Mark Voger
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Happy Together 2017
Posted on August 7, 2017 by markvoger in 'Monster Mash' book, Rock // 0 Comments
'I love the flower girl'
By Mark Voger, author of
"Groovy: When Flower Power Bloomed in Pop Culture"
Maybe it happens at every Cowsills concert. But this was my first Cowsills show, and it blew me away.
The group was about to play the final song in its set: the #2 hit of 1969, "Hair." The Cowsills stood and delivered the first, solemn, a capella line from the song: "She a-asked hi-im why." Right there and then, the audience went nuts. The Cowsills had to wait for us to calm down before resuming the song. I'll always treasure this moment — in what little time I have left, anyway.
Happy Together, the 2017 edition, was yet another warm-and-fuzzy shindig, a veritable cosmic jukebox, a time machine back to the ineffable era of AM gold. Good vibrations, not to mention "we're so old" jokes, were flowing during the Aug. 5 show at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey.
Ron Dante sang the part of Archie on the #1 song of 1969,"Sugar, Sugar."
Ron Dante
Show opener Ron Dante was the voice of two in-name-only groups with Top 10 hits: the Cuff Links and TV's the Archies. Strumming a Stratocaster and wearing a red jacket over a tie-dye shirt with black-pleather pants, Dante, 71, was funny and energetic as he ran through "Tracy," "Jingle Jangle," "Bang-Shang-a-Lang," a medley of TV commercial jingles he sang on (including Coke's "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" and McDonalds' "You Deserve a Break Today") and the #1 song of 1969, "Sugar, Sugar." Dante asked the ladies in the audience to sing the lyric originally sung by Toni Wine, "I'm gonna make your life so sweet." Flashback moment: The big video screen behind Dante showed "Archie" cartoons as Dante performed "Jingle Jangle."
The Cowsills include Susan Cowsill, center, who sang the immortal "Hair" lyric "and spaghetti."
The surviving Cowsills — Bob, Susan and Paul — nailed the harmonies on "The Rain, the Park & Other Things," "We Can Fly," "Indian Lake," the TV theme "Love American Style" and "Hair." Susan Cowsill, 58, struck a blow for feminism as the sole female on stage. (Come to think of it, Happy Together tour has kind of been a boys' club.) This is nothing new for Susan, who "forced" her way into the band when she was 9. I had a crush on Susan when I was 11 and she was 10. That sounds age-appropriate, right?
The Box Tops said their earliest ambition was just to play "sock hops around Memphis."
The Box Tops — Bill Cunningham and Gary Talley, with Rick Levy — wore their Memphis-ness on their sleeves as they played "Cry Like a Baby," "Soul Deep," "Green Onions" (the supercool organ instrumental by Booker T and the MGs), "Neon Rainbow" and "The Letter." "Cry Like a Baby" amazed with a note-for-note re-creation on electric sitar by Talley. Cunningham noted that "The Letter" held at #1 for four weeks despite competition from the Beatles ("Lady Madonna"), Aretha Franklin ("Think"), Otis Redding ("The Dock of the Bay") and the Rascals ("A Beautiful Morning"). But the song was finally knocked off its perch by … Bobby Goldsboro's "Honey." Added Cunningham: "I still change the channel when I hear it on the radio."
The Association specialized in swoony songs like "Cherish" and "Never My Love."
Pop swoonsters The Association — Jim Yester and Jules Alexander, with Del Ramos (brother of heyday Assocation member Larry Ramos) — wore crisp whites as they performed "Windy," "Never My Love," "Cherish" and "Along Came Mary." It was noted that Yester's dad was the guy playing the concertina in the 1948 John Wayne movie "Fort Apache" (I will re-watch it to confirm), and that his brother, Jerry Yester, was in the Lovin' Spoonful. On the subject of contemporary lyrics, Ramos joked, "I remember when 'ho' was just Don's last name."
Chuck Negron was one third of the chart powerhouse Three Dog Night.
Chuck Negron
Former Three Dog Night singer Chuck Negron — who one audience member jokingly called "One Dog Night" — hardly looked his 75 years as he animatedly ran through "Celebrate," "Easy to be Hard," "Eli's Coming," "One" and the joyous singalong "Joy to the World." Understandably, Negron occasionally struggled — on these songs, his younger self hit and held some insane high notes — but the singer charmed with self-deprecating humor. Negron quipped that if he had known he'd be singing these songs for decades, he "would have picked a different key."
Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan of the Turtles are clowns as much as musicians.
The Turtles — Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, both 70 — performed their singular mix of uplifting pop and manic shtick, kicking things off with a "Beauty and the Beast" parody. The boys played "She'd Rather Be With Me" (with Volman's trademark cowbell solo), "Nobody But You," a bit of Frank Zappa scat, "Elinore" and the tour's namesake song, "Happy Together." Ever the savvy localizers, the Turtles name-checked the Red Bank comic shop Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash. Noting the advancing ages of the musicians onstage, Kaylan renamed Happy Together the "Take What You Can Get" tour.
The house band led by guitarist Godfrey Townsend recreated the songs faithfully and without condescension. (Yes, they totally committed to "Bang-Shang-a-Lang.") The traditional show-ending all-star jam — in which each artist returns to the stage for a quick medley of hits — was a heartwarming hootenanny. What can I say? I'm a sucker for this stuff.
REMAINING HAPPY TOGETHER 2017 SHOWS
Aug. 7: The Playhouse on Rodney Square, Wilmington, DE
Aug. 9: Erie County Fair, Hamburg, NY
Aug. 10: Fraze Pavilion, Kettering, OH
Aug. 11: Hard Rock Cafe/Four Winds Casino, New Buffalo, MI
Aug. 12: Little River Casino, Manistee, MI
Aug. 13: Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica, Cleveland, OH
Aug. 14: Indiana State Fair, Indianapolis, IN
Aug. 16: Effingham Performance Center, Effingham, IL
Aug. 17: Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN
Aug. 18: Oaklawn Park, Hot Springs, AR
Aug. 20: Prairie Band Casino and Resort, Mayetta, KS
Aug. 22: Kentucky State Fair, Louisville, KY
Aug. 23: Foellinger Theatre, Fort Wayne, IN
Aug. 24: Genesee Theatre, Waukegan, IL
Aug. 25: Paramount Theatre, Aurora, IL
Aug. 26: Grand Casino Mille Lacs Event Center, Onamia, MN
SEE: 'Groovy' preview HERE
PRE-ORDER: 'Groovy' HERE
Confusion Avoidance Dept.: FYI, when you look up "Happy Together 2017" on the Google, sometimes you get stuff about a South Korean TV show that looks like this:
It's titled "Happy Together" and it's really entertaining! A compelling case in point:
Cowsills
Creepy Kooky Monster Craze in America 1957-1972
Cry Like a Baby
Godfrey Townsend
Howard Kaylan
Jim Yester
Mark Volman
Never My Love
Susan Cowsill
2019 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
'Eegah: Special Edition'
'Deadline' on DVD
Ginger Baker (1939-2019)
Sid Haig (1939-2019)
The Fro/Gaga T-shirt
The corner of Clams and Tires
Labor Day movie picks
Peter Fonda (1940-2019)
The Brett Michaels threat
Two trailers
Father's Day movie picks
'Stan and Ollie' (2018)
Mott the Hoople '74 banner
Mott at the Keswick (April 8, 2019)
Mott the Hoople '74 T-shirt
St. Pat's movie picks
Peter Tork (1942-2019)
Mott the Hoople '74 tour
Valentine's Day movie picks
Super Shock Show II (Feb. 9, 2019)
Boris and Basil
Dick Miller (1928-2019)
Boris Karloff in 'The Lark'
Singing for presidents
Moe's final years
'Robin Hood' poster
Stan Lee (1922-2018)
'What Is Rock and Roll?'
Rabbi Benjamin Sendrow
Mark Voglesong | Designer
In defense of 'Godfather III'
Schaffenberger's 'Archie' period
'The Kinetophone: A Fact! A Reality!'
Lugosi, Chaney, Vampira on TV
Howard Bender '66
'Groovy' trailer
More 'Dark Shadows' memes
Weird (Feb. 1969)
Beverly Owen: Still alive
Ron Tortu
'Imitation of Life' (1959)
'Passage to Marseille' (1944)
'Red State' (2011)
Jack Kirby Collector #73
Lost in 2017
Holiday on Cookman
'Let Me Down Hard' soundtrack
'Groovy Trailer Theme'
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (2017)
Old comic books 2
Cosplay-palooza!
New York Comic Con: Oct. 8, 2017
'Dark Shadows' memes
Bender meets Savini
'Monstrkyd Manor'
Army band & choir (June 29, 2017)
'Lookwell' (1991)
'G.L.O.W.'
Michael Parks R.I.P.
Strange's fourth Frankenstein
David Bowie's 'Lazarus'
David Bowie's 'Blackstar'
Chuck Berry (1926-2017)
Mexico's 'Invisible Man' (1958)
'L.S. Bumblebee'
Overend Watts R.I.P.
Posters from my past
In search of 'Invasion Siniestra'
Toy exhibit in Union
John Zacherle (1918-2016)
All-Star Super Shock Show
'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'
'Frankie in Newark'
Why I sat out 'Batman v Superman'
'The Devil Bat' (1940)
Muhammad Ali's hometown
The Rondos
How I met Karch
The Keith Roth interview
Keith Roth, movie star
Farewell, Comics Plus (1989-2015)
NJArts.net benefit March 13
Rondo Award nomination
Planet Earth is blue
Tiny Tim memories
Buffin Griffin R.I.P.
A Very Monster Soaky Christmas
Fangoria #200 comic (2001)
'Phantoms of Philadelphia' excerpts
'Beast of Blood' (1971)
Independence Branch in Philadelphia
Chiller Theatre (Oct. 24, 2015)
Groovy Graveyard in Asbury Park
'Mad Doctor of Blood Island' (1969)
'Two Trains Running' (2007 production)
'Brides of Blood' (1968)
'Seven Guitars' in Red Bank
'Monster Mash' book trailer
'Tall in the Saddle' (1944)
'The Shootist' (1976)
John Wayne comedies
'Dick Foran Western Collection' review
DreamHaven Books in Minneapolis
'McQ' novelization (1974)
'The Vampire Lovers' (1970)
'McQ' (1974)
'La nave de los monstruos' (1960)
'Jackie Brown' (1997)
'Foxy Brown' (1974)
'Coffy' (1973)
'Thunderbirds' (1965-66)
'Little Red Riding Hood and the Monsters' (1962)
Players in the 'Mexican Karloffs'
The 'Mexican Karloffs' examined
Boris Karloff's Mexican excursion
Thank you, Dr. Shock
'The Sorcerers' (1967)
'Creation of the Humanoids' (1962)
'The Black Cat' (1934)
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