The Perfect Song by Tommy James and the Shondells and covered by Johnny Thunder

Next up for the PERFECT song-  perfect cover songs! 

Are you familiar with Tommy James and the Shondells I’m Alive?  Perusing social media a while back I somehow found this absolute banger!  But I actually stumbled upon the cover of this song performed by Johnny Thunder- not to be confused with Johnny Thunders from The New York Dolls and The Heartbreakers and from whom the latter allegedly stole – or borrowed,  the stage name.

First let’s talk about Tommy James.  Thomas Gregory Jackson, later known as Tommy James, came from that fantastic mid-west music crucible of the mid twentieth century.  He was born in Dayton, Ohio and then moved to Michigan where he spent most of his formative years.  At twelve years old he formed his first band, The Echos, which eventually became The Shondells. His first taste of success came in  a kind of round-about way that could never happen in today’s music/industrial complex.  He and a friend recorded the Ellie Greenwich/Jeff Berry song Hanky Panky which was a local hit for them in Niles, Michigan but it never went anywhere beyond local radio play.

Long story short- A Pittsburgh dance promoter found a copy of the 45 in a used record bin and it became a dance club hit.  Then a bootlegger made a copy of the song, started pressing it and sped up the tempo.  The original record producer was contacted, James was persuaded to go to Pittsburgh to meet with the club promoter, they then went to New York to shop the song to labels, without success.  They went back to Pittsburgh, formed a new iteration of The Shondells, the original group by 1966 had broken up, re-recorded the song and by the third week of July 1966 it became the top single in the US.  Of course other great songs by TJ and the Shondells are Crystal Blue Persuasion, Mony Mony, Crimson and Clover,  I Think We’re Alone Now- you know all those hits.  And a whole bunch of them were covered by great artists like Billy Idol, Joan Jett and others. 

BUT I’m Alive is in a category completely different from that kind of bubble gummy pop sound. It was actually the B-side for the single Crystal Blue Persuasion. It also was recorded by other artists but IMO, none possess the absolute raw animal ferocity of this fuzzy garage-rock scrumptiousness, except for Johnny Thunder.

Johnny Thunder was an R&B recording artist in the early 1960s and was mostly known for the song Loop De Loop.  He toured with The Drifters for a while, performed at The Apollo, was a backing singer for Dionne Warwick. In 1969 he released his version of I’m Alive and, according to none other than Bob Dylan, it was one of the most powerful records he had ever heard. 

I’m Alive has THE perfect late 60s  garage psychedelic heavy fuzzy guitar tone played by James and Shondells lead guitarist Eddie Gray.  I am and always have been absolutely in love with that distinctive 60s psychedelic down and dirty, almost visceral, sound.  In my mind, when I hear it I’m at a dance club in a paisley micro mini-skirt and go go boots dancing feverishly in a complete reverie.  I absolutely lose my mind at the song break- you think the song is over.  It slows down, the beat stops, the guitar stops at 1:58…..and then the drums and Ronnie Rossman’s organ pick back up and OH MY GOD!!!!!!! Psychedelic ecstasy!

The lyrics are very of the time- late 1960s cultural shifts, social and racial tensions at the fore, and that’s one of the reasons why Thunder’s version is so powerful.  

I’m a man!

Who cares if my hair is a little bit long, I’m alive!

I’m a man!

And I’m red and yellow and black and tan, I’m a man!

I’m alive!

The song break in this version is a little different and when Thunders comes back in with the vocals he is literally yelling I’M ALIVE, I’M ALIVE, I’M ALIVE!  

If you’ve not yet discovered these – and maybe you have, I am usually late to the party, I highly recommend partaking in some mind-altering substances, turn your speakers up to eleven, get your go-go on and listen to I’m Alive– by Tommy James and the Shondells AND Johnny Thunder- it’s the perfect song!