James' version is pure garage rock, a live-in-the-studio effort that layered low-slung guitar riffs over a shuffling stomp of a beat from the rhythm section.

They were in the middle of a recording session for their group, The Raindrops, and realized they needed a B-side for their single, "That Boy John".

[4] Tommy James and the Shondells recorded their first song, "Long Pony Tail," in 1960 and had 500 copies pressed and distributed in southwest Michigan.

Jack Douglas, a disc jockey at WNIL in Niles, Michigan, heard the song and asked James if he had other material to record.

James had heard "Hanky Panky" being performed by a garage rock band in a club in South Bend, Indiana.

"Hanky Panky" was released on Douglas' Snap Records in February 1964, selling well in the tri-state area of Michigan, Indiana and Illinois.

Pittsburgh disc jockey "Mad Mike" Metrovich had begun playing The Shondells' version of "Hanky Panky", and the single had become popular in that area.

A debate continues over whether Metrovich or Pittsburgh disc jockey Bob Mack actually broke the single in the area.