Tommy James and the Shondells

A record that failed to chart nationally became the first of two American No. 1s for Tommy James and the Shondells, and it took a Pittsburgh dance promoter to rescue it. The band formed in Niles, Michigan, in 1964 and sold respectably in the Midwest, but its sound drifted from straightforward rock and roll towards bubblegum, a tag James disputes, and then psychedelia, which shaped its best-known records.

Bob Mack, a Pittsburgh promoter, had unearthed the forgotten single and played it at dance parties, and when bootleggers pressed around 80,000 unofficial copies, demand grew. James, reached by a disc jockey's call in April 1966, found the Shondells had scattered, so he recruited the Raconteurs from the Thunderbird Lounge in Greensburg. Roulette Records bought the master, and the single hit No. 1 in July 1966. Later hits included "I Think We're Alone Now", "Mony Mony", a No. 3 US hit and a British No. 1 in 1968, and "Crimson and Clover", which topped the chart in 1968. The band also toured with Hubert Humphrey during his 1968 presidential campaign.