Billboard #1 Hits: #164: ” Hanky Panky”- Tommy James And The Shondells. July 16, 1966. #1 for 2 weeks.
- Single: ” Hanky Panky”- Tommy James and The Shondells
- Record Company- Roulette
- Genre: Rock
- Written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich
- Time: 2:59
- B-side: “Thunderbolt”
- Album- Hanky Panky
- Grade: A
- Peaked at #1 2 weeks in the Billboard Hot 100. #38 in the UK Singles Chart.
Written in 1963 as a b-side for The Rainbows- it took only 20 minutes to write and Barry and Greenwich weren’t all that happy with the results. Barry would later say he was surprised when James released it as a single because he thought it was a terrible song- and that it wasn’t written to be a song- just a b-side. James and The Shondells released it as a b-side in 1964 but it became popular with garage bands. Flash forward to 1966 when a Pittsburgh DJ started playing it- it became popular in Pittsburgh. The single was re-released and Tommy James and The Shondells had their first it- and a #1 hit at that.
slicethelife 
I was a pre-teen when this song came out, but I liked it a lot. But I remember my dad, who was around 37 years old at the time, commenting about what a shitty song it was. He liked the Beatles, but was really more into artists like Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra and Petula Clark.
I think what I like about the song- is the lack of polish- kind of like the one which replaced it at #1- Wild Thing. These weren’t songs that sat around for months being perfected. Love that raw feel to them.
1966 – just 15 years old – how we all wanted a Baby, that did the Hanky Panky – that’s right pour salt on our wound – but later that year his Baby did.
Great rockin’ lustfully testosterone-driven hit!