A happy crowd fills the BergenPAC auditorium in Englewood, NJ this Wednesday, June 7, 2023 evening ready to experience the music of the 1960s with the 2023 edition of the Happy Together Tour featuring The Turtles, Little Anthony, Gary Puckett, The Vogues, The Classics IV, and The Cowsills.
Before the show begins, we chat backstage with The Classics IV vocalist Tom Garrett who talks about this latest edition of the HTT stating, “This year is an amazing tour! Little Anthony is the newest artist to join us and he’s a great addition, knocking them dead every night.” Joking, “Tonight’s show is our sixth, and we only have 53 to go,” Garrett explains, “It’s so much fun for the artists, and the audiences sing along on every song — there are no ‘B’ sides; only ‘A’ sides.” Acknowledging, “In addition to being a part of the HTT, I’m also happy to announce that The Classics IV just released a new song called ‘Your Turn,’” Garrett notes, “It has that ‘Classics IV’ flavor, and it just debuted on Sirius radio” prior to adding, “I hope everyone will get a chance to listen to it on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and other music services.”
Inside the beautifully renovated BergenPAC auditorium, the lights dim and the crowd cheers as the Happy Together Band — Greg Smith on bass, Chris Camilleri on drums, Manny Focarazzo on keyboards, and musical director Godfrey Townsend on guitar — take the stage for tonight’s performance.
The pre-recorded voice of DJ Shadow Stevens introduces “the real life inspiration for The Partridge Family — The Cowsills,” and Bob, Paul, and Susan Cowsill enter the stage. Bob greets the cheering crowd, announcing, “You guys are great! Thank you for coming out tonight. Happy Together ’23 is in full motion!”
The Cowsills open the show with a bouncy rendition of their catchy ’67 hit, “The Rain, The Park, and Other Things” (aka “The Flower Girl”).
The happy strains of this joyful ’60s tune fill the air as audience members move to the groove at their seats.
Paul exclaims, “This next song goes out to everybody in the balcony!” as the trio launches into their 1967 hit, “We Can Fly.” Music lovers clap along to the rhythm and listen to the tight vocal harmonies of the trio as a kaleidoscope of colors flash on the screen behind them.
Bob introduces his siblings, Paul and Susan, before The Cowsills perform a lively version of “Indian Lake,” a song which made Susan Cowsill, at the age of nine, the youngest person to perform on a hit record when the tune reached the Top 10 in 1968.
The trio follows up with a TV theme song they recorded back in 1969 — the theme from Love, American Style.
Concertgoers cheer, and Paul thanks the crowd as a fan calls out “Hair!” and Bob replies, “Of course, we’re going to do that!” The Cowsills end their nostalgic set with a high-energy rendition of their 1969 smash.
At the conclusion of “Hair,” audience members stand and cheer as The Cowsills take a well-deserved bow.
The Classics IV — featuring vocalist Tom Garrett and saxophonist Paul Weddle — take the stage and begin their set with the 1969 hit, “Every Day with You Girl,” a number which features Garrett’s silky lead vocal and Weddle’s vibrant saxophone playing.
Music lovers cheer, and Garrett greets the crowd saying, “Thank you! There’s nothing better than seeing such smiling faces in the audience.” The group follows up with their Top Ten hit from 1969, “Stormy,” where Weddle plays a tenor sax solo and concertgoers happily join Garrett in singing the well-known “Bring back that sunny day” lyric.
Garrett announces, “In 1969, this song went to #2, and it’s the 32nd most-played song on American radio,” prior to launching into the band’s 1969 hit, “Traces.” After Garrett croons the song’s famous “Faded photographs/Covered now with lines and creases” lyric, Weddle switches from tenor to soprano sax as he accompanies Garrett’s smooth vocal.
Concluding their set with a song which reached #1 in early 1968, The Classics IV perform “Spooky.” The crowd sings along with Garrett on the “Love is kinda crazy with a spooky little girl like you” chorus and Weddle wails a jazzy tenor sax solo, holding out the final note out at the end before Garrett thanks the standing, cheering crowd.
The Vogues — Troy Elich, Royce Taylor, and Shawn Stevens — enter the stage and open their portion of the show with their 1966 hit, “Five O’Clock World.”
Looking dapper in their shimmering jackets, the trio gets the audience clapping along to the beat as the singers’ stylized harmonies create a vocal symphony filled with movement.
Moving on to their 1968 million seller, “My Special Angel,” the audience enjoys the smooth sound that Troy Elich and his colleagues create as they expertly harmonize with one another.
At the conclusion, music lovers cheer, and calls of “More!” can be heard throughout the auditorium. Touched by the response, Erlich exclaims, “I am floored!”
Announcing “This was our first million selling single,” The Vogues perform a dynamic version of their 1968 Top Ten hit, “Turn Around, Look At Me.” As heads sway and toes tap, music lovers can’t help but sing along, finding it impossible to resist the magical melody of this alluring classic.
Following a standing ovation, The Vogues end their set with their upbeat 1965 hit, “You’re the One.”
Their brilliant harmonies and high countermelody impress the audience and concertgoers stand and cheer yet again for these talented vocalists.
During intermission, we chat with several music lovers in the crowd who share their thoughts on tonight’s performance thus far. Comments Bruce from Englewood, “So far, this show is tremendous! All these songs are such big hits — I’d have to say they were the twelve greatest songs I’ve ever heard within an hour — and the performers were spot on!” Anita from Fort Lee agrees, declaring, “They didn’t miss a beat — all of the performers still retain their vigor!”
Cheryl from Palisades Park calls Act I “Great!” recalling, “The Vogues’ song, ‘You’re the One,’ was played at my wedding. It made me want to get up and dance!” Whereas Cathy from Pearl Run calls the show thus far, “Excellent,” Cindi from Congers, NY confesses, “It was so good, I cried my heart out! It made me want to go back to the ‘60s!”
Gary Puckett, the original lead singer of Gary Puckett and The Union Gap, takes the stage in his pastel green overcoat and opens Act II with a powerful rendition of his 1968 #2 hit, “Lady Willpower.”
Concertgoers sing along on the “Lady Willpower/It’s now or never” refrain as Puckett croons center stage under colored lights.
“How’s everybody tonight?” asks Puckett, announcing, “I’m dedicating my part of the show to the veterans of the military.” Moving on to 1968’s “Over You,” Puckett croons, “Why am I losing sleep over you?” before the audience happily joins him in singing the tuneful “I guess there’s just no getting over you” chorus.
Announcing, ‘This was a kind of a coming of age song for us,” Puckett removes his jacket prior to presenting a compelling version of his 1969 Top Ten smash, “This Girl Is a Woman Now.” Singing with emotion, his vibrato fills the BergenPAC auditorium and the audience avidly responds with cheers and applause.
Joking, “Last October, I turned 80 — I think you’re just applauding because I made it this far!” Puckett invites the audience to join him in singing his 1968 hit “Woman Woman,” and the crowd happily sings along on the well-known, “Woman, woman/Have you got cheating on your mind?” refrain.
Announcing, “I’ve got one more for you,” Puckett concludes his set with 1968’s “Young Girl” where the audience joins in singing on the “Young girl/Get out of my mind” chorus under bright white stage lights.
As concertgoers applaud on their feet, Puckett responds, “It is because of you that freedom lives in this country, and don’t forget, the glory goes to God,” prior to taking a bow and exiting the stage.
Shadow Stevens’ voice proclaims Little Anthony as “one of the nicest guys in the business” as Anthony Gourdine — aka Little Anthony — enters and receives a standing ovation from the entire crowd.
Opening with his 1958 hit, “Tears on My Pillow,” Anthony’s voice sounds as strong as ever as he croons, “You don’t remember me/But I remember you,” looking dapper in his sparkling black and silver jacket with red lapels.
The crowd cheers, and Anthony says, “Welcome to BergenPAC in beautiful downtown Englewood,” joking, “This next song is not one of my favorites; in fact, I think it’s stupid, but it paid for the mortgage.” Launching into his 1960 million-seller, “Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko-Ko-Bop,” concertgoers sing along as they dance to the music in their seats.
Little Anthony’s background vocalist, Johnny Britt, is featured playing a muted trumpet solo on the introduction to the 1965 classic, “Hurt So Bad.” Singing with power and emotion, Anthony holds his mic as far away from his body as possible as he cries, “Please don’t go/Please don’t go!” bringing music lovers to their feet.
Acknowledging that the crowd’s response gives him “a lot of energy,” Anthony launches into a song written specifically for him — his 1964 smash, “Goin’ Out of My Head.”
Singing with skill and feeling, Anthony majestically holds out the notes at the end bringing people to their feet before he blows kisses to the crowd while exiting the stage.
Tonight’s final act, The Turtles — Mark Volman and Ron Dante — start off their set with a rockin’ version of the group’s 1967 hit, “She’d Rather Be With Me.”
As they croon the tuneful “Some girls love to run around” lyric, music lovers nod their heads and tap their toes to the number’s snappy rhythm.
Volman and Dante follow up with the 1966 Turtles hit, “You Baby” where the crowd happily joins in on the “You baby/No one but you, baby/Nobody but you” refrain.
Dante asks the audience, “Are you having a good time?” and Volman adds, “We’re happy to be here,” prior to joking, “I’m happy to be anywhere at this point of my life!”
Volman invites the audience to sing along on the duo’s next song and concertgoers enthusiastically join in on the “I said a-no, no, no, it ain’t me, babe” refrain of “It Ain’t Me, Babe,” the 1965 Turtles hit written by Bob Dylan.
Dante follows up with a performance of his own #1 hit with The Archies, “Sugar, Sugar.”
Next, Volman and Dante segue into a spirited rendition of The Turtles’ 1968 Top Ten smash, “Elenore,” where lights flash over the audience as they sing “Elenore, gee, I think you’re swell” on this happy-go-lucky tune.
Dante cries, “I’ve been waiting to sing this song all night — let’s sing it together!” as the entire crowd stands, dances, and sings “I can’t see me lovin’ nobody but you for all my life” along with The Turtles on their 1967 chart-topper, “Happy Together.”
The audience cheers so enthusiastically that Volman jokes he’ll have to start the show all over again. One at a time, each of performers return to the stage to do a snippet of one of their hits, after which everyone joins in on a full cast reprise of “Happy Together.”
As audience members file out of the BergenPAC auditorium, we chat with several music lovers who comment on tonight’s performance. Remarks Nina from Hamburg, NJ, “I came to see The Cowsills, and they were fantastic! Their harmonies really brought me back.” Richard from Tenefly agrees, noting, “The Cowsills were great, but so was Little Anthony. At age 82, his voice was unbelievable, making this concert just awesome!”
MacKenzie from Clifton recalls, “My mom grew up in the ’60s so I’ve listened to ’60s music my whole life,” before disclosing, “This is my first concert ever! I knew so many of the songs, and the artists really kept the music flowing.” MacKenzie’s mom, Gaye from Clifton, reveals, “I saw Gary Puckett back in 1990 and got an autograph and picture with him, and here I am tonight 30 years later and he’s still got it!”
Whereas Anthony from Brooklyn characterizes tonight’s show as “Awesome!” declaring, “All of the artists rocked!” Ron from Hamburg exclaims, “My favorite was Little Anthony, but they were all fantastic!” before concluding, “I give this show an A+, and I’ll definitely be back next year!”
To learn more about The Happy Together Tour, please go to happytogethertour.com. For info on upcoming shows at BergenPAC — The Family Stone on Aug. 25, The Temptations and Four Tops on Dec. 10, and Tommy James and the Shondells on Jan. 27, 2024 — please click on bergenpac.org.
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