Tommy James at the Bergen PAC

Check out Tommy James at the Bergen PAC on Saturday, November 22nd!

This show was ORIGINALLY scheduled for Sunday, June 22nd – but was recently postponed to Saturday, November 22nd.

 

Formed in Niles, Michigan, in 1959, Tommy James and the Shondells, then known as The Echoes and Tom and the Tornadoes, got their start when Tommy James was only 12 years old. In 1962 the group would release its first track “Long Pony Tail” before changing the name to Tommy James and the Shondells in 1964. Over the years, the group has had a number of different members, including Mike Baird from Hall and Oats and Billy Idol, Don Ciccone of The Critters, and Kasim Sulton of Utopia.

In 1964 the band recorded a cover of Jeff Barry-Ellie Greenwich’s “Hanky Panky”, and when the single didn’t spread far past the Midwest, the band dissolved and the members all either moved on or enlisted except for Tommy who pursued other musical endeavors. That is, until 1966 when Tommy learned that the cover of “Hanky Panky” was exploding in Pittsburgh. After reforming the Shondells with a new lineup, Tommy James and the Shondells were back, and this time had some national marketing to back them up, bringing “Hanky Panky” from a small local hit to a number 1 single by July of 1966.

Tommy James and the Shondells would have a number of hit singles through the late 1960’s including “I Think We’re Alone Now”, “Mirage”, and the song make super famous by Billy Idol, “Mony Mony”. Their biggest track however was the number one single, the classic “Crimson and Clover” in 1968. This marked the start of a more psychedelic era for the band that included “Sweet Cherry Wine”, “Crystal Blue Persuasion”, and “Ball of Fire”, as well as an invite to Woodstock that was declined.

In 1970, after being mistakenly pronounced dead following collapsing on stage, Tommy James left the group to recover, leading them to tour and perform under the name Hog Heaven. It wouldn’t be until the mid 1980’s when Tommy James would begin touring again under the name Tommy James and the Shondells, despite a rotating cast of musicians playing the part of the Shondells.

Tickets are on sale now at bergenpac.org.