A musical autobiography with a difference, as more than one hundred famous friends tell the story of The Turtles / Flo & Eddie / Mothers Of Invention member Mark Volman. Published to coincide with the Happy Together 2023 tour, hosted by Mark and featuring performances by The Turtles and other classic bands of the 60s. On sale June 20, 2023. |
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‘Mark is one of the most indomitable yet gentle spirits I’ve ever met. He will always be one of my favorite artists I’ve ever worked with. And someday, when I grow up, I want to be just like him.’ ALICE COOPER
‘This book is a puzzle. The outside frame pieces are about me, but the picture wouldn’t be complete without the perspectives of all the people telling you about me.’ MARK VOLMAN
Mark Volman has led a storied life, and many of those stories are contained in Happy Forever. A true son of Southern California, he has gone from topping the charts with The Turtles (‘Happy Together’) to underground cred with Frank Zappa and beyond. As Flo & Eddie, Mark and his long-time singing partner Howard Kaylan were the not-so-secret ingredient on many other artist’s records, taking Bruce Springsteen into the Top 10 for the very first time and helping T. Rex dominate the British charts. Then came The Ramones, U2, Blondie, Duran Duran, and so many more; the list of credits is long and varied.
Happy Forever covers all of that, along with subsequent forays into animation, a stint as a radio personality in Los Angeles and New York, and a midlife return to academia, which led Mark to create and run innovative college programs in L.A. and Nashville. But this is not the world according to Mark Volman, and it is not your average musical autobiography. Alongside his own comments, this uniquely insightful book contains contributions from more than one hundred of Mark’s peers, friends, and lovers, who share their thoughts on the man himself and on topics that span the social and cultural landscape of the past half-century.
Happy Forever’s cast list reads like a who’s who of popular music, featuring members of The Doors, The Monkees, The Byrds, The E Street Band, and many more; producers Tony Visconti, Bob Ezrin, and Hal Willner; voice actors from The Simpsons and the Firesign Theatre; and key figures from the worlds of radio, animation, and academia. The book also includes previously unseen photographs and forewords by Alice Cooper and Chris Hillman. |
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The Happy Together 2023 tour kicks off a run of 40 shows across the United States on May 31st in Clearwater, Florida, hosted by Mark and featuring performances by The Turtles, Little Anthony, Gary Puckett, The Vogues, The Classics IV, and The Cowsills. For more information, visit www.theturtles.com/tour/. In a career that has been anything but typical, Mark Volman has gone from topping the pop charts to losing the legal rights to his own name. After hitting #1 with The Turtles, Mark and singing partner Howard Kaylan (aka Flo & Eddie) had a stint with Frank Zappa & The Mothers, then went on to sing with everyone from T. Rex to The Ramones to Bruce Springsteen to Blondie, achieving cumulative sales in excess of one hundred million records. They also enjoyed concurrent careers as voice actors and musicians in animation ( Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears) and as radio hosts in Los Angeles and New York, where they rubbed shoulders with Howard Stern. John Cody is a freelance musician (drummer) who has toured and recorded with over two hundred artists. In addition, he has written about and taught music history for various publications and schools. This is his first book. He lives on the west coast of Canada. For more information about his music and writing, visit www.johncodyonline.com. |
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