Mony, Mony

"Mony Mony"
Live version
Single by Billy Idol
from the album Don't Stop and Vital Idol
B-side	"311 Man"
Released	1981 (original version) October 2, 1987 (live version)
Format	7", 12"
Recorded	1981 (original version), 1985 (live version)
Genre	Hard rock, new wave, power pop
Length	5:01 (on Don't Stop) 5:02 (on Vital Idol) 4:08 (45 version)
Label	Chrysalis
Songwriter(s)	Tommy James, Bo Gentry, Ritchie Cordell, and Bobby Bloom
Producer(s)	Keith Forsey
Billy Idol singles chronology
"Dancing with Myself" (1981) "Mony Mony" (1981) "Hot in the City" (1982)
"Dancing with Myself" (1981) "Mony Mony" (1981) "Hot in the City" (1982)
"Sweet Sixteen" (1987) Sweet Sixteen1987 "Mony Mony (live version)" (1987) Mony Mony (live version)1987 "Cradle of Love" (1990) Alternative cover 12" single for original release Cradle of Love1990

"Mony Mony" is a 1968 single by American pop rock band Tommy James and the Shondells, which reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 3 in the U.S. Written by Bobby Bloom, Ritchie Cordell, Bo Gentry, and Tommy James, the song has appeared in various film and television works such as the Oliver Stone drama Heaven & Earth. It was also notably covered by English singer-songwriter Billy Idol in 1981. Idol's version, which took in more of a Rock sound, became an international top 40 hit and additionally revived public interest in the original garage rock single.

"Mony Mony" was credited to Tommy James, Bo Gentry, Ritchie Cordell, and Bobby Bloom. The title of the song is said to have been inspired by Tommy James' view of the M.O.N.Y. sign atop the Mutual of New York Building on the New York City skyline from his Manhattan apartment. As Tommy James says in a 1995 interview in Hitch magazine:

True story: I had the track done before I had a title. I wanted something catchy like "Sloopy" or "Bony Maroney," but everything sounded so stupid. So Ritchie Cordell and I were writing it in New York City, and we were about to throw in the towel when I went out onto the terrace, looked up and saw the Mutual of New York building (which has its initials illuminated in red at its top). I said, "That's gotta be it! Ritchie, come here, you've gotta see this!" It's almost as if God Himself had said, "Here's the title." I've always thought that if I had looked the other way, it might have been called "Hotel Taft".