Tommy James
(born Thomas Gregory Jackson, 29 April 1947, Dayton, Ohio) is an American pop-rock musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, best known as leader of the 1960s rock band Tommy James and the Shondells.
|
TOMMY JAMES TICKETS
|
Early life and career
In 1958, when Tom was eleven, his family moved to
Niles,
Michigan. That year he formed his first band "The Echoes" with classmates Ed Steinbauer, Chuck Murray, Mike Booth and Dale Mayhew. In 1959, at the age of twelve, James formed his second
band called "Tom and the Tornadoes". A year later the band changed its name to
The Shondells. By 1964, a local
DJ at
WNIL radio station in Niles formed his own
record label, Snap Records. The Shondells were one of the local bands the DJ
recorded at WNIL studios. One of the songs was the
Jeff Barry and
Ellie Greenwich ditty "Hanky Panky", which was recorded as 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 DJ in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, found a copy of "Hanky Panky" and played it as a station "exclusive". Listener response was positive, with many wanting to know where they could get a copy of the "new" single. Another DJ started playing the song at local dance parties. Responding to the demand, a local
bootlegger taped the song off the
radio and began pressing copies of it. Eventual sales of the bootleg were estimated at 80,000. Pittsburgh DJ "Mad Mike" Metro tracked down Tommy James and informed him that his record was No. 1 in the city. James almost hung up on Metro, but was convinced to come to Pennsylvania and make appearances promoting the surprise hit. Soon, James was in
New York, selling the original master of "Hanky Panky" to
Roulette Records. By the late summer of 1966, it was the top selling single in the nation.
Tommy James and the Shondells
The Shondells had long since broken up, and did not wish to reform to travel to Pittsburgh. James flew there solo, and hired a local band named The Raconteurs to become the replacement Shondells. The group needed a follow-up and selected a song called "Say I Am (What I Am)". Although not as successful as "Hanky Panky", it reached #21 on the
charts later in the same year.
Roulette assigned songwriters Richie Cordell and Bob King the task of writing songs for
Tommy James & The Shondells. From 1967 to 1969, the group turned out hit after hit on the Roulette label, including six more that made it to the top ten: "
I Think We're Alone Now", "
Mirage", "Mony Mony", "
Crimson and Clover" (the group's second and final
U.S. #1 hit), "
Sweet Cherry Wine", and "
Crystal Blue Persuasion".
His use of drugs took its toll on Tommy James, when during a concert in 1970, he collapsed and was pronounced "Dead", however he cheated death, hated the recording studio, and moved upstate in the country to vegetate. The Shondells split up as a result of James' drug use.
Solo
Tommy James and The Shondells broke up in 1970. James then went
solo and had two further chart hits with "
Draggin' the Line" (Written by Bob King) (#4 in 1971) and "Three Times In Love" (#19 (Adult Contemporary #1) in 1980). James has had twenty three gold singles, and nine gold and platinum albums. He also wrote and produced the million-selling 1970 hit "Tighter, Tighter" for the group
Alive 'N Kickin' (Written by Bob King).
In October 2007, Tommy James and the original Shondells reunited in a New Jersey studio to record once again.
Miscellany
Although Tommy James liked the songs "Mony Mony" and "Do Something to me", he hated to be labeled as a Bubble Gum Rock artist, and therefore, changed his style to Psychedelic Rock to avoid any more Bubble Gum images.
The song "
Mirage" uses the chords and structure of "I Think We're Alone Now" in reverse. It was created when the original was played backwards during a writing session.
The song "Smokey Roads" on their 1968 album
Crimson and Clover (album) begins with a backwards masked quotation from An Address by Elder
George A. Smith, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, Aug. 12, 1855. Played in reverse, one hears: "Extricate the quadruped from the vehicle, and constabulate him to something nutritious, and when the aurora rises in the heavens, I will return and compensate thee amply."
Tommy James and the Shondells' "It's Only Love"
album cover was the first professional photo shoot by
Linda Eastman McCartney in 1966.
Tommy James and the Shondells declined an invitation to play at the
Woodstock Festival on the advice of their agent, who felt it would be a career killer.
Several bands have covered James' hits.
Joan Jett (managed by former Shondell Kenny Laguna) had a
top ten with "Crimson and Clover" in 1982. In November 1987,
Tiffany and
Billy Idol (William Michael Albert Broad) had back-to-back #1 hits with their respective
cover versions of "I Think We're Alone Now" and "Mony Mony."
In 1987, "Hanky Panky" resurfaced in the parody "
Homer Hanky," released during the
Minnesota Twins' run to the
World Series.
More recently, in 2006
Finnish garage rock trio
The Micragirls included a cover of one of The Shondells' lesser-known recordings 'Go Go Gorilla' on their LP 'Feeling Dizzy Honey'.
When James went solo in 1970, Shondells bass player Mike Vale and Shondells drummer Pete Lucia formed Hog Heaven, and released one
album for Roulette Records.
Solo discography
1970
Tommy James
1971
Christian of the World
1972 ''My Head, My Bed & My Red Guitar
1976
In Touch
1977
Midnight Rider
1980
Three Times in Love
1989
Tommy James - The Solo Years
1990
Hi-Fi
1993
Discography: Deals and Demos
1996
A Night in Big City
1997 "Tommy James Greatest Hits Live!"
2005
Sweet Cherry Wine
(CD single)
2005 "Isn't that the Guy" (CD single)
2006 "Lupe & Joe" (MP3 single)
2006 "Love Words" (CD Single)
2006 "Hold the Fire"
James himself 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).