"The Happenings," then and now

Of the concept of a "happening," the website artsy.net observes:


In October 1959, artist and Rutgers professor Allan Kaprow presented 18 Happenings in 6 Parts at the Reuben Gallery in New York’s East Village. Although he had experimented with the form earlier, this marked the first use of the term “Happening.”
(...)
The Happenings burned bright and fast, tapering off in 1963 when Kaprow moved on. Grooms and Oldenburg had already left to pursue other projects. News of the novel art form had started to travel—there were “thrill clubs” that came from Long Island to experience the Happenings and, for Oldenburg, the “audience became less and less interesting to me. I couldn’t really reach them.” The term “Happening” became such an accepted part of 1960s vernacular that it was used as a title for a song by girl group The Supremes.




link: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-what-were-1960s-happenings-and-why-do-they-matter

The song referenced by artsy.net, "The Happening," was the theme song for the 1967 movie "The Happening," which starred, among others, Faye Dunaway, Anthony Quinn, and George Maharis. Oscar Homolka, frequently cast as a heavy (by Hitchcock in Sabotage, Reward to Finder), also appeared.

Artsy.net did not mention the musical group The Happenings, comprised of graduates from a high school in Paterson, New Jersey, most notably Bob Miranda. The Happenings were big around 1966-1967. Of relevance to intellectual property, their big hits were cover songs, of previously recorded songs. From wikipedia:


The band's original concept and much of its commercial success came as a cover band playing classic songs in a unique style. Said Miranda, the group's concept was to "take a song that's already proven it could be a hit and put our spin on it."

(...)

The group's major hits were "See You In September" (1966), which was originally recorded by The Tempos in 1959, and a cover version of the George Gershwin/Ira Gershwin song, "I Got Rhythm" (1967), updated for the group's sunshine pop musical style. "See You In September" and "I Got Rhythm" were on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles charts for 14 weeks in 1966 and 13 weeks in 1967, respectively, forming musical bookends for the 1966-1967 school year, based on their Hot 100 #3 peak dates.



As an update, Bob Miranda & The Happenings appeared at Duke Island Park in Bridgewater, New Jersey on July 8, 2018.