On our recent 25-track tenth birthday album, there was only one artist that two different musicians covered. It wasn’t the Beatles. It wasn’t Bob Dylan. It was Tommy James and the Shondells. Though, in terms of overall influence, I think many would put them in the second tier of 1960s pop bands, the songs they recorded during their initial five-year run just keep getting covered. In 1987, Tiffany went to #1 with a cover of “I Think We’re Alone Now.” She was then bumped from the top spot – by Billy Idol’s cover of “Mony Mony.” And this is twenty years past the Shondells’ heyday!
Now we’re thirty more years on, and the covers just keep coming. The latest comes from erstwhile Gossip frontwoman Beth Ditto, who roars through relatively lesser-known cut “I’m Alive” on a new single. Though written by James, the song was first recorded by 1960s R&B singer Johnny Thunder (not to be confused with 1970s punk Johnny Thunders) before James’ own Shondells got to it. In 1969, Bob Dylan called the Thunder performance “one of the most powerful records I’ve ever heard.”
If Bob likes power, he should give Ditto’s new cover a listen. A far cry from the indie dance rock of Gossip, this cover is roaring garage rock that sounds like something off of the Nuggets compilation. Come to think of it, if Johnny Thunders-with-an-s had covered “I’m Alive,” it might have sounded something like this.
Hear two exclusive Tommy James and the Shondells covers on our recent free covers album.
