The Foundations - "Build Me Up Buttercup" (1968)

The Foundations were a British soul band, active from 1967 to 1970. The group, made up of West Indians, White British, and a Sri Lankan, are best known for their two biggest hits, "Baby Now That I've Found You" (a Number One hit in the UK Singles Chart and Canada, and subsequently Top 10 in the US), written by Tony Macaulay and John MacLeod; and "Build Me Up Buttercup" (a number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 in Canada), co-written by Macaulay with Mike d'Abo, at the time the lead vocalist with Manfred Mann. The group was the first multi-racial group to have a number 1 hit in the UK in the 1960s.

"Build Me Up Buttercup" is the name of a song written by Mike d'Abo and Tony Macaulay, and released by The Foundations with Colin Young singing the lead vocals in 1968. This was the third major hit for The Foundations. Colin Young replaced Clem Curtis in 1968 and this was the first Foundations hit that he sang on. It reached number 2 on the UK charts and number 3 in the US on the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for 11 weeks.

It was re-recorded in or around the late 1980s when original Foundations members Clem Curtis and Alan Warner teamed up to recut this as well as other hits of The Foundations.

In 2003, Colin Young recorded an updated version of the song backed by a choir of policemen from the Surrey police force. The proceeds from the sale of the CD go to Milly's Fund. The fund is a trust set up in memory of murdered school girl Amanda Dowler. Apparently the song was a favourite of hers. The song was used in the 1983 film Luggage of the Gods!, and featured again in movies twice in the 1990s and once in 2007.

It was covered by rock band The Goops in 1995 for the soundtrack of Mallrats, with the music video featuring View Askewniverse characters Jay and Silent Bob. Three years later, it was included (as its original version) in the 1998 film There's Something about Mary. The actors of the film also made a video for the song, with all the main actors miming to the words in character.