Tommy James and the Shondells began their musical journey in Niles, Michigan (that’s a city on the western side of the state near Chicago).
Thomas Gregory Jackson was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1947, and moved to Niles as a young boy. The Shondells signed a record deal with a local Niles radio station owner who also owned a label, and the rest is rock history.
In 1970 an exhausted Tommy James collapsed on stage in Birmingham, Alabama and was actually pronounced dead, only to recover and slow down by moving to the country.
The best songs from the boys in the band were “Hanky Pinky,” “I Think We’re Alone Now,” “Crimson and Clover”, “Mirage”, “Mony Mony”, “Sweet Cherry Wine”, and “Crystal Blue Persuasion”.