The Incredible Tommy James and the Shondells Story

“I Think We’re Alone Now” was a smash hit for Tiffany in 1987, but the original artist Tommy James and the Shondells version is still the best version around. Born Thomas Gregory Jackson in Niles, Michigan in 1947, Tommy 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 fist band the ‘Tornadoes,’ later changing the name to the Shondells.

The story of how he got his big break is inspirational; he had a DJ friend at the local Niles radio station. The DJ friend and Tommy 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, so he took it and began to play it at dances in Pittsburgh clubs. A bootlegger in the area started to make copies of the song and sell it at these dances. He sold 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.

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