Tommy James and the Shondelles C or D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyQiJKY7NpM

^Immortal masterpiece, perfect 60s primetime psychedelic visuals in that clip. Though as much as I love "Crimson and Clover", "Crystal Blue Persuasion" will always be my #1 TJ song; that main chord progression (Amaj9, Bm7, repeat) is so beautiful, gives me chills. It's the kind of chord progression you hear in soul music of the era way more often than in rock. And since it's just back-and-forth between two chords, it exudes a calm, elegant simplicity.

Also I'm currently hearing TJ's wacky 1995 concept album A Night In Big City (An Audio Movie) for the first time. The liner notes on his official website sum it up better than I can:

Talk about a concept album...Tommy pulled out all the stops on this one - a blend of music and theater reminiscent of an earlier time when the music business had a lot more imagination and fun. On this make believe trip through "Big City" (New York), Tommy and his group, along with the listener, are given the key to the city, a private limousine, and a voluptuous female driver who takes them on the ride of their life.

The album, produced by Tommy and long time friend and arranger Jimmy Wisner, contains 11 great new tracks including sparkling remakes of "I Think We're Alone Now" and "Tighter, Tighter" interspersed with dialogue and sound effects and a comic book style, story guide to help follow the action.

This is Tommy James at his creative best. From "Give It All", a hard, up-tempo alternative rocker, to the dreamy "Who Do You Love" to "Megamation Man", a chilling glimpse into the demonic New World Order.

One would have to go back to the CELLOPHANE SYMPHONY album or perhaps TRAVELIN' to find anything remotely as daring or progressive.

First impression is that the between-song dialogue is extremely cringe (maybe approaching so-bad-it's-good territory), but at least a couple of the songs are improbably good--"Baby Tonight" is a legit new jack swing song with a banging chorus, and "Give It All" is some decent power pop/heartland rock. "Megamation Man" is some Styx-tier dystopian cheese. There's also an unnecessary Mellencampified remake of "I Think We're Alone Now". Mostly I'm just appreciating that he conceived and executed such a bizarre and ambitious project in the mid 90s, even if it's deeply flawed.