158. "Mony Mony" by Tommy James and the Shondells, performed by Billy Idol
As a general rule, the studio versions of most songs are superior to a live recording of the same song. However, from time to time, a live concert version of a song will be released that blows the original studio version out of the water. Billy Idol's 1987 concert version of "Mony Mony" is one of those. And I'm not talking about the original studio version by Tommy James and the Shondells, although that is a pretty good rendition. And the video is quite enjoyable, as it features some very animated hand clapping, a nifty levitating tamborine solo, oodles of love beads, and Herve Villechaize's dad on the guitar.
Tommy James and the Shondells: Mony Mony
No, the original studio version I'm talking about is Billy Idol's 1981 cover of the song. It was a #7 hit on the dance charts, and it even had the honor of being a Pick Hit on Solid Gold. But even the power of a Solid Gold endorsement couldn't get the song to make it into the Billboard top #100. I blame Andy Gibbs' strange microphone handling during the song break. He should have used just a little more cocaine before the show to calm his nerves.
Billy Idol: Mony Mony on Solid Gold!
But the 1981 version never had near the popularity of the 1987 live version, which topped the Billboard #100. Clearly, public opinion, as well as my own, indicates the 1987 version is much, much better. I like his lower, rougher voice, the driving energy of the bass line, the steaming hot guitar licks, the crowd-yelling "yeahs," and Billy's scream of "Wooooooooow!" toward the end of the song. The video has good ratio of fist-pumping to sneering. I used to watch this video repeatedly on MTV during the 1987 Summer of Tupperware. For some reason, I also really liked the way the cute red-headed (?) in the red dress played those keyboards and smiled. I don't know her name, but I've always wanted it to be "Mony."
Billy Idol: Mony Mony Live
Of course, the ultimate endorsement of this song comes from my very own Mony Mony, who says this live version was the funnest song to dance to in high school, as everyone screamed "Yeah" throughout the song while jumping around and dancing like "white people." Yes, it's certainly hard to argue that Billy's 1981 version should be played instead of the 1987 version. But that's exactly what nearly every radio station I've ever heard has done! If a station plays the 1987 version, I will sneer and pump my fist and sing Billy's "Yeahs" and pretend the concert audience is responding to me. But if the 1981 version comes on, I curse "Dammit!" and start looking for another station.
Speaking of cursing, the song actually got banned at a lot of high schools throughout the country because of a strange tradition that emerged among audiences at discos and concerts to yell out naughty lyrics during the song. Some people claim the tradition started with the Tommy James' version. Billy says it emerged in after the live 1987 song and video came out.
Mony Mony Special Lyrics
All I know is that at 1:43 in the 1987 concert video it looks like Billy's mouthing these words. It's certainly possible that some half-drunk frat boys in London were watching MTV and wondering "What is he saying?" and eventually decided it was these special lyrics and started spreading the tradition from there. Anyway, the reason I bring it up is that if for some strange reason (like writing a top 200 list) you're looking for live concert versions of the song on YouTube, you're likely to find one with the expletives inserted by the audience and Billy himself. I wasn't in high school at the time the song was released, and when I heard it played while I was at Rick's College in 1987, the college kids I hung out with definitely didn't yell out coitus-related phrases at dances or concerts. Of course, I was studying in the library 97% of the time I wasn't in class, so I wouldn't have heard much yelling of anything. Snoring, yes. Sighs of despair, you bet. Crying in the corner because of impending failure on a crucial test, all the time. But no yelling of obscenities. That kind of potty-mouth cursing wasn't heard on that campus until many years later…on the day I got fired. Too bad I didn't have a coke-filled Gibb and some Solid Gold dancers to back me up.
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