Here She Come Now Singing

Tommy James and The Shondells superb bubblegum hit from 1968 Mony, Mony- stomping drums and blasted out vocals. It even survived a mauling by Billy Idol in the 80s.

Mony, Mony

Runaway Again

Earworm ahoy- since the Joan Jett/Runaways post last Tuesday I have been playing this over and over (as the song says). So, here’s the video (a bit grainy, transferred and uploaded from videotape I reckon- but authentically 80s)

And a version in a TV studio…

And here’s a song, recently added to my hard drive…

Do You Want To Touch Me (Oh Yeah)

(Actually, I wouldn’t mind. Oh yeah)

Runaway

I watched The Runaways on Saturday night, the film about The Runaways- 70s California’s all girl punk/glam group. It had a good balance of girls with guitars and sunshine good times, hazy chaos and drug induced fall. The narrative arc in rock films is cliched- it has to be really- but it was well done, it looked good, the highs felt high and the lows were way down low. The two leads- Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning- were both excellent as well.

Cherie left rock’n’ roll after her Runaways induced breakdown. Joan Jett didn’t leave rock ‘n’ roll and had several hits including this heart warming, rifftastic cover of a Tommy James and the Shondells song (which I think Drew may have posted a while back but is the only Jett/Runaways song I currently have on the hard drive apart from Cherry Bomb which I have previously posted here myself).

Crimson And Clover

Here are The Runaways, without singer Cherie Currie, on serious rock programme The Old Grey Whistle Test kicking up a bit of a storm. Go Joan.

Children Behave

Some Sixties bubblegum for Monday, via yesterday’s Tommy James and his Shondells. This is a peach of a record, surviving being mauled by both Tiffany and Girls Aloud. I think it’s the descending bassline and those drums as much as anything, along with Tommy’s ‘kids on the run’ lyric.

I Think We’re Alone Now – removed by DMCA, reposted without mp3 file.

Crimson And Clover Too

As a response to Drew’s posting of Joan Jett’s cover of Crimson And Clover I thought I better post the original- Tommy James And the Shondells in 1969. Tired of being labelled a bubblegum artist Tommy moved into psychedelic rock and took this song to number 1, shifting five and a half million copies in the process. Beat that, X Factor hopefuls.

Crimson And Clover