Tommy James
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please help improve this article or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since August 2006. (help, talk) |
Tommy James (born Thomas Gregory Jackson on April 29, 1947 in Dayton, Ohio) is an American pop-rock musician and singer.
Contents |
[edit] Early life and career
In 1958 at age 11, Tommy's family moved to Niles, Michigan, which he still regards as his hometown. At age 12, Tommy formed his first band called Tom and the Tornadoes. In 1963 they changed their name to The Shondells. In 1964, a local DJ at WNIL radio station in Niles had formed his own record company, Snap Records. The Shondells were one of the local bands he recorded. One of those songs was the Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich song "Hanky Panky", which had been recorded "The Raindrops". The song was a big hit locally but didn't break nationally and was soon forgotten.
In 1965, a Pittsburg DJ found a copy of "Hanky Panky" in a stack of oldies. Not knowing that it hadn't been a real hit, he played it by mistake. To his amazement, delighted listeners wanted to know where they could get a copy of "that hot new single". Sensing a hit, a local bootlegger taped the song off the radio and began pressing copies of it. Within ten days, more than eighty thousand copies had been sold. The Pittsburgh DJ finally tracked down Tommy James and informed him that his record was number one in the city. Tommy almost hung up on the guy, but a week later, he was in New York, selling the original master of "Hanky Panky" to Roulette Records. By the late summer of 1966, it was the number one selling single in the nation.
[edit] Tommy James and the Shondells
Tommy moved to Pittsburgh and hired a local band named The Raconteurs and they became Tommy James and the 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 number 21 on the charts later in the same year.
Roulette assigned songwriters Richie Cordell and Bo Gentry 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 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 number one hit in the USA), "Sweet Cherry Wine", and "Crystal Blue Persuasion". During 1968-69 Tommy James and The Shondells sold more single records (45s) than any artist in the world, including The Beatles.
[edit] Solo
Tommy James and The Shondells broke up in 1970. Tommy James went solo with such hits as "Ball And Chain", "Draggin' The Line" (Billboard #4, 1971) and "Three Times In Love" (Billboard Adult Contemporary #1, 1980). Tommy has had 23 gold singles, 9 gold and platinum albums, and has sold over 100 million records worldwide. He also wrote the million selling 1970 hit "Tighter & Tighter" for "Alive & Kicking."
[edit] Influence
"Mony Mony" is a classic song of the 60's. It was credited to Tommy James, Bo Gentry, Richie Cordell, and Bobby Bloom, who had a top ten record of his own with "Montego Bay". The hook in the song is said to have been inspired by Tommy's view of a Mutual of New York's MONY sign on the New York City skyline. "Mony Mony" was the only song by the group to reach the top twenty in the United Kingdom; it was #1 there, and #3 in the USA.
The song "Mirage" was the chords and structure of "I Think We're Alone Now" in reverse, created when it was accidentally played backwards during a writing session.
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' missed a great opportunity when they declined an invitation to play at Woodstock on the advice of their agent who felt it would be a career killer.
Joan Jett had a top ten song with "Crimson and Clover" in 1982, and in November of 1987 Tiffany and Billy Idol had back-to-back number one hits with "I Think We're Alone Now" and "Mony Mony", respectively. In 1991, "Draggin' the Line" was covered by the band Beat Goes Bang. In 1999, "Draggin' the Line" was covered by R.E.M., "Crimson and Clover" by Elijah Blue Allman and Cher, and "Crystal Blue Persuasion" by Morcheeba.
[edit] Discography
1966 Hanky Panky
1966 It's Only Love
1967 I Think We're Alone Now
1967 Gettin' Together
1967 Something Special!
1968 Mony Mony
1969 Crimson & Clover
1969 Cellophane Symphony
1969 Best Of TJ&S
1970 Travelin'
1988 TJ&S: Anthology
1997 Greatest Hits Live!
2004 I Love Christmas (CD single)
Tommy James
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
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
