#879: Do Something To Me by Tommy James And The Shondells
Peak Month: November 1968
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #7
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #38
YouTube.com: “Do Something To Me”
Lyrics: “Do Something To Me”
Thomas Gregory Jackson was born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1947. From infancy his mother recalled the only thing she could do to stop him from crying was to turn on the radio where he’d listen to the music. Living in South Bend, Indiana, when he was ten Tommy got his first guitar. When he was fourteen, he formed a rock ‘n roll band called the Tornadoes. They were the namesake of a popular instrumental group from the UK who had a #1 hit that year titled “Telstar“. The family moved to Niles, Michigan, and at the age of 17 Tommy was going by the stage name of Tommy James. He was the lead singer of The Shondells. In 1964, they recorded a B-side recorded in 1963 by The Raindrops called the “Hanky Panky”. The song was composed by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich of Brill Building fame. Tommy James’ version charted well in Michigan, Illinois and Indiana. However, Snap Records had no national distribution, so the single failed to chart elsewhere.