The Cougars

The Cougars were a short-lived band, formed in Bristol, England, in 1961. They specialised in rock music, mostly instrumental versions of pop and classical pieces.

Career

The band, comprising Keith Owen (lead guitar), Dave Tanner (rhythm guitar), Adrian Morgan (bass guitar) and Dave Hack (drums), signed a recording contract with Parlophone in 1963, after having been spotted at a talent contest by EMI's A&R man, Norrie Paramor.

Their single "Saturday Nite at the Duck-Pond" uses music from Swan Lake by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The song achieved some notoriety for been banned by the BBC, despite which it spent eight weeks in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at #33. Their songs "Red Square" and "Caviare and Chips" also borrowed themes from Tchaikovsky. The Cougars' final session for Parlophone was on 16 December 1963, when they recorded "Caviare and Chips", "While The City Sleeps" and "Sausage Roll", although the latter track remains unreleased. Only a small part, I think about four bar of "Crying for the Carolines" is the opening for "Our Man in Siberia". After recording three singles and an EP, The Cougars disbanded in 1964.

Mony Mony

"Mony Mony" is a 1968 single by American pop/rock band Tommy James and the Shondells, which reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart while also getting serious airplay in the U.S. and Canada. 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 notably covered by English singer-songwriter Billy Idol in 1981. Idol's version, which took in more of a new wave and power pop sound, became an international top 40 hit and additionally revived public interest in the original garage rock single. A month after his live 1987 hit version, another Tommy James song had also hit #1 - Tiffany's version of "I Think We're Alone Now".

Tommy James and the Shondells version

Background and release

"Mony Mony" was credited to Tommy James, Bo Gentry, Ritchie Cordell, and Bobby Bloom. The title of the song is said to have been 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 Tommy James says in a 1995 interview in Hitch magazine:

Mony Mony (album)

Mony Mony is a studio album by Tommy James and the Shondells. It was released in 1968. The record includes the band's hit single "Mony Mony" which reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart and #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. It reached #193 on the Billboard 200.

Track listing

Charts

Album

Singles

References