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| Mark Volman & Howard Kaylan |
Tomorrow, June 22, 2023, will be the 76th birthday of Howard Kaylan, though
everyone knew him as Eddie.
Kaylan, a native New Yorker, first rose to fame in the mid sixties band The
Turtles. First touted as a 'folk-rock group (their first hit was a
Bob Dylan song), The Turtles today are best known for their schlock-rock juggernaut "Happy
Together."
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| A book I haven't read |
And in their new band Kaylan & Volman were christened "The Phlorescent
Leech & Eddie," later shortened to "Flo & Eddie."
According to Wikipedia -- and I cringe when I write those words -- Kaylan originally was The
Phlorescent Leech.
But he and Volman "were appalled to learn that the printer
had mistakenly printed the duo's stage names in the wrong order above their
photograph. ... The label refused to reprint the cover, saying that it would
cost too much money. Thus, Kaylan and Volman decided to professionally swap
stage names."
(Wikipedia attributes this anecdote to Kaylan's 2013 autobiography
Shell Shocked. I haven't read it, so I can't verify it. It might be
true but it's
always good to be skeptical of Wikipedia
as a sole source.)
Besides their solo work and their efforts with Zappa and The Turtles, Kaylan
and Volman also contributed background vocals to an impressive array of
musical acts, a few examples being T. Rex (on "Get it On"); Bruce Springsteen
"Hungry Heart"); and a couple of songs on The Ramones' Mondo Bizarro.
But let's look at some tunes where Flo and Eddie -- whichever is which -- are out
front:
Here's a tune, from Zappa's 200 Motels, that I believe is one of the best
non-comedy tracks from Zappa's Flo-and-Eddie period.
"I'm coming over shortly because I am a portly...":
"WE ARE NOT GROUPIES!":
Here are Flo & Eddie riffing on an old classic. Ethel Merman would be proud:
Finally, here are the boys singing a Beach Boys song with one of their idols they mentioned in the above version of The Mothers' groupie routine:
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| No, not THAT Flo! |
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