The Turtles' last single, "Elenore," is one of these tight, really together songs that from time to time drifts across the AM airwaves. The arrangement is perfect, from the piano playing and bongos to the vocal; even the lyrics are unassuming: "you're my pride and joy etcetera...." It's the kind of record that can take its place next to "Happy Together" and "You Baby," for if nothing else the Turtles have occasionally been able to make some quite good singles.

Unfortunately the best thing about the new Turtles' album is "Elenore." It's not that Battle of the Bands is embarrassing bad, because it isn't; rather it's that Battle of the Bands is something of a bore. Presumably most (if not all) of the tracks are parodies of one sort or another: thus "Buzzsaw" entered in the "battle" by the "Fabulous Dawgs" and "Surfer Dan" (by the "Cross Fires"). Yet neither "Buzzsaw" nor "Surfer Dan" is particularly funny, and neither has any real musical merit apart from its existence as parody. The same criticism might be made of "The Last Thing I Remember" (by the "Atomic Enchilada").

Nowhere in this album is there any evidence of the genius for parody that Frank Zappa and Ed Sanders both possess; the album more often than not lacks subtlety and the incisive insight into form that makes parody successful. Perhaps this is an unfair comparison, since obviously the Turtles are not doing what the Mothers or Fugs are doing—but then what the Turtles are doing is highly problematical.

As for the rest of the album, "Oh, Daddy!" (by the "L.A. Bust '66") and "Chicken Little Was Right" (by "Fats Mallard and the Bluegrass Fireball") are both tolerable, while "Food" (by the "Bigg Brothers") is too aggressively cute to be listened to often. "You Showed Me" (by "Nature's Children") is a very pleasant McGuinn-Gene Clark composition and is the album's best track apart from "Elenore." "Earth Anthem" (by "All") on the other hand sounds as banal as its title; it even sports a French horn ("this is our home, third from the sun ..."). All things considered, "Battle of the Bands is an unimpressive collection of largely mediocre parodies, and in this case the exceptions ("You Showed Me" and "Elenore") certainly prove the rule. (RS 25)

JIM MILLER