I just finished reading, Me, the mob, and the music: one helluva ride with Tommy James and the Shondells. Funny how things happen. It’s no secret to all my Facebook Friends that I’m a big fan of the 60s even though I was only in grade school during those years. I always felt I was born to the wrong decade.
Recently a Facebook Friend posted Crimson and Clover to my Facebook wall. I’d posted that song a while ago. I’ve always loved that song. It was one of my first 45s. My Dad was in radio and brought home promotional copies of records every night. A lot of my records were hand-me-downs from my oldest sister, Nancy, who had great taste in rock ‘n roll. She would pass along records that she’d tired of. She said she liked Tommy James’ music but it wasn’t serious rock ‘n roll, it was “Bubble Gum.” Since I was five years younger than Nancy and loved Bazooka bubble gum I didn’t understand what could possibly be wrong with bubble gum music. Hanky Panky, Crimson and Clover, Mony, Mony, I Think We’re Alone Now and Crystal Blue Persuasion became some of my most played records during my grade school years. I sang along and danced around my room.
I had such a great time reading Tommy James’ book and learned a lot of rock trivia including: Tommy James and the Shondells were trying to come up with a name for a new song they’d written, outside James’ apartment window hung a sign for Mutual Of New York and that’s how James created the name for the smash hit, Mony Mony.
I also learned a lot about the mafia! Very interesting. It’s no work of literary genius—it’s riddled with cliches—but it was a fun, fast, entertaining read. Go for it!