By Staff
It has been more than 40 years since Thomas Jackson strolled into a Niles recording studio and cut what would become a rock-n-roll classic.
Better known as Tommy James, the former Niles resident cut "Hanky Panky" at WNIL's studio under producer Jack Douglas, who was a disc jockey at the station.
Tommy James and the Shondells may have never happened if that record was never cut and later picked up by a Pittsburgh DJ, who created a sensation with the single in 1964.
And all of what happened is the stuff of which legends are made.
Tommy James and the Shondells were the hottest group in music from a stretch in the 1960s and continue to be popular today, releasing a new single last Christmas.
In fact, in 1968 James and the Shondells outsold the Beatles.
The string of hits that the group recorded over those years can still be heard today on radio stations, in movies and on television shows.
James said he never imagined any of this happening when he formed his first group at 12.
Tommy James and The Tornadoes began playing locally and drew quite a following.
In 1965, a local disk jockey asked James to sign with his new record label, Snap Records.
The group changed its name to the Shondells and released its first single, "Hanky Panky."
The single was huge, "which was a big hit in about six square blocks," James laughed.
Actually the song caught on locally, but did not break nationally.
Two years later, a DJ in Pittsburgh pulled the song out of a record bin and started playing it again in May of 1966.
James had no idea about the sensation his single was causing in Pittsburgh because he was touring throughout the Midwest, playing at clubs.
James headed to Pittsburgh alone to talk about signing a record deal.
When he couldn't put the original Shondells back together, he hired a new band, called them the Shondells and inked a deal with Roulette Records.
Tommy James and the Shondells released the album "Hanky Panky" in July 1966 and the album went gold in four weeks.
Tommy James and the Shondells hit their stride over the next two years, cranking out seven more gold singles with producers Bo Gentry and Ritchie Cordell.
Those hits included "I Think We're Alone Now," "Mirage," "I Like The Way," "Gettin' Together," "Out Of The Blue," "Get Out Now" and "Mony, Mony."
The combination of James, Cordell and Gentry also had three platinum albums during that stretch - "I Think We're Alone Now," "Something Special" and "Mony Mony."
James and the Shondells have been pioneers throughout their careers.
They were one of the first group to make music videos. They were also one of the first groups to use a synthesize.
The first video, which came 13 years before the invention of MTV, James and the Shondells released "Mony Mony" as a video.
The hits just kept coming for the group.
In 1969 the group released the album "Crimson and Clover" which continued their string of successes.
The album gave us the title track, "Crystal Blue Persuasion" and "Do Something To Me."
The hit "Crystal Blue Persuasion" is James' personal favorite.
The group followed up that album with "Cellophane Symphony" which used the newly created Mood Synthesizer.
James and the Shondells also released "The Best of Tommy James and the Shondells" which featured the hit single "Ball of Fire." The albums is still in print and has sold more than 10 millions copies.
The 1970s started out as a success, but would bring the break up of the Shondells.
James continued on as a solo artist and continued to crank out the hit singles.
Over the next four years he scored another 12 singles which charted. He also had three more Top 40 albums.
Among the hits were "Come To Me," "Ball And Chain" and "Draggin' The Line."
James signed with a new record company in the 1980s, Millennium Records" and continued to release albums and tour.
Tommy James and the Shondells have continued to see their songs recorded by other artists and performed for movies and television shows.
Among the more famous covers are Joan Jett and the Blackhearts' rendition of "Crimson And Clover" and Bill Idol's cover of "Mony Mony."
His songs have been so popular, that James is the first artist in music history to have two cover versions occupy the top spot back-to-back.
Idol and Tiffany did it in 1987 with "Mony Mony" and "I Think We're Alone Now."
In the 1990s James heard his songs popping up in movies such as "Forrest Gump," "Cape Fear," "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" and "Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead."
James also released "Live! At the Bitter End" video package through industry giant BMG. Again, James was a pioneer as it was one of the first DVD packages released.
Through it all, James has always thought of Niles as home even though he was born in Dayton, Ohio.
He tries to come back to town at least one a year and planned on returning for this past Christmas.
And who knows, if he hadn't been given a chance to record "Hanky Panky" 40 years ago, rock-and-roll history may never have been made.