How I Wrote..."Crimson and Clover"

Pop icon Tommy James reveals the magic combination behind the Shondells' timeless psychedelic hit.

- JOE BOSSO

BY MID 1968, Tommy James and his group, the Shondells, had enjoyed a string of good-time AM radio singles, like "Hanky Panky." "I Think We're Alone Now" and "Mony Mony." But after the band returned home from a summer tour, James sensed a sea change was taking place. "FM radio was happening, and singles were being replaced by albums," he says. "Songs were getting more serious. I realized that we had to move with the times, or else we'd be extinct." With that in mind, James and Shondells drummer Peter Lucia Jr. wrote "Crimson and Clover." The transcendent, psychedelic-pop gem became the band's biggest hit, spending 16 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1968 and early 1969, including two weeks at number one. "Its impact was incredible," James says. "It gave us the second half of our career."

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