Since politics nonetheless divides us, I’ll write about one thing extra nice. I’m speaking about music.
Tommy James is 77 years outdated, and he’s nonetheless residing his childhood dream. I hearken to his radio present every Sunday night (5-8 pm Jap) on Sirius XM 60s Gold.
He shaped a band on the age of 12, and made his first document, “Hanky Panky” at 17. It was 1964, and it didn’t catch on at first. However in 1966, a Pittsburgh dance membership proprietor discovered the 45 in a used document bin, performed it on the dance ground and the children went wild. He satisfied a neighborhood radio station to play it, and it started spreading throughout the nation.
Quickly got here “Mony Mony,” “I Assume We’re Alone Now,” “Crimson and Clover,” “Draggin’ the Line” and extra hits. For six many years, Tommy James’ music has been on the radio, in commercials and flicks. Each weekend he’s on stage taking part in for followers he loves. They return the love, on their ft dancing. They know each phrase.
On his radio present, Tommy performs the songs we grew up with, but in addition the misplaced hits. Rising up within the Fifties, he was influenced by ballads, rockabilly, rhythm and blues, and jazz. “Sirius XM offers me free rein,” he mentioned. “They name me a musicologist, and I’m pleased with that. I’m a rock and curler, however I like all types of music and the listeners inform me they do too.”
The Michigan native has fond recollections of touring southern states as a part of multi-act reveals within the Nineteen Sixties, like Chattanooga’s JET-FLI Spectaculars. “What a good time to be alive,” he mentioned. “I used to be barely out of my teenagers, and I used to be on stage with these proficient folks, and our songs have been all around the radio. Neil Diamond grew to become a very good buddy. He was one other younger man who wrote songs for himself and for the Monkees too. None of us knew he would turn into a worldwide famous person. Keep in mind the Cowsills, the real-life Partridge Household? They have been my buddies. We lived in the identical constructing. I used to be only a child, they usually have been even youthful than me. We’ve misplaced a whole lot of the fellows I toured with, so I’m grateful for those who’re nonetheless rocking and rolling. I made some lifelong mates.”
Tommy’s early profession is chronicled in his 2011 autobiography “Me, the Mob, and the Music,” nonetheless obtainable on Amazon, and shortly to be a movement image. He tells the story of his sophisticated and sometimes scary relationship with Morris Levy, the pinnacle of Roulette Data, who was extensively often known as the Godfather of the document enterprise. Tommy James is a real survivor of some turbulent instances.
Extremely, Tommy isn’t within the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame, regardless of his many hits and his 60-plus yr profession. After I expressed my amazement and disappointment that he had not but been inducted, he mentioned, “Properly it could be unbecoming of me to speak about that.” Whereas I appreciated his class and modesty, I advised him I couldn’t be silent on the difficulty. Tommy has extra rock & roll “cred” than fairly a number of latest inductees. It’s an omission that I hope will quickly be corrected.
My opinion is echoed by Sirius XM Senior Programming Director Lou Simon, who recruited Tommy for the radio present and mentioned, “I like his tales and the songs he chooses. Tommy is a prince. He’s a consummate crafter of phrases and melody, and he is without doubt one of the most real males on the planet. His ebook tells concerning the gentle he managed to shed on the trade’s darkish facet, and his information inform you that life is sweet.”
On that word, at your subsequent household gathering, when issues get somewhat heated between your conservative uncle and your liberal cousin, discover your music supply and play “Hanky Panky.” Everyone loves the Hanky Panky. Then maybe everybody ought to be part of arms, shut their eyes and hearken to “Crystal Blue Persuasion,” with its promise of a brand new day coming. If there’s something we will all agree on, it’s “peace and good, brotherhood,” and Tommy James.
David Carroll is a Chattanooga information anchor, and his newest ebook is “I Received’t Be Your Escape Goat,” obtainable from his web site, ChattanoogaRadioTV.com. You might contact him at 900 Whitehall Rd, Chattanooga, TN 37405, or at RadioTV2020@yahoo.com
