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tel 732.932.7800 - fax 732.932.1768

PRESS ADVISORY

Contact
Lisa Uber
WRSU-FM
Rutgers University
732-932-7800 x23
music@wrsu.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WRSU-FM presents: A Conversation With Tommy James

Tommy James and co-author Martin Fitzpatrick join WRSU-FM alumnus Ed Osborne on stage for a conversation and look behind the scenes at Me, The Mob, and the Music: One Helluva Ride with Tommy James and the Shondells, James' autobiography recently published by Scribner. WRSU-FM is bringing the legendary recording artist to the university in an intimate setting for an evening of great stories and a few surprises! A question and answer period will follow.

Tommy James (born Thomas Gregory Jackson, April 29, 1947, Dayton, Ohio) is the pop rock star best known as the leader of Tommy James and the Shondells. Performing locally in Niles, Michigan, from the age of 12, James went on to record many top hits, including Hanky Panky, I Think We're Alone Now, Mony Mony, Crimson and Clover, Sweet Cherry Wine, Mirage, Do Something to Me, Gettin' Together, Crystal Blue Persuasion, and Draggin' the Line. He has sold over 100 million records, has been awarded twenty-three gold singles, and nine gold and platinum albums. His songs are widely used in television and film, and have been covered by Joan Jett, Billy Idol, Tiffany, Tom Jones, Prince, R.E.M., and many others. Tommy James continues to tour the country and record. For more information, please visit www.tommyjames.com.

When: Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Where: Trayes Hall, Douglass Campus Center, Rutgers University, 100 George Street, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901
Time: 7:30 p.m.

Free and open to the public, seating is limited. Rutgers' Barnes & Noble will be on site for book sales, and Tommy James will sign books available for purchase at the event.

ME, THE MOB, AND THE MUSIC
One Helluva Ride with Tommy James and The Shondells
Tommy James with Martin Fitzpatrick

Part rock n' roll fairytale, party valentine to a bygone era, and part mob epic, ME, THE MOB, AND THE MUSIC (Scribner; February 2010) is Tommy James' wild and entertaining true story of his career and his complex relationship with Morris Levy, the legendary "godfather" of the music business.

Since the age of 12, Tommy James had been performing in rock bands, locally, in Michigan. Prompted to record a few songs by a local DJ in 1964, Tommy chose an obscurity titled Hanky Panky which become a minor local hit that came and went. Then, in 1966, the record was re discovered by a Pittsburgh DJ who started playing it on heavy rotation, prompting a tremendous response. Soon, every record mogul in New York was pursuing Tommy and the band. However, when Tommy went to New York to explore his possibilities, every offer but one disappeared. James soon found himself in the office of Morris Levy at Roulette Records - part record company and part 'front' for the Genovese crime family - where he was handed a pen and ominously promised one helluva ride a promise that would prove all too accurate.

is an intimate account of the complex and sometimes terrifying relationship between the bright-eyed, sweet-faced blonde musician from the heartland and Morris Levy at Roulette Records - the big, bombastic, brutal bully from the Bronx, who hustled, cheated, and swindled his way to the top of the music industry. Tommy James tells of the swaggering, wildly creative era of rock n' roll where 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.

ME, THE MOB, AND THE MUSIC: One Helluva Ride with Tommy James and The Shondells
Tommy James with Martin Fitzpatrick
Publication Date: February 16, 2010
240 pages
ISBN: 9781439128657

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ABOUT WRSU-FM

Founded in 1948, WRSU-FM is one of the oldest college radio stations in the nation. Since its inception as WRSU-AM, the station has evolved through many styles, including oldies, top 40, and its transition in the 1980s, to the variety of alternative sounds it is renowned for today. WRSU on-air personalities range from first-semester Rutgers freshmen to longtime alumni and community members. WRSU can be heard on 88.7 FM in the New Brunswick area and on the web at http://wrsu.org.

WRSU-FM is a non-commercial, non-profit radio station and is student-managed under the guidance of a faculty broadcast administrator. Station management is governed by the WRSU Radio Council, an oversight board consisting of station members, Rutgers professors and alumni, and local broadcast professionals. For more information visit our website at http://wrsu.org.

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