Rant #3,783: Happy Together

It has been a tough couple of days in the rock and roll world, as two icons from the 1960s just passed away.

Mark Volman was the roly-poly lead member of The Turtles, and along with lead singer Howard Kaylan, the duo turned out one pop rock hit after the other in the mid-to-late 1960s, and you know just about all of them, I am certain:

"Happy Together"

"Elenore"

"She'd Rather Be With Me"

And that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Constantly mired in heated legalities with their record company, they later joined Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention, but when they learned that contractually could not use their own names, they came up with "Flo and Eddie," and that is how they were billed for decades, as they did not own their names or the name "The Turtles," or really anything related to their hit-making band.

As Flo and Eddue, they provided background vocals on many tunes, including those from Bruce Springsteen and T. Rex, and they wrote for children's shows, including "Strawberry Shortcake."

After decades of litigation, they finally gained ownership of these Turtles entities, started the highly successful "Happy Together Tour," and entered into even more litigation about the use of their songs on the airwaves, which evidently was recently settled.

Volman also became a college music professor, and took some of his students on "Happy Together Tours" with him.

All of this from the most fun of all pop bands of their era, certainly one of the templates for "The Monkees" project, and that leads us to the passing of Bobby Hart.

One half of the performing/writing/producing duo Tommy Boyce abd Bobby Hart, the duo were already successful songwriters when they wre tabbed by Don Kirshner to pretty much create the sound of the TV rock band, The Monkees.

And they did this from the get-go with good-time tunes with hidden messages buried deep in the bubblegum, including "Last Train to Clarksville" and "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone."

And as a recording duo, they had several charting singles, including "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight," and were all over TV, not only performing on several variety shows but acting and singing on "I Dream of Jeannie" and "Bewitched."

After pretty much birthing the music side of The Monkees project, Boyce and Hart moved onto other things, including writing hits for other artists, and penning the theme song for the eternal soap opera "Days of Our Lives."

The duo eventually performed with Monkees Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones, played Las Vegas, and parted ways, but Hart continued songwriting, and was nominated for an Academy Award for the tune "Over You" from the movie "Tender Mercies."

It is interesting how Volman and Hart's musical legacies were kind of intertwined, by circumstance.

The Turtles, along with Paul Revere and the Raiders--who recorded the first version of "Steppin' Stone"--the Lovin' Spoonful, Herman's Hermits and, of course, the Beatles--were certainly the templates that the creative team which created "The Monkees" used to pinpoint exactly what they wanted in this TV band, including their look and their sound, the latter of which was Boyce and Hart's job.

And the great thing about the Boyce and Hart and Turtles and Monkees music is that much of it seems so fresh today, about 60 years after the fact.

Volman and Hart will be missed, but their legacies are there for the listening.