In spring 1966, The Turtles were looking for a new drummer and Gene Clark of the Byrds recommended Barbata.
 After an audition with Howard Kaylan, Mark Volman, and Al Nichol, Barbata had the gig.
The first song Barbata recorded with the Turtles was "Happy Together" and on March 25, 1967, "Happy Together" went to No.
1 on the charts and stayed there for three weeks.
One of his trademarks was to incorporate stick twirling into his performances, along with Dino Danelli of The Rascals and Carmine Appice of Vanilla Fudge.

The Turtles were invited to play on the Ed Sullivan Show (May 14, 1967), The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Hollywood Palace, American Bandstand, Where the Action Is, and The Johnny Carson Show.
The group went on to have many other hits with Barbata, including  "She'd Rather Be with Me", "You Showed Me", "She's My Girl", and "Elenore".
Barbata also appeared on The Dating Game show.
In spring 1966, The Turtles were looking for a new drummer and Gene Clark of the Byrds recommended Barbata.  After an audition with Howard Kaylan, Mark Volman, and Al Nichol, Barbata had the gig. The first song Barbata recorded with the Turtles was "Happy Together" and on March 25, 1967, "Happy Together" went to No. 1 on the charts and stayed there for three weeks. One of his trademarks was to incorporate stick twirling into his performances, along with Dino Danelli of The Rascals and Carmine Appice of Vanilla Fudge.
The Turtles were invited to play on the Ed Sullivan Show (May 14, 1967), The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Hollywood Palace, American Bandstand, Where the Action Is, and The Johnny Carson Show. The group went on to have many other hits with Barbata, including  "She'd Rather Be with Me", "You Showed Me", "She's My Girl", and "Elenore". Barbata also appeared on The Dating Game show.
John Barbata