Tommy James says the Shondells' success with hits like 'Hanky Panky' and 'Mony Mony' was based on a lot the band 'had to pretend we didn't see.'
“While we were mony mony-ing and hanky panky-ing, there was a very sinister and dark story going on behind us that we couldn't talk about,” James says. “We were very lucky to get out of there in one piece. There was a lot of shenanigans going on that we had to pretend we didn't see.”'Me, the Mob and the Music: One Helluva Ride'
"The reason it was crazy and scary is because unbeknownst to us when we signed the deal, Roulette was basically a front for the Genovese crime family in New York," James says."Of course, we didn't know that. It was also a good little label. They had a lot of hits.” “As soon as I got to home, I got the call that changed my life out of the clear blue sky from Pittsburgh, that my song was No. 1. I said, 'Who is this?!' I thought somebody was doing a crank call. But it was real. If I hadn't been home at that exact moment, I would’ve never got the call. And you and I wouldn't be talking today.”
“We had a regional breakout in the trade papers,” James says “So they tracked me down and asked me to come to Pittsburgh, which I did. Of course, I get there and the record's No. 1. It just blew me away. This is a record that I had recorded when I was in high school.”Tommy James on 'the first offer I couldn't refuse' from Roulette
The reason James assumes he would've been a one-hit wonder if he’d wound up on a major label is he feels he had the"total freedom" at Roulette to make the kind of records that became his greatest hits."Crime doesn't pay. But we were the kings.
“It's the record where I started producing the band without any outside help. It also was the moment we were able to make the transition from top 40 pop singles to FM album-oriented progressive rock."“They hadn't had a hit in three years,” James says.
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