Mony Mony

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1968 single by Tommy James and the Shondells

title: "Mony Mony" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1968-singles", "1968-songs", "1981-singles", "1987-singles", "billboard-hot-100-number-one-singles", "billy-idol-songs", "cashbox-number-one-singles", "chrysalis-records-singles", "the-record-retail-singles-number-one-singles", "roulette-records-singles", "rpm-top-singles-number-one-singles", "songs-written-by-bo-gentry", "songs-written-by-bobby-bloom", "songs-written-by-ritchie-cordell", "songs-written-by-tommy-james", "tommy-james-and-the-shondells-songs", "uk-singles-chart-number-one-singles"] description: "1968 single by Tommy James and the Shondells" topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mony_Mony" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1968 single by Tommy James and the Shondells ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox song"]

FieldValue
nameMony Mony
imageMony mony tommy james shondells US single var A.png
altside-A label
captionSide A of the 1968 US original single
typesingle
artistTommy James and the Shondells
albumMony Mony
B-sideOne Two Three and I Fell
releasedMarch 1968
* Garage rock<ref name"Stanley 2013"
* rock and roll<ref name"AllMusic Rock 1997"
* R&B<ref name"AllMusic Rock 1997"/
length
labelRoulette
* Bobby Bloom<ref name"500 Number One Hits"
producerBo Gentry, Ritchie Cordell
prev_titleGet Out Now
prev_year1968
next_titleSomebody Cares
next_year1968
misc
{{External music videoheader
::

| name = Mony Mony | image = Mony mony tommy james shondells US single var A.png | alt = side-A label | caption = Side A of the 1968 US original single | type = single | artist = Tommy James and the Shondells | album = Mony Mony | B-side = One Two Three and I Fell | released = March 1968 | recorded = | studio = | genre =

"Mony Mony" is a song by American pop rock band Tommy James and the Shondells, released in 1968 as the second single from the album of the same name. It reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 3 in the U.S. Written by Bobby Bloom, Ritchie Cordell, Bo Gentry, and Tommy James, the song has appeared in various film and television works such as the Oliver Stone drama Heaven & Earth. It was also covered by English rock musician Billy Idol in 1981, and again in a live 1985 recording. His second version, not released until 1987, became a bigger hit than the Shondells' 1968 original, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and top 40 internationally, and revived public interest in the Shondells' original. Idol's 1981 version failed to chart, although it did reach number seven on the dance charts.

Tommy James and the Shondells version

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Tommy_James_and_the_Shondells.png" caption="Tommy James and the Shondells, 1967"] ::

Background and release

"Mony Mony" was credited to Tommy James, Bo Gentry, Ritchie Cordell, and Bobby Bloom. The song's title was inspired by Tommy James' view of the "M.O.N.Y." sign atop the Mutual of New York Building on the New York City skyline from his Manhattan apartment. As James said in a 1995 interview in Hitch magazine:

::quote[attribution="Sloopy]]" or "[[Bony Moronie"] True story: I had the track done before I had a title. I wanted something catchy like "[[Hang On Sloopy ::

"Mony Mony" was the only song by the group to reach the top 20 in the United Kingdom; it reached No. 1 in the UK, No. 3 in the U.S. and Canada, and became a Top 10 hit across western Europe. A music video was made featuring the band performing the song amidst psychedelic backgrounds. A decade and a half later, it would receive renewed play on MTV.

Track listings and format

  • Vinyl
  1. "Mony Mony" – 2:45
  2. "One Two Three and I Fell" – 2:32

Chart performance

::data[format=table title="Chart performance for "Mony Mony" by Tommy James and the Shondells"] | Chart (1968–1969) | Peak position | Austria | Belgium (Flanders) | Belgium (Wallonia) | New Zealand (Listener) | Norway | South Africa (Springbok) | Switzerland | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 4 | | | | | | | | | | 7 | | | | | | | | | | 3 | | | | | | | | | | 11 | | | | | | | | | | 8 | | | | | | | | | | 5 | | | | | | | | | | 2 | | | | | | | | | ::

Billy Idol version

| name = Mony Mony | cover = Billy Idol - Mony Mony 1981 single.png | alt = side-A label | caption = US single of Billy Idol version | type = single | artist = Billy Idol | album = Don't Stop | B-side = Baby Talk | released = August 1981 | recorded = 1981 | studio = | genre = * New wave

Background and release

British rock musician Billy Idol released a cover version in 1981, as the second and final single from the Don't Stop EP. His version of "Mony Mony" went to No. 7 on the Billboard Dance chart. In his 2015 memoir, Dancing with Myself, Idol recalled that his affection for the song originally stemmed from a sexual encounter he had as a youth where it played in the background. Before proposing the cover to executives at Chrysalis Records, he originally suggested recording a cover of "Shout" before admitting his intentions for "Mony Mony".

A live version of the song was an ever bigger hit for Idol. Recorded on a promotional tour for his then upcoming remix album Vital Idol (1985), it was released as a single in 1986 and went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, coincidentally displacing Tiffany's cover of another Tommy James song, "I Think We're Alone Now", from the top spot. It also finished directly behind the Tiffany cover at No. 19 on the 1987 year-end Billboard chart, and was No. 1 on the Canadian charts for 4 weeks.

Idol's version gave rise to an interesting custom. When the song was performed live or played at a club or dance, people would shout a formulaic, usually obscene, variation of a particular phrase in the two measures following each line, for example, "hey, say what... get laid, get fucked!" or "hey, motherfucker... get laid, get fucked!" This led to the song being banned from high-school dances across North America, although the custom continues at Idol concerts and sporting events today. It became so widespread that Idol eventually put the lyrics to record in the "Idol/Stevens Mix" of the song on the 2018 remix album Vital Idol: Revitalized.

Legacy

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

In the 2014 Nissan Sentra commercial, part of the "Spread Your Joy" campaign, a man in a Sentra with Bose speakers belts out Billy Idol's "Mony Mony" while driving down the road. As he rides, he passes a school bus full of kids and a woman in a car, both of whom sing along with him. He also passes another driver who does not join in. The commercial ends with the man singing to himself as he walks into his house.

Track listings and formats

  • (1981) US 7" vinyl
  1. "Mony Mony" (single edit) – 3:23
  2. "Baby Talk" – 3:10
  • (1981) UK 7" vinyl ( rpm) & 12" vinyl (45 rpm)
  1. "Mony Mony"
  2. "Baby Talk"
  3. "Untouchables"
  4. "Dancing With Myself"
  • (1987) UK 7" vinyl
  1. "Mony Mony" (live)
  2. "Shakin' All Over" (live)
  • (1987) US 12" vinyl
  1. "Mony Mony" (Hung Like a Pony Remix) – 6:59
  2. "Mony Mony" (Steel-Toe Cat Dub) – 6:50
  3. "Mony Mony" (live) – 4:00
  4. "Mony Mony" (incorrectly listed as single edit) – 5:01
  • (1987) UK 12" vinyl
  1. "Mony Mony" (Hung Like a Pony Remix♰)
  2. "Shakin' All Over" (live)
  3. "Mony Mony" (live) ♰Mixed by Tom Lord-Alge

Chart performance

Original version ::data[format=table title="Chart performance for "Mony Mony" by Billy Idol"] | Chart (1981–1982) | Peak position | |---|---| ::

Live version ::data[format=table title="Weekly chart performance for "Mony Mony" (live version) by Billy Idol"] | Chart (1987–1988) | Peak position | Australia (Australian Music Report) | Canada Retail Singles (The Record) | |---|---|---|---| | 8 | | | | | 1 | | | | ::

::data[format=table title="Year-end chart performance for "Mony Mony" (live version) by Billy Idol"]

Year-end chart (1987)PositionCanada Top Singles (RPM)US Billboard Hot 100
6
19
::

Certifications

References

References

  1. Stanley, Bob. (13 September 2013). "Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop". Faber & Faber.
  2. Unterberger, Richie. (January 1, 1997). "AllMusic Guide to Rock". [[Miller Freeman, Inc.]].
  3. Scapelliti, Christopher. (1998). "MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide". [[Visible Ink Press]].
  4. Rice, Jo. (1982). "The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits". Guinness Superlatives Ltd.
  5. {{discogs master. 119861. Tommy James & The Shondells: Mony Mony
  6. [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107096/soundtrack?ref_=tt_ql_trv_7 ''Heaven & Earth'' Soundtrack] Retrieved February 7, 2015
  7. Lott, Rod. [https://www.angelfire.com/mo/stephenlaug/articles/hitch199508.html "Crystal Blue Conversation"] on [[Angelfire]]
  8. [http://www.norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Tommy+James+And+The+Shondells&titel=Mony+Mony&cat=s Norwegian Charts site]
  9. Norwegian Charts site as above
  10. Norwegian Charts site as above
  11. [http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20listener&qartistid=636#n_view_location Flavour of New Zealand, 6 September 1968]
  12. Norwegian Charts site as above
  13. "SA Charts 1965 – March 1989".
  14. Norwegian Charts site as above
  15. Sooney, Pia. (March 1, 2007). "New Wave Hits of 80s".
  16. Wawzenek, Bryan. (November 22, 2017). "30 Years Ago: Billy Idol Rides 'Mony Mony' to No. 1".
  17. (19 September 1987). "Index: Releases".
  18. Whitburn, Joel. (2004). "Hot Dance/Disco: 1974–2003". Record Research.
  19. Idol, Billy. (2015). "Dancing With Myself". Touchstone.
  20. "RPM Top 100 Singles - November 21, 1987".
  21. "MAJOR UPDATE! Where Did the Special Lyrics in Billy Idol's Version of "Mony Mony" Come From?".
  22. (May 8, 1989). "The dirty 'Mony' mystery is solved". [[Chicago Tribune]].
  23. "Metroactive Music {{pipe}} The Rock Show". Metroactive.com.
  24. TJ Smith. (2014-07-04). "TJ Smith Nissan Sentra Commercial ("Spread Your Joy")".
  25. Kent, David. (1993). "[[Kent Music Report". Australian Chart Book.
  26. (November 28, 1987). "Hits of the World: Canada".
  27. "RPM Top 100 Singles of '87 - December 26, 1987".
  28. (December 26, 1987). "1987 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1968-singles1968-songs1981-singles1987-singlesbillboard-hot-100-number-one-singlesbilly-idol-songscashbox-number-one-singleschrysalis-records-singlesthe-record-retail-singles-number-one-singlesroulette-records-singlesrpm-top-singles-number-one-singlessongs-written-by-bo-gentrysongs-written-by-bobby-bloomsongs-written-by-ritchie-cordellsongs-written-by-tommy-jamestommy-james-and-the-shondells-songsuk-singles-chart-number-one-singles