HAPPY TOGETHER - 2026

Seventeen years of happiness ... together. 

We missed Howard Kaylan when he was forced to stop touring. Now we miss Mark Volman. But we can't stop! This was meant to be a love fest of music. One of those businesses that can be reborn and restitched to reflect the happiness of the present. I have been looking forward to this night. August 1, 2026, at the Toyota Oakdale Theatre. What will happen to The Happy Together Tour?

Shadoe Stevens' voice is still heard at the beginning of the show and announcing each act. Since the line-up changes from year to year, it means he is asked to record the new introductions each year, which keeps continuity. 

And the opening act, from Rhode Island? As ever, The Cowsills. Paul and Susan keep each other running across the stage and pulling the audience into the show quickly. Their job? Knock us between the eyes immediately and set the tone for the night. I write a note to myself during the second act stating that the point is to get involved. Performers AND audience! Involved together in music. Another goal is to keep the informality going. No matter how rehearsed, performers feel free to break at any time and connect directly with eye contact and recognition of audience members. For my part, I felt singled out as though I was the only one in the audience at times, but yet my seat was not close enough to the stage for that to be true and without the house lights on, I am a dark blur in a large theatre. Bob, Paul and Susan rule again.

The Rain, the Park and Other Things

Indian Lake

Love American Style

Hair

After the energy of The Cowsills, you would be foolish to think The Vogues would not be appreciated. They received long and loud applause in the middle of their set and as Troy Elich delivered his overstated tour time elements, he actually seemed to appear confused and bus lagged.

Troy: We have been on the road for eight months now!

Royce: No, No, it's eight weeks!

Troy: Oh ok, eight weeks on the tour this year ... 266 concerts!

Royce: No, No, it's 66 concerts this year.

Their harmonies are beautiful. The songs romantic and everlasting.

Five O'Clock World

Special Angel

Turn Around, Look at Me (siiiiiiggggghhhhhh)

You're the One

Troy, Royce, and Elliott, three-part harmony at its best.

A very notable change happens next. Ron Dante comes out to perform as the third set on the tour. For seven years, Ron has performed next to Mark Volman as a Turtle. Having to reign in Mark at times and make sure he was safe during his dementia periods must not have been easy. And now ... he is presenting himself solely as Ron Dante with no Turtles around him. The Turtles started this happiness together but now is a time when rethinking one's options and persistence in wishing for this tour to continue mandates newness. I do not believe this tour is simply about money. (I know. money is involved) It also encompasses love of music, friendship, TALENT, and amazing stage presence.

Ron opens with a Turtles song and explains his performance tonight as lead singer of two groups: The Cuff Links and The Archies. His musical history goes so much further into production and recording with other groups. These were not things I was aware of until he started touring with Mark and my own research came up with surprises. 

She'd Rather Be with Me

Tracy

Sugar, Sugar

The audience loves the Archie cartoon that plays at the end of his set. Although the women in front of me could not remember Reggie's name ... be proud of me ... I kept quiet!

There are three new acts this year. None of them have I seen live before. The Fortunes close the first half of the show.

Coming from England, you may say WHAT? I say, HEY! Music is subjective and happiness can come from anyplace and anyone. I welcome the two English groups appearing this year and hope that we can connect with others in the future. I don't want to lose anyone though, so let's just have a day fest. OH, wait a minute. Sorry, Godfrey. You and the band would drop on the stage playing all day. Just go take a break while I talk about The Fortunes.

Eddie Mooney, Chris Hutchison, Glenn Taylor and Michael Smitham complete The Fortunes. As I notice throughout the Happy Together show, there is continuous motion onstage and the performers do their utmost to cover every inch of stage floor. Eddie is running around stage left to center to stage left and back again. He was also the only Englishman in The Walker Brothers and pays homage to them in song tonight. Who else is recognized? Why that obscure band that lead the 60s British Invasion ... The Beatles.

Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again

The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore

You've Got Your Troubles, I've Got Mine

Twist and Shout

I loved it! Music I know, but have not seen performed live.

Opening the second half, they bring out the 83 year old Union Gapper who is still making women swoon: Gary Puckett. Gary talks to the audience as friends, always thankful for their support and care throughout the years. The Happy Together Band is back and they support Gary in his hit songs in a way that makes memories and sing-alongs. Thank you again, Gary.

Lady Willpower

Over You

Woman, Woman

Young Girl

The next newcomer is from Chicago. Actually, I don't know if he ever lived there but as the lead singer of the group named after the city, he has the right to say he is from Chicago. Jason Scheff! Jason comes out roaring on his guitar and covers the entire stage as he performs. I love the effects that musicians have when they are able to make it back to the mic in time to pick up their vocals after parading the stage floor so we can each see their fingers awakening the guitar strings. He makes a run to the front of the stage to say Hi to Tom Cuddy and give him credit for all he did for Chicago (again, the band, not the city) back in the day. Tom and I have mentioned trying to say hello to each other at a concert, but in the middle of Jason Scheff's set, keeping my eyes on him is my focus. Sorry, Tom. We need to plan this out better. 

What a versatile line-up so far. And as it continues, each act appears able to be themselves and just have fun. How can we make this last longer without making it a longer show? I guess we have figured it out to its best. Just watch and repeat each year. 

Saturday In the Park

Feelin' Stronger Every Day

If You Leave Me Now

25 or 6 to 4

The third new act comes out ... The Troggs! Dave Peters and Jason Freddy are wild things! They start with an endearing light love song and move into one of the most sensuous songs of the 60s. It always makes me want to curl up in a chair and let the fantasies roll through my mind. They end with the song that does not have a great melody nor poetically romantic lyrics, but gets you up dancing no matter where you are when you hear it. Jason Freddy is the one in this group who is continuously moving, jumping and running across the stage, making audience eye contact continuously. The pair's presentation of songs perfectly represents the stories of The Troggs and their lifestyles in their 60s heyday. 

With a Girl Like You

Love is All Around

Wild Thing

Now knowing who is going to be the closing act, I am worried. The Association has gone through some tough times, most of them out of their control. Shadoe announces them as their NEW formation, down from 11 to 3 members, and to my surprise, they run, jump and yahoo on to the stage. The Happy Together Association members are Jules Alexander, Bruce Pictor, and Paul Holland. If they were appearing elsewhere without the stunning Happy Together Band, Bruce would be on drums and there would be two more with which to be associated. They start with my song: 

And Windy has stormy eyes
That flash at the sound of lies
And Windy has wings to fly
Above the clouds (above the clouds)
Above the clouds (above the clouds)

Anyone who has ever been in a lie situation with me will back this up. After the eyes flash, I fly away. Not necessarily forever.

With Jules, Paul, Bruce and The Happy Together Band, we have the dynamic harmonies that set the scene for those 8-tracks playing in the car as you rode with your friends and/or significant person on summer nights such as these.

Windy

Never My Love

Cherish

Along Comes Mary

Returning to the stage is Ron Dante who announces we ALL need to sing Happy Together. We do and we remain happy whether we are remembering past shows or seeing the tour for the first time. 

Ron: So, Godfrey what should we do now? Everybody is up out of their seats.

Godfrey: We could order a hundred pizzas.

While this sounds good to me about now, I know for sure that this massive audience will have those pizzas gone before I get even close to a box.

Ron and Godfrey: Let's start the show all over again!

And with that each act returns to participate in the Finale, giving a line or two from their songs and ending with Happy Together.

Godfrey Townsend, Manny Focarazzo, Greg Smith, and Chris Camillari, thank you for your continued support of all these acts and the supreme talent and professionalism you always present as The Happy Together Band. I think I heard some of Peaches and Diesel before The Association came out.

One more thing ... I have curly hair. One of my students likes to touch it and say "I like your hair. Your hair is puffy." As I watched The Happy Together Tour, I saw curls: Greg Smith, Jason Scheff, Jason Freddy, Paul Holland. Thank you for freely showing your curls.

Did it all work tonight? From my standpoint and the standpoint of the audience at The Oakdale, it surely did. We celebrated the music. We celebrated Howard and Mark. We celebrated ourselves. WE CELEBRATED.

Shelley J Sweet-Tufano

NE Correspondent

Forgotten Hits 

The Sunday Comments (08 - 09 - 26 )

Hello, my friend,

I just want to let you know how very much I continue to enjoy your look back at sixty years ago during each day of the year 1966, which is when I turned twelve years old, and I bought the record They're Coming To Take Me Away Ha Ha by Napoleon XIV to see if it was really true that the flip side was recorded backwards.  (Well, I was only twelve.  What can I tell you?)

Thanks so much for keeping Forgotten Hits going for as long as you have, Kent.

Take care,

Sam Ward

And one more from Sam, regarding the 60^th anniversary of the “Revolver” LP …

Hi there Kent,

Given that it was exactly 60 years ago today that the Beatles’ Revolver album was released in the UK, I just wanted to share a few thoughts and memories with you.

Let me just say here that I used to go along with so many people that insisted that the Beatles' Sergeant Pepper album was the best album that the group ever recorded.  I was only thirteen years old at the time, and I simply figured that people that insisted that this was true were correct in their assumptions.

However, listening to both albums many times over the years, I have become a convert to the fact that Revolver is a far better album overall, and I believe that Revolver is the best album that they ever made.

An Interesting side note ... 

From April 14, 1990 to June 9, 2003, I had a black lab guide dog with a blaze of white under his chin named Blazer. 

The reason I am mentioning him here at all, was because of the amazing effect that the song Here, There and Everywhere had on him.  Most of the time he was close to me, but even if he wasn't, any time I played that song, he would come racing up beside me and sit down, and then present a very contented wimper, as if he was really happy to hear that song.

Now, I can't know for sure what he was thinking, but I think he really loved that song.  It appeared to be his favorite song.

Maybe it was the rich harmony that appealed to his doggy ears ... but as you would expect, he heard literally thousands of songs that I played, but that was the song that he always reacted to that strongly to.  Interesting observation, isn't it.

Sam

GREAT story.

So now I have to ask the million dollar question ...

Do you prefer the British album or the one that we got here in The States?  (kk)

Oh, I've always preferred the British versions of the Beatles albums once I became aware of them.  The first instance of that is when WBZ in Boston played I'll Be Back, which was on the British Hard Day's Night album, because I heard that song a lot during the summer of 1964.  I never bought Capitol's explanation that you couldn't put a seventh song on one side of an album because that would put the cut too close to the center of the album.  That was just engineers being stubborn and always holding back at least two cuts here in North America from every British album that was released.  This was the way the albums were originally sequenced and that's how we should have gotten them.  And don't get me started on the disgraceful Hard Day's Night and especially the Help album that we were fed, all as a way to make more money!

Have a good day,

Sam

There was so little John presence on the US version of “Revolver” … just TWO tracks.  (My God, even GEORGE got three!!!)  Still, it was very evident that Paul was REALLY in the zone on his tracks:  “Eleanor Rigby,” “Here, There And Everywhere,” “Good Day Sunshine,” “For No One” and “Got To Get You Into My Life,” ALL on the same LP?!?!?  I don’t know that he has EVER had a burst of creativity to rival this before or since!

That’s why it was SO weird to have Parlophone “prerelease” three “Revolver” tracks for Capitol to use on their “Yesterday … And Today” album.  Prior to this point, it was always Capitol that was playing catch-up!

Here in Chicago we counted on Ron Riley at WLS to play us the “missing” Beatles tracks from the UK LPs.  I had no idea how one would even go about buying one back then … our stores didn’t really offer imports at the time … so if you wanted to hear these gems before their official US release, THIS was how you had to do it.  (Ron used to do sort of a countdown thing called “The British Billboard” where he would play some of the best selling songs out in the UK.  As we would all learn later, the US was typically a full year behind the curve on these releases when The British Invasion first hit our shores in 1964.  By 1965, we had finally caught up to “real time” releases.

I’m looking forward to the Ron Riley documentary currently in the work.  He was a pivotal part of the happening scene in regards to radio back then.  (kk)

Be sure to check out the newly redesigned Record Research website …

Where you can order ALL of the Joel Whitburn books to complete your library …

https://www.recordresearch.com/?mc_cid=115bea87a8&mc_eid=d5785dc612

Joan Jett had to cancel a couple of her September shows after having orthopedic surgery for a fractured vertebra.  Dates affected so far are September 5^th in Costa Mesa, California and September 24^th in Louisville, Kentucky.  (Damn!  Louisville gets cheated again!  Barry Manilow just cancelled HIS show there last week!)  I checked Joan’s website and don’t see any other tour dates scheduled at this time.  (kk)

And Earth, Wind and Fire had to cancel one of their shows last week due to a health scare ... this after a couple of shows at the start-up of their joint tour together were cancelled due to Lionel Richie becoming dizzy on stage and unable to perform.  (Between the health issues of Lionel Richie and now the band, these guys are off to a rather rocky start!)

Citing “a medical emergency involving a member of the band,” Thursday’s night show in San Francisco was cancelled last minute.  (There seems to be a LOT of this going around lately!)  It was later described as a “cardiac incident.”  The band member was not immediately identified.  (kk)

Stately Wayne Manor (as seen in the classic "Batman" television series) is up for sale ... and it could be yours for just $32 million!  (Incredibly, the home sold for $20.5 million a year ago ... not a bad return on your investment!)

Built in 1928 (and located in Pasadena, CA, where I suppose at some point in time a little ole lady may have resided), the home boasts a spacious 18,665 square feet with seven bedrooms and eleven bathrooms. The gated property sits on nearly five acres and includes a rock-style pool, a pickleball court, and a private theater.  (Unfortunately, bat poles leading to the basement are NOT included)   kk 

Tom Cuddy sent us some interesting reads ...

First this one from Rolling Stone ... profiling the remarkable legacy of the Chicago classic "25 or 6 to 4" ...

Watch Peter Cetera and All of His Replacements Sing Chicago's '25 or 6 to 4' Across Six Decades (Source: Rolling Stone:)  

https://share.google/WFM3pgnhUEnKkRpmh 

Then this ... news of a new Apple + TV documentary on Fleetwood Mac where Lindsey Buckingham says he has pretty much mended all of his fences with this former bandmates ...

https://ew.com/lindsey-buckingham-reveals-where-he-and-stevie-nicks-stand-after-feud-12036404

And finally this look back at the Styx classic "Lady" ...  

https://parade.com/entertainment/1973-iconic-ballad-with-23-year-old-singer-of-styx-is-still-a-powerful-love-song-53-years-later

Growing up here in Chicago, we got to hear "Lady" a couple of years before it finally clicked nationally in 1975.  (It was first released as a single in 1973 ... WLS and our FM stations played the heck out of it back then, but it never charted here.  Then, in 1975, it went to #2 on WLS, #3 on WCFL and #6 nationally.)  kk

And this next one really takes the cake ... who'da ever thunk???

Always in search of the most accurate truth …

>>>Freddy Cannon Was On Dick Clark’s "CARAVAN OF STARS," And About To Appear In ALLENTOWN, PENN.  Freddy's "BUZZ BUZZ" Was A #2 Hit In The Local Area.  Freddy Asked Dick If He Could Close The Show -- Maybe Sell A Few More Records & Push It Up To #1.  He's On The Stage Singing. Looking Out Into The Audience, Everybody Is Looking Via Binoculars.  The Concert Ran A Little Late. Everybody Was Watching The Horse Races That Started & Nobody Was Listening To Freddy Sing!  (FB)

>>>Wild Wayne's memory might be a little fuzzy.  For the record, I live in the area of the Allentown Fairgrounds, where Freddy Cannon performed as part of the 1961 fair. I can currently take a local bus right to the fairgrounds from a few blocks from my house.  In 1961, horse racing had ended on the big track the main grandstands overlook, but AUTO racing was still going on. Nowadays, the track racing has been replaced with Demolition Derby, usually the last night of the event (which long ago was moved to the week ending with Labor Day)  Bob Frable (in Easton, PA)

>>>Interestingly enough, I did some checking on this, too, and found this list of Dick Clark's Caravan Of Stars appearances for 1961 ... and Allentown, PA isn't even on the list!  It shows Freddy Cannon performing in York, PA, at the York Interstate Fair.  Freddy also did State Fair shows in Indiana, Michigan and New Jersey, as well as appearances in Atlantic City and The Hollywood Bowl.  It looks like Chubby Checker is the only one who stuck it out for the whole tour.  

For whatever it's worth, I also did a pretty extensive search of Allentown Top 40 Surveys for this time period and didn't find any with "Buzz Buzz A Diddle It" at #2.  In fact, the best chart appearance I could find for it was at #29.  (Maybe some PA locals have access to more charts to check?)  The record came out at the end of April of 1961.  

I think this is just one of those cases where the "legend" makes for a better story ... and you know what they say ... when in doubt between the legend and the truth, ALWAYS print the legend! (kk)

https://concerts.fandom.com/wiki/Dick_Clark%27s_Caravan_of_Stars_1961 

Well, now I'm confused.

Doing some more searching, I found this from your venerable old Chicago Tribune, originally from February, 1986, but updated roughly five years ago:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/1986/02/21/thundering-hooves-a-cloud-of-dust/ (link)

(Mercifully, the Trib only makes you sign up for a newsletter in order to read it, although I'll go back to the email they're being sent to, and make my own decision as to whether to keep getting it.)

It doesn't credit anyone, making me wonder if the only other way to verify it is to go to, say, Newspapers.com, and punch up that particular day's Trib which was photographed page by page, which is time-consuming and likely not too cheap anymore.

And, short answer, the piece does describe Cannon getting upstaged by the ponies, for the simple fact that Dick Clark's show ran too long, and the fair operates according to a strict schedule, something I guaran-dang-tee you it still does today.

I'm open to suggestions. Given how long ago this supposedly was, I doubt much anyone that witnessed this may still be around to remember it.

Bob Frable

Through some VERY creative (and probably illegal) editing, I was able to “restore” the Chicago Tribune article Bob is talking about above.

I have to admit that it AMAZES me that this event would have gotten this much coverage over the past 65 years … but then again perhaps the reason it came up again in 1986 (and 2021) is because Freddy has told this story so many times!!! (lol)  kk 

READ ON …

That's really frickin' amazing!!!

You really gotta wonder if it's just that Freddy has told this story so many times over the years that it's now become "fact" ... or, as I like to call it, LEGEND.  (kk)

And a nice closer from Timmy …

60 YEARS AGO TODAY:

8/9/66 – The Beatles’ album “Revolver” and single “Yellow Submarine” / “Eleanor Rigby” are released in the US.  (Both had come out four days ago in England.)