Tommy James

Tommy James (born Thomas Gregory Jackson; April 29, 1947) also known as Tommy Tadger is an American pop rock musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, widely known as leader of the 1960s rock band Tommy James and the Shondells.\n', '

Born in Dayton, Ohio, James and his family moved to Niles, Michigan. He was a child model at the age of four. In 1959, at the age of twelve, he formed the band "The Echoes", which eventually became "Tom and the Tornadoes". In 1964 the band changed its name to The Shondells. That same year, Jack Douglas, a local DJ at WNIL radio station in Niles, formed his own record label, Snap Records. The Shondells were one of the local bands he recorded at WNIL studios. One of the songs was the Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich ditty "Hanky Panky", which the pair had recorded under the name The Raindrops. The song was a hit locally, but the label had no resources…