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August 22, 2011 interview of Tommy James with Eric Cocks of Connections on WPKN. 

Tommy talks about his book... Me, The Mob and The Music,  and the stories behind what it was like for Tommy James and The Shondells to sell over 100 million records while dealing with the mob.

Known for the hit records Mony Mony, Crimson and Clover, Crystal Blue Persuasion, Draggin' The Line, Hanky Panky and many more, Tommy also talks about the upcoming Broadway Musical and film versions based on the book, along with a wide ranging discussion about music, songwriting, production and life. Fascinating stories and great humor from Tommy.

This is a true insider's view of music and the music business.

Tommy is co-writing the Broadway musical with actor/writer Chazz Palmintiri (A Bronx Tale, The Usual Suspects), who will also star as Morris Levy.

The film will be produced by Barbara De Fina (Goodfellas, Casino, Color Of Money, Cape Fear).

The interview is followed by a couple of live rarities from Bob Dylan.

The complete version of today's episode of Connections, including music from Warren Zanes, Thea Gilmore, Sam Phillips, Nikki Jean, Marshall Chapman, two phenomenal songs by Jeff Barry, additional songs by Tommy James & The Shondells and much more can be found at: http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/23857

Thanks to Tommy for his incredible openness and generosity of spirit.

Additional thanks to Carol Ross of Aura Entertainment and Jan Cairncross of Psychedelic Central.

For updates, info and links to previous shows in archives, feel free to join the FaceBook page: Connections on WPKN.

Connections... with Eric Cocks

Explores the connections between songs, songwriters, musicians, producers and people... often in surprising ways.

Vital, intelligent music with true artistic vision.

Includes extended features on specific artists such as Bob Dylan, The Kinks, The Beatles and far more. Also comedy by Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Eddie Izzard, Paul Krassner and others with a rock and roll renegade attitude. In depth explorations of early electronic music (and how it relates to current music). Vital new music that deserves to be heard. Surf music. Garage bands. British invasion. Rock and Roll. John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Jimi Hendrix, Laurie Anderson, William Burroughs, Robert Anton Wilson, The Blues Magoos, David Bowie, The Beach Boys, Dr Fiorella Terenzi, Beethoven, Bo Diddley, The Rolling Stones, Alex Chilton, Tom Petty, The Pretenders, Blondie, demos, rarities, unreleased new music and far more may be part of any given show. Also live interviews of performers, writers, producers, engineers, session musicians and people behind the scenes. Plus unexpected surprises...

Previous in depth interviews include Sam Phillips, Peppy Castro of The Blues Magoos, author/comedian Paul Krassner, Chris Frantz, Neil Innes, Tommy James, legendary session musician Carol Kaye and more. All are available in archives for about 385 days. (Maybe that'll get extended one day.)  Stay tuned for future interviews and special features.

The show will keep changing over time.

Tune in every 2nd and 4th Monday of each month from 9 am to noon eastern. Also special editions at other times. Available live at http://wpkn.org or listen later in archives.

For further info, updates, news, videos and special features, please check the FaceBook site: Connections on WPKN

Thanks for tuning in!