More With Tommy James

When I talked with Tommy James this past weekend, we didn't only talk about the old days ... 

Tommy's got some very new and exciting things coming up ... and we wanted to let you know about those things, too! 

TOMMY'S SIRIUS / XM RADIO SHOW - GETTIN' TOGETHER: 

KENT KOTAL / FORGOTTEN HITS:   So how are you enjoying the Sirius show?  It gives you a chance to play some things that influenced you, obviously … you get to play some of the things that you grew up listening to as a kid … and helped inspire your career.  I mean, I grew up listening to YOUR music when I was a kid … but you grew up listening to a whole different batch of music that influenced your career. 

TOMMY JAMES:  Sure.  They have been SO good to us on Sirius … they’ve allowed me to program my own music and they really have allowed me to play whatever I want to play and whatever is important to me.  And so that’s what we’ve been doing.  And I have a tremendous amount of freedom up there.  I’m so glad that we’re doing this.  

And next month, it’s going to be our one year anniversary of doing the Sirius show … and we’re going to do some kind of anniversary show … so yes, we’re able to play the music we want to and tell the stories that are important and are attached to the music.

kk:  Didn’t you used to an XM Show YEARS ago?  I’m going back to before Sirius and XM joined together … I thought you had some kind of show that Dave The Rave was involved in,

TJ:  Sure … Dave The Rave is actually a very good friend of mine … and I was up at XM when they were down in Washington, D.C., before they joined up with Sirius.  And that whole XM operation is an amazing operation that they have going.  The amount of programming that they crank out per week … they’re going literally 24 hours a day … it never shuts down … and they have facilities all over the country now … and they’re all pumping out programming … and so when I go up there, we do two shows every two weeks and when I’m up there, you never know who you’re going to run into.  It could be a movie star, could be a sports star, could be a rock star, could be somebody from tv … it’s just really an amazing experience to go up to Sirius.  I’d love to bring 60 Minutes or somebody like them up there and do a documentary on Sirius XM because it’s really an amazing operation that they have going.

GETTIN' TOGETHER airs every Sunday on Sirius/XM from 5 - 8 pm (eastern) on Sirius Channel 6:  60s On 6

TOMMY'S GOT A BRAND NEW ALBUM COMING OUT IN APRIL!

kk:  Let’s talk about the new album a little bit.  

TJ:  Sure!

kk:  You’ve got a brand new release coming out in April, I believe … what can you tell us about that?

TJ:  Well, our new album … this is going to be my first new studio album in about ten years and it’s called “Alive” … and it’s going to be released in April and the first single that’s going to come from the album is called “So Beautiful” … and there’s such a mixture of different types of music on the album, I can’t hardly believe it.

We did a couple of re-do’s … for example, we did a really interesting new version of “Draggin’ The Line” and we did the version of “I Think We’re Alone Now” that’s going to be in the movie … the closing credits of the movie are going to run over this new version of “I Think We’re Alone Now” and it’s slow and acoustic and totally different from the original 45 … so that’s going to be on the new album, too.

And all the rest are new songs and so we’re really excited about this album and, as I say, it’s the first one in ten years.  And it’s gonna be fun.  We have our own label … Aura Records … and we’re distributed all over the world … and it’s gonna be fun … and we’re gonna be playing some songs from the album in our show this year as we tour The United States.

kk:  That’s great.  And I’ve just got to say that your newer stuff … and I can’t believe that it’s been ten years already because I’ve got ALL of your newest releases … but it’s all every bit as good as the older stuff … and I keep writing about it because people need to hear it … they need to discover this music and the fact that you’re still creating it.  And it’s so hard to get radio to play it anymore … but you would think that with the limited resources that we have available these days … I mean oldies radio pretty much lives on the internet these days … you would think that they would give their due to some of these artists who are still out there … still active … and still making new music because some of it definitely deserves to be heard.

TJ:  Well, thank you.  

We actually get a tremendous amount of airplay on our older stuff, all over the country ... I mean the new stuff … or the older newer stuff (laughing) … I guess you could say … and I feel like there is an audience for it.  For example, with “So Beautiful,” our new single, we’re going directly to Adult Contemporary Radio with this … we’re not really looking for oldies stations to play this stuff although some of the remakes may get played on oldies radio … but we want the new stuff to be discovered and treated as new material.  

We have had tremendous success with having our material used in movies for the past few years … and Sony represents us in movies and television and commercials and represents the catalog and so it’s really wonderful to have the music still in front of people after all these years … it really is.

kk:  Now was this new album done with the touring band?  The guys you currently perform live with?

TJ: Partly … a lot of it is done by myself and I’ll pick this musician or that musician but most of it has been done by our own group and our own people.  And it’s great to be able to put out music when you feel like putting it out.

kk:  I had heard something that the new acoustic version of “I Think We’re Alone Now” that’s going to play over the end credits of the movie featured you with some of the original Shondells.

TJ:  No … but they were on the Christmas album, “I Love Christmas,” which was released about nine years ago. I had the three surviving members singing background on a couple of songs.

Kk:  Oh, that’s nice.  So you still keep in touch with those guys?

TJ: Yeah!  Sure.

kk:  Well, I love the idea that you’re going to include some of the new music in your stage show … because people need to know about that … that you’re still recording and creating new music … and I think that’s a good thing.  So many artists are typecast and held to the oldies mold that they’re afraid to branch out a little bit and I think the fans out there would be VERY interested to know that there is brand new Tommy James music out there and available.

TJ: You’re quite right.  And if anybody out there would like to come to our website, please check us out and see where we’re gonna be workin’ and what’s going on, it’s just tommyjames.com … and if anybody wants to just dial into the show, it’s 833-TOMMYSHOW … and while we can’t guarantee that every call will get on the air, but we certainly can guarantee that I’m going to be listening to every call. 

Tommy's new album will be released in April ... more information on his website as to how to order ... https://www.tommyjames.com/

 

ME, THE MOB AND THE MUSIC - A Major Motion Picture based on Tommy's best selling book

kk:  OK, I gotta ask you about the movie …  

What the heck is going on?  

It’s been coming for YEARS!  When are we finally going to see this movie?  

TJ:  Well, we have literally have the director now, as we speak.  It’s a long time getting a movie in development.  It’s amazing anything ever gets made.  But for this movie, “Me, The Mob And The Music,” the screenplay has been finished, with Matthew Stone … the producer is Barbara DeFina, who produced “Good Fellas,” “Casino” and “Hugo” with Martin Scorsese … and the director … I’m not going to give the director’s name right now because we’re looking at two people and we’ll have that decision made within the next week or so … and as soon as the director is chosen, then things will speed up immediately and the casting will begin.  And the technical people come on.  You know, there are so many people involved in the making of a major budget movie and everybody has other schedules ... and getting it worked out right so that everybody can come together at the same time is quite a job, because they’re all working on other things … but the technical people will be selected now and then the casting will be done.

kk:  Now how involved will you be with all of that?  Are you going to be pretty hands-on throughout this process?

TJ:  I’m going to be very involved with it, yeah.  I’m getting a hell of an education because everybody is a separate negotiation that comes on and it’s really and amazing number of moving parts … but it’s really exciting … so the next couple of years are going to be really interesting and very hectic.

kk:  So is that what you’re thinking then … this is still a couple of years away from happening?

TJ:  That’s what we’re looking at … you know a year and a half to two years.

kk:  It’s tough because as a fan, you can’t wait to see it

TJ:  I feel the same way!  Believe me, I feel the same way!  (both laughing)

kk:  And you had all the momentum built up due to the book and it was a very exciting time, I’m sure, for you, too.  It’s such a cool story anyway … again, lucky breaks … and just surviving all of that!  It’s just all so amazing.

TJ:  Well, you’re absolutely right about that.  But after the film, they want to do Broadway … they want to do a musical … and it looks like we’re going to have the same director for both the movie and the musical so that’s going to be great.

kk:  I would think that you could almost simultaneously arrange all of that

TJ:  The whole idea is that you have to do it this way … because if the musical came first and for any reason it doesn’t do that well, then the movie doesn’t gets made … so you always want to do the movie first.

kk:  Well just don’t get Clint Eastwood involved because that was a frickin’ disaster!

TJ:  Wasn’t that a disaster?!?  

kk:  It was horrible!  I know Frankie Valli was pretty upset about the way the whole thing was handled … and he wanted them to use the actual recordings in the film to lend more authenticity to the whole thing … but I’m not sure anything would have saved that film!

TJ:  I felt really bad for him … and you’re quite right … and Frankie is such a good guy.  It really is an incredible story … and Jersey Boys, the musical, it ran for years and year.

kk:  It played here forever … and it’s coming back for one week only in April and there’s already a scramble to get tickets for it.

TJ:  Absolutely … and it’s an exciting play.

kk:  I mean, who knew that all this stuff was going on at the time?  And the thing about it is, you’re just kids … you’re all wrapped up in the moment … I mean, you had a pretty good idea, it sounds like, as to what was going on behind the scenes at Roulette …

TJ:  Well, we learned incrementally … we had no idea when we signed with Roulette that Roulette was a front company for the Genovese Crime Family … we had no idea … but they also were a functioning record company.  

kk:  Exactly!  They were making hit records!

TJ:  You know, I look at that and I think,  we sold 110 million records at Roulette!  We had 23 gold singles – we had 9 platinum albums – and honestly, I don’t think that would have happened anywhere else.  The reason is because, starting out with a record like “Hanky Panky,” if we had gone with one of the major record labels, one of the corporate labels like CBS or RCA or Atlantic, we would have had so much competition that that probably would have been the end of it.  Especially with a record like “Hanky Panky,” which was a fluke to begin with.  And we also would have never had the attention that we got at Roulette.  At Roulette, they actually needed us … getting paid was like taking a bone from a dog … that wasn’t ever going to happen … but of course we had no idea who we were dealing with … and we would learn it incrementally.  We would see people on TV that we just met in the office!  We’d see guys doing “the perp walk” (laughing), you know, in handcuffs, that we just met in Morris Levy’s office! 

And when I started writing the book, we were going to write a book called “Crimson And Clover” … and it was going to be about writing songs and making hit records … ‘cause we really didn’t want to talk about this .. because some of these guys were still walkin’ around.

And we got about a third of the way done … and Martin Fitzpatrick, my co-writer, and I looked at each and said, “You know, if we don’t tell the Roulette story, we’re rippin’ everybody off” … and so we put it on the shelf for a couple of years.

And then when the last of the Roulette boys passed away, we figured we could finish the book the right way, and we did it that way.  And we told stories that we could never have told if these guys had been walkin’ around.

kk:  I think there’s always been a certain perception of what Morris Levy was all about and what some of his connections were … 

TJ:  Only later … we certainly didn’t know it when we signed.

kk:  At the time, no one’s aware of that or thinking about that … I mean you guys are having hit records and traveling all over the place, playing to sold out crowds … and again, you’re kids … you’re not thinking about that sort of stuff.

TJ:  When we finally realized what was going on … and the fact that we weren’t going to get paid mechanical royalties … we basically made a decision to stay there because, first of all, it would have been dangerous to leave  because we were good earners, I guess (laughing) … I hate to put it that way, but that’s what it was … also because things were so unpredictable, we really didn’t want to ruffle any feathers beyond repair.  So we decided to stick it out … and I’m really glad we did, not only because of the success we had there, but also because I get to tell the story now.  

kk:  The first thing that comes to my mind is that whole Jimmie Rodgers incident out in San Diego that happened after he left Roulette …

TJ:  That’s right … you’re absolutely right … pretty scary.

[EDITOR'S NOTE:  For more on the Jimmie Rodgers situation, check out our series of articles here: 

https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2009/05/jimmie-rodgers.html

https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2009/05/jimmie-rodgers-part-2.html

https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2009/05/jimmie-rodgers-part-3.html]     

kk: I guess the one thing that always kind of amazed me was that you stayed on as a solo artist … despite it all, you elected to stay there and I was always a little surprised by that, I guess.   

TJ: Well, I had started producing … we had a hit with Alive ‘n’ Kickin’, and I really didn’t want to leave at that point because I was used to it … but finally in ’74, I did leave, and my contract wasn’t up until ’79, but I left in ’74 and went out to the west coast … got as far away as I could … and started recording for Fantasy Records in San Francisco and Berkeley.  

And then four years later I came back and signed with Millennium Records, which was RCA, and we had some more hits with “Three Times In Love” into the ‘80’s.  And so we had really a VERY nice run of about sixteen years and I am very grateful to the fans and to The Good Lord for the success we’ve had and the longevity that we’re still enjoying. 

kk: That’s great … Tommy, I appreciate it … thank you for taking the time out of your day to do this today.

TJ:  My pleasure … it’s been good talkin’ to you … and great success to you … you’re doing great with the site … and thank you so much for letting me get all the plugs in.

kk:  (laughing)  no problem … thanks again.

TJ:  Listen, anytime you want to talk again, you just let us know … thank you, my friend.

 Here's a picture of me, Tommy James, Frannie and Ron Onesti, 

backstage after one of Tommy's shows at The Arcada Theatre!

CRIMSON AND CLOVER

This week marks the 50th Anniversary of "Crimson And Clover" hitting #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart.  (It also simultaneously hit #1 in both Cash Box and Record World 50 years ago this week, too.)

Here in Chicago, it had already been #1 for the past three weeks.  Tommy James was always big here in Chicago, topping the charts a total of SEVEN TIMES between 1966 and 1971.  (In addition, he had another dozen hits that made our local Top 20.)

I had the opportunity to talk with Tommy this past weekend so naturally the conversation focused on this very special anniversary ... and also my all-time favorite Tommy James song.
 

Kent Kotal / Forgotten Hits: I know that in your book you talked quite a bit about how much music had changed by 1968 / 1969 and that you knew that you had to adapt in order to keep your career going … but in view of all that, where does something like “Crimson And Clover” even come from?  I mean, that was a whole new territory for you. 

TOMMY JAMES: Well, “Crimson And Clover” really ended up being, next to “Hanky Panky,” my first record, probably the most important hit record of my career … and for several reasons.

#1 – It was the moment when I began producing myself.  It was a very important moment strategically for me.  And also, because it was such a dramatic style change for us.  We had gone out on the road with Hubert Humphrey, running for President in ’68, and that’s when we started writing the song actually … and when I left in August of ’68 with Hubert Humphrey, all of the hit records on the radio were all basically singles, Top 40 hits … the biggest groups were The Rascals, The Association, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, The Buckinghams, Mitch Ryder … I mean, I could go on and on and still be leaving a bunch of people out … but when I got back, 90 days later, everything had changed.  It was all about albums when I came back … Crosby, Stills and Nash, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Joe Cocker, Led Zeppelin … the whole record industry had turned upside down … and we knew at that point that if we didn’t start selling albums, our career was probably going to be over.  And our record label, Roulette, of course, was known for selling singles, not albums.  
And so when we got back, it was just a very good thing that we had been working on “Crimson And Clover,” because “Crimson And Clover” allowed us to make that jump from AM Top 40 Singles to FM progressive album rock and start selling albums.

And so that was a very, very important record for us … and it really changed everything in our careers and allowed us to have what I guess you could say was the second half of our career … and allowed us to do things that we could have never done before “Crimson And Clover.”

So we were sort of straddling the fence … we had fans in both the progressive album rock and also on singles and so we were very lucky to have that record at that particular moment in time.  

kk:  And it still plays very well as a single.  In fact, I’m taping a radio show with Phil Nee this weekend, a deejay up in Wisconsin who has interviewed you before … I think you’ve probably been on his program a few times in fact … and we’ve just each picked our twenty favorite songs from 1969 and my #1 pick just happens to be “Crimson And Clover.”  I think it’s just an incredibly strong single … and it’s funny because I just did a piece in Forgotten Hits a couple of weeks ago talking about how I’ve never cared for the long version … it just always seemed to me to be forced … I mean, I get the concept of why you had to do it in order to keep up with the times, but to me I never understood the need … because it just plays so well as a single.  I mean it really is the perfect single. 

TJ:  Thank you very much for that.  You know, it was amazing because we really had to make a long version from the short version rather than having the long version completed and then editing it down for the single … we kinda went the opposite direction. 

kk:  Yeah, it’s really the complete opposite of the norm. 

TJ: There are SO many stories like that hooked to “Crimson And Clover” … it ended up being the biggest selling single we had … we sold five and a half million singles just in 1969 alone ... and then the album did another three million units ... and then, later on, “Crimson And Clover” was in the Greatest Hits Album which did, to this day, roughly twelve million pieces.  So it has been really a LONG road for “Crimson And Clover” and, strangely enough, this week is the 50^th Anniversary of “Crimson And Clover” going to #1.

[EDITOR’S NOTE:  As you can see by yesterday’s WLS Chart, “Crimson And Clover” had already been the #1 Record here in Chicago for the past three weeks.  Tommy James and the Shondells always did VERY well here in Chicago, where they had SEVEN #1 Hits.  In 1969, they would top our local charts TWICE … first with “Crimson And Clover” and then again with “Crystal Blue Persuasion.”]

TJ:  So we are literally in the week that it peaked in 1969. And, on our Sirius radio show next week, we’re actually doing a little tribute to “Crimson And Clover” in honor of the anniversary of it.  And I must say, it continues to be in movies … it’s going to be in three different movies this year!  I’m just amazed at the lifespan of that record.  It’s been amazing.  We really appreciate it. 

kk:  Well, it’s a great song … and a favorite of mine now for over fifty years. Another big hit in 1969, of course, was “Crystal Blue Persuasion” … that went to #1 here in Chicago as well.

TJ:  Well you know, Chicago has been SO good to us over the years … so many of my records broke out of Chicago and I don’t mean to keep harping on “Crimson And Clover,” but we almost blew the release on “Crimson And Clover” because I had gone up to WLS and played the rough mix … and they taped my rough mix and put it on the air as I’m leaving … I’m going back to the car and the radio’s on and I hear “WORLD EXCLUSIVE ON WLS – CRIMSON AND CLOVER” and all of a sudden the record starts and it wasn’t even the mixed record … I hadn’t mixed it yet … and they were playing the “work tape” … just the rough mix … and that’s how we had to release it.  I never got a chance to final mix the record!  We had to release my work tape of “Crimson And Clover.”  It was a seven-and-a-half inch work tape and that became the record. 

kk:  That’s amazing … but it was SO competitive back then … everybody was trying to get the jump on everybody else and, as I’m sure you know, we had a HUGE competition here in Chicago with two 50,000 watt powerhouse Top 40 Radio Stations between WLS and WCFL …

TJ:  Of course … and we kinda got caught right in the middle of all of that … but all I can say is that Chicago radio has been so good to us over the years and I grew up on Chicago radio.  I grew up right in that area ... up around South Bend, Indiana, right across the state line, in Niles, Michigan, and so I grew up on Chicago radio. 

Kk:  Do you ever go back there?  Do you still have family there or ties to that area in Michigan?

TJ:  Oh sure … I have a house back there … I still have a home back there … and so I get back there every now and then … and my webmaster is living in the house that I used to live in back there … so it’s one big happy family.

Kk:  I saw you at The Genesee Theater a couple of years ago and it cracked me up when you talked about the club you used to play there in Waukegan when you were just first starting out and how you tried to find it once you were back in the area. 

TJ:  (laughing) Yeah, and now it’s a slab of cement!  That’s a true story!
In 1965, when I graduated from high school, we played up in Waukegan and we played at a club called The Club Adrian and had quite a following … and we were up there for about four months.  And so I have many fond memories of that place.  And the motel that we stayed in was right next door to it.  So I went back there a couple of years ago when I started playing The Genesee Theater again and I went back to where the club was and it was just nothing but a slab of cement.  (Laughing) Both the hotel and the club.

And so I asked the audience and nobody seemed to remember The Club Adrian.  Every now and then it reminds you of how old you are … it puts things in perspective.

Kk:  Right … and it’s all of that plus the fact that back in 1965, nobody even knew who Tommy James and the Shondells were yet.  You were still a year from the big break-through. 

TJ:  (Laughing) That’s right.

KK:  Which I always thought was a pretty amazing story in and of itself … fascinating, in fact … the fact that “Hanky Panky” had been recorded so much earlier than that … it’s just mind-boggling that three years later when everybody had already forgotten all about the record that a disc jockey on the east coast would start playing it and jump start what has turned into a fifty year career that's still going strong!  Besides creating so much great material over the years, you’ve also had every lucky break that could possibly come your way!  (laughing) 

TJ:  Well, I have been SO lucky … really, from “Hanky Panky” on, I have always had this feeling that The Good Lord was looking out for me … and he really has been … because we’ve had one little miracle after another … and it’s amazing that we’re still doing this.

I look out at our concerts now and I see literally three generations of people … and I’m so grateful … I mean, never in a million years did I ever think … especially starting out with a record like “Hanky Panky” … did I EVER think that we were going to be doing this for over fifty years.   

kk: And the shows are still selling out everywhere you go.  Here in Chicago, it’s a sell out every time you come to town!

TJ: Well, I love playing Chicago … it’s my old stomping grounds … and so what can I say … I grew up in the Midwest and I’m a Midwest kid … and proud of it. 

More of my conversation with Tommy James ...
tomorrow in Forgotten Hits!

January 27th

Sly and the Family Stone leap into The Top Ten from #13 to #4 this week ... this seems like a sure thing to go all the way to #1.

Speaking of #1, Tommy James and the Shondells enjoy their third week in the top spot on WLS' Hit Parade Chart ... and Elvis Presley earns his first Top Ten Record on WlS since 1965's "Crying In The Chapel" as "If I Can Dream" climbs from #11 to #9.

The Bee Gees are also hot with their latest ... "I Started A Joke" moves up seven spaces from #14 to #7.  Meanwhile, The Turtles go from #40 to #10 in just three short weeks as "You Showed Me" cracks The Top Ten this week in Chicagoland.

Creedence Clearwater Revival premier at #34 with a song that will soon be a '60's classic, "Proud Mary."  And look at Nazz this week, debuting at #40 with the original version of "Hello It's Me."

Also this week in 1969 ...    

January 22nd - Roy Clark makes a guest appearance on The 
Beverly Hillbillies, portraying "Cousin Roy"

Also on January 22^nd – At a late night recording session that doesn’t end until 4 am the next morning, Elvis records “Suspicious Minds,” a song that will be one of the biggest hits of his career.

January 24^th – New Jersey is still determined to keep John and Yoko’s “Two Virgins” album out of the public eye.  Today, state prosecutors issue a warning to record dealers that they will be charged with distribution of pornography if they are caught selling the LP.  (Years later, John Lennon would describe the unflattering photo, showing the couple totally nude, full frontal on the front of the LP cover, and totally nude from the backside on the back of the LP cover, as “two slightly overweight ex-junkies.”)  Despite the ban, “Two Virgins” still managed to climb to #124 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums Chart.  (It never charted at all in Great Britain where it is believed that only 5000 copies were ever pressed and distributed.)

January 26^th - Tommy James and the Shondells perform their #1 Hit "Crimson And Clover" (along with "Mony, Mony") on The Ed Sullivan Show