(Kayos) Tommy James is pleased to announce his March 28 signing with St. Clair Entertainment Group to distribute his own record label, Aura Records. Hold The Fire, Tommy James’ first all-new studio album of the 21st Century, will be released July 2006, as the first release under the new agreement. “Love Words,” to be released to AC Radio April 10, will be the first single. (“Isn’t That The Guy,” also slated for Hold The Fire, reached top 5 on AC radio last year.)In celebration of Tommy James’ 40 years of creating timeless pop music, a special deluxe box set, Tommy James and The Shondells 40 Years, is in the works for this fall. Throughout four decades, his songs have been covered over 300 times by artists as diverse as Neil Diamond, Dolly Parton, The Boston Pops, Billy Idol, Joan Jett, Tiffany and REM. Even baseball’s Minnesota Twins used “Hanky Panky” as its unofficial theme song. “We are thrilled to be partners with one of America’s greatest artists and to enable Tommy’s millions of fans to find his music through our many retailers,” adds St. Clair CEO Ron Ford.
Aura Records’ first DVD will be Tommy James and the Shondells Live At The Bitter End, filmed in the late ‘90s. Plans also call for the release of the very first Tommy James Christmas album, I Love Christmas, due next year. James is also looking forward to finding and producing other artists for the Aura label.
Tommy James formed The Shondells in 1960 at the age of 12 in Niles, MI. He has amassed 23 gold singles, nine gold or platinum albums, and over 100 million total records sold worldwide.
“I’ve been so fortunate and blessed by the fans and the industry to be able to do this for 40 years and this partnership with St. Clair is the frosting on the cake.”—Tommy James
