Interview: Tommy James is still going his own way

Tommy James performing at Westbury. Photo Credit: Photo Credit: Mark Schoen Photography.

Rock singer-songwriter Tommy James chatted about his career in the music industry, his book “Me, the Mob and the Music,” and his weekly radio show on SiriusXM.

“The important thing in life is not victory but combat; it is not to have vanquished but to have fought well,” said Pierre de Coubertin, French Educator who was primarily responsible for the revival of the Olympic Games in 1894. This quote applies to multi-faceted veteran artist Tommy James.

He serves as the front-man of the acclaimed rock group Tommy James and the Shondells, which is still touring today. He has been performing live for over 60 years.

Background on Tommy James

Tommy James’ music can be heard in over 94 films, 102 television shows, and numerous commercials. A native of Dayton, Ohio, Tommy grew up in Niles, Michigan.

Throughout his respected career in the music industry, which spans six decades, he has earned 23 gold records, nine platinum albums, and secured 32 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. He has also sold in excess of 100 million records worldwide.

His biggest hits include “Crystal Blue Persuasion,” “Crimson & Clover,” “Mony Mony,” “I Think We’re Alone Now,” “Draggin’ The Line,” “Hanky Panky,” “Sweet Cherry Wine,” “Three Times In Love” and “Mirage,” and they are just a few of his many hit singles.

Music and songwriting inspirations

On his music and songwriting inspirations, he said, “I was inspired by a lot of things. I started when I was very young, actually. I started The Shondells when I was a teenager, and we started recording, and of course, our first record was ‘Hanky Panky’.”

“That was recorded in my hometown of Niles, Michigan, back when I was 16 years old and it was a regional hit, but it didn’t really go anywhere nationally, because we had no distribution,” he noted.

“Finally, the record kind of came and went, and I graduated from high school in 1965, took my band on the road, and we played clubs all through the West,” he noted.

Tommy continued, “In early 66, we were playing a dumpy little club in Janesville, Wisconsin, and right in the middle of our two weeks, the club got shut down by the IRS because the guy didn’t pay his taxes.”

“So, we stayed home and back to Michigan, but as soon as I got home to Niles, I got the phone call that changed my life, that ‘Hanky Panky’ song — that I had recorded two years earlier — was suddenly sitting at No. 1 in the city of Pittsburgh,” he elaborated.

“So, that literally kicked off my career, and I went to Pittsburgh and did some shows, did newspaper interviews, and a week later, we were in New York,” he said.

“I had a new group of Shondells, by the way, that I got in Pittsburgh, and a week later, we were in New York selling the record to a major label, and we ended up on Roulette Records,” he recalled.

“That really began my career, and I started songwriting and all the rest of it once I was in New York,” he added.

Tommy James on his book ‘Me, the Mob and the Music’

His book “Me, the Mob and the Music” was released via for Simon & Schuster, and it became a bestseller. The memoir garnered rave reviews from music critics, fans, and industry insiders alike; moreover, it was selected by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the “25 Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Memoirs of all time.”

“Well, this is a story I had been wanting to tell for a long time and didn’t feel that I could,” he said.

Tommy continued, “The title of the book is ‘Me, the Mob, and the Music’ and of course, the reason why it’s titled that is because Roulette Records, in addition to being a functioning record label, was also a fund for the Genovese crime family in New York, and that made life really interesting for us.”

“We were hanky panky-ing and mony-mony-ing. There’s a very dark story that was going on behind us that we really couldn’t talk about. So, it took a long time to tell the story, and finally I did it in the book,” he explained.

Tommy James — The radio host on SiriusXM

Tommy James hosts his own weekly radio show “Gettin’ Together With Tommy James” on SiriusXM. “The radio show on SiriusXM is going great. This is our ninth year on the air,” he admitted.

“It is really quite amazing. When they first came to me and offered me to do the show, I was a little concerned because as much as I’ve been on the radio and involved in radio, I had never worked that side of the microphone before,” he elaborated.

“I had never really been a DJ before. So, this was a whole new experience, and I wasn’t sure I could do it, but after the third show, I was having a ball,” he exclaimed.

“I can tell you right now that being on the radio allows me to hear all kinds of music,” he said. “When I go up to SiriusXM, I meet people, groups and celebrities from all over, and it’s like a big club up there.”

“I think being with SiriusXM is perhaps the hippest job in the world,” he added.

The digital age

On being an artist in the digital age, Tommy reflected, “Well, true enough what is amazing is the way people can hear music today… on their iPhones or they can download it or stream it.”

“There are many ways to hear music, and it’s really a wonderful experience to be in the music business because music now is all over the world,” he noted. “Music is not just in one country. It’s available everywhere on the planet. Also, not only can people hear SiriusXM, they can also hear our music online whenever they want to.”

“So, it’s really wonderful that the whole world is now your selling place in the digital age,” he added.

Tommy James on the resurgence of vinyl

Tommy also observed the recent resurgence of vinyl. “At the same time vinyl is coming back. which is awesome. Isn’t that something? It’s the young ones that are buying vinyl and in Europe, it’s outselling CDs.”

“I love the warmth, scratchiness and nostalgia of vinyl. I’ve always been a fan of vinyl. Even though CDs sound better, the experience of playing vinyl is so different than playing a CD where it just disappears into a drawer,” he explained.

“Vinyl is great and fun. It feels like a story within a story. You are participating in the listening experience, and you feel like you are really involved with the music,” he expanded.

“The liner notes allow you to read all about the group and the album… and you see who wrote the songs,” the rock crooner added.

Advice for young and aspiring artists and bands

For young and emerging artists, musicians, and bands, Tommy said, “Well, I get asked that a lot, actually. Today, the record companies aren’t signing groups like they used to, so there’s very little taking place within the labels.”

“So, my recommendation today is rather than go to a record company first off, go to a publishing company, especially if you’re writing music,” he noted.

“Publishing is where the action really is. Publishing is really the ownership of the songs so if you’re writing, which you should be doing if you’re trying to make it as a group, is to go to the publishing company,” he elaborated.

“There are so many of them online… you can go right to the others online, see where they are and contact them, and go get some face time with a publisher rather than a record company,” he said.

“Once you have a partnership with a publisher concerning your songs and ownership of your songs, then you can go to a record company. This way, you have some clout behind you instead of just coming in off the street,” he explained.

“So anyway, that’s what I would do if I were looking for a record deal today,” he added.

Stage of his life

On the title of the current chapter of his life, Tommy revealed, “Three Generations of Rock and Roll.”

“That is kind of closely related to people asking me, ‘What would you like on your tombstone?’ or ‘How would you like to be remembered?’ Hopefully, that my songs have good energy to them that people remember them.” he elaborated.

“When I look out at our concert crowds now, I literally see three generations of people out there. So, it would be three generations of rock and roll,” he clarified.

Tommy James on his book being made into a movie and possible Broadway show

On his future plans with the book, Tommy stated, “Well, there are things that I would like to still accomplish… It looks like our book is being turned into a movie, and after that, they want to do a musical… a Broadway show.”

“So, these are things that are going to be fun, especially watching them come together. of course, I’ll take part in co-producing a lot of these things. The movie of ‘Me, The Mob, and the Music’ is going to be fun. They’re in the casting phase right now,” he elaborated.

“We were originally going to do a theater production, which would involve an hour and a half or a two-hour movie for theaters, but that’s not how movies are made anymore. So many of them are made as episodes, such as seven or eight episode films for Netflix or HBO Max,” he explained.

“So, that is what we are going to do. This way, you can develop the characters better, and you can tell the story better,” he added.

Tommy James on the key to longevity in the music business all of these decades

Regarding the key to longevity in the music business all of these decades, Tommy shared, “Longevity, for us, has been quite amazing. I thank the fans and the good Lord for the kind of longevity we’ve had.”

“This is our 60th year now. Before my first hit record, I was doing this for five years prior to that, but in the major leagues, this is our 60th year, and I’m very, very flattered and honored to be doing music for this long.”

“We’ve been around for so long, we are now able to see things from a historical perspective,” he noted.

Tommy James on his songs being covered by many other artists and groups

Many artists around the globe have covered and continue to cover Tommy’s songs, which include the late Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Joan Jett, Billy Idol, Kelly Clarkson, Carlos Santana, Cher, Tom Jones, The Boston Pops, and R.E.M., among countless others.

“Well, we’ve been very lucky,” he admitted. “We’ve had over 350 cover versions of our songs from Prince to Dolly Parton to everyone in between doing our songs.”

“I’m very flattered and honored when another artist does one of our tunes. I’m very interested to hear another artist’s take on our songs,” he added.

Tommy James reveals his personal favorite songs

When asked about his personal favorite song in his own musical catalog, he responded, “Well, that’s a tough one. I suppose I would have to say ‘Crystal Blue Persuasion’ because it was such a different kind of record for us.”

“When we do ‘Mony Mony’ in our live show, there is not much oxygen left in the room. So, I think it’s a toss-up between ‘Mony Mony’ and ‘Crystal Blue Persuasion’,” he added.

Tommy James — The New Jersey Hall of Fame inductee

In 2017, Tommy James was inducted into the coveted New Jersey Hall of Fame, where his life-size hologram can be viewed at the Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).

“The New Jersey Hall of Fame induction was great,” he admitted. “As a matter of fact, my wife, Carol Ross, is a part of it. A year ago, I married Carol, who is also my manager, and she sits on the Board of the Directors.”

“When I went into the New Jersey Hall of Fame, it was great, and they are very serious about people from New Jersey having status and celebrity status. They are just a wonderful group of people,” he elaborated.

“While I am not the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame yet — we’re going to have to wait for a little bit for that — the New Jersey Hall of Fame recognition was incredible,” he said.

“Also, when it’s our turn, we will finally get in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. So many of my friends are in, so it’s about time,” he added.

Performing with Joan Jett at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Speaking of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he performed “Crimson and Clover” with Joan Jett during her 2015 induction ceremony. “When Joan was indcuted, she asked me if I would do ‘Crimson and Clover’ with her, and I did. So, I was on stage with literally four generations of rockers,” he said.

“It was myself, Miley Cyrus, Joan Jett, and Dave Grohl all singing ‘Crimson and Clover’ at the same time,” he added.

Additional career accolades and honors

Tommy James was inducted as a “Modern Era Legend” at the fourth annual Pittsburgh Rock ‘N Roll Legends awards in 2017, and in 2019, he was subsequently named “Jukebox Artist of the Year” by the Amusement and Music Owners Association of New York.

2026 Westbury concert

On April 18th, 2026, Tommy James performed at Flagstar at Westbury Music Fair on Long Island, New York. “Westbury was great,” he exclaimed. “It was a fun show, and of course, the Long Island crowds are always great.”

Tommy James talks about rock legend Link Wray

Tommy James opened up about rock and guitar legend Link Wray. “Link Wray was great. Link was one of the original big-time guitar players. ‘Rumble’ was a great record, and he set the tone for rock and roll,” Tommy said.

“Chuck Berry probably got more fame and more notoriety than Link Wray, but Link Wray was a major factor in rock and roll, and he was a great instrumentalist,” he noted.

“Starting in the late 50s and early 60s, when the fuzz tone got invented, it really changed a lot of guitar players from that steely, clean sound to a hard-edged rock and roll,” he elaborated.

With “Rumble,” Link Wray had the sole rock instrumental in history banned from radio for fear it would incite teenage violence at the time. “A lot of records got banned back in the day… a lot of parents thought rock and roll created juvenile delinquents,” he observed.

“Well, it started the black leather jacket crowd along with motorcycles,” Tommy added.

Tommy James defines success

Regarding his definition of success, Tommy said, “Success is a trophy you get for doing a good job.”

“In rock and roll, success is achieving what you set out to do, and that is making people happy. That is really what it boils down to,” he added.

Message for his fans and supporters

For his dedicated fans and supporters, Tommy said, “Well, thanks for everything. Thank you for your good wishes and your support for all these years.”

“Honestly, the support of the fans is the greatest part of the whole thing, because our fans have followed us — not only for our music — but also in all the other different projects we’ve gotten involved in,” he elaborated.

Closing thoughts on the book ‘Me, the Mob and the Music’

On the book, Tommy remarked, “Well, I hope that people can identify with it, and that they can track along with us, because it covers quite a lengthy period in my life and in the group’s life.”

“The comments we keep getting from the book have been great,” he exclaimed. “Even though the book has been out for quite a while — it has been a bestseller for a long time — and I am just thrilled that the fans have stuck with us over time.”

“Also, to some extent, I hope the fans see themselves in this book, too,” he concluded.

His book, “Me, the Mob and the Music” is available on digital service providers by clicking here.

To learn more about iconic rock singer-songwriter Tommy James, his book, music and tour dates, check out his official website, and follow him on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), and Instagram.