted them to move next door into a run down former mini-cab office. According to Alan Warner in a 2011 interview, this run down location is where the Foundations were discovered by manager Barry Class (although some sources say the band was actually discovered by agent Ron Fairway). Over the next few years, the band’s lineup went through various changes.

On August 25, 1967, the Foundations released their first song, “Baby, Now That I’ve Found You” which did nothing on the charts for the first 10 weeks. It was eventually picked up by BBC Radio 1 which led the single to becoming wildly popular, reaching number 1 on the UK Singles Chart by November 1967. Not only did “Baby, Now That I’ve Found You” establish the Foundations as a musical group, it also established Tony Macaulay as the band’s songwriter.

Shortly after their success with this song, the band experienced some behind the scenes issues that included changes in management and law suits but they still launched a successful U.S. tour, performing in 32 states in 1968 after releasing their second single “Back on My Feet Again” that January. Over the next few months, the band would continue making music while it went through additional lineup changes, releasing their third big hit “Build Me Up Buttercup” in January 1969, which was followed by their 1969 hit, “In the Bad Bad Old Days (Before You Loved Me).”

The Foundations history is rich with lineup and management changes as well as successful and not so successful songs and musical endeavors. As of April 2024, the recreated Foundations lineup includes original member Alan Warner on guitar and vocals along with Hubert Montgomery on lead vocals, John Dee on bass guitar, Dave Lennox on keyboards, Pete Stroud on drums, and Nick Payn on saxophone.

During their extensive career through many lineup changes, the Foundations released 3 UK original albums, 4 UK compilation albums, 2 UK 7″ EPs, 2 UK 12″ EPs, 6 UK CDs, 4 US albums, and 14 singles.

About the Song

“Build Me Up Buttercup” was written by Mike d’Abo and Tony Macaulay and was released by the Foundations on November 8, 1968, in the UK, and December 3, 1968, in the US. After replacing Clem Curtis earlier that year, Colin Young sang lead vocals on the song. It would become his first hit song as lead vocalist.

For the week of November 30, 1968, “Build Me Up Buttercup” debuted at number 25 on the Disc and Music Echo Top 30 chart. It spent 15 weeks on the UK chart, peaking at number 2. The song debuted at number 84 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S. for the week of January 4, 1969, peaking at number 3 for the week of February 22, 1969, and holding that position for two non-consecutive weeks. It also reached number 1 on the Cash Box Top 100 and was certified Gold for selling over one million copies in the US.

Although “Build Me Up Buttercup” never won any noteworthy awards, it appears frequently in pop culture in various films and television shows and is played at every Wisconsin Badgers (University of Wisconsin-Madison) home football game. The Los Angeles Angels baseball team used to play the song during the seventh inning stretch of every home game, but it was eventually phased out in favor of a variety of different songs. “Build Me up Buttercup” is also the club anthem for the Shamrock Rovers, an Irish soccer club.

But most importantly (for me), this song was one of my mother’s favorites. I have vivid memories of dancing around the kitchen with her, singing the words into kitchen-utensils-used-as-fake-microphones. Whenever I hear this song, I feel the comfort and joy of my mother’s spirit around me and I can’t not sing along. What a wonderfully cherished memory to ignite for me. Thank you very much, for choosing this song, Suzy!

About My Outfit

It is that cherished memory along with the lyric video shared above that inspired my outfit for today.

My mother was a very talented seamstress who made most of our clothing when we were kids. She even created my high school prom dress from scratch. She had no sketch and no pattern, just her teenage daughter’s verbal description of what I wanted. And she totally nailed it. This is the only photo I have and it’s really blurry but you can see the dress. The back of it had a peace sign design and my date was wearing a matching cummerbund and bow tie that mom made from the fabric scraps.

My mother was my first sewing instructor, teaching me the basics when I was around 8 years old. As I got older and could afford to buy my own clothing, I lost interest in sewing. But I quickly became frustrated when I could never find things I liked in retail stores. So my mother began teaching me again. We were in the middle of a sewing project when she passed away from colon cancer (please go get your colonoscopies, dear friends) and I still wear the tunic we created together.

This outfit seemed like the perfect look to showcase for one of mom’s favorite songs because I made it myself. Plus the vibrant colors, mixed plaids, and floral prints make me smile as much as the dancing and singing flowers in the lyric video above.

I created these two pieces on a whim a few weeks ago by upcycling some items from my upcycle bins as well as pieces from my closet room that I haven’t worn in ages.

Remember the Frankenstein dress? These are the dresses I was creating a few years ago where I sew a graphic tee to a long skirt to make a dress. For this Frankendress, I used a yellow tee with an adorable mushroom graphic that belonged to Archie. Then I found this patchwork tiered floral skirt that came to me from a friend. It had a few holes and tears it and was missing the elastic in the waistband. It was so cute and matched the mushroom tee so well that I set to work repairing the holes and tears and basically removing the waistband. For these dresses, I usually cut off the waistband anyway because you need it wide enough to fit over your shoulders. I cut the tee just below the bottom of the graphic and sewed it the skirt and the dress was completed. I did goof a little bit because I actually needed to take off more of the waistband. The top tier seam hits me right at the widest part of my thighs and is a bit too tight. So I had to belt it in order to lift it to my natural waist. It should be easy enough to fix but I really like it with the belt so I may not bother.

For the duster, I used five button down shirts that haven’t been worn in a really long time. The pile included the duplicate rusty tie dye shirt that I wore for our last SIA challenge, a rust plaid shirt, a yellow plaid shirt, a blue plaid shirt with little embroidered flowers, and a dark denim ombre shirt. I cut all of the shirts to a cropped length and used the top of the tie dye shirt. Then I cut rectangles out of the remaining fabrics, keeping the hems of the bottom pieces as well as the button and button hole plackets in tact. Next I sewed the rectangles together in three long panels, two for the front and a wider panel for the back, making sure that the plackets were on the correct sides. Finally, I attached the panels to each other and then sewed the whole thing to the top piece.

I had no pattern and no tutorial, I really just winged it on this one and I couldn’t believe how well it came together. The buttons don’t all line up with the button holes, which is also a really easy fix. I just need to move the buttons so they do line up. But I don’t really like the way it looks buttoned so I may not even waste my time moving buttons.

I styled my new Frankendress and duster with my favorite floral scarf, my navy blue distressed cowgirl hat, my two-toned thrifted cowgirl boots, a mushroom necklace, a thrifted seed bead necklace, some boho earrings, and my preloved macrame belt. And then I danced around singing “Build Me Up Buttercup”! My mother would be so proud of this outfit, making it the perfect look for this challenge and one of my favorites outfits ever to date.

I hope you have enjoyed this Songful Style challenge as much as I have! Won’t you check out how my musically inspired friends have interpreted this song into an outfit. Just click the links to their blogs below for more fashion inspiration. 

Marsha of Marsha in the Middle
Suzy of Suzy Turner, The Grey Brunette

Featured Favorite from Songful Style Link Party #48: “Zombie” by The Cranberries

If you enjoyed our musically inspired outfits for this round, please come back on June 29, 2026, to see how we style Marsha’s next song choice, “Rock Me Amadeus” by Falco. These style challenges are such a great way to learn new music or revisit old songs while also viewing your wardrobe from a totally different perspective. If you are feeling in the mood for some good old fashioned dress up fun, won’t you join us for the next round of Songful Style! 

Happy styling! 

Keeping it on the edge, 

Shelbee