Bill O’Boyle

Bill O’Boyle

Tired of ads? Subscribers enjoy a distraction-free reading experience.
Click here to subscribe today or Login.

On Aug. 9, at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts. many of us from the ’60s generation will be “Happy Together” again.

In fact, that’s the name of the tour that will stop at The Kirby on that Monday night: “Happy Together.”

Entering its 12th year, the hit-filled lineup features returning favorites and new additions — the Turtles, Gary Puckett & the Union Gap, the Association, Classics IV, the Vogues and the Cowsills.

Each of these groups provided many hits that we still listen to, sing to and, yes, dance to.

Some of them we will dance to at the annual Summer Reunion when Joe Nardone & the All Stars and Eddie Day & the Starfires hold their annual event at the Irem Temple pavilion on Aug. 14.

But the week before, many of us will be dancing in our seats and singing along to the “Happy Together” groups as they belt out their hits.

And wow, did they have a lot of hits — an unbelievable 40 solid gold smash hits.

The Turtles are best known for their harmony-heavy California pop sound. With hits such as “Elenore,” “She’d Rather Be With Me,” “It Ain’t Me Babe,” “You Showed Me,” and the title of the tour, “Happy Together.”

The Turtles ruled the airwaves in the late ’60s.

Gary Puckett & the Union Gap will feature Gary’s trademark voice, belting out his hits one more time. Fans will affectionately remember “Young Girl,” “Over You,” “Woman, Woman,” “This Girl Is A Woman Now,” “Lady Willpower,” “Don’t Give In To Him,” and more.

Also returning to the tour for 2021 is The Association, who enjoyed massive radio success in the ’60s with such No. 1 hits as “Cherish,” “Windy,” “Never My Love,” and “Along Comes Mary.” This iconic vocal group was a staple on AM radio in the 1960s.

Joining Happy Together for 2021 is Classics IV, with their southern soft rock sound. They are one of the most popular and influential pop groups of the ’60s and ’70s. They achieved phenomenal success with multi-platinum hits “Spooky,” “Stormy,” “Traces,” and Everyday With You Girl.”

Brand new to the touring family for 2021 are The Vogues. Also known for their harmony-driven pop sound, the Vogues had numerous Top 10 hits with singles such as “Five O’Clock World,” “You’re The One,” “My Special Angel,” and “Turn Around Look At Me.”

Rounding out the bill are The Cowsills, the harmonious family act (two brothers and a sister) that inspired the smash hit ’60s television show, “The Partridge Family.” They are sure to delight with their best-known songs, “Hair,” “Indian Lake,” “The Rain, The Park & Other Things (I Love The Flower Girl)” and more.

And Ron Dante joins the line-up to delight with his own mega-hit, “Sugar Sugar.”

Trust me, it will be a raucous night. Fans will be on their feet and dancing in the aisles to many of these songs.

In fact, I might have to break out a special cologne from the ’60s — maybe Brut, or Old Spice, or English Leather, or Hai Karate, or Canoe, or British Sterling, or Aqua Velva.

These are fragrances that brought couples together way back then. Today, they are very under-appreciated. My newsroom colleagues, for instance, cringe when I splash on a little Brut to get me through the day. One colleague actually said I “weaponize” my stash of 1960s fragrances.

Weaponize? Really?

I can remember my dad getting ready to take my mom out on a Saturday night. After a shower, shave and a little dab of Vitalis or Brylcreem, he would then splash on his go-to fragrance — Old Spice. He loved it, but mom loved it more.

I mean it was Saturday night. Adults back then had to look and smell their very best.

Now before you go saying I’m living in the past, I will tell you I do have some of the latest men’s fragrances as well. Right at the top of that list is Polo by Ralph Lauren — but only the green bottled scent. It’s the best. But I also have a few others that I throw on just to smell better than I would with no fragrance. It does make a discernible difference.

So if you are going to the “Happy Together” tour when it stops at the Kirby Center Aug. 9, and if you detect the slightest scent of one of these power fragrances, look around. I shouldn’t be far away.

It will be a great night of awesome groups performing their awesome hit songs at an awesome venue.

And I will be singing and swaying and smelling pretty darn good.

Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle, or email at [email protected].