Today in Music (1967): The Turtles “Happy Together” hit #1

Happy Together The Turtles

Writer(s): Gary Bonner, Alan Gordon (see lyrics here) Released: January 1967 First Charted: Rebruary 3, 1967 Peak: 13 BB, 12 CB, 13 GR, 12 HR, 1 CL, 12 UK, 2 CN, 25 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 0.6 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 5.0 radio, 94.10 video, 467.65 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The Turtles were only together from 1965 to 1970 and changed membership along the way, but Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman were constants. They were friends from high school days who sang in choir together. FB Their first chart entry in 1965 was a top-ten cover of Bob Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me Babe.” After a pair of top-30 hits, they had several songs that barely made the Billboard Hot 100 or missed it completely before moving “away from their earlier folk-rock material towards the richer sound of ‘Happy Together.’” TB It gave them their first and only chart-topper. Gary Bonner and Alan Gordon, the bassist and drummer of the Boston area band the Magicians, wrote “Happy Together.” Gordon said the song grew out of an open string pattern that the Magicians’ guitarist, Jake Jacobs, used for tuning. Gordon asked Jacobs for help in co-writing the song, but Jacobs refused, thinking it was too simplistic. RC Bonner and Gordon recorded a demo at Regent Sound Studio SF and shopped it around to different bands, including the Vogues and Gary Lewis & the Playboys. TB They played it so many times that the demo was worn out and practically unlistenable. FB They approached the Turtles with it when the latter were playing at the Phone Booth, a small club in New York City. SJ They added it to their set and decided to record it once they were off the road. The “whimsical pop classic” TB has been misunderstood; even music author Dave Thompson called it “the ultimate romance.” DT However, it is actually about unrequited love. As Bonner said, it “is the fantasy of a guy obsessed with a woman who doesn’t love him.”< sup>SJ Other versions of the song to reach the chart included Tony Orlando & Dawn (#79 BB as part of a medley, 1972), T.G. Sheppard (#8 CW, 1979), Captain & Tennille (#53 BB, 1980), the Nylons (#75 BB, 1987), and Jason Donovan (#10 UK, 1991). Others to record the song include Vikki Carr, Petula Clark, Percy Faith, Melba Moore, Donny Osmond, Mel Torme, the Ventures, the Vogues, Weezer, and Frank Zappa. SF Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Turtles FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 221. RC Rod Couch (2015). The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era: 1955-2015. Page 100. SJ Bob Shannon and John Javna (1986). Behind the Hits: Inside Stories of Classic Pop and Rock and Roll. Warner Books, Inc.: New York, NY. Page 240. SF Songfacts.com DT Dave Thompson (2011). 1000 Songs That Rock Your World. Krause Publications: Iola, WI. Page 277. TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 90. First posted 9/16/2023; last updated 4/25/2024.