Now in paperback, after five hardcover printings, Tommy Jamesâs wild and entertaining true story of his careerâpart rock & roll fairytale, part valentine to a bygone era, and part mob epicâthat âreads like a music-industry version of Goodfellasâ (The Denver Post).
Everyone knows the hits: âHanky Panky,â âMony Mony,â âI Think Weâre Alone Now,â âCrimson and Clover,â âCrystal Blue Persuasion.â All of these songs, which epitomize great pop music of the late 1960s, are now widely used in television and film and have been covered by a diverse group of artists from Billy Idol to Tiffany to R.E.M. Just as compelling as the music itself is the life Tommy James lived while making it.
James tells the incredible story, revealing his complex and sometimes terrifying relationship with Roulette Records and Morris Levy, the legendary Godfather of the music business. Me, the Mob, and the Music is a fascinating portrait of this swaggering, wildly creative era of rock ânâ roll, when the hits kept coming and payola and the strong-arm tactics of the Mob were the norm, and what it was like, for better or worse, to be in the middle of it.