James, Tommy(actually, Thomas Gregory Jackson)

James, Tommy(actually, Thomas Gregory Jackson), with The Shondells had one of the few bands of the 1960s to actually surpass The Beatles; b. Dayton, Ohio, April 29, 1947. Tommy James was a child model at five. By the time he got into junior high, shortly after moving to Mich., he had formed a band called The Shondells. At 14 years old, they became recording artists, cutting a song called “Long Pony Tail.” This song attracted the attention of a local deejay, who approached James about making another record. James said, “Sure,” even though the band really didn’t have anything to record. He recalled a song he had heard another band record, a B-side from Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich’s band (which they had written in the hallway when they realized they needed that B-side to finish the session). Since James had only heard it once, he more or less invented his own lyrics as he went. The song, “Hanky Panky,” became a regional hit in 1963.

By the time he graduated high school, James was at loose ends. A deejay from Pittsburgh tracked him down to let him know that “Hanky Panky” had reignited and that someone had sold thousands of bootleg copies because originals couldn’t be had. James went to Pitts-burgh, but The Shondells didn’t want to leave the Midwest. James fielded requests for live appearances and realized he needed a band. A local group, The Raconteurs, filled the bill and they became The Shondells. Roulette picked up the single for national distribution in 1966. It went to the top of the charts, selling a million copies. Roulette signed James and The Shondells, and they move to N.Y. They followed this with the blue-eyed soul tune “Say I Am (What I Am),” which went to #21. Roulette hooked the group up with producers and co-writers Bo Gentry and Richie Cordell. Together, they started cranking out hit singles that crossed frat-house-rowdy with bubblegum-sweet, sometimes leaning more one way than the other, but usually with craftmanlike innovation. Their first effort, ’It’s Only Love,” did nothing to staunch their slide down the Top 40, hitting only #31. However, their next effort, “I Think We’re Alone Now,” with its risqué (for the Top 40 in 1967) theme and percolating arrangement, hit #4. It was followed at two-month intervals by “Mirage” (#10) and “Getting Together” (#18). One of the windows of James midtown apartment looked out at the Mutual of N.Y. building, with its neon spire proclaiming mony. This inspired an idea for the band’s next hit, “Mony Mony,” an infectious dance rock record that would prove remarkably durable (as would many James hits). The song rose to #3.

At this point, James decided that he’d learned enough from Cordell and Gentry. He took the band under his wing as writer and producer. This had as much to do with the need for a change as it did with the change popular music underwent during 1967 with the “Summer of Love.” In that context, even the timeless “Mony Mony” was an anachronism. He took the band in a direction more befitting 1968. Their first effort, “Do Something to Me,” a cover of a? and the Mysterians song, barely scraped into the Top 40. In addition to the change in music was a change in the way it was consumed and promoted. Where singles ruled the day through much of the 1960s, and albums often just collected a band’s singles output, with Rubber Soul and Sgt. Peppers, The Beatles had changed all that. James, always clever at spotting a trend, followed this one and put together the album Crimson and Clover, which featured the five-and-a-half minute title track, an extended version of the single, which topped the charts in 1968. With it’s wah-wah guitars and treated vocals (achieved by running the mie through a guitar amp with the tremolo on), the song was safe as milk psychedelia. Ironically, the follow-up, “Sweet Cherry Wine,” came from Cellophane Symphony, an album the band was working on simultaneously with Crimson and Clover.However, FM radio had started playing the Crimson and Clover track “Crystal Blue Persuasion,” so both ran up to the Top Ten within months of each other. The liner notes from the Crimson and Clover album were written by former Vice President Hubert Humphrey. The album hit #8. Around holiday time, Roulette released a best of album that climbed to #21. Over the course of 1968 and 1969, they had sold more singles world-wide than any other artist.

After a couple more minor hits, James collapsed on stage in Ala. in 1970. He went to his farm in upstate N.Y. and spent several months recovering. The Shondells, cut loose again, once more became a separate band called Hogs Heaven that drifted off to obscurity. After a few months of “retirement,” James got bored and started cutting a few songs. He still hadn’t gotten his voice back, so he invited the group Alive and Kicking to sing on the track. “Tighter and Tighter” became a #7 hit during the late summer of 1970. James started recording his own material again, to little success until the summer of 1971, when his country-ish “Draggin’ the Line” hit #4 and went gold. That fall his tune “I’m Comin’ Home” barely scratched the Top 40. For the next eight years, he had minor successes with several labels and still could attract crowds to see him live, but he had no bona fide hits. After leaving Roulette in 1974, James did two albums for Fantasy Records. In 1980, he signed with Millennium records, which had developed a penchant for taking previous hit makers and reviving their careers on the adult contemporary charts. They did this for James, landing “Three Times in Love” at the top of the adult charts and at #19 on the pop charts in 1980.

While he wasn’t having hits on his own through the 1980s, James continued to be a force on the charts. Joan Jett took a version of “Crimson and Clover” (co-produced by Cordell) to #7 in 1982. Five years later, Billy Idol’s cover of “Mony Mony” and Tiffany’s version “I Think We’re Alone Now” vied for the top of the pop charts, with the former following the latter into the #1 slot. James continues to be a force on the oldies circuit, and still releases the occasional album of new material.

Discography

Hanky Panky (1966); It’s Only Love (1967); Come Softly to Me (1967); I Think We’re Alone Now (1967); Gettin’ Together (1968); Something Special (1968); Crimson and Clover (1968); Mony Mony (1968); Cellophane Symphony (1969); Travelin’ (1970); Tommy James (1970); Christian of the World (1971); My Head, My Bed and My Red Guitar (1971); In Touch (1976); Midnight Rider (1977); 3 Times in Love (1980); Easy to Love (1980); Short Sharp Shots (1983); Night in Big City (1995). tommy james, solo:Tommy James (1970); Christian of the World (1971); My Head, My Bed and My Red Guitar (1971); In Touch (1976); 3 Times in Love (1980); Easy to Love (1980).

—Hank Bordowitz