Tommy James, The Shondells - Mony Mony (1968)

Tracklist

01. Mony Mony (LP Version)
02. Do Unto Me (LP Version)
03. (I'm) Taken (LP Version)
04. Nighttime (I'm a Lover) (LP Version)
05. Run Away with Me (LP Version)
06. Somebody Cares (LP Version)
07. Get Out Now (LP Version)
08. I Can't Go Back to Denver (LP Version)
09. Some Kind of Love (LP Version)
10. Gingerbread Man (LP Version)
11. One Two Three and I Fell (LP Version)

The 11 songs that make up the Mony Mony album are well-produced '60s pop, though the title track is the only one from this project which would chart, hitting the Top Five. "Mony Mony" is a terrific song with its repetitive hook, an endless party on record even more powerful live. Unlike the I Think We're Alone Now album, which even included photos of producers Bo Gentry and Ritchie Cordell, there are no credits on the LP gatefold, the focus instead on the musicians in colorful, hip suits with beads, scarves, and opulent surroundings. You can hear where producers for Bobby Sherman found his sound in "Somebody Cares," a second cousin to the Top 20 "Gettin' Together" title track of the LP before this. "Gingerbread Man" contains an adventurous spirit which would open up new avenues when the band wrote, produced, and arranged their next LP, the all important Crimson & Clover disc. You can feel James and his group learning from Bo Gentry and Ritchie Cordell, but also shedding the confines of outside help. Where "One Two Three and I Fell," "Somebody Cares," and "Get Out Now" have the Gentry/Cordell stamp, and the three covers of tunes by Illingworth and Grasso have their R&B moments -- "Do Unto Me" taken right from the Platters' 1967 hit "With This Ring" -- the band starts truly striking out on its own here. "Some Kind of Love" might not be "Crystal Blue Persuasion," but the congas and band sound show seeds of work that was just around the corner. As the group got more psychedelic, they found a new niche, a natural extension of the garage rock from their very first release, Hanky Panky, and the pure pop found here. When seen as a whole, the Tommy James catalog shows remarkable diversity, which is why in performance his repertoire has more dynamics than most touring '60s acts. That unique blend gave Tommy James the solo artist his platform to hit on his own in the '70s and '80s. Mony Mony was an important moment of transition featuring one of the group's most classic hits on an interesting and entertaining album.

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