High school friends Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman formed The Turtles in 1965. Kaylan led an instrumental surf band called the Nightriders, which changed into the Crossfires when Volman joined. After college, the band rebranded into a folk rock group called The Turtles. There was no room in the band for the saxes that both leaders played – so they switched to vocals.
The Turtles had several pop hits in the ’60s with influences from the southern California music scene throughout their work. Chip Douglas, who had produced the biggest hits by the Monkees, both produced and joined the band. Warren Zevon provided some of the songs. By 1970, the group was disbanded after major conflicts with their record label – but Kaylan and Volman were not done.
After The Turtles disbanded, Volman and Kaylan joined Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. The pair were legally prevented from using the Turtles name, and in fact – even their own names. They joined the Mothers as Phlorescent Leech & Eddie. The pair appeared on numerous Zappa albums and in his film 200 Motels.
When Zappa was sidelined by an injury, Flo & Eddie recorded an album on their own and several more followed, the most successful of those coming in the late ’70s. Kaylan and Volman were active in session work, adding backup vocals to T. Rex’s “Bang a Gong (Get It On)” and the first top 10 hit for Bruce Springsteen, “Hungry Heart.” The pair were close with Alice Cooper, with Flo & Eddie opening on the Billion Dollar Babies tour.
Volman and Kaylan eventually recovered all rights to The Turtles’ catalog.
