The 405 Coffee Break with O.K. Solberg

O.K. talks us back to the time when Tommy James and the Shondells was hitting #1 on the music charts.

What is The 405 Coffee Break with O.K. Solberg?

Greetings and Welcome to The 405 Coffee Break with O.K. Solberg

New episodes tend to air over the local KMMR radio station @ 5 minutes past 4PM each M-F. And have been doing so, nearly every week since Sept 2018.

I'm D.J. Rasmussen, O.K.s friend since junior high, possibly your neighbor & this websites maintainer, whom strives to get each episode's show notes written, the transcript proofed and the audio posted to the internet within a few hours of that days KMMR air time. NOTE: recently been publishing most new releases by 4:30PM.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoy the time we can spend together.

OK Solberg:

I want to again welcome you to The 405 Coffee Break. Beautiful day, guys. Get your cup of coffee, glass iced tea, beverage of your choice. Let's see what's happening.

OK Solberg:

Spring wheat $6.74 a bushel dropping down a bit. 550lb pound steer calf. I don't have a 550lb steer calf. I'll tell you what, 447lb steer calves in Pays, Billings, 33 head, 447lb each brought $4.75 a pound. And a 104 head of 88lb lambs brought $3.27. That's a fact. But guys there's more, much more.

OK Solberg:

Was anyone out there around in 1966? Oh, yes. Seems like a long time ago, but I myself was 9 years old and I remember that time very well. Now, another question.

OK Solberg:

Does anyone remember Tommy James and the Shondells? Sure you do. Crimson and Clover made it to #1 made it to #1 in February 1969 and no it did not bump off Sugar Sugar. Crimson and Clover hit the top slot much earlier in the year 1969. Yet anyone remembering remembers Crimson and Clover.

OK Solberg:

So let's look into this band called Tommy James and the Shondells. Now guys, I think you'll enjoy this fabulous little success story. Like I said, everybody who's anybody remembers Crimson and Clover, but but do you remember their 1st $1 hit ever?

OK Solberg:

Do you remember the Shondell's 1st hit? Dan Perry, Peggy? Anyone? Anyone? You gotta know it was Hanky Panky. I saw her walking on down the line. Yeah. No. I saw her for the very 1st time. A pretty little girl standing all alone. You gotta remember that song. Well, listen to this.

OK Solberg:

That song, Hanky Panky, was written by Jeff Berry and Ellie Greenwich in 1963, and they put it on the B side of a '45 record. Now for you young folks out there, when you had a big song, you'd record it on a small record.

OK Solberg:

And since a record had 2 sides, you needed to put something, another song on the other side. But they usually didn't put a big hit on side B. They'd put on maybe this is okay because I gotta put something on and then it was oftentimes junk or poor or mildly pathetic.

OK Solberg:

So anyway, Jeff Berry and Ellie Greenwich wrote and recorded that song and put it on the B side of their record. The bad side, B for bad. Barry later essentially admitted that he considered it a terrible song. Well, the Shandell's heard it and they recorded it in 1964.

OK Solberg:

The thing is is it wasn't on a national record label and it did well in their community. But elsewhere, it went nowhere. Nowhere fast. Nothing. Zil. Zero.

OK Solberg:

So Tommy James kinda gave up on music. He gave up on giving it a try, and he's just a teenager, and he walked away from music. Yes, he actually walked away and the Shandells broke up and they went on making a living or maybe simply just going to school because they were so young. Then an odd thing happened. An odd thing happened 2 years later in 1966.

OK Solberg:

A Pittsburgh DJ somehow got a hold of that old record and started playing it at his Dances. The audience went crazy. Believe it or not, guys, kids love this song so much that an enterprising distributor actually bootlegged bootlegged the record and he sold 80,000 copies in 10 days.

OK Solberg:

Suddenly, Tommy James who was still essentially an unknown teenager in Michigan was being hunted down by the music business. And listen to this guys, At that time, Tommy James didn't even have a band. They broke up. Remember, went their separate ways.

OK Solberg:

But with fame calling his name loudly, Tommy James went to Pittsburgh and he had to assemble a new group virtually on the spot. He found musicians playing in a bar. He asked them, hey, would you like to become the Shandells?

OK Solberg:

And according to James recollection, they essentially said, yeah, sure man. That sounds fun. Then the original Hanky Panky from 1964 was released nationally even without rerecording it. James later said the rough amateurish sound was actually part of its appeal. Polishing it might have ruined what made it exciting.

OK Solberg:

On 07/16/1966, it went to #1! Number 1 on the Billboard hot 100 knocking The Trogs out of 1st place with their Wild Thing. Tommy James and The Shondells went on from there to record Crimson and Clover and many many other songs.

OK Solberg:

They became something. And guys, I love that story because it has a huge lesson. A record nobody thought was any good became a hit because ordinary people decided it was good.

OK Solberg:

Isn't that the way it seems to go? Yep. I'll close with a bible verse that seems to fit it well.

OK Solberg:

From Ecclesiastes 11:6 In the morning, sow your seed in that evening. Withhold not your hand for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good. Ecclesiastes 11:6

OK Solberg:

You never know. You just never know. Don't always take the advice of the professional or the so called man in the know. Sometimes, guys, sometimes the ordinary guy knows best.

OK Solberg:

So until next time. As you go out there, remember now, don't be bitter.