Flo and Eddie still going strong

5/7/2004

It's hard to imagine a musical career as eclectic as that of Flo and Eddie.

They helped define '60s pop with the Turtles before the group was splintered by lawsuits and feuding, provided backing to Frank Zappa on four of his seminal Mothers of Invention releases in the 1970s, and launched a successful career as disc jockeys in the '80s while kicking off a reunion/nostalgia tour in the '90s that's still going strong.

Tomorrow night the creative core of the band - Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, aka Flo and Eddie - will bring the show to The Ritz Theatre in Tiffin. Billed as The Turtles Featuring Flo and Eddie, they'll show off their wondrous vocal chops that have lent harmonies to everyone from Bruce Springsteen to the Ramones, John Lennon, Duran Duran, and Alice Cooper.

Before they were known as Flo and Eddie, Kaylan and Volman - both now in their mid-50s - performed in California surf and bar bands. The amateur groups became the Turtles, which evolved into a huge act in the mid to late '60s. The band's popular high-water mark was in 1967 with "Happy Together," a perfect slice of pop genius with its infectious chorus and free-spirited tone.

Tickets for The Turtles Featuring Flo and Eddie at The Ritz Theatre in Tiffin are $23 to $35, from the box office today from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., by phone at 419-448-8544, or online at www.ritztheatre.org.