Mike Vale

For DJ/producer please use Mike Vale (2). Recorded in 1964, the song Hanky Panky / Thunderbolt by the Shondells suddenly surged in popularity and hit number one in 1966. The band’s leader by this time, Tommy Jackson (later renamed Tommy James) didn’t have a band and stopped in the Thunderbird Lounge in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. There he encountered a group called the Raconteurs and asked them to become the new Shondells. The Raconteurs consisted of Michael Vucish (formerly of the group the Sonics), Vinnie Pietropaoli, Joe Kessler, Ron Rosman, and George Magura. Mike Vucish’s name was changed to Mike Vale, and after their first two albums as Tommy James and the Shondells, Vinnie Pietropaoli and Joe Kessler were replaced by Peter Lucia and Eddie Zgorecki (changed to Gray) and George Magura dropped out. After the late 1960s run of hits, Tommy James and the Shondells amicably split, and the Shondells changed their name to Hog Heaven, adding member Phil Falcocchio. They recorded an album released on Roulette as Hog Heaven. Due to tensions between Morris Levy, the owner of Roulette Records, Eddie Gray and Ron Rosman left the group. Peter and Mike continued with Ronnie Hand, Buddy Cage, and Chuck Demorat and recorded another album for Roulette that was never released, with the exception of one single (If It Feels Good - Do It). Meanwhile, Mike Vale continued on with owning a successful machine shop business (Stellar Precision founded in 1978). In 1978 and 1983, he released two gospel album with Bill Monach and Paul Ronge, the group being called David's Harp. In 2008, Mike located masters to the second unreleased Hog Heaven and with five remixed songs from the unreleased album and five remixed from the first, he released a CD called Rebirth. He released his first solo album, It's A Pittsburgh Thing, in 2010 and his second, In My Dreams, in 2013. In 2015, he and former Shondells members Ron Rosman and Eddie Gray, along with Mike Wilps, formed the Crystal Blue Band and released an album called Legacy. They continue to tour.