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" 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. Heaven & Earth Soundtrack Retrieved February 7, 2015 It was also covered by English Rock music 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.)
"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.
| +Chart performance for "Mony Mony" by Tommy James and the Shondells
!Chart (1968–1969)
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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 Darwish'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 certain formulaic (and usually Obscenity) 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 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.
In the 2014 Nissan Nissan Sentra commercial, part of the "Spread Your Joy" campaign, a man in a Sentra with Bose Corporation 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 doesn't join in. The commercial ends with the man singing to himself as he walks into his house.
| +Chart performance for "Mony Mony" by Billy Idol
!Chart (1981–1982)
!Peak position |
Live version
| +Weekly chart performance for "Mony Mony" (live version) by Billy Idol
!Chart (1987–1988)
!Peak position |
| +Year-end chart performance for "Mony Mony" (live version) by Billy Idol !Year-end chart (1987) !Position |
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