Troy Shondell and the Shon-dels/Ides of March
Before they became the Ides of March, they originally called themselves the Shon-dels in tribute to Troy Shondell.
As The Shon-dels they released one single, “Like It or Lump It” b/w “No Two Ways About It,” under the Shon-dels name in 1965. Pressed in a quantity of 200 on their own Epitome label, the single was sold for a buck at their shows. By the time their second 45 came out in early 1966, they had changed their name to the Ides of March.
For most, the question is, “Who is Troy Shondell?” Gary Wayne Schelton (5/14/39-1/7/2016) originally recorded as Gary Shelton, but changed his stage name to Troy Shondell, in part playing off the popularity of heartthrob actor Troy Donahue. When he did that, he became a one-hit wonder with the release of his lipstick pop single “This Time,” which went on to sell three million records.
Although “This Time” was his only major hit, Shondell actually enjoyed a successful career. Growing up in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, he was already writing songs and recording as a teenager.
Shondell’s first single came when he was still a teenager with “My Hero” (from the movie The Chocolate Soldier) b/w “Don’t Send Me Away” on the Mercury subsidiary Smash label (Smash 2001X45), credited as Gary Shelton. He followed that with the rockabilly “Kissin’ at the Drive-In” (Mercury 71310X45) https://youtu.be/pbhEv1I-HPk which, while it did not chart highly, became a drive-in theater standard.
Around this time, he began using a new stage name, Troy Shondell, partly because of the popularity of actor Troy Donahue.
In 1961, Troy Shondell’s “This Time (We’re Really Breaking Up)” https://youtu.be/ItLo52cXvlI rode the charts for four months. The record was actually first released on the independent Gaye label, then picked up for distribution by Goldcrest. As the story goes on, “lovers of his swamp pop sound snatched up 10,000 copies of the record in the first week.” Liberty Records quickly snatched up Shondell and by September the song climbed into the Top 10 on the charts in the U.S. and was a hit in England. Worldwide sales rose to over three million copies. Shondell’s influence rippled through the youth rock & roll community.
But the million-seller was not Shondell’s first shot at stardom. An earlier attempt was cut short in 1960 on Halloween when a heart attack killed his father and brought Shondell home to help his mother run the family business. Until then, he’d been making steady headway on a musical career that started while he was still a teenager in Fort Wayne.
Shondell seemed to be on his way, at least in the Midwest. Chicago’s Brass Rail, a major nightspot that usually hosted jazz and blues acts, brought Shelton in for its first foray into rock & roll. The successful gig stretched to 16 weeks. A pair of independent releases, “The Trance” and “Goodbye Little Darlin’,” came next. By 1959, the singer opened shows on a tour called Shower of Stars for such headliners as Chuck Berry, the Impalas, Frankie Ford and Frankie Avalon.
Yet for Shondell, the “This Time” follow-up single “Tears From an Angel” was his only other record to chart, and barely made a dent only reaching #77 on the Billboard Hot 100. Next effort “Na-Ne-No” failed to make the Top 100, stopping at a disappointing #107, even with Phil Spector’s production touch.
Shondell would continue releasing records into the late ‘80s on small independent labels but would never hit the charts again. He would go on to become a songwriter for Acuff-Rose Music in Nashville and regional director for ASCAP music publishing.
As far as the Ides of March go, they originally named themselves the Shon-dells as a tribute to Troy. But shortly before their debut single “You Wouldn’t Listen” was released, the label found out that another artist by the name of Tommy Jackson had changed the name of his high school band from Tom and the Tornados to the Shondells, also in honor of Troy Shondell who was one of his music idols.
With that, the Harlequin label released “You Wouldn’t Listen” b/w “I’ll Keep Searching (Harlequin 660412) crediting the band as the I’des of March.
Discography
SINGLES (as GARY SHELTON)
1957 My Hero b/w Don’t Send Me Away (Smash 2001X45)
1958 Kissin’ at the Drive-In b/w Yours Till I Die (Mercury 71310X45)
“Kissin’ at the Drive- In” https://youtu.be/pbhEv1I-HPk
1958 The Trance b/w The Great Lover (Regis 1001)
1959 Stop the World (My Baby’s Gone) b/w Goodbye Little Darlin’ Goodbye (Mark 143)
1959 A Prayer and a Jukebox b/w The Great Lover (Mark 145)
1960 Honey Bee b/w Till the End of the Line (Alpine 56)
1961 Rugged Ralph the Rapid Rabbit Runner b/w I’ve Got It (Greenlake 45-109)
Credited as Raunchy Ron and his Ravishing Ruckus Rompers
SINGLES (as TROY SHONDELL)
1961 This Time b/w Girl After Girl (Gaye / Goldcrest 161 / Liberty 55353)
“This Time” https://youtu.be/ItLo52cXvlI
1961 Tears From an Angel b/w Island in the Sky (Liberty 55398)
“Tears From an Angel” https://youtu.be/wDpEmT0me6U
Backed by the Johnny Mann Singers
1962 Na-Ne-No b/w Just Because (Liberty 55445)
Written by Lloyd Price. Produced by Phil Spector and Snuff Garrett
1962 Gone b/w Some People Can Never Learn (Everest 2015)
1962 I’ve Got a Woman b/w No Fool Like an Old Fool (Everest 2018)
1963 She’ll Remember Me b/w Bay-O (Spectre Sound 102)
1964 Little Miss Tease b/w Trouble (Everest 2041)
1964 Walkin’ in a Memory b/w You Can’t Catch Me (Decca 31712)
1964 What Are You Waiting For b/w Come On Everybody (Goldcrest 300)
1965 High School Dance b/w Daybreak (Master 101)
1965 Just Like Me b/w Just a Dream (Recording Industries Corp./RIC 174)
1966 Money Honey b/w Try Me (3 Rivers 820T-007)
Credited as Troy Shondell and the 69ers
1966 Baby Don’t Do It b/w When I Fall Apart (3 Rivers 820T-0333)
1966 Big Windy City b/w I Thought That You Were Mine (Recording Industries Corp./RIC 184)
1967 Here It Comes Again b/w A Rose and a Baby Ruth (TRX 5001)
1967 Head Man b/w She’s Got Everything She Needs (TRX 5003)
1968 Let’s Go All the Way b/w Let Me Love You (TRX 5015)
1969 Something’s Wrong in Indiana (TRX 5019)
“Something’s Wrong in Indiana” https://youtu.be/7NfbOc3j_8Y
1969 And We Made Love b/w Imitation (ITCC 105)
1973 This Time (We’re Really Breaking Up) b/w Your Nobody’s Child (Brite Star 2453)
1973 Rip It Up b/w Still Loving You (Brite Star 2459)
1974 Love Stuff b/w Deeper and Deeper in Love (Brite Star 4691)
1975 Angel b/w Take Me Woman (Cloud 9 133)
1975 (Sittin’ Here) Lovin’ You b/w Lovin’ You (Tele Sonic 804)
1975 Good Times b/w We Need Somebody (Tele Sonic 806)
1976 That Same Mistake Again b/w Candy Coated World (Sunrise 317)
1977 Still Loving You b/w Doctor Love (Star Fox 77-4-1)
1977 I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now b/w Doctor Love (Star Fox 77-2)
1977 Still Loving You b/w Imitation Woman (Star Fox 00022)
1978 Like a Movie b/w So Close (I Can Taste It) (Commercial 00031)
1978 The Tender Side of Me b/w The Tender Side of Me (Commercial 0038)
1978 Rip It Up b/w Oh Boy (Commercial 00044)
1980 (Sittin’ Here) Lovin’ You b/w Lovin’ You (Tele Sonic 804)
1989 No One Knows b/w Sweet Enough (Bear 2003)
ALBUMS
1963 The Many Sides of Troy Shondell (Everest 5206)
1967 This Time (Liberty/Sunset 5174)
1977 Wanted (Dead or Alive) (Churchill 67243)
1977 Still Loving You (Star Fox 1020)
1978 Teenage Triangle (Reelfoot 6000)
Compilation with Troy Shondell, Terry Stafford and Jamie Coe
1994 The Trance (Dunhill 702)
1997 Rock & Roll Rebel (Goldcrest 797)
1999 Kissin’ at the Drive-In (Bear Family 16270)
He also put out a single credited as Raunchy Ron and His Ravishing Ruckus Rompers with “Rugged Ralph the Rapid Rabbit Runner” b/w “I’ve Got It” (Greenlake 45-109) in 1961.