"Draggin' the Line" | ||||
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Single by Tommy James | ||||
from the album Christian of the World | ||||
A-side | "Church Street Soul Revival" (original) | |||
B-side | "Bits & Pieces" (reissue) | |||
Released | June 1971 | |||
Recorded | 1971 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 2:45 | |||
Label | Roulette Records [1] | |||
Songwriter(s) | Tommy James, Bob King | |||
Producer(s) | Tommy James, Bob King | |||
Tommy James singles chronology | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
"Draggin' the Line" is a hit song by American rock musician Tommy James, who went solo after the Shondells disbanded in 1970. It was first released as the B side of "Church Street Soul Revival" in 1970. The song was judged to have some hit potential so they went back in the studio and added horns to the master and re-released it as an A side single in 1971. It was included on his second album, Christian of the World in 1971 on the Roulette Records label. The song was James' biggest hit as a solo artist [1] selling more than a million copies, [2] and appears as the fifth track on James' 1991 retrospective album The Solo Years (1970-81) released by Rhino. [3] [4]
"Draggin' the Line" was the biggest hit and only US top 10 hit of Tommy James' solo career. Written and produced by himself and Bob King, the song reached the top 40 on the U.S.'s Billboard Hot 100 chart on June 26, 1971, [1] climbed to a peak of #4 for the week of August 7, 1971, [5] and remained in the top 40 rankings for 11 weeks total. [1] The song reached even higher in Cash Box magazine's competing jukebox singles charts, attaining the #2 spot for the week of August 9, 1971. [6] "Draggin' the Line" was ranked at #54 overall for hot songs of 1971 by U.S. music industry pillar Billboard magazine. [7]
"Draggin' the Line" features a notable bassline as the main sound. It has been described as a "lazy psychedelic shuffle whose hypnotic feel perfectly expressed its title." [8] Asked about the meaning of the title in a 2009 interview, Tommy James said: "Draggin' the Line" just meant working every day. Nothing really very mysterious about it." [9] However, it has been falsely speculated that the song's title and lyrics refer to cocaine use, [10] citing the title, the lyrics, Tommy James' documented drug use, [11] [12] and because another Tommy James and The Shondells song, Crystal Blue Persuasion , has been previously associated with the use of speed, [10] the song’s having been described in 1979 by noted music critic Dave Marsh as "a transparent allegory about James' involvement with amphetamines. In addition, it has been widely accepted that the song could more specifically refer to the tedious job of setting up power lines back in the early 1950s and 1960s. This view has gained a large amount of support, especially since the lyrics are commonly interchanged with 'Checkin the line''" [13]
"Draggin' the Line" has made many media appearances. Among others, in a cover by Beat Goes Bang in the 1991 film Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead ; as the opener in a 1999 Canadian film New Waterford Girl ; in a cover by R.E.M. in 1999 for the Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me soundtrack; [14] in Inside Deep Throat , a 2005 documentary about the 1972 pornographic film Deep Throat ; [15] is heard in the sombre 2006 football drama We are Marshall , [16] in the My Name is Earl episode, "Robbed a Stoner Blind", [17] in CBS's crime drama Cold Case (episode 54), [15] and was featured in "Anthem," a familiar Mitsubishi commercial that debuted in October 2004. The commercial shows a long line of cars and sport utility vehicles cruising past Mitsubishi mechanics all dressed in red coveralls. [18] A significant portion of the song is heard in the 2019 film Finding Steve McQueen . It is used as the opening song in the 2023 Jennifer Lawrence film, "No Hard Feelings".
In 2000, Tommy James and the Shondells reprised twelve of their most famous songs at the well known Greenwich Village nightclub, The Bitter End. Although technically a solo hit for Tommy James, the band performed "Draggin' the Line". Other hits featured included "Crimson & Clover", "I Think We're Alone Now", "Hanky Panky", "Mony Mony", and "Crystal Blue Persuasion". The live set was filmed and made into the 2000 movie, Tommy James & the Shondells: Live! At the Bitter End. [19]
A looping sample of the main rhythm section of "Draggin' the Line" is used as the background for Book Of Love's "Turn the World", from their 1991 album Candy Carol . The song also features brief snippets (recreated) of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".
In 1998 The Roulette Story was released featuring "Draggin' the Line" as one of 84 tracks celebrating Roulette Records' notable 20-year music history (the label had closed its doors in 1977). [20] In various versions, "Draggin' the Line" has appeared on at least 41 studio albums, including covers by AC-Rock, Rusty Bryant, Crosswind Band, Barry Hay, R.E.M., The Squirrels, Vintage Buzz, The Wild Ones and Steve Wynn. [21]
Weekly charts
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Tommy James and the Shondells is an American rock band formed in Niles, Michigan, in 1964. They had two No. 1 singles in the U.S. – "Hanky Panky" and "Crimson and Clover" – and also charted twelve other top 40 hits, including five in the Hot 100's top ten: "I Think We're Alone Now", "Mirage", "Mony Mony", "Sweet Cherry Wine" and "Crystal Blue Persuasion".
Tommy James, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, widely known as frontman of the 1960s rock band Tommy James and the Shondells, who were known for their hits including "Mony Mony" and "Crimson and Clover", and "I Think We're Alone Now".
"Crimson and Clover" is a 1968 song by American rock band Tommy James and the Shondells. Written by the duo of Tommy James and drummer Peter Lucia Jr., it was intended as a change in direction of the group's sound and composition.
Crimson & Clover is the sixth album by Tommy James and the Shondells. It features the #1 hit "Crimson and Clover" as well as the #2 hit "Crystal Blue Persuasion". The album "Crimson & Clover", was released in December 1968 and reached a peak of #8 on the Billboard 200.
"Ben" is a song written by Don Black and Walter Scharf for the 1972 film of the same name. It was performed by Lee Montgomery in the film and by Michael Jackson over the closing credits. Jackson's single, recorded for the Motown label in 1972, spent one week at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, making it Jackson's first number one single in the US as a solo artist. Billboard ranked it as the number 20 song for 1972. It also reached number 1 on the ARIA Charts, spending eight weeks at the top spot. The song also later reached a peak of number 7 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2004, the song appeared in The Ultimate Collection.
Gary Wayne Schelton, better known as Troy Shondell, was an American singer, who achieved fame in the early 1960s. He became a transatlantic one-hit wonder, by releasing a single that made the record charts in both the US and the UK. The song, "This Time" sold over one million records, earning gold disc status. In a single year, sales were over three million copies.
"Hanky Panky" is a song written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich for their group, the Raindrops.
"I Think We're Alone Now" is a song written and composed by Ritchie Cordell that was first recorded by Tommy James and the Shondells. It was a major hit for the group, reaching number 4 on the US Hot 100 in April 1967. It finished at No. 12 on Billboard magazine's year-end singles chart for 1967.
"Right Down the Line" is a song written and recorded by Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty. Released as a single in July 1978, it reached #12 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and #8 on Cash Box. It was the third release from Rafferty's City to City LP as the follow-up to his first major hit as a solo artist, "Baker Street".
"Mony Mony" is a 1968 single by American pop rock band Tommy James and the Shondells, which reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 3 in the U.S. Written by Bobby Bloom, Ritchie Cordell, Bo Gentry, and Tommy James, the song has appeared in various film and television works such as the Oliver Stone drama Heaven & Earth. It was also covered by English singer-songwriter Billy Idol in 1981. Idol's version, which took in more of a rock sound, became an international top 40 hit and additionally revived public interest in the original garage rock single. In 1986 it was covered by Amazulu, who gave it a ska rendition.
"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" is a song recorded by Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and released as the first single from Nicks' debut solo album Bella Donna (1981). The track is the album's only song that was neither written nor co-written by Nicks. Written by Tom Petty and Mike Campbell as a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song, Jimmy Iovine, who was also working for Stevie Nicks at the time, arranged for her to sing on it. Petty sang with Nicks in the chorus and bridge, while his entire band played on the song with the exception of Ron Blair, who was replaced by bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn for the recording.
"Sweet Cherry Wine" is a song by Tommy James and the Shondells from their 1969 album, Cellophane Symphony. It hit number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and rose to number six on the Canadian charts. This psychedelic song was released at the height of psychedelia, right after one previous 'mind expanding' song by Tommy James and the Shondells, "Crimson and Clover", and before "Crystal Blue Persuasion". It begins with the use of an organ, adds brass instruments, and ends with a solo flute that fades out at the end. Adding to the feel of this form of music, this and other songs on the album included the then-new Moog synthesizer.
"In Your Room" is a 1988 song by American rock group The Bangles, written by Susanna Hoffs in collaboration with Billy Steinberg and composer Tom Kelly. The song was released as the first single from the band's third album, Everything. It reached the top five of the US singles chart, and also charted in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
"She" is a song recorded by Tommy James and the Shondells and released as a single in November 1969; it was also included on the band's 1970 album, Travelin'. The song reached No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 24, 1970. The song also reached No. 15 in Canada. It was the 13th and final top 40 hit for the band, although James went on to have three more top 40 hits as a solo artist.
I Think We're Alone Now is the third of three studio albums by the pop rock band Tommy James and the Shondells, released in 1967.
Travelin' is the eighth studio album by the pop rock band Tommy James and the Shondells released in 1970.
Christian of the World is the second solo studio album by Tommy James and was released in 1971. It reached #131 on the Billboard 200.
"Happy" is a progressive rock song by American group Hog Heaven from their self-titled debut studio album. It was written and produced by Mike Vale and Peter Lucia, and released by Roulette Records in 1971.