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56-511: Tommy James (born Thomas Gregory Jackson ; April 29, 1947) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, widely known as frontman of the 1960s rock band Tommy James and the Shondells , who were known for their hits including " Mony Mony ", " Crimson and Clover " and " I Think We're Alone Now ". Born in Dayton, Ohio , James and his family later moved to Niles, Michigan . He

112-706: A "mob war" erupted among organized crime families in New York, and threats against James were intimated due to his connection to Morris Levy. He recorded an album there with top Nashville musicians, My Head, My Bed and My Red Guitar (January 1972), which received critical acclaim but sold poorly. He left Roulette Records in 1974 and two more albums, In Touch (July 1976) and Midnight Rider (January 1978), followed on Fantasy Records , with yet another, Three Times in Love , appearing on Millennium Records in late 1979. The independent label Aegis Records put out his Hi-Fi album in

168-427: A New Jersey studio to record again after 37 years. The group recorded an album, I Love Christmas . In February 2010, an autobiography Me, The Mob, and The Music was published. James announced that deals were in hand to turn the story into both a film and a Broadway play. Barbara De Fina was said to be producing the film. It was evident when James first met Morris Levy , the head of Roulette Records , that Levy

224-568: A Pittsburgh area bootlegger made a copy of the song and began pressing copies of it, speeding it up slightly in the process. Sales of the bootleg were estimated at 80,000 in ten days. It became a number one on Pittsburgh radio stations in early 1966. Douglas heard about the record's sudden popularity in Pittsburgh because his name and contact information appeared on Snap Records labels. Numerous calls from Pittsburgh convinced James to go to Pennsylvania, where he met Mack and Chuck Rubin, who handled

280-494: A dispute when planned monies were not remitted to them by Roulette, a label closely associated with organized crime, and whose head, Morris Levy , was the inspiration for the Herman "Hesh" Rabkin character on The Sopranos . They were replaced by Eddie Gray (guitar) and Peter Lucia (drums); Magura departed as well. At first, Tommy James and "his" Shondells played straightforward rock and roll, but they soon became associated with

336-573: 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 a touring group to promote the single, James went to New York City, where he sold the master of "Hanky Panky" to Roulette Records , at which time he changed his last name to James. With national promotion, the single became a No. 1 hit in July 1966. He signed with Leonard Stogel and Associates for management. In 1967 Kessler and Pietropaoli were forced to leave after

392-749: A rival group called the Spinners (not the hit-making group from Detroit ). The Koachmen played a circuit of clubs in the Midwest through the summer and fall of 1965, but returned to Niles in February 1966, after the gigs dried up, to plot their next move. Meanwhile, 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

448-567: A show on an upstate New York pig farm, telling the Roulette Records ' secretary Karin Grasso, "If I'm not there, start without us, will you please?" In March 1970, after four more hits, drugs almost killed James when, at a concert, he collapsed, and was pronounced dead. However, he survived, decided to take a break from the recording studio, and moved up into the country to recuperate. The Shondells, without James, recorded two albums under

504-429: A writer or performer before joining Roulette Records as a staff songwriter in 1966. At Roulette, he began working with Tommy James and the Shondells, who had just had their first hit, " Hanky Panky ". With Sal Trimachi, Cordell co-wrote their third record, " It's Only Love "; as on many of the group's Roulette recordings, the writing credit was shared with record company boss Morris Levy , who garnered royalty monies in

560-482: Is that whatever they recorded should sound similar to "Hanky Panky", although the two songs sound nothing alike. Mack played The Fireballs record for the group, and they decided to record their version of the song. Mack was credited as the producer for the group's first album, Hanky Panky . Songwriter Richie Cordell wrote (or co-wrote) and produced many of the group's hits, among them " I Think We're Alone Now ", " Mirage ", and " Mony Mony ". The creation of "Mony Mony"

616-604: The Woodstock era for Time Life. James moved to Clifton, New Jersey in the mid 1970s and circa 2000 to nearby Cedar Grove . He has been married three times and has one child. On February 23, 2022, his wife Lynda died after a prolonged illness. Tommy James and the Shondells Tommy James and the Shondells is an American rock band formed in Niles, Michigan , in 1964. They had two No. 1 singles in

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672-496: The 1968 Fruitgum Company hit "Simon Says". Tommy rejects the "bubblegum" label for his music. In early 1967 songwriter Ritchie Cordell gave them the No. 4 hit " I Think We're Alone Now " and the No. 10 hit " Mirage ". In 1968, James had a No. 3 hit with " Mony Mony ". Co-written by James, Cordell, Cordell's writing partner Bo Gentry , and Bobby Bloom , "Mony Mony" reached No. 3 in the US and

728-584: The Blackhearts ' version of " I Love Rock 'n' Roll ", which reached No. 1 in the US and No. 4 in the UK, and its eponymous album . Cordell also co-produced the Ramones ' 1983 album Subterranean Jungle , and worked with British post-punk new wave band Bow Wow Wow . In 1987, he enjoyed the rare feat of having one of his songs (Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now") replaced by another (Billy Idol's "Mony Mony") at

784-569: The Clique . As the band embraced the sounds of psychedelia, they were invited to perform at Woodstock , but declined. The group continued until 1970. At a concert in Birmingham, Alabama , in March 1970, an exhausted James collapsed after coming off stage from a reaction to drugs and was pronounced dead. He was not dead, however, and decided to move to the country to rest and recuperate, and left

840-515: The Cramps , new wave singer Lene Lovich , country music veteran Dolly Parton , and the Boston Pops orchestra. In the mid-1980s, Tommy James began touring in oldies packages with other acts from the 1960s sometimes billed as Tommy James & the Shondells, although he is the group's only original member. A Greenwich Village nightclub appearance was filmed and released as Tommy James &

896-518: The Line " (co-written by Bob King) (#4 in 1971) and " Three Times in Love " (#19 in 1980), plus eleven much smaller Hot 100 chartings. "Hanky Panky" has been James' one RIAA certified gold single. He also wrote and produced the million-selling 1970 hit " Tighter, Tighter " for the group Alive 'N Kickin' (co-written by Bob King). In 1971 James spent time in Nashville at the recommendation of friends when

952-728: 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. In March 2011 the Tommy James song "I'm Alive" (co-written with Peter Lucia) became a top 20 hit in the Netherlands for UK singer Don Fardon after his version had been used in a Vodafone commercial. The song originally appeared on the Crimson & Clover LP. In 2012 "Crystal Blue Persuasion"

1008-459: The Shondells needed to become an album-oriented group if they were to survive in the business, necessitating a change in their style. After working out a marketing strategy for their new sound, James visited WLS when the group was in Chicago to play a concert, bringing along a rough cut of "Crimson and Clover" to the station. WLS secretly recorded the music when James played his tape for them. By

1064-478: The Shondells: Live! At The Bitter End . On January 6, 1987, original drummer Peter P. Lucia Jr. died of a heart attack while playing golf at the age of 39. In 2008 "I'm Alive" was covered by Tom Jones and released on his 24 Hours album. 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,

1120-587: The Tony Romeo composition, "Indian Lake" which found its way onto a PPX release, backed with an Addrisi Brothers composition which had reached #39 on the Hot 100 for The Association, "Time for Livin'". Having gone solo in 1970, he released his first two solo albums on Roulette, Tommy James (September 1970) and Christian of the World (August 1971). He had two further Billboard Hot 100 top 20 chart hits with " Draggin'

1176-516: The Tornadoes, with 12-year-old Tommy James (then known as Tommy Jackson) as lead singer. While attending Niles High School in Niles, Michigan, the group released its first single, "Long Pony Tail", in 1962. In 1964 James renamed the band the Shondells because the name "sounded good" and in honor of nearby Fort Wayne 's own Troy Shondell , famous for his 1961 release " This Time ". At this time,

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1232-405: The U.S. – " Hanky Panky " (July 1966, their only RIAA Certified Gold record) and " Crimson and Clover " (February 1969) – and also charted twelve other top 40 hits, including five in the Hot 100's top ten: " I Think We're Alone Now ", " Mirage ", " Mony Mony ", " Sweet Cherry Wine " and " Crystal Blue Persuasion ". The band The Echoes formed in 1959 in Niles, Michigan , then evolved into Tom and

1288-479: The abbreviation for the company: M-O-N-Y, which provided the song's name. Tommy James and the Shondells also produced a "Mony Mony" video when the song was a hit. Even though a number of musical groups had already produced videos by that time, there was no market at all for that film in the US. Television stations would not air it, and it was originally shown between double features in movie theaters in Europe. The film

1344-672: The band included Tommy James (vocals and guitar), Larry Coverdale (lead guitar), Larry Wright (bass), Craig Villeneuve (keyboards) and Jim Payne (drums). In February 1964 the band recorded the Jeff Barry – Ellie Greenwich song " Hanky Panky " (originally a B-side by the Raindrops ). As James could often be found playing at Niles High School events, his popularity locally continued to grow. James' version of "Hanky Panky" sold respectably in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois, but Snap Records,

1400-400: The band. His four bandmates carried on for a short while under the name Hog Heaven, recording two albums (one "self-titled" on Roulette Records in March 1971 and the second recorded in 1971, but unreleased until 2008), and landing one Hot 100 hit, " Happy ", at number 98, but disbanded soon afterwards. In a 1970 side project, James wrote and produced the No. 7 hit single "Tighter, Tighter" for

1456-611: The bands took James to the Thunderbird Lounge in Greensburg , where he recruited a quintet that was playing there called the Raconteurs – Joe Kessler (guitar), Ron Rosman (keyboards), George Magura (saxophone), Mike Vale (bass) and Vincent Pietropaoli (drums) – as the new Shondells. "I had no group, and I had to put one together really fast," recalled James. "I was in a Greensburg, PA club one night, and I walked up to

1512-406: The budding bubblegum music genre. James disputes this, saying that Super K Productions "bubblegum" producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz approached his record company (run by Morris Levy ) looking for songwriting jobs. Levy spurned Kasenetz and Katz, so they went elsewhere and became successful with such bands as the 1910 Fruitgum Company . Bubblegum is generally traced to the success of

1568-399: The company, notably " Gimme Gimme Good Lovin' " (co-written with Joey Levine and recorded by Crazy Elephant , 1968); and " Indian Giver " (co-written with Bobby Bloom and Bo Gentry , and recorded by the 1910 Fruitgum Co. , 1969). In the 1970s, he continued to work as a music publisher, songwriter and producer, before finding renewed success in 1981 as the co-producer of Joan Jett and

1624-667: The company, the lack of payment for those efforts was difficult to take. James estimates the company owed him $ 30 to $ 40 million in royalties. Roulette was used as a front for organized crime, also functioning as a money laundering operation, as Levy was closely allied with the Genovese crime family. In the early 1970s, the Genovese outfit found itself in a bloody gang war with the Gambino family, which saw victims not only among mobsters (such as Levy's close friend and business partner Thomas Eboli ), but increasingly among non-mob figures on

1680-609: The group Alive N Kickin' . James launched a solo career in 1970 that 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 produced major hits for three other artists: Joan Jett & The Blackhearts ' version of "Crimson and Clover" (No. 7 in 1982), Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now" and Billy Idol 's "Mony Mony" (back-to-back No. 1 singles in November 1987). Other Shondells covers have been performed by acts as disparate as psychobilly ravers

1736-529: The house band, the Raconteurs. The Raconteurs became the new Shondells, and Jackson acquired the professional name of Tommy James. By the third week of June 1966, "Hanky Panky" had become the top single at WLS . By the third week of July 1966, "Hanky Panky" had become the top single in the United States. After a few comings and goings of members, the classic lineup of James, Eddie Gray (guitar), Mike Vale (bass), Ron Rosman (keyboards) and Pete Lucia (drums)

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1792-504: The label under which "Hanky Panky" was originally released, 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. After first considering taking a job outside of music, James decided to form a new band, the Koachmen, with Shondells guitarist Larry Coverdale and members of

1848-533: The late Peter Lucia. That group disbanded in 2022. In 2008 Tommy James and The Shondells were inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame. Richie Cordell Rosenblatt was born in Brooklyn, New York , and started singing and playing guitar in his teens. In 1961, he was introduced to song plugger Sid Prosen, who in turn introduced him to young songwriter Paul Simon , then using

1904-664: The liner notes for their next album Crimson & Clover , which was released in December 1968. From late 1968, the group began writing their own songs, with James and Lucia penning the psychedelic-tinged classic " Crimson and Clover ", which was recorded and mixed by Bruce Staple, with James tackling vocal duties and playing many of the instruments himself, and featured the creative use of studio effects such as delay and tremolo. Further hits included " Sweet Cherry Wine ", " Crystal Blue Persuasion ", and " Ball of Fire ", all from 1969. They also produced "Sugar on Sunday", later covered by

1960-464: The new group name Hog Heaven (one "self titled" on Roulette Records in 1970 and the second in 1971 but unreleased until 2008), but disbanded soon afterwards. Tommy James and The Shondells were voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends online Hall of Fame in 2006. Four of the band's biggest hits have been voted Legendary Michigan Songs: "Crimson & Clover" in 2010, and "Hanky Panky", "I Think We're Alone Now", and "Mony Mony" in 2011. James recorded

2016-463: The other record companies and said, "This is my freakin' record." (laughs) and scared 'em all away – even the big corporate labels.'" Their only option would be to sign with Roulette. Since the band had broken up two years before, James was the only Shondell left. Mack made his dance club bands available to James, but nothing seemed to fit until one of the bands' guitarists took James to the Thunderbird Lounge in Greensburg, Pennsylvania . James sang with

2072-492: The periphery of the organizations. Levy had taken a somewhat fatherly shine to James, and worried that he might be a target for those who wanted to get at the Genovese family through Levy, so he warned James to flee New York for an extended period until the war was over. James settled in Nashville , Tennessee , where the Mafia had little presence or influence. While there he began jamming with local country music session players, and

2128-577: The process. As well as writing "I Think We're Alone Now" (which reached No. 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1967) and co-writing "Mony Mony" (No. 3 in 1968, and No. 1 in the UK ), Cordell also wrote several lesser hits for the group. In the late 1960s, he left Roulette to join Super K Productions , a company set up by producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz . Cordell co-wrote several hits for

2184-475: The pseudonym Jerry Landis. Rosenblatt began using the name Ritchie Cordell, initially as a performer, and "Landis" wrote the song "Tick Tock" which became Cordell's first single, released on the Rori label in 1962. Cordell then started writing his own material, including his single "Georgiana" which was arranged and produced by Landis. He worked for a time at Kama Sutra Records , but had limited success as either

2240-544: 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(vich) asking him 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. There remains disagreement over

2296-422: The role of Metrovich in the recording. In his book, Me, The Mob and the Music , James credits Pittsburgh dance promoter Bob Mack and never mentions Metrovich. In April 1966 James went by himself to make promotional appearances in Pittsburgh in nightclubs and on local television. Bob Mack made his dance club bands available to James for promotional appearances, but nothing seemed to fit until a guitarist from one of

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2352-407: The songs was the Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich ditty " Hanky Panky ", which the pair had recorded under the name The Raindrops. The song was a hit locally, but the label had no resources for national promotion, and it was soon forgotten. In 1965, a local dance promoter, Bob Mack, found a copy of "Hanky Panky" in a used record bin and started playing it at his Pittsburgh dance clubs. Soon after,

2408-436: The summer of 1990. To date, over 300 musicians have recorded versions of James' music. Covers of three of James' songs went top ten on the Hot 100 (the last two as consecutive No. 1s) in the 1980s: Joan Jett with "Crimson and Clover", Tiffany with "I Think We're Alone Now", and Billy Idol with "Mony Mony". In October 2008 James and the three surviving members of the original Shondells (Pete Lucia died in 1987) reunited in

2464-545: The talent bookings for Mack's dance clubs. Before long, all three major music trade papers, Billboard , Cashbox and Record World , were listing "Hanky Panky" as a regional breakout hit. Rubin, who had music industry connections, said it was a good time for the trio to travel to New York City in search of a record deal. The band made the rounds of the major recording labels, getting initial potential offers from most companies they visited. One label, Roulette Records , gave no initial response because its head, Morris Levy ,

2520-603: The time James was out of the building and in the car, its radio was playing the station's dub of the not-yet-finished song. "Crimson and Clover" had to be pressed the way it was heard on the radio station, and the marketing plan was now wasted time and effort. "Crimson and Clover" was a huge success, and the group would have two follow-up hits that also reached the Hot 100's top 10, " Sweet Cherry Wine " and " Crystal Blue Persuasion ". James, who co-wrote all three of those songs (with Peter Lucia, Richie Grasso, and Eddie Gray & Mike Vale, respectively), and his band did well enough with

2576-464: The transition to be invited to perform at Woodstock . James describes Artie Kornfeld 's invitation like this: "Artie was up and asked if you could play at this pig farm up in upstate New York." I said, "What?!?" "Well, they say it's gonna be a lot of people there, and it's gonna be a really important show." At the time James was in Hawaii and was incredulous about being asked to travel 6,000 miles to play

2632-436: Was a British No. 1 in 1968. The title was inspired by a flashing sign for M utual O f N ew Y ork visible from James's apartment balcony in New York. He followed it with " Do Something to Me ". The Crimson & Clover album marked the start of the band's psychedelic style. The group toured with Vice President Hubert Humphrey during his 1968 presidential campaign , for which Humphrey showed his appreciation by writing

2688-400: Was a child model at the age of four. In 1959, at the age of twelve, he formed the band "The Echoes", which eventually became "Tom and the Tornadoes". In 1964 the band changed its name to The Shondells . That same year, Jack Douglas, a local DJ at WNIL radio station in Niles, formed his own record label, Snap Records. The Shondells were one of the local bands he recorded at WNIL Studios. One of

2744-486: Was a group effort involving Cordell, James, Shondells band member Peter Lucia, producer Bo Gentry, and Bobby Bloom . James and Cordell set out to create a party rock single, working out everything except the song's title, which eluded them even after much effort. When they took a break from their creative endeavors on James' apartment terrace, they looked up at the Mutual of New York Insurance Company 's large neon sign bearing

2800-466: Was formed. The group recorded a follow-up song to "Hanky Panky". When Bob Mack's attempt at finding some Shondells worked out in an inadvertent way, he told James about another record he found in the same used record bin "Hanky Panky" came from: "Say I Am" by Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs . The only thing James and his new Shondells were aware of when they entered the recording studio for the first time

2856-623: Was in the style of "Mony Mony", James turned down their offer. The music business changed after the success of "Mony Mony". Top 40 program formatting, based on 45 RPM single records, drove popular music on the radio. Few stations played cuts from record albums, so radio was, in effect, "selling" single records for the record companies. In August 1968, James and the Shondells went on the campaign trail for three months with presidential candidate Vice President Hubert Humphrey . Meanwhile, popular music had become album-driven, displacing many performers whose singles had been top sellers. James realized he and

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2912-773: Was inspired to record a country-rock record in 1971. James did not feel comfortable writing his book until all those deeply involved with the record company had died. It was only after Roulette Records and Levy's Big Seven Music publishing company were sold (the record company to an EMI and Rhino Records partnership, the music publishing company to Windswept Pacific Music which was later sold to EMI) that James began to receive large royalty checks from sales of his records. In February 2018, James became host of weekly radio program 'Gettin Together with Tommy James' on Sirius XM Radio channel 73, 60s Gold . James can also be seen on late-night informercials selling collections of music from

2968-426: Was not seen in the US until the creation of MTV . James was contacted by Beatle George Harrison , who was working with a group called Grapefruit at the time. Harrison and the group had written some songs they wanted James to consider recording. Since the group had made a decision to change their musical style (and would do so with " Crimson and Clover ": see below) and the material Harrison and Grapefruit provided

3024-427: Was out of town until that evening; Roulette was one of the last stops on their visit. By the next morning, Mack, Rubin, and James were now receiving polite refusals from the major record companies after the enthusiasm for the record the day before. James said, "We didn't know what in the world was going on, and finally Jerry Wexler over at Atlantic leveled with us and said, 'Look, Morris Levy and Roulette called up all

3080-435: Was used in the eighth episode of Season 5 of Breaking Bad , " Gliding Over All ", during a montage depicting the process involved to bring main character Walter White 's methamphetamine operation and its signature blue crystal meth to an international level. In 2015 Gray, Vale, and Rosman decided to reunite and form their new group, The Crystal Blue Band. They recruited their longtime friend and drummer Mike Wilps to replace

3136-439: Was willing to strong-arm others when necessary. Those signed to Roulette were there to produce money for the company, having their needs met only when it pleased Levy. Asking to be paid meant intimidation; to survive, those under contract to Roulette needed to find a means of generating income that did not involve the record company, such as personally booked tours. While a Roulette artist had great creative control when recording for

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