TURTLES, THE

The Turtles illustrated the dilemma facing most rock acts at a time when commercial viability was tied to maintaining an ongoing string of hit singles. Despite a strong melodic sense and two of the finest pop singers of that era, Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (born Kaplan), the band felt compelled to continually shift stylistic gears in order to retain an audience. The pressures generated by such compromises appears to have played as much of a role as their widely known legal disputes with the White Whale label over finances in the group’s demise.