Two Forgotten Friday Favorites: The Turtles

I love the Beatles, but I also love me some Monkees on occasion and some Turtles, too! Where did all of the animal related 60s band names (including The Animals) come from, anyway? Were they all derived from Beatles (which actually didn't refer to the name of the insect at all, but was a play on the word "beat")? Anyways, I'm digressing - today's Two Forgotten Friday Favorites is in honor of The Turtles, a great band our of California with several 60s hits including their most famous, Happy Together. But I'm not going to show that one.

First up is a song I consider to be one of the most romantic ever written - You Showed Me. It's my absolute favorite Turtles song and I don't know why I never seem to hear it on the radio anymore. I like to call it a "swoony" type of song not just because of the subject matter but because the whole melody has a swooning feel to it to me. Ahhhh...sweet.

My second choice is one that Christopher Walken would approve of - She'd Rather Be With Me. Why Christopher Walken? Well, the song features a cowbell - in fact, as this predates Blue Oyster Cult I'm wondering if it was the first pop hit to feature the "instrument" although personally I think it needs, in his words, "More cowbell!" Great tune.



The Turtles split up in the late 60s after problems with lawsuits, but the lead singer - Howard Kaylan - and backup/harmony singer Mark Volmam (the guy with the most impressive afro) still perform today under the name Flo and Eddie.