From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Tue May 14, 2002  1:16 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Troy Shondell
 
TROY SHONDELL

Born Gary Shelton, 14 May 1944, Huntingdon, Indiana

Singer / songwriter. Shondell's main claim to fame is the # 6 hit
"This Time" from 1961, a typical teen heartthrob song of the era.
But his musical career started three years earlier, when he was
only 14 and living in Fort Wayne, IN. His first single, "My Hero", was
released on Smash in 1958 and credited to Gary Shelton, his real name.
The Mercury Records release "Kissin' at the Drive-In" came out the
following year and is the best of his early rockers. His composition
"A Prayer And A Jukebox" was recorded by Little Anthony and the
Imperials and went to # 81 on the Billboard charts. By 1959, the singer
opened shows on a tour called Shower of Stars for such headliners as
Chuck Berry , the Impalas, Frankie Ford, Frankie Avalon and the
Skyliners. His career was temporarily interrupted in 1960 when a heart
attack killed his father and brought Shondell home to help his mother
run the family business.
Shondell was a music major at Valparaiso University when he recorded
Chips Moman's "This Time" in a Fort Wayne studio. After he released
the record on his own Goldcrest label, the record started getting
considerable airplay and he was signed to Liberty Records, which put the
song on the national charts. When his pop career proved fleeting, Shondell
moved to Nashville to pursue a career in country and western music. During
the '80s he scored modestly with several songs on the country charts.
In 2001, Shondell was still performing at nostalgia shows and other events.
From his home in Nashville, he also composes and produces. Along with
Jimmy Clanton , Ronnie Dove, and Ray Peterson, he is a member of the
Masters of Rock 'n' Roll.

CD: Gary Shelton aka Troy Shondell, Kissin' At The Drive-In (Bear
Family 16270). His pre-"This Time" recordings.
Further reading: This Time ... It's Troy Shondell, in "Now Dig This",
issue 195 (June 1999), p. 10-13.
See also: http://www.rockabillyhall.com/TroyShondell.html
and Troy's own website at http://www.mp3.com/Troyshondell
(When I checked this last link it didn't work, nor did the link for
www.charliegracie.com. These websites do exist, though, and the
addresses are correct. Maybe it's something temporary or perhaps
it's just my computer.)