Happy Together - July 4, 2022

It was the summer of 1969, or that’s how it felt last Sunday Night with a packed crowd at the in the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom for the Happy Together Tour. The star packed show began with The Cowsills singing “The Rain, The Park and Other Things,” fondly referred to as “The Flower Girl song.” I had a major crush on Barry Cowsill and although he is no longer with us, his siblings, Bob, Paul and Susan can still harmonize like they did back in the day. From Newport, RI, this singing family was the inspiration for The Partridge Family TV show, in case you didn’t know that. They sang their best hits, “We Can Fly, Indian Lake, the Love American Style Theme (who remembers THAT show?) and finished up with, yes, you guessed it, “Gimme a head with HAIR, long beautiful HAIR….” I was out of my seat by now. What a great beginning.

This is the third time we’ve seen this show at the beach. We skipped the last two pandemic years but couldn’t wait to return this year. Knowing I am hesitant to commit to events like this, my husband decided to purchase the tickets and hoped I would rise to the occasion. He knows me well. There are certain things I will push myself through, and he knew this was one of them. The traffic on Ocean Boulevard was typical for a hot summer night and although my back was cursing it, the smell of the sea and the songs from the sixties brought me back to my youth and made it all worth it. It was so great to get off the chronic pain carousel for a night.

The second act was The Vogues. If you are not familiar with them, I bet you know their songs, “Turn Around Look at Me,” “My Special Angel” and “Five O’Clock World, later made famous by the Drew Carey show. When the last note of their smooth, velvety voices was sung, hoots and hollers went up from the crowd. They were a tough act to follow, but out came The Association with their wildly popular song, “Windy.” I loved the melody and words of that song so much as a kid, I wanted my name to be Windy!

“Who’s trippin' down the streets of the city, smiling at everybody she sees, Who’s reachin' out to capture a moment, everyone knows it’s Windy!" -The Association

They continued with their ballads, “Never My Love” and “Cherish,” finishing up with a song that was so controversial it was banned from some airwaves, “Along Comes Mary.” Why? It was thought to be a reference to smoking weed, although that fact has never been confirmed. Life was different back then in so many ways.

During intermission as I gazed around, I knew I was with my people! Yeah, we’re all boomers, former hippies and flower children holding “Make Love Not War” signs. A group of men in tie dyed shirts stood at the bar drinking longnecks, while the women wore peace sign dresses, hot pink miniskirts and sipped their chardonnay. I love it when the concert goers dress up for the occasion. Memories of playing 45 records and reading Tiger Beat washed over me and brought me back, if only for a night, to those carefree days.

“The 6o’s was one of the first times the power of music was used by a generation to bind them together.” -Neil Young

Enter the Classics IV with their romantic melody, “Everyday with You Girl” and their million charting hits, “Traces,” “Spooky,” and “Stormy.” Pop was never better, as this band featured the cool sound of the saxophone. The band, originally called The Classics was led by front man, Dennis Yost, who had an amazing voice and performed for many years putting the group into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. He passed away in 2008 but his music lives on in hearts of all sixties children.

A truly powerful lead singer appeared next. At eighty years old, he was the eldest member of the tour but sounded just like he did in 1968 when his band, Gary Puckett and The Union Gap had four monster hits on the Billboard Top 100 Chart – “Woman, Woman,” “Lady Willpower,” “Over You,” and the million selling, Gold Certified single, “Young Girl,” which was a sing-along hit of the night. I’ve got to hand it to him, Gary still has the pipes!

The evening was almost over when the final group who made the tour famous, belting out their songs, “She’d Rather Be with Me,” “Elinor,” “You Baby,” and their mega hit, “Happy Together,” The Turtles arrived on stage. Their special guest star was Ron Dante, formerly of The Archies who sang the number one single, “Sugar Sugar,” which spent 100 weeks on the Billboard Chart, four of them at Number One. More than fifty years later, it is still sweeter than ever. Betty and Veronica approve.

I hated it all coming to an end. But wait, they wouldn’t let us leave without an encore. One by one, each group came back on the stage, joining the others as they sang one of their hits. We were treated to a medley of “The Rain, The Park and Other Things,” “Five O'clock World,” “Along Comes Mary,” “Young Girl,” and last but not least, “Happy Together.” I mean, even the millennial ticket takers were singing and swaying along. And if you are a millennial or slightly older but not a baby boomer, please give a listen to these amazing songs. You may even add a few to your playlist! Honestly, I didn’t want to leave. I could have listened to this music for hours more.

As we left the ballroom and walked on the sidewalk along the ocean, I thought to myself, music really works wonders. I guess it’s even more special when it’s the kind of music you grew up to. You will always feel that “your music” from your decade was the best there was. And I am no different. I stand firm in saying that the sixties was the best era for music and 1969 was the best year of all. But don’t take it from me, take it from Reddit who penned the article, “Why The Best Year in Rock Music Was Actually 1969.” Yes, it was. Groovy, Far Out and a Blast.