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The Hit
I went into this one knowing neither the band - Alive ‘n’ Kickin’ - nor their very lonely hit - “Tighter, Tighter.” Featuring soulful vocals, a nice pop melody (more later), and some smart flourishes (e.g., the shimmer-echo guitar riff that bridges between the lead vocals between verses, or the horns that play under the chorus), it’s not a bad song. And it sounds familiar for a reason
Tommy James wrote it for them and as a bit of make-up gesture. He originally offered them “Crystal Blue Persuasion,” but he liked it too much to pass it off. That was a good call too, because it gave Tommy James and the Shondells one of the hits that anchored 1969’s Crimson & Clover (one of five, as it happens; helluva(n) album). “Tighter, Tighter” gave Alive ‘n’ Kickin’ a big one too. It hit No. 7.
Oh, and they also shared a label and a management team. If you know a little about Tommy James’ relationship to his label, you’re that much closer to understanding one reason why Alive ‘n’ Kickin’ walked away from the music business, if only for a while.
The Rest of the Story
The band formed in Brooklyn, NY, all as teenagers, and they pulled together their act and sound in Dave Shearer’s (guitar) basement. Bruce Sudano (keyboards), Woody Wilson (bass), Vito Albano (I think; drums), and Jeff Miller (more keyboards) laid down the music for two lead vocalists, Pepe Cardona and Sandy Toper (to clarify, a woman). What they put together had a 60s-hangover vibe, a mix of (to my ear) roots rock and funk with the keyboard/organ sounds as a kind of foundation. If I had to peg a place where you’ve heard it before, I’d go with B-movies from the era and about three-four years after.
The connection to Tommy James came through Sandy Toder’s sister, who was “tight” with Tommy James’ wife, and that opened doors for them. Sudano and Wilson opened the door a little further by helping Tommy James write “Balls of Fire” (while both still teenagers, btw) and, somewhere in there, he passed them “Tighter, Tighter.” I assume Tommy James then directed them to Roulette Records, and Morris Levy - who was also connected, but in the mob sense - which means everyone involved probably heard Levy line up dirty work at least once (Tommy James tells great stories about this fairly early into a very long interview).
The relationship soured fairly quickly - e.g., Levy pushed them to record a follow-up single, “Just Let It Come,” that the band didn’t really want to do, while the band served up a single of their own, “London Bridge,” that Levy didn’t like and wouldn’t promote. That wasn’t the only issue, as Cardona explained in an interview with Classic Bands (most thorough source on all of this, fwiw):
“All of his artists suffered because he kept all of the royalties himself and just doled out little miniscule amounts. He gave us money to buy a P.A. system. A little bit here and there for spending money. He laid out the advance money to record and gave us a miniscule amount to record our album. So, consequently our album wasn't the best selling album that we could have come up with, because we had a very limited budget.”
At a dead-end career-wise, and cranky about working with Levy (who also chased off a couple early Shondells), the band packed it up after one album…for a while. At this point, one story becomes two.
After a four year layoff, Cardona asked himself the inevitable question for every artist: “Can I make a living out of this without ever having to take a 9 to 5 job again?” After taking singing and dancing lessons to polish up his performances, he got together most of the original band - only with Wilson moved to lead guitar, Shearer on rhythm, Albano back on drums (he’d been replaced after recording their one and only album) back on drums, and a guy named Richie Incorvaia taking over bass. They did manage to make a career of it, but, as the clubs they played shut down one after the other (related, Cardona’s memories of the “Hullabaloo clubs" are kind of fun), they made the rare, bold choice of hopping on the wedding party circuit. Personally, I respect the hell out of how Cardona embraced. He was still going by the time he had that interview with Classic Bands and he talked about how he not only makes sure everyone in attendance that Alive ‘n’ Kickin’ once had a hit, he invites the bride and groom to join them on stage to sing along with the band.
Sudano, meanwhile, went to LA and a little farther in the business. He started a band called Brooklyn Dreams out there and, after they opened a few shows for her, he fell in with the Donna Summer, even writing a couple hits for her (“Bad Girls” and, one of my favorites, “Hot Stuff”). He and Summer later married and, per his own interview with Classic Bands, he became her manager (he phrases it as “running interference” on her behalf) and part of her touring band in her professional “after-life” (i.e., after the spotlight shifted away). He wrote hits for major artists besides Summer - Dolly Parton, for one, with “Starting Over Again” (the sweetest damn song about divorce, a kid worrying about her divorced parents) - and generally had as close to a permanent career in the industry as one can have. His kids are in the business (Summer passed away), and he’s still writing and releasing music, mostly in the adult contemporary/smooth jazz vein, and using very modern methods (self-publishing, using internet platforms, etc.). He even dropped new stuff this year (e.g., “The Mountain,” good and with a video that riffs on Monty Python-style animation, if both more and less crude).
All that’s a long way from where they started, but it feels better somehow. They’re not all that happy with the stuff around Levy, but they escaped and kept going.
About the Sampler
Because they have only the one album, that’s what’s going up with this post. First, don't expect anything like "Tighter, Tighter," apart from "Just Let It Come." The most curious thing about them are the lyrical themes and the references to the South - e.g., “Junction Creek” and, more obviously, “Kentucky Fire” and “Mississippi Mud.” I’m still trying to figure out what to make about the stray things I hear - e.g., Robert E. Lee and “Mississippi mud’s getting thicker, quicker/Mississippi blood is mine(?)” - but I didn’t have the patience for repeated listens and couldn’t find the lyrics online (easily; look, this isn’t a mystery that needs solving). It’s all pretty much in that vein - see, “Mother Carey’s Chicken” - and it's not actually bad music, they know how to keep things interesting in the music. Just so much of it makes no damn sense for a band from Brooklyn…then again, Creedence Clearwater Revival hails from San Francisco, so why not?
I went into this one knowing neither the band - Alive ‘n’ Kickin’ - nor their very lonely hit - “Tighter, Tighter.” Featuring soulful vocals, a nice pop melody (more later), and some smart flourishes (e.g., the shimmer-echo guitar riff that bridges between the lead vocals between verses, or the horns that play under the chorus), it’s not a bad song. And it sounds familiar for a reason
Tommy James wrote it for them and as a bit of make-up gesture. He originally offered them “Crystal Blue Persuasion,” but he liked it too much to pass it off. That was a good call too, because it gave Tommy James and the Shondells one of the hits that anchored 1969’s Crimson & Clover (one of five, as it happens; helluva(n) album). “Tighter, Tighter” gave Alive ‘n’ Kickin’ a big one too. It hit No. 7.
Oh, and they also shared a label and a management team. If you know a little about Tommy James’ relationship to his label, you’re that much closer to understanding one reason why Alive ‘n’ Kickin’ walked away from the music business, if only for a while.
The Rest of the Story
The band formed in Brooklyn, NY, all as teenagers, and they pulled together their act and sound in Dave Shearer’s (guitar) basement. Bruce Sudano (keyboards), Woody Wilson (bass), Vito Albano (I think; drums), and Jeff Miller (more keyboards) laid down the music for two lead vocalists, Pepe Cardona and Sandy Toper (to clarify, a woman). What they put together had a 60s-hangover vibe, a mix of (to my ear) roots rock and funk with the keyboard/organ sounds as a kind of foundation. If I had to peg a place where you’ve heard it before, I’d go with B-movies from the era and about three-four years after.
The connection to Tommy James came through Sandy Toder’s sister, who was “tight” with Tommy James’ wife, and that opened doors for them. Sudano and Wilson opened the door a little further by helping Tommy James write “Balls of Fire” (while both still teenagers, btw) and, somewhere in there, he passed them “Tighter, Tighter.” I assume Tommy James then directed them to Roulette Records, and Morris Levy - who was also connected, but in the mob sense - which means everyone involved probably heard Levy line up dirty work at least once (Tommy James tells great stories about this fairly early into a very long interview).
The relationship soured fairly quickly - e.g., Levy pushed them to record a follow-up single, “Just Let It Come,” that the band didn’t really want to do, while the band served up a single of their own, “London Bridge,” that Levy didn’t like and wouldn’t promote. That wasn’t the only issue, as Cardona explained in an interview with Classic Bands (most thorough source on all of this, fwiw):
“All of his artists suffered because he kept all of the royalties himself and just doled out little miniscule amounts. He gave us money to buy a P.A. system. A little bit here and there for spending money. He laid out the advance money to record and gave us a miniscule amount to record our album. So, consequently our album wasn't the best selling album that we could have come up with, because we had a very limited budget.”
At a dead-end career-wise, and cranky about working with Levy (who also chased off a couple early Shondells), the band packed it up after one album…for a while. At this point, one story becomes two.
After a four year layoff, Cardona asked himself the inevitable question for every artist: “Can I make a living out of this without ever having to take a 9 to 5 job again?” After taking singing and dancing lessons to polish up his performances, he got together most of the original band - only with Wilson moved to lead guitar, Shearer on rhythm, Albano back on drums (he’d been replaced after recording their one and only album) back on drums, and a guy named Richie Incorvaia taking over bass. They did manage to make a career of it, but, as the clubs they played shut down one after the other (related, Cardona’s memories of the “Hullabaloo clubs" are kind of fun), they made the rare, bold choice of hopping on the wedding party circuit. Personally, I respect the hell out of how Cardona embraced. He was still going by the time he had that interview with Classic Bands and he talked about how he not only makes sure everyone in attendance that Alive ‘n’ Kickin’ once had a hit, he invites the bride and groom to join them on stage to sing along with the band.
Sudano, meanwhile, went to LA and a little farther in the business. He started a band called Brooklyn Dreams out there and, after they opened a few shows for her, he fell in with the Donna Summer, even writing a couple hits for her (“Bad Girls” and, one of my favorites, “Hot Stuff”). He and Summer later married and, per his own interview with Classic Bands, he became her manager (he phrases it as “running interference” on her behalf) and part of her touring band in her professional “after-life” (i.e., after the spotlight shifted away). He wrote hits for major artists besides Summer - Dolly Parton, for one, with “Starting Over Again” (the sweetest damn song about divorce, a kid worrying about her divorced parents) - and generally had as close to a permanent career in the industry as one can have. His kids are in the business (Summer passed away), and he’s still writing and releasing music, mostly in the adult contemporary/smooth jazz vein, and using very modern methods (self-publishing, using internet platforms, etc.). He even dropped new stuff this year (e.g., “The Mountain,” good and with a video that riffs on Monty Python-style animation, if both more and less crude).
All that’s a long way from where they started, but it feels better somehow. They’re not all that happy with the stuff around Levy, but they escaped and kept going.
About the Sampler
Because they have only the one album, that’s what’s going up with this post. First, don't expect anything like "Tighter, Tighter," apart from "Just Let It Come." The most curious thing about them are the lyrical themes and the references to the South - e.g., “Junction Creek” and, more obviously, “Kentucky Fire” and “Mississippi Mud.” I’m still trying to figure out what to make about the stray things I hear - e.g., Robert E. Lee and “Mississippi mud’s getting thicker, quicker/Mississippi blood is mine(?)” - but I didn’t have the patience for repeated listens and couldn’t find the lyrics online (easily; look, this isn’t a mystery that needs solving). It’s all pretty much in that vein - see, “Mother Carey’s Chicken” - and it's not actually bad music, they know how to keep things interesting in the music. Just so much of it makes no damn sense for a band from Brooklyn…then again, Creedence Clearwater Revival hails from San Francisco, so why not?
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