Mony Mony

"Mony Mony"
Single by Tommy James & the Shondells
from the album 'Mony Mony'
B-side	"One Two Three and I Fell"
Released	1968
Genre	Rock
Length	2:55
Label	Roulette
Writer(s)	Tommy James, Bo Gentry, Ritchie Cordell, and Bobby Bloom
Producer	Bo Gentry, Ritchie Cordell
Tommy James & the Shondells singles chronology
"Get Out Now" (1968) "Mony Mony" (1968) "Somebody Cares" (1968)

"Mony Mony" is a 1968 single by Tommy James & the Shondells,^[1] that reached #1 in the UK charts.

History

"Mony Mony" was credited to Tommy James, Bo Gentry, Ritchie Cordell, and Bobby Bloom. The hook in the song is said to have been inspired by James' view of a MONY sign atop the Mutual of New York Building in the New York City skyline from his Manhattan apartment. As Tommy James says in a 1995 interview in Hitch magazine:

True story: I had the track done before I had a title. I wanted something catchy like "Sloopy" or "Bony Maroney," but everything sounded so stupid. So Ritchie Cordell and I were writing it in New York City, and we were about to throw in the towel when I went out onto the terrace, looked up and saw the Mutual of New York building (which has its initials illuminated in red at its top). I said, "That's gotta be it! Ritchie, come here, you've gotta see this!" It's almost as if God Himself had said, "Here's the title." I've always thought that if I had looked the other way, it might have been called "Hotel Taft."^[2]

"Mony Mony" was the only song by the group to reach the top 20 in the United Kingdom; it reached #1 in the UK, and #3 in the USA. A music video of it was made at the time, dated in showing love beads, but a decade and half later would receive some play on MTV.^[2]

The song "Mony Mony" has been covered by many artists, including Billy Idol, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Amazulu, Status Quo, The Scenics and The Beach Boys. In a peculiar twist, in 1987 Billy Idol's version of the song replaced another Tommy James hit at #1 on Billboard Hot 100 — "I Think We're Alone Now", covered by Tiffany.

"Weird Al" Yankovic wrote a parody of this song from his album, Even Worse, entitled "Alimony" (based on the Billy Idol version). It was about a recently divorced man complaining about his ex-wife taking everything he owns away from him in alimony payments.

Charts

Chart (1968)	Peak position
Canadian Singles Chart	3
UK Singles Chart	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	3

Preceded by "I Pretend" by Des O'Connor	UK number-one single (Tommy James and the Shondells version) 3 August 1968 (two weeks)	Succeeded by "Fire" by Crazy World of Arthur Brown
Preceded by "Fire" by Crazy World of Arthur Brown	UK number-one single (Tommy James and the Shondells version re-top) 21 August 1968 (one week)	Succeeded by "Do It Again"* by The Beach Boys

Billy Idol version

"Mony Mony"
Live version
Single by Billy Idol
from the album Don't Stop and Vital Idol
B-side	"311 Man"
Released	1981 (original version) October 2, 1987 (live version)
Format	7", 12"
Recorded	1981-1985
Genre	Hard rock, New Wave
Length	5:01 (on Don't Stop) 5:02 (on Vital Idol) 4:08 (45 version)
Label	Chrysalis
Writer(s)	Tommy James, Bo Gentry, Ritchie Cordell, and Bobby Bloom
Producer	Keith Forsey
Billy Idol singles chronology
"Dancing with Myself" (1981) "Mony Mony" (1981) "Hot in the City" (1982)
"Sweet Sixteen" (1987) "Mony Mony (Live)" (1987) "Cradle of Love" (1987) Alternative cover 12" single for original release

British rock artist Billy Idol released a version in 1981 (Don't Stop EP). A live cover version of the song became a hit for Billy Idol in 1987.

Billy Idol's version of the song gave rise to an interesting custom in the 1980s. When the song was performed live in concert or played at a club or dance, people would shout a certain formulaic (and usually obscene) sentence in the two bars following each line. One example is: "Hey motherfucker, get laid, get fucked." This custom led to the song being banned at high school dances across North America, although it continues at Idol concerts today.^[3]

Billy Idol's version was recorded on two separate occasions. The original 1981 studio recording is the most common version heard on rock radio stations across the globe. However, Idol released a live version as a single in 1987, while promoting his then-forthcoming compilation Vital Idol. It was the live version that shot straight to #1, beating out Tiffany's cover of Tommy James' "I Think We're Alone Now".

The live single version can be found on Idol's Greatest Hits compilation. The song appears in the 2011 video game NHL 12.

Charts

Chart (1981)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles	107
Chart (1987)	Peak position
Canadian RPM 100 Singles Chart	1
German Singles Chart	38
Swiss Singles Chart	13
UK Singles Chart	7
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Billboard Album Rock Tracks	27

Preceded by "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tiffany

Billboard Hot 100 number one single (Billy Idol version) November 21, 1987

Succeeded by "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes

References

1. ^ Tommy James & the Shondells: Mony Mony at Discogs (list of releases)
2. ^ ^{a b} Lott, Rod. "Crystal Blue Conversation" on Angelfire)
3. ^ "Metroactive Music | The Rock Show". Metroactive.com. http://www.metroactive.com/papers/cruz/10.12.05/rockshow-0541.html. Retrieved 2011-10-16.