Alive N Kickin' Nearly 50 Years Later

By Scott Benjamin

Alive N Kickin’s Pepe Cardona says the summer of 1970 was a cross-country tour of fame but the last 41 years have been a steady source of enjoyment at metro New York City venues.

“Tighter, Tighter” – the group’s only hit - is two-minutes and 42-seconds long, but it was the springboard for a long-term adventure.

The Brooklyn group released the Tommy James composition in May 1970. By mid-summer it was number one in some markets and at the end of the year placed number 47 on the Heavy Hundred of 1970 at Musicradio77 WABC, the most listened to station in the country.

Cardona said of all the songs that Tommy James is associated with, it is the most romantic.

He said that 47 years later couples tell him that they remember “Tighter, Tighter” “because it was on the radio when they started dating or were getting married.”

Cardona said initially James gave them “Crystal Blue Persuasion,” which they rehearsed for three months. James took that back and recorded it himself and it soared to number-one on the Musicradio77 WABC survey in August 1969 and was number-twelve on the station’s Top 100 of 1969.

“It ended up being the correct decision,” said Cardona, who is still friends with James, and occasionally visits him at his New Jersey home that has framed copies of his gold records.

He explained, “We couldn’t have done as well with ‘Crystal Blue Persuasion’ and ‘Tighter, Tighter’ was meant for a male and female lead singer.”

“Tommy was a genius at the sound he created for ‘Tighter, Tighter’, as he was for all of his songs.” Cardona declared. “It is overdue for him to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”

James was associated with eight songs that made the national top ten between 1966 and 1971.

Cardona – who said he was influenced by Sam Cooke, James Brown and Mitch Ryder - sang the lead along with Sandy Toder, whose sister-in-law, Doris Toder, initially introduced them to Tommy James and became their manager.

Alive N Kickin’ also included, among others, keyboardist Bruce Sudano - who would go on to produce singers ranging from Michael Jackson to Dolly Parton and marry disco queen Donna Summer – and drummer Ron Pell, who is now the director of media relations at CRN International, which includes the Connecticut Radio Network.

The band had been playing the high-profile New York City clubs – such as Action City and Dynamite - for about two years when “Tighter, Tighter” began getting significant airplay in June 1970

Cardona said, “There was a period of days when we did American Bandstand, played at the Whiskey A Go Go, did a television show in Houston and then flew to Pensacola, Fla. where an air personality picked us up in a limousine and took us to the station to record promos and then do an interview. “

“There were days when you couldn’t wait to get up and see what the agenda had you doing,” he added.

They opened for the Grassroots and the Brooklyn Bridge.

Cardona said, as was the case with Tommy James, Alive N Kickin’ encountered obstacles with Morris Levy, the owner of Roulette Records, their label. In his 2010 memoir - “Me, The Mob, And The Music” (Scribner, 240 Pages) - James wrote about the complex and terrifying relationship he had with Roulette, which was a front for a mafia operation.

Pell said that Levy told Alive N Kickin’ that there wouldn’t be any money coming from “Tighter, Tighter,” and that they would have to earn a living by touring.

However, Cardona said the one plus side for Tommy James was that Levy allowed him to experiment, which led to different sounds, such as Crimson & Clover and Crystal Blue Persuasion, for example, both of which were number one songs in 1969.

Alive N Kickin’ became a one-hit wonder.

When their follow-up single and album fizzled, the group slowly disbanded.

Cardona said he worked for a while in a bank and then on Wall Street, but “was determined to make music my career.”

In 1976 he re-established Alive N Kickin’ and they have played up to 150 dates a year ever since, mostly in the metro New York City area at weddings, birthday parties, corporate dates, beach festivals and clubs.

“The clubs are fun, because they’re not so regimented and you can do whatever you want,” said Cardona.

In recent years, the band has included his son, Tim, on keyboards.

“The music of that era has been used in a lot of commercials and movies, partly because has a basic beat that is simple but elegant,” he explained about the popularity of the oldies tours. “It is music that a lot of people can relate to.”

He and his wife moved from the New York City area to Detroit in 2015 to be near her mother. He shuttles between Motor City and the Big Apple, attracting dates through a Web site, Facebook page and agents.

“In addition to being a musician, you also have to be a businessman,” Cardona said.

“People still remember Alive N Kickin’, and ‘Tighter, Tighter’,” Cardona said. “The Baby Boomers bring their kids."

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