Very Best of ... [Best of]

Naturally, the compilation starts off with the song from Snap Records that was bootlegged and sold over a million copies, reaching #1. All together now: "My baby does the hanky panky!" Yes, his cover of the Raindrops' "Hanky Panky", with its crisp garage sound, hit big by the time Tommy James had broken up the Shondells.

A new Shondells was put together and they signed on to Roulette Records. "Say I Am (What I Am)" has a beat and sound similar to the Kingsmen's "Louie Louie" until the rollicking racing guitar comes on, accompanied by "shake shake shake," until it returns to the original sound.

The upbeat "It's Only Love" features horns, maraccas, and a softly tooted flute; a nice number, but compared to their other Top Ten hits, it's understandable why this only hit #31.

Three of their big hits were resurrected in the 1980's, two of them hitting #1, one making the Top Ten in the US, all different styles. The catchy bubblegum pop of "I Think We're Alone Now" was an example of James bringing in the songwriting/producing team of Richie Cordell and Bo Gentry. Cordell co-wrote this song. The prominent bassline can be felt in the softly sung chorus and inbetween "running just as fast as we can" and "holding on to one another's hand." Crickets can be heard during the pause before the final chorus. Redheaded mall teen queen Tiffany took this to #1 in 1987, beating the original's #4 peak.

With those familiar opening drums, and James' rough "yeahs" and the responding "yeahs" from the other Shondells, "Mony Mony" belongs in the party-rock category like "Louie Louie" and "Hanky Panky". A #3 hit, Billy Idol's version hit #1, also in 1987, giving further royalties to James, Cordell, and Gentry. Ironically, Joan Jett and her producer were considering recording this song instead of "Louie Louie", but the latter prevailed.

And finally, James' only other #1, the lyrical "Crimson And Clover", which sold five million copies, with distorted guitars, and later even the words, yet with enough pop sensibilities to take something psychedelic to the top. Yes, "crimson and clover, over and over..." Joan Jett took this to the Top Ten in 1982.

Cordell also wrote "Mirage", a #10 hit which recalls an early Beatles sound and has a high-pitched whistle or keyboard, and the racing keyboards and clapping of the happily romantic "Gettin' Together."

The flower-power like "Out Of The Blue" mixes early Beatles with some doo-wop styled harmony. And this only got to #43???!

The pulsating anti-Vietnam and love song "Sweet Cherry Wine" is one of my favourites: "Yesterday my friends were marching out to war/oh yeah, listen we ain't a marchin' anymore/we ain't gonna fight/only God has the right/to decide who's to live and die." I'll have several bottles of it, please.

The leisurely languid ballad "Crystal Blue Persuasion" peaked at #2 during Woodstock week, and echoes the "love is the answer and that's all right" feel of the times.

Songs like "She" used strings and a more lovey-dovey 5th Dimension-type sound. Also included Tommy James' solo single "Draggin' The Line", incorporating a bluesy sound with a prominent pulsing bassline.

The songs are presented in chronological order, and as this is a Rhino compilation, presents the peak position of each single and the date released. A good intro for those wanting to know about the many sounds and singles of this mid to late 60's group.

They started out with the lanky, strongly original proto-garage tune "Hanky Panky" - at about the same time the Young Rascals launched their smoky, similarly styled "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore". [Gritty, intensely moving and sonically astounding as it was, the (Young) Rascals' song crashed and burned on the charts, though not in the minds of forward-looking listeners. But they tamed their sound a bit on "Good Lovin'", went straight to the top, and stayed there for several years.]

The Shondells' (as they were announced by DJs at the beginning of their equally long run) had a second hit with "Say I Am" - which didn't grab me during its short tenure on the charts (I later realized my mistake). This one is amazingly inventive in terms of melody and vocal delivery; and with those jazzy riffs/rhythms that accompany the lyrics, the song moves through its paces relentlessly, confidently buoyant throughout.

"I Think We're Alone now" was the obvious follow-up to the Turtles' "Happy Together". [This is especially true since the Turtles' own next effort "She'd Rather Be With Me", was such inferior product - a very bad-sounding song possessing none of the gorgeous guitar playing of their short-lived folk-rock phase - early in their career the Turtles were among the best in the world.]

"I Think We're Alone Now" tugged at the heartstrings and told a very familiar story in a novel musical fashion - its pop-rock sonic pallet was colorfully descriptive - its arrangement was rich but uncrowded. In "Mirage", their follow-up in a similar vein, Tommy's vocal (during verses, not choruses/bridges) added a twinge of the jazzy R &B influences the band was [secretly?] absorbing, eventually exploding full force into their music ("Crystal Blue Persuasion").

"Gettin' Together" I suppose was one of their rare mistakes (along with "I Like the Way"); in bowing to the likes of Tommy Roe, Garry Lewis and other proto-bugglegum artists, they temporarily displaced themselves from the main thrust of their ongoing musical experiment/evolution. Sentimentality can be a creative force, but these two songs are obvious instances of poor songwriting and stylistic meltdown.

"Mony Mony" I hated this song, convinced at the time the group was going in a really bad direction, but later changed my mind, and give it almost a 4 out of 5. Even today people get really happy dancing to this one.

"Crimson and Clover" was called 'psychedelic' by one reviewer. Ouch! Sure it was squarely in the midst of that era, and fit in very well, but the average groovy hippie freak (myself included, at the time) didn't pay it much mind. On the other hand, slow dancing in high school and beyond was never greater than when this was playing. Still solidly rock, but with a lot of soul - it was maybe a forecast of Bob Seger on the far horizon - who knows? But this richly energetic outburst owed more to the Kingsmen than to Jefferson Airplane - a severely/serenely updated version of the Kingsmen nonetheless, and like when they did their occasional ballad-like song.

"Sweet Cherry Wine" The way this begins in the middle of a phrase is formula-shattering (Motown was famous for launching into songs in this fashion, ditto Paul Revere and the Raiders). Gorgeous overall sound, gorgeous singing executed with extreme aplomb - even with such minimal melodic movement! Tommy sings his way into and all around the melodic contour - great lead singers know how to gently release and channel their overtones - he lets loose in a stunning manner here.

[Still decidedly "rock", but with some kind of almost unexpressed R &B flavor moving/flowing underneath/inside it.]

With the song "Crystal Blue Persuasion" Tommy James and the Shondells completed their temporary transition into the royal echelon of blue-eyed soul, taking their place amongst earlier-arrived luminaries such as the Righteous Brothers, the Rascals, and dare we say it - the Fifth Dimension. We hear horns - and a gloriously reedy, buttery combo organ for the first time - the musical arrangement is full to the brim, and tasty to the core. The songwriting is emotionally appealing, inventive to a fault - this song is both musically and poetically priceless!

Pop songs, appealing as so many seem to be, are rarely so powerful, memorable, enlivening, and even "healing" - as is this collection of gems.