Tommy James & the Shondells
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Tommy James and the Shondells | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Origin | Niles, MI (1963) |
| Years active | 1963-1965, 1966-1970, 1990-present |
| Genres | Rock and roll (notably including Pop Rock, and Psychedelic rock), and Rhythm-and-blues |
| Labels | Snap, Roulette, Aura |
| Past members | 1966-1970 Tommy James Eddie Gray Mike Vale Ronnie Rosman Peter Lucia, Jr. (pre-1966) Joseph "Joe" Kessler Larry Wright Larry Coverdale Vincent Pietropaoli James Payne Craig Villeneuve George D. Magura |
Tommy James and the Shondells were a popular 1960s American rock and roll group. They had two number one singles in the U.S. -- "Hanky Panky (1963) and "Crimson and Clover" (1968) -- but also released five other top ten hits such as "I Think We're Alone Now," "Mony Mony," and "Crystal Blue Persuasion."
[edit] History
The band initially formed in 1959 as Tom and the Tornadoes, with the then only 12-year-old Tommy James as lead singer. In 1963, he renamed the band The Shondells, after one of James's idols, guitarist Troy Shondell. Later in 1963, they recorded the Jeff Barry/Ellie Greenwich song "Hanky Panky" (originally a B-side by The Raindrops). James' version sold respectably in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois, but the record label, Snap Records, had no national distribution. The single thus failed to chart, and the Shondells disbanded thereafter.
Two years later, a Pittsburgh radio station unearthed the forgotten single and touted it as an "exclusive." Listener response encouraged the station to play it regularly. Another Pittsburgh DJ played his copy of the single at various dance parties, and demand soared. Bootleggers responded by printing up 80,000 bootlegged copies of the recording, which were sold in Pennsylvania stores. James first learned of all this activity after getting a phone call in December 1965 from Pittsburgh DJ "Mad Mike" Metro, who asked him to come perform the song. James contacted his fellow Shondells, but they had moved past their musical ambitions and did not want to travel to Pittsburgh.
Tommy James went by himself in early 1966, and made promotional appearances at the radio station, in clubs and on local television. "I had no group, and I had to put one together really fast," recalled James. "I was in a Pittsburgh club one night, and I walked up to a group that was playing that I thought was pretty good, and asked them if they wanted to be the Shondells. They said yes, and off we went."
With Vale, Rosman, Kessler, Pietropaoli, and Magura as his new Shondells, James now had a touring group to promote the single. James went to New York, and sold the master of "Hanky Panky" to Roulette Records. With national promotion behind it, the single became a national number one hit in June 1966. Before long, Kessler, Pietropaoli, and Magura were replaced by Gray and Lucia.
At first, Tommy James and his Shondells played straightforward shambolic rock and roll, but soon became involved in the budding bubblegum music movement. Songwriter Ritchie Cordell gave them the hits "I Think We're Alone Now" (later a hit for Tiffany) and "Mirage" in 1967.
From 1968, the group members tried themselves as songwriters, with James and Lucia penning the psychedelic classic "Crimson and Clover". The song was also completely recorded and mixed by the two of them, with James taking over vocal duties and playing all instruments, and features the then remarkable use of electronic gadgetry such as vocoders and phasers. Further hits included "Crystal Blue Persuasion", "Sweet Cherry Wine", and "Mony Mony" (1968), written by James (together with Vale) and allegedly inspired by the sign for Mutual Of New York that hung outside his office window. They also produced "Sugar on Sunday", later covered by The Clique. The group carried on with constant success until early 1970, when James became exhausted from the strenuous touring and decided to drop out. His four bandmates carried on for a short while under the name of Hog Heaven but disbanded soon afterwards.
In a 1970 side project, James wrote and produced the #7 single "Tighter, Tighter" for the group Alive 'N Kicking. James launched a solo career in '71 which yielded two notable hits over a 10-year span; "Draggin' the Line" 1971 and "Three Times In Love" 1980. During the 1980s the group's songbook resulted in hits for several other artists over the years, including Joan Jett & The Blackhearts' "Crimson And Clover" (1982) and Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now" and Billy Idol's "Mony Mony" (both 1987). Oddly, Idol's version of "Mony Mony" replaced Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now" at the #1 position on the U.S. Hot 100 chart toward the end of 1987.
In 1990, Tommy started releasing more new music with the album "HiFi", and, in 1993, founded his own recording label "Aura Records Inc." Tommy James & The Shondells have toured steadily throughout the 90s and 00s. They released their 1996 performance at the "Bitter End" in New York City on DVD in 1997; "Live At The Bitter End". Tommy continues to record new music and have success on the charts today. The single "Isn't That The Guy" climbed to #4 on the charts in 2005, followed by "Love Words" which topped the charts at #1 in August 2006. Both are part of his latest studio album released in 2006; "Hold The Fire".
[edit] Hit singles
- 1966: Hanky Panky (#1 on the U.S. Hot 100 chart)
- 1966: Say I Am (What I Am) (#21)
- 1966: It's Only Love (#31)
- 1967: I Think We're Alone Now (#4)
- 1967: Mirage (#10)
- 1967: I Like the Way (#25)
- 1967: Gettin' Together (#18)
- 1967: Out of the Blue (#43)
- 1968: Get Out Now (#48)
- 1968: Mony Mony (#3)
- 1968: Somebody Cares (#53)
- 1968: Do Something to Me (#38)
- 1968: Crimson and Clover (#1)
- 1969: Sweet Cherry Wine (#7)
- 1969: Crystal Blue Persuasion (#2)
- 1969: Ball of Fire (#19)
- 1969: She (#23)
- 1970: Gotta Get Back to You (#45)
- 1970: Come to Me (#47)
Two of the band's U.S. singles charted in England: "Hanky Panky," which was a minor hit, and "Mony Mony," which topped the UK chart for three weeks. Tommy James had thirteen charting solo singles, with the three highest-charting being 1971's "Draggin' the Line" (#4), 1980's "Three Times in Love" (#19), and 1971's "I'm Comin' Home" (#40).
