We recently sold the Psychedelic Furs “Forever Now” LP and as is our usual routine, I reinspected the album and sleeves before packing and shipping. The inner sleeve credits ‘Backing Vocals: Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan courtesy of Flo & Eddie,’ of The Turtles “Happy Together” fame of 1967. I had either never known this or completely forgotten about it. So the story goes that Todd Rundgren who produced the Furs album, “Forever Now,” brought Flo & Eddie in for backing vocals on a few tracks. The Furs were not enthusiastic about it as they viewed Flo & Eddie as establishment types. I don’t understand that part. But Rundgren asked them to give “Love My Way” a listen and they insisted that they contribute some vocals to it. Listening to it now, their vocals are an integral part of what made it such a perfect song. Let’s not forget that Todd Rundgren added the marimbas that make the beginning of that song so easily identifiable. There is so much about this song and those are just two bits that I find so fascinating. Flo & Eddie also provided backing vocals to many songs by T-Rex, Alice Cooper, Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention and most notably Bruce Springsteen’s first number one “Hungry Heart.” In addition to those, they also sang back up for John Lennon, David Cassidy, Steely Dan, Duran Duran, Andy Taylor, Blondie and the Ramones!
I remember Flo & Eddie’s hilarious performance on WTTW Chicago’s soundstage program from 1976. Martin Mull also appeared in that one. If you can find it on YouTube, do watch. It’s really funny and the music is great too! The last time I saw them perform live was at Disney World about 25 years ago. I was lucky to catch that show as Flo & Eddie no longer tour. I would venture to say that on every song that they provided backing vocals, they added elements that made those songs classic!
Wheezer’s RecordS 