Alan Gordon and Gary Bonner (The Turtles)

Alan Gordon and Gary Bonner (aka Barten) first drew attention as members of the Magicians, a New York-based quartet active between 1965 and 1966.  Bonner and Gordon launched a songwriting career that flourished with ‘Happy Together’ and ‘She’d Rather Be With Me’, two US number 1 singles for the Turtles. Further Top 20 entries followed with ‘You Know What I Mean’ and ‘She’s My Girl’, while the pair also wrote hits for Gary Lewis (‘Jill’), Petula Clark (‘Cat In The Window’) and the Mojo Men (‘Me About You’). Bonner/Gordon songs were covered by many other artists, including Bobby Darin and the Righteous Brothers. The duo joined Lovin’ Spoonful drummer Joe Butler to assist him in completing his group’s final album, Revolution/Revelation ’69, but Bonner and Gordon’s partnership was eventually sundered at the end of the decade.