Mark Volman

In 1963, Volman was attending Westchester High School, when he joined Surf rock group The Crossfires, along with Howard Kaylan, Al Nichol, and Chuck Portz. By 1965, they had changed their name to The Turtles, and their debut album, It Ain't Me Babe, was released later on that year. During their five-year run, the Turtles would garner hits such as You Baby, She'd Rather Be with Me, and You Showed Me, however, are best known for their 1967 hit single Happy Together, a song that is still regularly heard due to its popular usage in the media and advertising.

After many years of legal issues and problems with managers, the Turtles disbanded in 1970. As the Turtles folded, Volman and Kaylan discovered that the terms of their contract forbade them to use not only the name 'The Turtles', but also their own names.

In 2015, Kaylan and Volman celebrated their 50th year, touring and performing more than 60 concerts a year, billed as "The Turtles ... Featuring Flo & Eddie" with their Happy Together Tour, a classic revue-format show featuring some popular bands of the mid-to-late 1960s musical era.

During this tour in 2015, Volman was diagnosed with throat cancer, but was declared cancer-free in 2016.[1] According to The Hollywood Reporter, Volman and Kaylan have been "leading the charge against the uncompensated use of their music — and using state-based misappropriation, conversation and unfair competition claims because sound recordings only began falling under federal copyright protection in 1972."[2]

Since reforming in 1983, Volman remains a member of The Turtles, and currently co-runs the Happy Together Tour nostalgia circuit (which features bands such as The Association, The Box Tops, The Buckinghams, and The Cowsills) with Kaylan, although Kaylan retired from performing in 2017.

Kaylan and Volman were recruited by Frank Zappa, joining the Mothers of Invention. Since White Whale records owned their names and the Turtles name, they performed in the band, and later worked together as Flo & Eddie in music, in film (they provided music and voices for animated films like Down and Dirty Duck), and in radio broadcasting.

In 1971 Volman appeared on the soundtrack to Zappa's humorous pseudo-documentary film, 200 Motels.[3]

When Frank Zappa was injured at a concert in London in 1971, the Mothers of Invention were unable to perform without him, and so, Kaylan and Volman released the album The Phlorescent Leech & Eddie in September 1972.[4] As the duo, they also worked as session singers, singing backing vocals for the likes of T. Rex, Bruce Springsteen, Steely Dan, and David Cassidy.

In 1992, at age 45, Volman started his bachelor's degree at Loyola Marymount University. He was an active undergraduate member of the choir and a Founding Father of the California Chi chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. Volman graduated with a B.A. degree in 1997 magna cum laude and was the class valedictorian speaker. During the speech he led the graduates in a chorus of "Happy Together". CBS Evening News covered Volman's graduation and interviewed his parents, who were perplexed at their son's academic accomplishments.[12]

Volman earned a Master's degree in Fine Arts with an emphasis in screenwriting in 1999, also from Loyola. Since that time, he has taught Music Business & Industry courses in the Communications and Fine Arts department at Loyola. He has also taught courses in the Commercial Music Program at Los Angeles Valley College.

He is currently an Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Entertainment Industry Studies Program at Belmont University, in the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business and conducts seminars about the music industry for various academic institutions from junior high school to university level. In addition, he offers consulting on music business and entertainment through the website Ask Professor Flo.[13]

• The Phlorescent Leech & Eddie (1972)
• Flo & Eddie (1973)
• Illegal, Immoral and Fattening (1975)
• Flo & Eddie Interview with Barry Mann, Special Promotion Record for Radio Stations (1975)
• Moving Targets (1976)
• Rock Steady With Flo & Eddie (1981)
• The History of Flo & Eddie and the Turtles (1983)
• The Best of Flo & Eddie (1987)
• The Turtles featuring Flo & Eddie Captured Live! (1992)
• New York "Times" (2009)