Check my other comments for detail on Tommy James.
Tommy James was a big hit maker in the 60s with his band the Shondells and then he went solo.
He started off well, ultimately charting with a US #4 Pop Hit "Draggin the Line" in 1971. He then tapered off placing one single in the Top 40 and another six in the bottom half of the Top 100 in the US.
He continuously recorded through the 1970s but nothing clicked significantly.
By 1979 he was 32 years old and had been a pop star since he was 19. His last charting record was a single in 1973 (Boo, Boo, Don't'cha Be Blue #70 US Pop)
It was time for a change.
Having lived on the west coast through most of the 70s he decided to move back to the east coast.
He said, "As much as I loved living and working in California, I found I really missed the energy and edge I got from being in New York". https://www.tommyjames.com/tours.php
And so in 1979 he moved to New York and signed a new deal with Millennium Records, which was distributed through RCA.
It worked.
The single "Three Times In Love" was pop hit (#19 Pop US)(though it also proved to be his last Top 100 song).
It may be the change of locale that gave James the hit but in reality it wasn't much different to that which he had been doing on the west coast. Perhaps a little more updated and without the ultra smooth soft rock stylings, but cut from the same cloth.
His previous album "Midnight Rider" from 1977 was soft rock with country overtones.
And, so, this explains why "Three Times In Love" also made the country charts (#93).
James' musical personality (and probably his real life personality) was quirky within his pop world and he always had interesting stylings.
His brand of pop rock was pure pop rock but with a pre-power pop energy. With his band the Shondells he wasn't afraid to experiment incorporating new emerging sounds of the day. Likewise with his solo material James never strayed far from the pop rock he loved but he had his ear to the ground and incorporated elements of psych, soul, disco, country, soft rock, Christian, and singer songwriter into his music as the times demanded.
You have to stay relevant.
James' lyrics have more to them than meets the eye and i assume he is the main lyricist because he seems to have similar concerns re love and life over a number of songs. He did, however, often write with others. All of the tracks here are co-written with his band members (or they may just be the session musicians), drummer Albert Christopher Puglisi and Bassist Ronnie Serota (I assume they assisted with the music).
The genius of Tommy James is his perfect radio voice and his ability (and taste) in knowing how to pick up on sounds and riffs and reformulate them to suit his musical world view.
The playing is slick (as you would expect from mainstream 1980) and there are guest spots from jazz saxophonist Michael Brecker, synth from James' friend and occasional co-writer Don Ciccone (formerly of The Critters and later in The Four seasons), more synth from legendary Larry Fast, guitar from jazz funk guitarist John Tropea, and some backing vocals from Luther Vandross and Ullanda McCullough.
It's easy for some to dismiss Tommy James but what he did, he did very well, and perhaps, more well than those who are regarded highly. His solo work may not be up there with his work with the Shondells but it seems to be the case that he was the central driving force throughout his entire career.
He also produced this album and, luckily, the techniques and know-how are distinctly 70s, though there are hints of 80s production which would become the norm (80s mainstream production was dire … in my opinion).
All music make this point "Tommy James was no Mick Jagger or Jim Morrison, to be sure, and his songwriting — which was usually not solo, in any case — lacked the downbeat, serious tone or the little mystical touches of John Fogerty. He's usually put more comfortably in the company of such figures as Paul Revere & the Raiders' Mark Lindsay, or with Johnny Rivers or Tommy Roe, in the middle or early part of the '60s. But from 1968 through 1970, when artists like Jagger, Fogerty, and Morrison were in their heyday, Tommy James & the Shondells sold more singles than any other pop act in the world, many of them written, co-written, or at least chosen by James". https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tommy-james-mn0000620386/biography
I like every artist mentioned and I like Tommy James.
Tracks (best in italics)
Side A
- You Got Me – (T. James – A. Puglisi) – A big ballad which is very catchy
- Long Way Down – (T. James – A. Puglisi – R.Serota) – mid tempo soft pop rock.
- Three Times In Love – (T. James – R. Serota) – soft rock with country rock overtones. This is very catchy with a sing-a-long chorus. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Times_in_Love
- Lady In White – (T. James – A. Puglisi) – another catchy song full of AM Pop wonder with a touch of Bob Seger.
- Everything I Am – (T. James – A. Puglisi) – a big love ballad with a beat. Emotive, it recalls the big ballads of the 60s with a 70s sensibility and slick and well rounded production with shades of Nilsson.
Side B
- It's Magic – (T. James – A. Puglisi) – shades of The Beatles and ELO. A great song with some interesting musical mood shifts.
- I Just Wanna Play The Music – (T. James – A. Puglisi – R.Serota) – something you could hear David Cassidy doing, five years earlier.
- Let It Slide – (T. James – A. Puglisi – R.Serota) – quite good, though it sounds like something I can't put my finger on.
- It's All Right (For Now) – (T. James – A. Puglisi – R.Serota) – a good mid-tempo pop song in the English Chinn and Chapman style.
And …
Slick, but enjoyable … I'm keeping it.
Chart Action
US
Singles
1980 Three Times In Love #19 Pop US, #1 Adult Contemporary US, #93 Country US
1980 You Got Me #101 Pop US
Album
1980 #134
England
nothing
Sounds
You Got Me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8AdAp4cEbY
Three Times In Love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8AdAp4cEbY
mp3 attached
Lady In White
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJcHKLCNDtc
It's Magic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLMPgS4eyLw
Let It Slide
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY8x2qq1cpo
It's All Right (For Now)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmKslqSSx-g
Others
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv3WB2loIA4
With the Shondells
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkMgs3lFwkQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS8ckizXa9o
Review
https://www.allmusic.com/album/three-times-in-love-mw0000852556
https://www.tommyjames.com/biography.php
Bio
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_James
https://www.michiganrockandrolllegends.com/mrrl-hall-of-fame/90-tommy-james-and-the-shondells
https://ffanzeen.blogspot.com/2010/02/tommy-james-hes-not-alone-now.html
Website
https://www.facebook.com/TJandtheShondells?v=wall&filter=2
Trivia
- Musicians: Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocals – Tommy James / Backing Vocals [Additional] – Fonzi Thornton, Luther Vandross, Robin Clark, Ullanda McCullough / Bass, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocals – Ronnie Serota/ Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals – Al Christopher Puglisi / Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocals – Louie Conte / Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Aristole Pyros / Synthesizer – Larry Fast / Synthesizer [String] – Don Ciccone / Producer – Tommy James
- James cut a Spanish version of “Three Times in Love" called "No Hay Dos Sin Tres". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Hahbyp9ing
