Influenced by the late Buddy Holly, Elvis, Little Richard and many more of the early rockers, Shondell began his singing career while still in high school in Fort Wayne, Indiana. His first recording (made under his birth name ( Gary Shelton), was "My Hero" on the Smash label, followed a year later by "Kissing' At The Drive-In" on Mercury Records, which became a big regional hit that did gain him national attention. His fame soon spread to the Chicagoland area where he and his band made history by becoming the first rock band to ever appear at the then famous Brass Rail blues and jazz club in downtown Chicago. For four solid months he and his band had fans standing in line to watch rock 'n' roll for the first time in downtown Chicago. During the next couple of years he left Mercury Records and recorded a couple more songs for two independent labels. "Goodbye Little Darlin' on the "Mark Label" and another self penned song called "The Trance" on the "Regis Label". Both records did well, but lacked proper marketing to get very high in the national charts. In 1959 he got a chance for his band to back a GAC "Shower of Stars" tour. Not only would his band back the stars, but he would actually get to open the show. This proved to be a big break for Troy. Following him on the show was Chuck Berry, Frankie Ford, Rod Bernard, The Skyliners, The Impalas, and Frankie Avalon. The newspaper critiques gave Troy great reviews, which helped draw more attention to this young new artist from the midwest.
One cold Sunday night on February 1, 1959, Troy and his band was entertaining at a club in Davenport, Iowa when just before closing a group walked in, set down, and sent a note to the stage. The note asked Troy to acknowledge them and do a song from their show. A young nervous Troy was very familiar with the artists and sang the request, "That'll Be The Day". The request was from the now famous show that appeared in Clear Lake, Iowa February 2, 1959 starring Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper, in which the three famous stars were killed when their plane crashed following the show at the Surf Ballroom. Troy believes he was probably the last performer they ever saw perform outside of their own group.
Ten months later, October 31, 1960, Troy's father died of a heart attack. He had been a great influence in Troy's life and had taught him to play trumpet at age four, piano at age eight and pretty much handled all of Troy's musical affairs. His dad left a small business to Troy's mother to run and now she needed Troy to stay home and help her, which he did. He temporarily disbanded his band and gave up music to help with the immediate crisis. In February 1961 his mother saw an ad in the local paper for extras in a movie and encouraged Troy to audition. At the audition a man familiar with Troys musical past asked him if he would consider recording again if he financed the session. Happily, Troy agreed and had already picked out the song he wanted to record if ever he had another chance. It was a song "Al Russell" a local disc jockey in Fort Wayne had called to Troy's attention. The day of the session, April 1, 1961 in Batavia, IL there was a tremendous snow blizzard and only three musicians were able to show up. A guitar, sax, and drummer. Troy played piano, vibes and tried to get a bass type sound out of his guitar, because the bass player never made it. The song was "This Time Were Really Breaking Up".
Every record company in Chicago turned down the song. So Troy and his new partner started their own label called Goldcrest. Visiting WJJD in Chicago, Troy was bound and determined he would get the record played no matter how much he had to beg. Luckily, that night the DJ was Stan Major, a DJ that he had befriended during the Shower of Stars tour in 1959. Jim Lounsbury the musical director finally agreed to let Stan play it one time on his Rate the Record Show, later that night. Troy won against a strong opponent and the record began to sell the very next day. In fact, 10 thousand records were sold the very first week. The song topped the charts for an unprecedented 16 weeks during the summer of '61. Although other successes would follow, none of the others might ever have happened without "This Time Were Really Breaking Up." The song went on to sell over 3 million that first year. It reached number 1 in Chicago by the end of July and went to number one at just about every major station in the USA. It took from June until December for the record to play out.
The record has been referred to as a swamp rock sound that quickly rose to the top of the charts, making the Shondell name synonymous with 60's rock ever since. Rock & Roll historian Wayne Jancik wrote: "Troy's impact on aspiring young rockers was apparently very significant. A young Detroit guitarist named Tommy James named his "Hanky Panky" group after Troy, whom Troy first met at Shuler's Supper Club in Niles, Michigan, Tommy's home town. Jim Peterik, of "The Ides of March" and "Survivor" did the same with his first Chicago group; and when Rod Bernard and rockabilly legend Warren Storm teamed up to record for the La Louisianne label, they also called themselves the Shondell's. Critic David Swift wrote; "He sings Rock & Roll, mostly from the 50's and 60's, but he's not necessarily a nostalgia act.
Troy's popularity has flourished in the past few years to the point that he once again devotes most all his time to music. He resides in Nashville, where he continues to write, produce records and entertain at rock 'n' roll reunion shows, Casino's and Conventions around the country. He is a recording legend who continues to record new product and has released 6 albums and sold over 8 million records since 1961. His most recent albums are "Vintage Gold," featuring hits from '50s and '60s with all new arrangements, and "Rock & Roll Rebel" featuring 16 of his original recordings from '59 to '74, with new cuts of "Rockin' Pneumonia" and "Slow Down". "Slow Down" the first single from the CD is currently being played in 22 countries around the world. A new CD to be released later this year, will feature his now famous "SwampRock" sound along with "Still Loving You", a number 1 country single for the late Bob Luman, that Troy wrote about the feelings his mother went through after his father's death. He has also just finished video taping five rock 'n' roll graffiti reunion tapes along with 30 of his rock 'n' roll friends. The tapes will be sold only over TV in a 30 minute infomercial.
For more information about Troy, you may Email: Shondell@bellsouth.net
TROY'S CD
Management & Booking
SEA CRUISE PRODUCTIONS, INC. / KEN KEENE
Phone 504 / 392 - 4615
email: Kenkeene@aol.com
AVM / Goldcrest
P.O. Box 121586
Nashville, TN 37213
615-360-3008
