Flo & Eddie

Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, who performed as Flo & Eddie, once labeled one of their releases a blend of the Partridge Family and Redd Foxx, forming one of rock & roll’s most unusual pairings. Their bond originated in a Westchester, California high-school choir and first took musical shape in the surf outfit the Crossfires, which adopted the name the Turtles once its members completed their studies. Although the Turtles produced some of pop’s most buoyant and melodic hits, a playful streak always ran beneath the surface. After the group disbanded in 1970, the pair joined Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, an environment that encouraged their offbeat sensibilities. Initially billed as the Phlorescent Leech & Eddie, they soon shortened the name to Flo & Eddie. Across seven solo albums they explored unexpected territory, including several reggae projects that defied easy categorization. Their widest recognition, however, came from a radio program that debuted in Detroit during the mid-1970s, later moved to KROQ in California, and reached nearly fifty syndicated outlets at its height. The duo also composed scores for two modest films, Dirty Duck and Texas Detour, and supplied music for children’s animated programs such as Strawberry Shortcake and the Care Bears.