Crimson and Clover

Tommy James and the Shondells hold a special place in my heart because they have so many great songs which I just simply love to listen to again and again. They reached the peak of their success in the late 1960s. This American rock band had two very popular hit singles in the U.S. which are still played on the radio today. The hits were”Hanky Panky” and”Crimson and Clover”.

Among their other hits five of which hit the top ten are ”I Think We’re Alone Now”, ”Mirage”, ”Mony Mony”, ”Sweet Cherry Wine” and ”Crystal Blue Persuasion.”

Tommy James and the Shondells first came together in Niles, Michigan in 1959 calling themselves Tom and the Tornadoes at which time Tommy James was only 12 and the lead singer. Then in 1964 he renamed the band The Shondells simply because this sounded better. At this time the boys in the band were Tommy James doing vocals and guitar, Larry Coverdale lead guitar, Larry Wright base, Craig Villeneuve keyboards and Jim Payne drums. It was later in this year that they recorded ”Hanky Panky” but at this time the song did not catch on and the band broke up in 1965 after graduating from high school.

Since the song went on to become a sensation and gained popularity we can only say thank heavens for Guardian Angels and one must have been looking after these boys. In 1965, a dance promoter Bob Mack in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania discovered the now forgotten single of ”Hanky Panky” and had started playing it at dance parties and as it streamed on radio stations there was tremendous listener response. Finally 80,000 black market copies started selling in Pennsylvania stores. It was Tommy James who got word of all of these goings on in April of 1966 when a Pittsburgh disc jockey called him to come and perform the song.

The problem was that by now he had no band. So James went on his own to make promotional appearances on Pittsburgh radio stations, nightclubs and on their local TV. Finally he heard a group playing at one of the clubs and inquired if they wanted to be the Shondells and as they say the rest is history. The band now included Joe Kessler guitar, Ron Rosman keyboards, George Magura saxophone, Mike Vale bass and Vinnie Pietropaoli drums. They went on tour to NYC where the single of the song was sold to Roulette Records and it became a number one hit by July 1966.

Tommy James and the Shondells started out playing straight rock and roll but got caught up in the popularity of bubblegum music and started rolling out other hits. In 1968 the band began writing their own songs and came up with the psychedelic rock classic”Crimson and Clover”.

The band continued up until 1970 and was successful with six million selling gold records. What happened that year was that James collapsed as a reaction to drugs and barely recuperated. The other band members renamed themselves ”Hog Heaven” but achieved no success and finally disbanded.

Afterward James wrote a number 7 hit singles ”Tighter Tighter” for a group called Alive N’Kickin and launched his own solo career in 1971 which resulted in two memorable hits ”Draggin’ the Line” and ”Three Times in Love”.

It was in the 1980s that some of Tommy James and the Shondells greatest hits made good for three other artists – Joan Jett & the Blackhearts with their version of ”Crimson and Clover”, Tiffany with ”I Think We’re Alone Now” and Billy Idol with ”Mony Mony”. There was a Greenwich Village NYC nightclub appearance which was filmed and released as Tommy James and the Shondells Live! At The Bitter End. In 2009 James and the other surviving Shondells came together for the purpose of a proposed film based on James’s autobiography, Me, the Mob, and the Music which was released in February 2010. The group still does nostalgia shows from time to time.