Born Thomas Gregory Jackson in Niles, Michigan in 1947, Tommy James was destined to be a star. He began his business career as a child model at the age of four, and at 12 formed his first band the ‘Tornadoes,’ later changing the name to the Shondells. Tommy befriended a local Niles, Michigan DJ, and the two of them borrowed enough money from friends and family to start their own record label and recorded the song “Hanky Panky.”
The song and the label went nowhere. A local dance promoter found a copy of the single in the trash of the radio station, and began to play it at dances in Pittsburgh clubs. A bootlegger in the area made copies of the song and sold over 80,000 copies in 10 days! Pittsburgh radio stations took notice and began to play the song on the air, and the rest they say is rock and roll history.
Tommy James and the Shondells are on the road for a few stops this year and next…
November 14th, The Villages, FL
January 12th, Biloxi, MS
January 20th, Sacramento CA
January 27th, Morristown, NJ
February 11th, Lancaster, PA
March 16th, Las Vegas, NV
March 24th Woonsocket, RI
August 13th, Las Vegas, NV
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Photo credit: Benoit Daoust / Shutterstock.com