My Dad carpooled to work with Peter Lucia Sr. His son loving called Re-Pete by his dad was the drummer for Tommy James. This was when I was a young kid, under 10 years old.
One night after my early bedtime there was someone in our driveway in a paisley colored Thunderbird. I didn't pay to much attention but in a little while my dad told me to come down to the family room that he had a surprise for me. When I got to the family room it was Tommy James And Pete Lucia in person in my house. I almost croaked. They came with autographed pictures and a set of drum sticks and took me for a short ride in the car and made small talk with me. I can remeber asking Mr. James if I could check to see if his hair was real and he defered to Mr. Pete. It certainly was real. I asked them how they could stand having girls hair? They laughed but my Dad sent me packing to my room.
The word got out that they were there and my younger cousin and a neighbor made the scene and a couple of kids from down the street showed up to. I was so happy that others got to see that I hit the jackpot. I was a superstar at school for a couple of days. It was a great time of life. My Dad was so happy that he actually pulled this off for me. He was an old school German who drank warm beer and ruled with an iron fist. I was always sure before and after this miracle that my Father loved me. As tough as he was on me it was because he didn't want me getting caught up in the drug scene. It worked. I just became a heavy drinker at a young age. LOL.
So Tommy James and The Shondells were a big part of my life and I even got to go to a recording session with them about a year later in N.Y.C. I'm grateful as hell for this thread because I haven't given this a thought in some time. Great Childhood and an even better Retirement! Grateful for everything in between to, even the tough times. Most grateful for my wife, an Angel walking the earth.
I wouldn't miss this show at The Sharon even if I had to crawl in.
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