Troy Shondell

In 1961, Troy Shondell's "This Time (We're Really Breaking Up)" rode the charts for four months. Within the first week of the single's release, lovers of his swamp pop sound snatched up 10,000 copies of the record. In a single year, sales rose to more than three million copies. Shondell's influence rippled through the young rock & roll community. Up-and-coming bands named themselves after him. Tommy James, at the time a guitarist in Michigan who would later score with "I Think We're Alone Now" and "Mony Mony," had the Shondells. In Illinois, Jim Peterik, later known for Surviv...