Happy Together Tour returns to Riverside Casino & Golf Resort

The Vogues have gone from forming in Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, in 1960 to touring annually with The Turtles on the Happy Together Tour, which returns Saturday, Aug. 23 to the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort for its 16th year there.

"It's funny how that's so," The Vogues vocalist Troy Elich said. "The Turtles are great to be on tour with. This is our fifth time being on the Happy Together Tour. It's so much fun for us and the audience."

Considering how such late, lamented tours as Ozzfest and Lollapalooza are regarded, the Happy Together jaunts, which commenced in 1985, should get more notice. However, the Happy Together Tour is relatively under the radar.

"More people should know about the Happy Together Tour," Elich said. "There's so many great artists that are part of this."

The Turtles, which feature Mark "Flo" Volman and Ron Dante, had a great degree of success during the '60s with such hits as "It Ain't Me Babe," "Elenore," "You Showed Me," "She'd Rather Be With Me" and the Billboard Hot 100 chart topper, "Happy Together."

Gary Puckett and the Union Gap recorded such hits as "Young Girl," "Lady Willpower" and "Woman Woman."

The Cowsills, which is the family act that inspired The Partridge Family, reached the charts with "Hair," "The Rain, the Park and Other Things" and "Indian Lake." Jay & the Americans will deliver such favorites as "Cara Mia," "Come a Little Bit Closer" and "This Magic Moment." Little Anthony became a star courtesy of such smashes as “Goin Out of My Head," "Tears on my Pillow" and "Hurts So Bad."

"There's so much talent on this bill," Elich said. "If you're ready to hear hit after hit, come out to this show."

The Vogues, a harmony-pop vocal group, has had its share of hits. "Five O'Clock World," "You're the One," "Magic Town," "The Land of Milk and Honey," "Turn Around, Look at Me," and "My Special Angel" are just some of their tunes that charted.

"We have a nice canon of songs to pull from," Elich said while calling from Staten Island. "I love singing this material during our summer run. We do about 60 cities during this season. It's a bit of a grind, but the upside is we get to sing these songs and we get to hang out. We're all friends. We see each other and really enjoy each other's company."

Virtually all of the hits from each of the acts is from the '60s, so it's been more than a half-century since the songs were introduced. However, many of the tracks remain resonant.

"I think the songs still connect with people because people can still relate to what the songs are about," Elich said. "People still have to get through the day and get through the week. They can really relate to 'Five O'Clock World,’ with lines like, 'Living on the money that I ain't made yet/Gotta keep goin, gotta make my way up/But I live for the end of the day.' Much in life has changed, but much has stayed the same, and you can see that in 'Five O'Clock World.'

“But also, when you break it down, new songs aren't that different from songs from the '60s. There's only eight notes and only so many chords and chord progressions. No song is radically different today due to that."

Elich sings about a "Five O'Clock World," but he doesn't live it.

"That is so true," Elich said. "We're traveling during the day, and we work at night when we hit the stage. But in a way, what we do during the day is work since travel is such a grind. What we do is not the norm. The same can be said for how we are day to day. I never know what the day or date it is. We're just constantly moving, and that takes something out of you. But I can't complain since we're all doing this together. It's so much fun getting to these cities and hanging out with guys, who are hilarious like Little Anthony. What we do is not exactly like a ‘Five O'Clock World,’ but we have an incredible time."

Elich doesn't listen to much contemporary music but loves the vocal groups of the past.

"That's my thing," Elich said. "I love a good four-part harmony, and you just don't hear it that much in contemporary music. You had some groups bring it back like Boyz II Men and the Backstreet Boys. But you don't hear it that much anymore. But you'll hear it if you come out and see us. We'll take you back to a simpler time."

Elich believes The Vogues and the bands from the Happy Together Tour offer fans an opportunity to be transported in time.

"Music from my teen years takes me back to when I was a teenager," Elich said. "I can hear a song, and it takes me back to my high school dances. Yes, there were songs with an anti-war message from the '60s, but there were a lot of great songs about meeting a girl and falling in love. Some of our songs take people back to a different day and time and that gives you a nice escape."