Tommy James and the Shondelles C or D

Travelin' is a gold mine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah6iAzTBl9c

trust each other in love
and we can't stop believing for a single day

Fun fact: "Crimson and Clover" is a rough mix. Tommy played it off-air for WLS (Chicago AM radio powerhouse) during an interview/promo spot. Unbeknownst to him, WLS recorded it. When he left the station and got in his limo, he turned on the radio and heard, "World exclusive from Tommy James and the Shondells!" and the rough mix of "Crimson." Because the station played it every 20 minutes (and because it was hugely influential in making hits), Tommy had to release it like that.

Had no intention of seeing this (barely knew of its existence, to be honest), but now I think I will.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saHzng8fxLs

got a freebie best of Tommy James CD, was kinda excited to play it. fired it up: uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugggh it's a LIVE compilation from like, 2007. it says live on the spine but not on the cover, and only on the linernotes inside does it say in fine print

bleh

ugh

his albums on roulette are some of the best-sounding vinyl I own - Travelin' is a fantastic album

Crimson and clover. Possibly the greatest song of all time

Yes.

It's so good.

yeeaahh

yep

they have a couple of these! "I Think We're Alone Now" and "Mony Mony" are up there too

I'd add Crystal Blue Persuasion to the list. One of the great singles bands of all time

totally. i like "Mirage" a lot too.

their evolution is incredible. they made "Hanky Panky" when they were still in high school in 1966. some DJs started playing bootlegged copies of it and it became a regional hit, tromping a record deal. in 1967 later they release "I Think We're Alone Now". in 1968 they release "Mony Mony". in 1969 they release "Crimson & Clover".

these are insane singles. like damn. fwiw the albums are not too shabby either.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9S8liz2HSQ

Otm, but Crimson and Clover is just unbelievable

Was anybody who played on “Hanky Panky” besides Tommy on the later records?

he's still alive, right? who was in his band? did he really have a band? did he have a writing partner?

He eventually did have more or less a regular band and writing partner(s).

re: "Hanky Panky"

In February 1964 the band recorded the Jeff Barry–Ellie Greenwich song "Hanky Panky" (originally a B-side by the Raindrops[4]). Released by Snap Records, a local label, James's version sold respectably in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois, but Snap Records had no national distribution. The band toured the eastern Midwest, but no other market took to the song. The single failed to chart nationally, and the Shondells disbanded in 1965 after its members graduated from high school.

...

in 1965, Pittsburgh dance promoter Bob Mack had unearthed the forgotten single "Hanky Panky", playing it at various dance parties, and radio stations there touted it as an "exclusive". Listener response encouraged regular play, and demand soared. Bootleggers responded by printing 80,000 black market copies of the recording, which were sold in Pennsylvania stores.

James first learned of all this activity in April 1966 after getting a telephone call from Pittsburgh disc jockey "Mad Mike" Metro to come and perform the song. James attempted to contact other members of the Shondells, but they had all moved away, joined the service or gotten married and left the music business altogether.

James later sells a tape master (taken from a copy of the original single, as the session tape had dissappeared) to Roulette, and the rereleased single goes to #1 in the summer of '66.

Their narrative is amazing, going from basically being the Kingsmen (who had a similar thing happen with "Louie Louie"), become early Bubblegum kingpins before reaching from (and attaining!) Psych cred with "Crimson and Clover", getting Hubert Humphrey to write liner notes and turning down Woodstock before burning out mightily in '70.

That Wikipedia article also says

In 2009 James and the surviving Shondells, Gray, Vale and Rosman, reunited to record music for a soundtrack of a proposed film based on James' autobiography, Me, the Mob, and the Music, released in February 2010. The group still gets together from time to time for special video/TV events and nostalgia shows.

Aargh. Ron Rosman, one ‘s’

finally ordering that autobio

You will not regret it

and turning down Woodstock before burning out mightily in '70.

We were in Hawaii, and my secretary called and said, ‘Yeah, listen, there’s this pig farmer in upstate New York that wants you to play in his field.’ That’ s how it was put to me. So we passed.”

Thread delivers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYhruUQpr7k

i like this song too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lke1pCmYFCU

"I like the way you hold my hand, it lets me know that you understand"

this line always sounded so Rolling Stones to me

I's say classic. Also, anyone else find it weird that three '80s pop stars each had huge hits covering different Tommy James songs?
― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Wednesday, February 18, 2004 4:17 PM (fourteen years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZvNJ1UnR0I

when Joan Jett and the Cramps cover your songs

Spotted this at the record show today, passed as it was late and priced like $10 (this is the LP w/"Draggin' The Line"--which was advertised with a large hype sticker still attached)

https://images.eil.com/large_image/TOMMY_JAMES_CHRISTIAN%2BOF%2BTHE%2BWORLD-516301.jpg

waow

I know, right? You can see the sticker HERE. I like how it screams "It's not all xtian gobbledygook! The song you like is on here!"

would kill for a Prince cover of "Crystal Blue Persuasion"

picked up the "Christian of the World" today. its very much in that mode of back-to-the-roots country rock everyone was doing around then. im halfway through the first side and "Dragging the Line" is definitely the standout. they always nail the arrangements w these singles. there is that palm muted guitar again, and the droney organ.

there is the strong Philly soul reference throughout that is always there w Tommy James, which makes a great fit for this occasionally psychedelic gospel rock. some of the tracks remind me of All Things Must Pass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t9hxTZsv2U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqmI7_jkqB8

"Light of Day" is pretty cool. another song Prince should cover.

might be a little late

love the singing in the chorus of "Silk, Satin, Carriage Waiting".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFsVcQNNrac

been reading the book. it's an amazing story. i like how the success of the "California Sun" cover by peers the Rivieras prompted him to do their own cover and make "Hanky Panky" theirs. they had only heard "Hanky Panky" as covered by friends of theirs, rather than the original track which they never heard. so when the time came to record it, they had to make up lyrics.

someone finally uploaded one of my faves. the final song on midnight rider, "keep it in the groove." bad rip but gives the idea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlcuqzjcKdY

i finished the book today. wow. that was crazy. im a bit sad it is so short, less than 300 pages and only really covers through the 60s (his post-60s career is a few paragraphs). "One helluva ride" it promises and damn it certainly is that.

it is crazy how his career intersected with these mob wars in New England in the late 60's/early 70's. his manager/label boss/etc Morris Levy was this legendary gangster label boss who never paid anybody but ran like a million rackets, from bootlegging records to inventing cutouts/Greatest Hits with one new song vinyl. there was payola, there was accounting fraud, he knew people in the mob, people that The Godfather and The Sopranos are based on. Fat Tony would hang out at his place. it was the Sopranos running a record label.

Tommy James was basically living week-to-week, every time he had a hit the question was "where's the next song?" it was a single-based strategy. Bo Gentry and Ritchie Cordell (who wrote "I Think We're Alone Now") were his writers (Tommy James kind of being abusive towards them in parts but he is pretty honest in him being a horrible person at times fwiw) the book has some cool stories of them making up songs in their place at 888 Eighth. the Cowsills were friends and would stay there, apparently the father was an alcoholic so Tommy's would be a place they could hang out to escape alcoholic abuse. Tommy did pills and pot and stuff but stayed away from acid and the heavier stuff. he ends up going to rehab, the famous Betty Ford Clinic, and staying sober and productive, finally finding success with a third marriage. then Billy Idol, Tiffany, and Joan Jett find success (1987 is a great 30th anniversary). unfortunately his longtime frenemy Morris Levy gets caught killing a record retailer during an FBI investigation of MCA.

i love reading about them making "Mony Mony", it sounds like a tape editing Frankenstein's monster of a recording, them putting on all these layers and different instruments and copying loops. then they are writing lyrics and looking for something like Bonie Marony or Woolly Bully or Sloopy and go up on the roof for a smoke and they look out and see a neon sign MONY MONY MONY (with the $ in the O) on the Mutual of New York building. he says it was a sign from God.

the long version of "Crimson & Clover" was actually edited together from a first shorter version of it, and part of the song is played at a different speed, and it has always bugged him, cos they were in the middle of mixing and he brought the tape to a radio station, had let them play it, and they ended up taping it and playing it, letting it out into the world early. it seems like he had to deal with that kind of stuff constantly, just no control. one time his label boss had to disappear for 6 months due to mob wars and Tommy James took his lawyer to all the printers they had used for record labels. as in, the labels themselves. all the accountants a the label, all the record plant people, were bought off, and would not divulge any information. they found out he owed them $40 million dollars. i don't think he ever got this but i am not sure. it is definitely an interesting relationship, the guy was clearly using him, yet he also helped him out, he made him a star, got him on tv, promoted the heck out of him, and also been a friend in many ways. at one point he reminds Tommy that his records would be worth more if he was dead, and it's somehow a touching moment. after "Mony Mony" comes out his draft card comes in and Levy gets him out of that, which is like, he just saved his life.

amazing book! i want to get all of the records now.

one of the highlights was a party they were having to celebrate Levy's return from that 6 months of hiding out. it was right when "Crystal Blue Persuasion" came out, and Tito Puente (also on Roulette) was covering the song at this crazy party.

Lots of people worked with that guy. I seem to recall some story of the Basie band recounting a water pistol fight with that guy whilst on tour, hiding behind the buses.

Some of the Latin labels were started by George Goldner but then when he had a bad day at the track he had to sell them to Levy.

There's some good stuff in the Seymour Stein book about Goldner and Levy. The Red Bird label was also handed over by Goldner (after Leiber & Stoller relinquished their interest) to Levy, which effectively ended the label. As Stein was a Red Bird employee, this is essentially what led to Stein forming the Sire label.

an interesting side story they get into was that Levy was the guy who owned the Chuck Berry copyright who sued John Lennon over "Come Together" and when he won made John cover other songs he owned on the "Rock n Roll" record. and then he printed his own bootleg version of the record called "Roots". LOL this guy was an epic hustler.