Tommy James knew he had something special on his hands, but he needed to speed things up. Tiffany didn’t really like it at first, at least until she heard some dance beats attached to it to make it more modern.
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“I Think We’re Alone Now” managed the rare feat of hitting the Top 5 in the US in two different versions released 20 years apart from each other. And the latter take topped the charts. Pretty resilient stuff for so-called “bubblegum” pop.
Loud Then Soft
You’ll see only one name on the writing credits of “I Think We’re Alone Now”, but that’s a bit misleading. Ritchie Cordell, the listed writer, actually composed it in conjunction with Bo Gentry. Since Gentry was a writer for another label, his name was kept off the credits, although he did receive royalties.
Cordell acted as a staff writer for Roulette Records, which meant that Tommy James & The Shondells would get first crack at “I Think We’re Alone Now”. James and company had broken out with the No. 1 single “Mony, Mony” in 1966.
When the song was presented to James, it was in a much slower version, almost like a ballad. He decided to rev it up. In addition, he and the band came up with the idea to make the choruses a bit quieter. That allowed the verses to pop, a reversal of form for most pop music at that time.
“Alone” Again
“I Think We’re Alone Now”, with its chirping, energetic sound and its teenage-themed subject matter, helped establish the pop form known as bubblegum. In a few years, that genre would come to dominate the charts. James’ song did pretty well itself, making it all the way to No. 4 in 1967.
Two decades later, Tiffany Darwish, a 15-year-old going professionally by just her first name, was seeking out just the right song to launch her career. When she heard “I Think We’re Alone Now”, she didn’t think it at all fit what she was trying to accomplish.
That’s when producer George Tobin spiced things up with some dance beats. Tiffany then heard the potential of what she could do with the song. Her version of “I Think We’re Alone Now” made it all the way to the top of the charts and launched her run as a teen idol.
Behind the Lyrics of “I Think We’re Alone Now”
“I Think We’re Alone Now” perpetrates the classic adults-versus-teenagers scenario on which pop music was built. “Children behave,” the adults condescendingly advise the couple at the heart of the song. “And watch how you play,” they warn. Little do they know that these two are stealing away every chance they get.
Not that the pair think it’s fair that they must sneak around. “Look at the way,” the narrator bemoans. “We gotta hide what we’re doing.” Hands held, they go sprinting off, far from the judging crowd: “The beating of our hearts is the only sound.”
After both Tommy James and Tiffany scored with “I Think We’re Alone Now”, we shouldn’t be shocked if some other young artist comes along and manages to find new life in it. After all, this particular piece of bubblegum still holds its flavor quite well.
Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images
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