The Turtles Present The Battle of the Bands

The Turtles were a quirky, lighthearted band that could’ve just settled for a relentless string of cheerfully catchy ’60s pop hits (many of which were low-key masterpieces). But in 1968, when singles started taking a backseat to albums — and ambitious concept albums at that — they felt compelled to join in the fun, and they did so in the goofiest way possible: by pretending to be everyone but themselves. A dozen songs featuring a dozen alter egos and performed in (give or take) a dozen styles, The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands revealed a stunning versatility beneath the pop facade, the kind of sly-humored observational deconstruction that would later get singers Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (a/k/a Flo and Eddie) into Frank Zappa’s good graces. Somehow, the biggest novelties prove to be some of the most enduring songs — dig the dirtbag Stax-isms of “Buzzsaw,” the Moog-drenched pot-brownie recipe “Food,” and the percussive rave-up “I’m Chief Kamanawanalea (We’re the Royal Macadamia Nuts),” the latter of which made this one of the unlikeliest weapons in every self-respecting DJ’s crates. Less silly, but no less astounding, are the head-in-the-clouds sunshine pop of Byrds castoff “You Showed Me” and the self-parody of “Elenore,” which still sounds like a pop classic even though it’s basically the band sardonically recoiling at the prospect of ever making another song like “Happy Together.”