It was 53 years ago this week (March 25th to March 31st, 1967) that the Turtles' “Happy Together” began its three-week run at Number One. “Happy Together” was written by Gary Bonner and Alan Gordon, who were members of the Boston area group the Magicians. The pair went on to write the group's follow-up single, “She'd Rather Be With Me” as well as Three Dog Night's “Celebrate.”
“Happy Together,” which knocked the Beatles' “Penny Lane” out from the top spot, has gone on to be featured in numerous TV shows, films and commercials, most recently for the Burger King chain.
Turtles' frontman Howard Kaylan says that he and group co-founder Mark Volman — better known as Flo & Eddie — made the right choice in deciding to battle for the group's trademark and ownership of their songs: “Because we went through the lawsuits back in the '60s and '70s with our label to regain our name and our credibility, and a little bit of self-esteem — we were able several years later to actually win our name back, and the masters and the right to keep recording as the Turtles.”