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.

 

Today in Music (1966): The Troggs “Wild Thing” hit #1

Wild Thing The Troggs

Writer(s): Chip Taylor (see lyrics here) Released: April 22, 1966 First Charted: May 5, 1966 Peak: 12 BB, 11 CB, 11 GR, 12 HR, 1 CL, 2 UK, 2 CN, 12 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 18.38 video, 96.27 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “Wild Thing” is “the foundation stone, the Rosetta Stone and the Magna Carta of rock & roll.” TC It “set the benchmark for perfect raw rock & roll and has never been bettered.” TC Chip Taylor, the professional songwriter and record producer who penned the song, said, “It’s not like the chords don’t sound like a thousand other songs. But there’s something within the simple structure that’s magical. It’s still inspired, even in its dumbness.” TC Taylor wrote it at the request of Gerry Granahan. He was producing Jordan Christopher & the Wild Ones and wasn’t happy with the songs they had. He asked Taylor if he “could give me something different, something unique.” SJ Taylor had a demo session for a country song scheduled at 5pm, but came up with a guitar riff about 4pm, hummed a song to it on the way to the studio, and let the tape roll with the plan “to do this nonsense thing and see what came out.” SJ He came up with a six-minute song and carved it down to under four minutes. He said, “I was on the floor laughing when I was through. As soon as I did it I said ‘What is this monster?’ Because, basically, it was just a guttural expression, some kind of sexual thought.” TC Taylor sent it to Granahan as promised and they recorded it, but very differently, “with horns, and changed the rhythm and stuff like that.” SJ Taylor was embarrassed by the song and glad when it wasn’t a hit. However, against Taylor’s wishes, the publisher sent “Wild Thing,” along with everything else they’d published, to Dick James Music in England. The Troggs went through about fifty songs before landing on “Wild Thing.” SJ They wanted “something unusual to kick-start their career” TB and thought “Wild Thing” just might be it. t’s “an eccentric record replete with…pauses that defiantly fall out of step with the song’s rhythmic pulse.” TB It also uses a Ocarina, which is a musical toy generally used by children. TC Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Troggs TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Page 559. 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 46. TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Pages 84-5. First posted 9/18/2023; last updated 9/28/2023.

Today in Music (1965): The Beach Boys “California Girls” released

California Girls The Beach Boys

Writer(s): Brian Wilson, Mike Love (see lyrics here) Released: July 12, 1965 First Charted: July 23, 1965 Peak: 3 BB, 3 CB, 4 GR, 3 HR, 1 CL, 26 UK, 2 CN, 58 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 5.0 radio, 21.8 video, 73.66 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The Beach Boys formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The original lineup of the pop vocal group consisted of the Wilson brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl with their cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine. They had their first Billboard Hot 100 hit with “Surfin’” from that year, then reached #14 with 1962’s “Surfin’ Surfari” in 1962, and had three top-10 hits in 1963. They racked up four more top-ten hits in 1964, including the #1 hit “I Get Around.” They topped the chart again with “Help Me, Rhonda” in 1965, followed by “California Girls” reaching #3. While the Beach Boys had bigger hits, this was one of the songs that cemented the group’s California image which focused on surfing, cars, and girls. This was “the song that confirmed California (two girls, cars, soda pops etc. for every boy) in the pop consciousness forever.” DT Brian Wilson said it was about a “guy who thinks about girls all the time…But there’s only one kind he really wants, and that’s right there at home.” SF Wilson declared this his favorite Beach Boys’ song and even considered it their anthem. WK Geoff Boucher of Los Angeles Times said the opening lyrics were “one of the most famous…in pop music” WK and biographer Mark Dillon said it was “Brian’s proclamation to the rest of the music biz that he was a composer to take seriously.” WK Wilson said the lyrics were a back and forth between him and Mike Love although Love claimed he wrote everything but the line “I wish they call could be California girls.” WK Love sang lead on the song, but it also featured Bruce Johnston on vocals for the first time. He had recently joined the group to substitute for Brian on tours. WK Different accounts suggest Wilson either wrote the song while on his first acide trip or a week later, inspired by the trip. He was thinking about women and the music from Westerns. He said, “the music started off like those old cowboy movies, when the hero’s riding slowly into town.” SF He also called it an effort to capture the feel of “On Broadway” by the Drifters. WK The Beatles parodied the song with “Back in the U.S.S.R.” Songs with similar titles also followed, including Big Star’s “September Gurls” and Katy Perry’s “California Gurls.” David Lee Roth, fresh off his departure from Van Halen, covered the song as a solo act in 1984, taking it back to #3. Resources: SF Songfacts DT Dave Thompson (2011). 1000 Songs That Rock Your World. Krause Publications: Iola, WI. Page 162. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 9/19/2023.