Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Hanky Panky
2. Say I Am (What I Am)
3. It's Only Love
4. I Think We're Alone Now
5. I Like the Way
6. Mirage
7. (Baby, Baby) I Can't Take It No More
8. Run, Run, Baby, Run
9. Gettin' Together
10. Real Girl
11. Out of the Blue
12. Love's Closin' in on Me
13. Get out Now
14. One Two Three and I Fell
15. (I'm) Taken

Disc 2:

1. Mony Mony
2. Somebody Cares
3. Do Something to Me
4. Crimson and Clover
5. Sugar on Sunday - Tommy James
6. Sweet Cherry Wine
7. Crystal Blue Persuasion
8. Ball of Fire
9. She
10. Loved One
11. Gotta Get Back to You
12. Come to Me
13. Draggin' the Line
14. Nothing to Hide
15. Tighter, Tighter

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13227 in Music
• Released on: 2006-09-19
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .28 pounds

Album Description
Tommy James & the Shondells' high-spirited sound remains one of the most distinctive hallmarks of the era and an essential part of the classic rock songbook.

Customer Reviews

(Almost) All the Hits and Many of the Near Misses
All of Tommy James & The Shondells top 40 hits are here--all fourteen of them, along with James' biggest solo hit, "Draggin' the Line." Beginning in 1966 with "Hanky Panky" through the end of the decade, The Shondells released a string of infectious hits. [Note: While "Hanky Panky didn't become a national hit until the summer of 1966, the original Shondells recorded the song on the Snap label in 1963 in Ohio where it became a regional hit when James was only 16!]

Essentially, this latest collection from Rhino is a re-release of their 1990 single-disc ANTHOLOGY. What THE DEFINITIVE POP COLLECTION does is add three songs and spreads it out over two discs. Since it lists for about the same price as the earlier collection, it's hard to complain; but there was certainly room for a more thorough coverage of the both the band and James' solo work.

For example, this new collection includes the band's final charting single, "Come to Me" from 1970; it reached only No. 47. In addition, James' solo "Nothin' to Hide" from MY HEAD, MY BED & MY RED GUITAR (which hit No. 41 in late 1971) is included. The only other track not found on ANTHOLOGY is James' own version of "Tighter and Tighter," which he had produced for Alive & Kicking. [Their version was the hit at No. 7 in 1970.] The only serious misstep is the omission of "I'm Comin' Home," James' follow-up single to "Draggin the Line", which reached No. 40. James had a string of solid solo albums which, given the space available on two CDs, should have been better represented. [Also missing is James' final chart entry, 1980's No. 19 hit "Three Times in Love," but that wasn't recorded for Roulette and obviously Rhino was unable to license the song.]

All told, this is a very thorough history of one of the great party bands of the Sixties. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Shame on you Rhino! Excellent songs, but much too short for the price
As the previous reviewers have pointed out,this collection has essentially all of the Tommy J & The Shondells studio cuts that anyone could possibly want, including nearly all of their notable hits and a good number of quality misses. There is, however, a notable catch.

This is a 2CD collection and is priced as such. Unfortunately the collection features under 85 minutes of total music on those 2CDs. Given that a single CD is capable of holding up to 80 minutes of music, paying $20+ for this collection seems not just unwarranted, but a deliberate attempt by the once-excellent Rhino Entertainment Group to gouge it's loyal customer base while providing minimal content.
One might be tempted to judge this an aberration, but Rhino's recent "Definitive..." 2CD sets routinely suffer from this "problem". Sam & Dave's "Definitive Soul" is worth less than 82 minutes on 2 Discs, while Frank Valli & The 4 Seasons merit a slightly more generous 90minutes.

A collection of 2hrs+ is certainly warranted for Tommy James, particularly if one were to include live material with a generous array of B-sides and alternate takes. Since Rhino is producing and selling a 2CD set, they certainly have enough capacity to give their customers 160 minutes of content. Instead they have chosen to flagrantly fleece their customers with roughly half that.

There is no longer any compelling reason to purchase (newly produced) Rhino products - apparently all principles vanished with previous management.

Tommy James & The Shondells Definitive
This is actually all their greatest hits. The only one miss is Gone, Gone,Gone, which I believe was one of their earlier songs, and may not have been a top 40. But this is without a doubt all their greatest hits, on 1 cd instead of 2. I really love it,and I hope you will too.
Most of the songs are really great and, and for me bring back great memories. Previously, I had to purchase 2 CD's to get the songs I wanted, which are now all on this CD. It's a keeper, for sure.