# What is a Shondell? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 18, 2000, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-shondell/33604 "2000-09-18T15:27:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mardi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Mardi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mardi)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2000, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-shondell/33604/1 "2000-09-18T15:27:06Z")
Tommy James ands the Shondells. What is a Shondell? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2000, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-shondell/33604/2 "2000-09-18T15:35:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mardi \* > \*\* > Tommy James ands the Shondells. What is a Shondell? > \*\* Um, it’s one of those people who sang with Tommy James. Didn’t your mother teach you anything? ---
**Author:** ![Mardi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Mardi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mardi)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2000, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-shondell/33604/3 "2000-09-18T16:59:35Z")
Ah, a firm grasp of reality! To be more specific - what does the word mean? Where did it come from? My mother hated Tommy James by the way. He was a bad guy playing that bad music. Thus - I thought he was great! ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2000, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-shondell/33604/4 "2000-09-18T17:47:34Z")
Sorry, I thought I had been clear. I have very little doubt that the definition I gave you is the entire story; that the word has no history beyond the one I ascribed to it above. ---
**Author:** ![monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monster)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2000, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-shondell/33604/5 "2000-09-18T18:02:38Z")
Troy Shondell was a huge rock-a-billy singer. This quote is from Troy’s web site: “Troy’s impact on aspiring young rockers was apparently very significant”. A young Detroit guitarist, Tommy James, who had first met Troy at Shuler’s Supper Club in Niles, Michigan (Tommy’s home town), named his “Hanky Panky” group “The Shondells” – after Troy. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2000, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-shondell/33604/6 "2000-09-18T18:11:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by monster \* > \*\*. . . Tommy James . . . named his “Hanky Panky” group “The Shondells” – after Troy. \*\* Whoah! Cool! I came up empty and assumed the worst. Thanks for digging deeper than I did, monster! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2000, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-shondell/33604/7 "2000-09-18T23:13:43Z")
From [http://acro.harvard.edu/IAC/acro\_figures.html](http://acro.harvard.edu/IAC/acro_figures.html) > [@](#): > > The Chandelle is not a figure for aerobatics competition. On the FAA power commercial pilots test a Chandelle is defined as a maximum performance climbing turn through 180 degrees while maintaining a constant turn rate. The idea is that this is a “plan ahead” maneuver. You first establish a medium bank depending on the performance of your aircraft. Then a smooth pullup is started. The angle of bank stays constant during the first 90 degrees of turn, while the pitch angle increases steadily. At the 90 degree point the plane has the maximum pitch angle which should be close to the critical angle of attack. During the second 90 degrees of turn, the pitch angle is held constant, while the bank angle is smoothly decreased to reach 0 degrees of bank at 180 degrees of turn with the airspeed close to the stall speed. The plane should not settle during the last part of the maneuver and the recovery. The decreasing bank angle during the second half of the Chandelle will maintain a constant turn rate together with the decreasing airspeed. The turn needs to be kept coordinated by applying the right amount of rudder. A Chandelle to the left is quite different than one to the right because of the ever increasing amount of p-factor in the second half of the maneuver. Okay, I know that wasn’t the question. But I’ve been biting my tongue all day and I just couldn’t resist any more. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-shondell/33604/8 "2000-09-19T01:46:51Z")
according to [http://babelfish.altavista.com/translate.dyn](http://babelfish.altavista.com/translate.dyn), in French, _chandelle_ means “candle.” ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-shondell/33604/9 "2000-09-19T01:48:03Z")
“Crimson and clover…over and over…” _sorry, I just like Tommy James…_ ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-shondell/33604/10 "2000-09-19T03:36:37Z")
The Shondells (Eddie Gray, guitar. Ronnie Rosman, organ, Mike Vale, bass, and Pete Lucia, drums) split from James in 1970. Recording under the name “Hog Heaven” they released one song, _Happy_, that peaked at #98 on April 24, 1971 and dumped after two weeks on the Billboard chart. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-shondell/33604/11 "2000-09-19T05:55:25Z")
Organist Ronnie Rosman was supposedly from my hometown, at least according to everybody in high school there at the time. The back of an album credits him from being somewhere else, though still in western PA. If he really did live there at some point, I suppose I can’t really blame him for putting someplace else in his bio, but a little town of 6000 takes what notables it can claim. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-shondell/33604/12 "2000-09-19T08:01:08Z")
I liked Joan Jett’s cover of “Crimson and Clover.” ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-shondell/33604/13 "2000-09-19T16:17:15Z")
This site [Troy Shondell](http://www.rockabillyhall.com/TroyShondell.html) says that there were more than one group named the Shondells, after Troy Shondell. As far as I know, there was only one Hollies. How come there are no Presleys, Berries, Haleys? O, there are? ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-shondell/33604/14 "2000-09-19T17:16:55Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Johnny L.A. \* \*\*From [http://acro.harvard.edu/IAC/acro\_figures.html](http://acro.harvard.edu/IAC/acro_figures.html) > [@](#): > > …On the FAA power commercial pilots test a Chandelle is defined as a maximum performance climbing turn through 180 degrees while maintaining a constant turn rate…\*\* Meaning a test pilot is, in fact, a Chandelier? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-shondell/33604/15 "2000-09-19T20:47:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mardi \* > \*\* > Ah, a firm grasp of reality! > > To be more specific - what does the word mean? Where did it come from? > > My mother hated Tommy James by the way. He was a bad guy playing that bad music. Thus - I thought he was great! > \*\* I kinda liked him too. I liked the guitar-based pop-rock that was typical of the mid-1960’s. All that pretty much gets slammed these days for its lack of technical exhibition as compared to, say Jimi Hendrix or Yngwie Malmsteen. Not that I don’t greatly appreciate Jimi’s music, but some of that forgotten pop was a lot of fun. Guess I’ll go put on my Castaways LP… ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-shondell/33604/16 "2000-09-19T20:57:11Z")
My mom went to high school with the original drummer, Vincent Petrapolli (sp?) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-shondell/33604/17 "2000-09-20T03:35:16Z")
I heard an interview with Tommy James, one time, in which he described hanging out, placidly, in the Hana region of Maui and getting a phone call from his agent, asking if he wanted to play a gig in rural New York. He looked around at the palm trees, considered his (full at the time) bank account, and asked “Are you crazy?” And that was his version of why the Shondells did not make an appearance at Woodstock. ---
**Author:** ![aseymayo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aseymayo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aseymayo)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-shondell/33604/18 "2000-09-20T04:20:04Z")
I thought a Shondel was the opposite of a [Ronette.](http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Studio/2469/)