Turtles wanted to be Tyrtles but record company said no

The Turtles
Portrait of American rock band "The Turtles": (back left to right) Al Nichol, Jim Tucker, Mark Volman, Howard Kaylan and (front left to right) Johnny Barbara and Jim Pon in Britain, June 13 1967.
Central Press | Hulton Archive | Getty Images 1967

Today's Morning Edition music is from the Turtles with "Happy Together," which was No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart 50 years ago.

The band, which formed in Los Angeles, was originally called the Crossfires. But like many American bands in the '60s, they wanted to be associated with the highly success British Invasion groups. To emulate the creatively-spelled animal band names like the Beatles and the Byrds, they called themselves the Tyrtles.

The record company thought that was a bit too cute and told them to switch to the conventional spelling.

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