Flo & Eddie – Keep It Warm

When I heard this song, I had to find out who it was. I was watching Late Night with the Devil, and this song played. I finally looked at the Soundtrack and to my surprise, it was Flo and Eddie. Flo (Phlorescent Leech) is Mark Volman, and Eddie is Howard Kaylan. Mark and Howard were the two founding members of the 1960s band The Turtles. The Turtles had a large vocal sound. Kaylan is a very good singer, and when combined with Volman, it made a unique sound for the Turtles. 

After the Turtles broke up, Howard and Mark Volman went by the name “Flo and Eddie” for legal reasons (old Turtles contract). They made a career of unusual rock-comedy albums and developed a following. They immediately began playing with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention and were there when Frank was pushed off the stage at the Rainbow. They were also in the Zappa movie, 200 Motels.

Flo & Eddie were what happened when two of the strangest, funniest, and most musically savvy minds to ever pass through the Top 40 were given free rein. This song was never a hit. It didn’t even scrape the charts. But like most of the best Flo & Eddie material, it was an inside joke with enough melody to trick you into thinking it WAS a hit. It’s a song about being past your prime, sung with the kind of confidence that says you never bought into the hype in the first place. If this came on the radio between Pablo Cruise and Seals & Crofts, you might not notice anything was different until you realized it was mocking both of them while sounding just as good.

The song opens with a clean piano, all smooth and clean guitars, but the lyrics are just… off. The chorus says “keep it warm,” but what is it, exactly? A bed? A place in your heart? An old seat at the Hollywood Squares? Richard Dawson’s seat on Match Game?  Kaylan delivers it with such sincere charm that it takes a few listens before you realize it’s about disillusionment, being outdated, all the while dressed up in a Beach Boys falsetto.

The production was immaculate. Jim Pons (also ex-Turtle, ex-Zappa) lays down a bass line that fits the song perfectly. The arrangements swirl like mid-70s L.A. excess seen through a cracked, warped rearview mirror.

The song was on their 1976 album Moving Targets. 

 

Keep It Warm

Write another song for the moneySomething they can sing, not so funnyMoney in the bank to keep us warm

Stick another grape in the juicerOr fill your guts with grease and get looserYou are what you eat, so eat it warm

Roll another joint for the GipperGet the Gipper high, he gets hipperStick it in his mouth and keep him warm

Elect another jerk to the White HouseGracie Slick is losing her DormouseTake her off the streets and keep her warm (oh-oh)

Fight another war if they make youSqueal on a friend or they’ll take youThe future’s in your lap, so keep it warm

Warm, here in your arms (ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)Safe from all harm, where I belong (ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)Warm, cozy and calm (ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)Another dawn, together warm (ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)

My Woody’s broken down by the beach nowAnd TM’s gotten far out of reach nowTell the Mahareesh to keep it warm(We’re picking up good vibrations)

And George is suing Paul, suing RingoAnd immigration wants John and YokoAll they need is love to keep them warm

Kill another whale with your powerShoot a bunch of kids from a towerSnipe them in their cars, blood keeps them warm

Or make a better world from the old oneMake yourself a baby and hold oneHold her in your arms and keep her warm

Keep her warm, keep her warmKeep her warm, keep her warmKeep her warm, keep her warmKeep her warm, keep her warmKeep her warm…

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

40 thoughts on “Flo & Eddie – Keep It Warm”

  3. Pingback: Flo & Eddie – Keep It Warm – MobsterTiger

  4. I hope you didn’t literally watch TV with the devil, Max!😂

    “Keep It Warm” is a neat-sounding song. As I was listening, I was like, ‘jeez, sounds a lit like Brian Wilson.’ The next thing I hear is the line where they’re singing, ‘We’re picking up good vibrations’ – true story!

    Flo and Eddie are yet another example of a music act I’ve known by name for a long time. They entered my radar screen when I read about The Turtles. But I couldn’t name any Flo and Eddie songs. Well, now I can, at least in theory – probably until you ask me tomorrow, ‘which song did I cover yesterday’ and I’d probably scratch my head and go it was one with ‘good vibrations.’ 🙂

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    1. No…I kicked him out long ago lol.
      I got to see them as The Turtles in the mid 80s…they are a lot of fun Christian. If they ever perform near you…they are worth it.

      LOL…yea we read so many blogs that it’s hard to keep up. This one pops up at the end of the movie and I loved it. It starts playing right after a horrific scene…and you have this serene song playing lol.

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  5. I got to see them when they toured to support their first album “The Phlorescent Leech & Eddie”. They were a lot of fun.

    I think they went over a lot of people’s heads as The Turtles with lyrics like “Elenore gee I think you’re swell and you really do me well, you’re my pride and joy etcetera.”

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    1. When I was writing this I thought of you…I don’t know if we talked about them before or not. I saw them as The Turtles in the 1980s…they were a lot of fun then.
      I agree they went over most people’s head.

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  7. Ronald Reagan portrayed Gipp in the 1940 film Knute Rockne, All American, earning him the nickname “The Gipper.” “Win one for the Gipper” is a famous halftime speech given by Knute Rockne, coach of the Notre Dame football team, in 1928.

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    1. Oh that is right! He did play him. Did you ever see Flo and Eddie Jim? For some reason I thought you did.
      I saw them with the Turtles in the 80s.

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  10. “Get the Gipper high, he gets higher”. Max you’re a beauty. I have this record and I am a longtime fan. A sense of humor always goes a long way with CB and these guys were fun. People throw good voices around Kaylan is right up there with me. I feel good when I hear these guys. I was wearing boot runners and t-shirts and eating Cheese-Whizz Skyscrapers when I got into these guys. I’m in a good mood now. I will not turn on the TV today.

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    1. I thought you would be a fan of these guys outside of the Turtles as well. It’s hard not to like them. You just gave me a great name for a band that I’ll use if given a chance. “Cheese-Whizz Skyscrapers”…. Oh their voices sound so damn good and yea Kaylan is a hell of a singer. Hope this lightened your day man!
      TV will only bring you down.

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      1. I love these guys. I might have told you i caught them on a talk show and they were singing ‘You Light Up My Life”. Class clowns but very likeable. They grabbed my immature brain back then and have hung onto my immature brain ever since.

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      2. My brain as well…I think Mark lives in Franklin TN or did…he was on local television before…very cool guy.

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    1. Yes it was…very likeable. Reminded me a little of a few Zevon songs where the music and lyrics don’t match in meaning.

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  12. A perfect way to start an old cynics day… slapped a snarky smile on my mush. A handful of pre ‘Pet Sounds’ Beach Boys, a small dose of Jefferson Airplane, a smattering of post Beatles break up references, run it through a blender and voila! Flo and Eddie’s Surprise pie- right in the face.

    They are fun and talented. Musical satire can be soooo hit and miss, it’s hard to get it right. They get it.

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    1. Well Obbverse….I didn’ get a Texas Songwriter but this one is enough to keep you busy in lyrics lol.
      It really does sound like a hit doesn’t it? They are so much fun…like you said…you can go novelty really easy doing this but they keep it between the lines.

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      1. It really is a tough gig, humour in music. Few do it well and well enough to make a career out of doing it. Rodger Miller is one I can think of who was more about the humour than the music side, there are more artists stronger on the music side but with good observations a la Jim Croce. A few do the odd one that surprises you. Ever heard Dolly Parton’s ‘PMS Blues?’

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      2. Yea I agree…Roger Miller had it down pretty well.
        I’m listening to Dolly now…how could I not with that title?
        Love some of those lines… Those not afflicted with it are affected just the same
        You poor old men didn’t have to grin and say “i feel your pain”
        LOL…been there done that!
        You know it’s the same with movies. Like a comedy-horror…they are usually awful…the one that breaks through is An American Werewolf in London.

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      3. Yep, thin lines between genres and who knows which side of comedy/horror will -heh heh- bleed through?

        I might have said before but a couple we knew very well and were in synch with on a lot of levels went to see ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ on our rave reviews- and completely didn’t get it. I mean, zero. I was amazed, but that’s how it goes.

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  14. The bass line that comes in at about 25 seconds contrasts with the happy, upbeat piano at the beginning of the song. It seems like Volman and Kaylan were trying to convey that contrast throughout the song – the hopeful promises of the 60s, its music, and spiritualism contrasted with the darker themes of the war/draft, the dissolution of the Beatles, and other horrific events like the Texas Tower Shooting. They sing “shoot a bunch of kids from a tower” and then in the next verse talk about making the world a better place by having babies and “keeping them warm.” Such an interesting 70’s song laced with 60’s satire.

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    1. It really is a great song…very clever lyrics. I like posting songs that are not as well known to people and I was pleasantly surprised on the response to this one. I believe the pop people like it and the deep cut people liked it as well.
      I read Kaylan’s autobiography…its really good. Thanks for stopping by!

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  15. Pingback: Turtles – You Baby – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

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