It all started with a cracked single of the song Eleanor by The Turtles when I was a kid. I was hooked on this band and soon got the greatest hits. They had some nice pop songs in their catalog. If you ever get a chance to see Flo and Eddie…go see them. I saw them on July 20, 1987, with many more bands…though not many original members, Flo and Eddie were there though. They kicked off the concert with Bon Jovi’s Shot Through The Hot…and said…”No no…we don’t play that crap…we play this crap” and proceeded to start playing their songs. I saw them at the local minor league baseball team’s stadium…they played at the end of the game.
This song was written by Gary Bonner and Alan Gordon…the same two who wrote their biggest hit…Happy Together.
The band was formed by Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan. They were saxophone players who did whatever was trendy in order to make a living as musicians. They were also in the choir together in high school.
They played surf-rock mostly at the time. They also played backup for The Coasters, Sonny And Cher, and The Righteous Brothers when they came through. After a while, Howard and Mark gave up the sax and became singers. They signed a deal with White Whale Records as The Crosswind Singers. When British groups took over America, they tried to pass themselves off as British singers and renamed themselves The Turtles.
Like The Byrds, The Turtles recorded a Bob Dylan song for their first single It Ain’t Me Babe and it was a hit. In 1967 they released Happy Together which peaked at #1. She’s Rather Be With Me was the follow-up single. Not a bad song to follow up the massive hit. This song peaked at #1 in Canada, #3 on the Billboard 100, #8 in New Zealand, and #4 in the UK in 1967. The two songs were on their album Happy Together. It peaked at #25 in the Billboard Album Charts…which is peculiar with you think about it…having two singles hit #1 and #3 off of that album but they were more of a singles band.
The Turtles recorded for a small record company named White Whale. They broke up in 1970 and part of the reason was to get away from their manager…who was also their first manager that got the job again.
Volman and Kaylan were very smart. When White Whale’s master recordings were sold at auction in 1974, the duo won the Turtles’ masters, making them the owners of their own recorded work. When the 80s came around and CDs were sold…they made the money and not their old record company. They also hosted some radio shows in the 70s and 80s and recorded soundtrack music for children’s shows like the Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake.
They became known as Flo (Phlorescent Leech) and Eddie. Kaylan and Volman joined Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention as Flo and Eddie because of contractual restrictions of their record company. Kaylan and Volman sang backing vocals on several recordings by T. Rex, including their worldwide 1971 hit “Get it On (Bang A Gong). Later they did the backup vocals on Bruce Springsteen’s Hungry Heart.
If you are in any way interested in watching band documentaries… watch The Turtles doc! It is hilarious. I will include the full doc above the song.
Here is the documentary…watch it if you have time. What they did to their last manager (who was also their first) is classic! Now…I hope if you didn’t read most of this…READ NOW…if you don’t do anything else today…on the video below…their documentary… GO TO 1:12:46 and listen (or just click the link)…it’s very funny and very sad…this happened all of the time. Of course they were gullible…that helped! It is only a couple of minutes and starts with them talking about their 8 managers.
She’d Rather Be With Me
Some girls
Love to run around
Love to handle everything they see
But my girl
Has more fun around
And you know she’d rather be with me
Me oh my (me oh my, I’m a lucky guy)
Lucky guy is what I am
Tell you why, you’ll understand
She don’t fly although she can
Some boys (some boys)
Love to run around
They don’t think about the things they do
But this boy (this boy)
Wants to settle down
And you know he’d rather be with you
Me oh my (my)
Lucky guy is what I am (my)
Tell you why, you’ll understand (my)
She don’t fly although she can (my)
Some girls (some girls)
Love to run around
Love to handle everything they see
But my girl (my girl)
Has more fun around
And you know she’d rather be with
Yeah, she’d rather be with
You know she’d rather be with me
You know she’d rather be with me
You know she’d rather be with me
You know she’d rather be with me
…
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Flo and Eddie knew everyone in the music business.
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Wow, that is beyond wild. Shows, an aspiring musician might be better off dropping guitar lessons and taking some business law courses instead! Cool Peanuts shirt the one had.
Pretty good song, I knew it right away but didn’t really know who it was. Seems like I heard it a lot 10 or so years back in a commercial, but I can’t remember for what.
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The manager thing is really funny…8 managers and they got the first one to begin with…for once the manager got had.
I remember this on the oldies channel in the 80s.
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That whiteboard of management history is one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a while. “Manager #1 is STILL suing us.”
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That documentary is worth a watch even if you don’t like them…that whiteboard just topped it all off.
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Great documentary, great song and record, and a fabulous back catalogue. Love flo n eddie!
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I will try to watch the doc later. This pop song is superb, firing on all cylinders. I loved The Turtles and this is the song that got me hooked on their sound. The lead singer’s voice is just right, although I don’t think the video captures it that well.
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Oh just that 5-7 minute clip of them at the whiteboard…very funny and sad lol.
I do like The Turtles… I had the Eleanor single when I was a kid…and that hooked me
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Thats right, ‘Eleanor,’ that was them too. I think the Flaming Groovies did one of their songs in the 80s(?)
(Can you give me an address for the band? I think I might be able to take-ahem, make a good manager for ’em.. Hey, ninth ones the charm! )
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That was hilarious…but sad….We could have made a lot of money off the Turtles! Or still be suing them.
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That’s a great clip and glad they have a sense of humour about it. A lot of sad stories (Badfinger) of artists that didn’t come out the other side of such a journey. I do love their music and I’ll add that doc to my growing list of musical movies to watch. Very interesting stuff!
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Yea Badfinger just got royally screwed…I won’t use the other word I wanted… You will enjoy the Turtle doc…even if you are not a huge fan. Flo and Eddie are so damn funny and they don’t take themselves seriously. Buying their masters in 74 ahead of CDs secured them for life I would imagine.
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I don’t remember exactly when I got the joke of “Elenore” but the combination of “etcetera” and “you really do me well” in a young teen romance eventually hit me. Of course her parents hate you if she’s doing you and you’re singing about it. I got to see Flo and Eddie just before they released their first album (which I then bought but no longer have). Thanks for the documentary. I had to watch it before I could comment. They walked that fine line between beautiful harmony and hokey…and they knew it and made fun of it even while they were doing it.
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Thats why I like them….they did not take themselves seriously. Glad you got to watch the doc. I tell people…even for non-fans…it’s enjoyable.
Elenore is interesting…Kaylan writing it as a parody of Happy Together with some changed chords…it worked well though.
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Well Max, you hit the spot with me again. I saw Flo and Eddie a couple times and loved their shows. They were fun and didn’t take themselves or anything to seriously. I guess that was one of the reasons I liked them. The Turtles songs are staple with me. Then the Zappa connection and then the Flo and Eddie stage. I saw them on a show where they said anybody could sing ‘You Light Up My Life’ and sound like a nice person. These guys were funny and talented. Howard Kaylan has a great voice. They just didn’t play it straight. You actually caught them. Very cool.
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I’m so glad I caught them back then. They were incredibly funny and their voices together was gold. That is great about You Light Up My Life! lol
Yea man some cousin gave me the original Elenore single and I grew up on that song….that was my entry point.
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I did a couple takes on Turtle songs. Love them.
“You light up my life ….”
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I’ve always loved the Turtles’ harmony singing. “Happy Together” remains one of my all-time favorite ’60s tunes.
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They are a fun band…didn’t take themselves seriously
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They may not have taken themselves seriously, but they sure as heck could sing!
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Yes they could! Flo and Eddie did great on Hungry Heart as well!
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They are the ultimate Sunshine Pop band, and Flo and Eddie have been around for a long time. Bless ’em…
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I loved the Turtles, and my mother even loved their music. That’s a great documentary. The conservative narrowmindedness and racism of the Midwest & South back in those days was appalling. And it’s wild to learn The Doors actually opened for the Turtles. Finally, there needs to be a special place in hell for asshole music managers, as many of them, especially in the past, were vile scumbags!
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That was a great documentary! Oh yea…the two that come to mind as far as bad managers are Allen Klein and the worse in my book…Stan Polly…the manager of Badfinger.
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