Influenced by the late Buddy Holly, Elvis, Little Richard and many more of the early rockers,Troy Shondell began his singing career while still in high school in Fort Wayne, Indiana. One of His first local recordings (made under his birth name Gary Shelton), was " Kissin' at the Drive-In" on Mercury Records. That record became a big regional hit that gained him hope for future national attention. (Please don't say you don't remember "Kissin at the Drive-In"!)

  Troy's fame soon spread to the Chicago area where he and his band became the first rock band to ever appear at the then famous Brass Rail blues and jazz club in downtown Chicago. Troy and his band had fans standing in line to watch Rock 'n' Roll for the first time in downtown Chicago. But the momentum didn't hold, and Troy bounced from small label to small label without much luck.

    Then, in October of 1960, Troy's father died of a heart attack. With his father's death, Troy's mother inherited a small business that was her only income. In order to keep it going she asked Troy to come and help her. His dream of hit music would have to wait. So Troy quit the band and gave up music so he could help with the immediate crisis.

  In February 1961 his mother encouraged Troy to audition for an extra part in a movie being filmed locally after seeing an ad in the local paper. At the audition a man familiar with Troy's music said he would finance a recording session if Troy would consider trying again. Troy was overjoyed especially since he had been hanging on to a special song just in case an opportunity like this came along. It was a song that Al Russell, a local disc jockey in Fort Wayne, had called to Troy's attention. A song called "This Time (We're Really Breaking Up)". (Written by Chips Momen, who would later become Elvis Presley's producer.)

  There was a tremendous blizzard the day of the session on April 1, 1961 in Batavia, Illinois and only three musicians were able to make it to the session -- a guitar player, sax player, and a drummer. Should they even do this session? Where would the bass sound come from?

  It didn't seem like the best time to try for a big comeback recording. But maybe timing wasn't everything. Maybe desire and passion meant more than timing.

  Troy played piano, vibes and worked hard to get a bass-type sound out of his guitar. He completely threw himself into a heartbreakingly great vocal performance of "This Time".

  Every record company in Chicago turned it down.

  So Troy decided to start his own label. At least now he had a record. And while Visiting WJJD in Chicago, Troy wanted desperately to get air play for the record he knew represented his future, even if it meant he had to beg. Luckily that night the DJ was a former supporter of Troy's and he took pity on the desperate singer. He got permission from the station to play "This Time" but only once and it had to be on his "Rate the Record" show, airing late in the evening. It was a gamble for Troy, because the records that lost the phone-in contest were never to be played again. Troy's record --- the one recorded in the blizzard with only three musicians --- won the contest! Troy's sparse and haunting "This Time" had stunned listeners with its beauty, pain and passion. Now in rotation at that station, the record began to sell like crazy. In fact, 10,000 copies were sold the very first week! "This Time" topped the charts for an unprecedented 16 weeks during the summer of '61.

  Although other successes would follow fror Troy, none of the others might ever have happened without "This Time". "This Time" went on to sell over three million copies that first year!

  Many people would have used that blizzard in Illinois in April of 1961 as a reason to postpone the session. The timing wasn't right. They didn't even have a bass player? How are you going to get your bass sound? With a guitar? Bad timing if there ever was bad timing.

  But Troy Shondell put enough passion into that stormy night to electrify a whole nation of teenage record buyers. Even today, the record sounds great and the sparse and funky production values only heighten its impact. It's raw and real. Download the record today and crank it up. And don't miss the message as you listen.

  Circumstance is nothing. Passion is everything.

  Every once in awhile we put a little slogan up in our office that says "Doing it now is more important than doing it right". We don't mean don't do it as well as you can, we just mean if you wait until the timing is perfect, it'll never happen. Just do it now.

  (Biography revised by Steven Chandler)