Re: Flo & Eddie

In my very early teens I used to dig listening to my friend’s dad’s copy of Illegal, Immoral & Fattening, eventually leading me to track it down myself and listen to it for years. Initially, I liked it ‘cos I got away with listening to swearing and dirty stuff and that suits young immature blokes, then, I kinda got into some of the song for real, even leading to doing a cover of “Livin’ In The Jungle” in a bygone band.
Now, it’s been bought to my attention that they’re touring here with …. erm …. Three Dog Night.
Has anyone seen Flo & Eddie/The Turtles live anytime recently and if so, would they do any of the Illegal, Immoral & Fattening material? Or just the cheesy stuff?

they did a free concert in the park 2 weeks ago in my hometown of brooklyn.

it was with the beach boys paul revere n the raiders your typical oldies kind of show.
i didnt see the concert and the feedback that i got was the turtles were in fine form and did the hits- happy together, it aint me babe, shed rather be with me. couldnt imagine that they did more then 30 minutes .
these concerts in the park are preety mainstream. i would highly doubt if they did anything thT wasnt a hit unless it wAS 1 new song to showcase

I know Flo & Eddie's singing mainly from their contributions to the classic T. Rex recordings, and later, to The Psychedelic Furs' Forever Now. I don't think I could hum you a Turtles song.

Quote

"I don't think I could hum you a Turtles song."

No?

"Happy Together?"

"Outside Chance?"

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The Turtles Present The Battle of the Bands is a very fun place to start.

Every track is an instant classic. Ahem. But it is a really great record. In fact, this is now my new Musical Grail: Find a copy of this thing on CD.

Delvin: you gotta know "So happy togetheeeerrrrrrrrrrrr" One of those unavoidable oldies-radio staples. Just heard it in a mall this very evening.

The question is, will they do any of their surf instro hits from their Crossfires days, or their Zappa/Mothers stuff? I'm guessing: highly unlikely.

Ahh, so that's the Turtles. Got ya.

I bet you've heard "Eleanor" as well and just didn't know it was the Turtles. I'd heard that song on oldies etc. radio for decades before I found out who sang it.

"Happy Together" is one of the three earliest songs that I have a concrete memory from toddlerhood of. It, "Lady Madonna" and "Young Girl" by Gary Puckett & the Union Gap - I have very hazy (yet concrete! I was always a shoegazer, I guess) memories of hearing those songs on the radio while riding somewhere with my dad & passing a line of army trucks, no doubt hauling a bunch of young men down to Scott Air Force Base to head out for Apocalypse Now.

So that would've probably been early '68 & I would've been four years old. I think it's my earliest specific memory of interacting with pop music.

And hey, it manages to tie in all the cliches of growing up in the 60s - the Beatles, Vietnam, generations and a (Union) gap.



Post Edited (08-10-10 15:27)

F&E always blew my mind because I can't think of a band I like less than The Turtles. Hate every song. I know some would disagree, but whether I'm right or wrong about that, nothing about those recordings suggest the wit and brilliance of their later contributions to other artists. Their vocals are IMO the best part of Electric Warrior. Take those out, and "Mambo Sun" and "Cosmic Dancer" would be merely awesome instead of spine-tingling.

Okay, I know "Happy Together" and "Eleanor." Both decent songs. (I prefer the version of "Eleanor" by Me First & the Gimme Gimmes, though.)

Flo & Eddie are great. It's not about the Turtles so much as their "Flo & Eddie" act which they've been honing for decades, and spun-off from Frank Zappa. It's a highly professional music/psychedelic-comedy review with a merryprankster vibe; entertainment-based, worth seeing in that context.

The "turtles" thing is really just to get people in the door. (Though they were in that band, and still play the hits, they didn't write those songs and never even got paid, or some such; hence they legally had to take the names "eddie" and "florescent leech" when performing.) Kaylan used to have a funny website/blog (in the web1.0 context).

Maybe it's still around?:
[www.howardkaylan.com]

Do they still do that medley of songs they sang back up on, and when they get to the choruses, they just sing their parts? I always thought that was really cool.

A couple other cool Turtle facts is that their 1969 album Turtle Soup was produced by none other than Ray Davies, fresh off the VGPS & that their last single "Lady-O" was written by Judee Sill.

Their last Top 40 hit "You Showed Me", was written by Gene Clark for the Byrds (whose version never made it to a regular Byrds album). It was originally done in a fast tempo but when Chip Douglas performed it for Howard & Mark, it was in a slower tempo since the organ he performed it on was broken, thus giving them the inspiration for their arrangement.

Rhino came out with a documentary about them in the early 90s that was pretty good & included videos of their songs & an humorous explanation by Howard & Mark of their financial & managerial situation, as well as their visit at the White House since one of Nixon's daughters was a fan.

I saw them perform at the Topsfield (MA) Fair in 1999. They were pretty good. I remember someone asking for Flo & Eddie material & they responded by saying that they didn't do it since it was a "family audience". I brought two Turtles CDs to be autographed, which Mark did but Howard didn't for some reason.

My brother, who is into oldies and that's it, went to a couple of "Hippiefest" concerts for two consecutive years and both times the Turtles played. If they had stuck to the hits, they would have been fine, but there was so much schtick in their act that Schecky Greene would have been embarassed to do their jokes. Things like, we used to do drugs to get high, now we do drugs to go to sleep, that wasn't the punchline, but you get the idea.

It was an act, one they must do at corporate parties, free shows, etc. Pretty lame.

I happen to like their music, and if they had stuck to that it would have been just fine.

Badfinger/Joey Molland played both times, too, and his four songs, the hits, were great.

Jay

I've always liked the Turtles. When Rhino tried to push their re-released albums the same way they did the Monkees, I bought them and liked them all.

I wish I liked the Flo and Eddie Zappa years more. I mean, I get that the whole thing is a parody of "the rock and roll lifestyle" and "rock concerts" in general, but it still isn't that good. The Playground Psychotics CD actually makes a lot of sense of it, but still...myeh.

And avoid the 200 Motels DVD that's out. The picture quality is fair at best, and the director is trying to make it seem like the whole thing was his idea, and Frank was just there with some ideas. I know that's the opposite of how Zappa himself said it happened, but this guy just contradicts a bunch of well-researched stuff.