Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Tommy James and the Shondells had many massive hits in the 60s like Crimson and Clover and I Think We're Alone Now. But they knew they had another one but they were struggling to come up with a chorus. it would take them months to find the title. Tommy and his bandmates couldn't come up with anything until they walked out on the balcony of their apartment and saw a sign that said Mony Mony.. They knew they had their chorus. It became a #1 smash! Tommy tells the story.
#classicrock #shorts #60smusic #80smusic
I’m excited to bring you another episode from our series Revelations- where featured artists reveal rare stories about their biggest songs, along with fascinating insight about their careers.
On this installment of Revelations, we are going behind an all-time two-time hit Mony Mony. Written by Tommy James, Bo Gentry, Ritchie Cordell, and Bobby Bloom it went to #3 on the Hot 100 in America and went all the way to #1 in the UK, by far Tommy James and the Shondell’s biggest hit in England. Then a full twenty years later, it went to the top of the charts again, this time in America in 1987 by British rocker Billy Idol. Billy Idol had covered and released the song much easier in his career. In 1981 he dropped a version on his EP called Dont; Stop, along with the track Baby Talk it ended up stamping the Billboard dance charts at #7. Then Billy, supported by his blazing guitarist the great Steve Stevens, rebased a live version of the song including a popular MTV clip and it started blasting up the charts. Coincidently so did another Tommy James remake… Tiffany’s remake of I Think We’re Alone now. They would both travel to the top of the charts and do something that only a few have accomplished in the annals of rock… which we’ll cover, one other very interesting factoid behind the song is that Billy Idol's version gave rise to a controversial happening.
Whenever the song was performed live in concert or played at a club or dance, people would shout a certain formulaic (and usually obscene) variation of a particular phrase in the two measures following each line. I won’t repeat it on here since we are a family channel but I'll just say that it has the f-word in it. Well, this little chant led to the song being banned at high school dances across America in the years that followed. I remember this happening at our own school. The now infamous chant has continued at Idol’s own concerts to this day.
It’s also on several viral videos taken at weddings where the bride and groom chant it while dancing with many parents covering their children’s ears when the controversial part comes one. It became so widespread that Idol would eventually commit
Tommy James and the Shondells had many massive hits in the 60s like Crimson and Clover and I Think We're Alone Now. But they knew they had another one but they were struggling to come up with a chorus. it would take them months to find the title. Tommy and his bandmates couldn't come up with anything until they walked out on the balcony of their apartment and saw a sign that said Mony Mony.. They knew they had their chorus. It became a #1 smash! Tommy tells the story.
#classicrock #shorts #60smusic #80smusic
I’m excited to bring you another episode from our series Revelations- where featured artists reveal rare stories about their biggest songs, along with fascinating insight about their careers.
On this installment of Revelations, we are going behind an all-time two-time hit Mony Mony. Written by Tommy James, Bo Gentry, Ritchie Cordell, and Bobby Bloom it went to #3 on the Hot 100 in America and went all the way to #1 in the UK, by far Tommy James and the Shondell’s biggest hit in England. Then a full twenty years later, it went to the top of the charts again, this time in America in 1987 by British rocker Billy Idol. Billy Idol had covered and released the song much easier in his career. In 1981 he dropped a version on his EP called Dont; Stop, along with the track Baby Talk it ended up stamping the Billboard dance charts at #7. Then Billy, supported by his blazing guitarist the great Steve Stevens, rebased a live version of the song including a popular MTV clip and it started blasting up the charts. Coincidently so did another Tommy James remake… Tiffany’s remake of I Think We’re Alone now. They would both travel to the top of the charts and do something that only a few have accomplished in the annals of rock… which we’ll cover, one other very interesting factoid behind the song is that Billy Idol's version gave rise to a controversial happening.
Whenever the song was performed live in concert or played at a club or dance, people would shout a certain formulaic (and usually obscene) variation of a particular phrase in the two measures following each line. I won’t repeat it on here since we are a family channel but I'll just say that it has the f-word in it. Well, this little chant led to the song being banned at high school dances across America in the years that followed. I remember this happening at our own school. The now infamous chant has continued at Idol’s own concerts to this day.
It’s also on several viral videos taken at weddings where the bride and groom chant it while dancing with many parents covering their children’s ears when the controversial part comes one. It became so widespread that Idol would eventually commit
