The story of Tommy James from the pop band Tommy James and the Shondells is soon going to be a movie.

The band was known for a bunch of major hits, including "Hanky Panky," "I Think We're Alone Now," "Crimson and Clover" and "Sweet Cherry Wine."Saturday at 8 p.m., the congenial singer will be performing at Penn's Peak in Jim Thorpe. Tickets are $33 and $38 and are available through TicketMaster or at Penn's Peak box office.While music was always James' first interest, his determination to succeed led him to cross paths with the mob. This made him a targeted man.He survived, and has even penned a book to tell his life story."Me, the Mob, and the Music," is available at most book stores, at Amazon.com, and on the website tommyjames.com.It's soon going to be a movie."The point is, I'm really flattered to death," James said regarding the movie plans. "This is the first time I've ever been an author because it's a subject I couldn't talk about for years. My life was threatened several times."He said, "I was scared. I was lucky enough to make it out in one piece."As the story goes, the record "Hanky Panky" was an instant success, but Tommy James at the time had no record label. Copies were made by a Pittsburgh distributor.Eventually, James was hooked up with Roulette Records, reportedly run by the mafia."We were having great success in rock 'n' roll with a dark and sinister story going on behind the scenes," James said in a telephone interview.The details of that story unfold in "Me, the Mob, and the Music."James said, "We were going to write a book about 'Crimson and Clover.' We realized if we don't tell the Roulette story, we're cheating ourselves and everyone else."The story can only be told, he said, because the last of the Roulette regulars passed away. "We could finally publish our book," he said."As soon as we finished it, (publishing company) Simon and Schuster was willing to put it out," he said. "They started to get calls for movie rights and Broadway rights."The current plans are for it to be made into a movie and then a Broadway play."It's going to be a different road from the record business," he said regarding his movie and play involvement.James won't have the starring role, but, he said, he anticipates being somewhere in the film.He said the music business is far different today than back when he was a star.Back then, the artist was the brand.Today, everything is digital with large corporations not only recording the group but handling the distribution and booking the groups to exclusive venues."The acts that have a fan base are very fortunate," he said, noting that he still gets large audiences and people are still buying his music after five decades.Today it's a global business."I grew up at a fun time," he said. "I was very lucky to make it in the '60s."Asked if, after all these years, he ever gets tired of singing those hits over and over (borrowing a stanza from "Crimson and Clover")."No," he said. "These songs become your children. Every show is different. I see three generations of people in every audience. We add a few new songs a lot of the time.""I've been very lucky," he said. "I had 23 gold singles and 36 chart records."One of the songs the band presently does is a new version of "I Think We're Alone Now," which will be included in the film. "I brought the original Shondells up from Pittsburgh to do the record."About the movie, James said the last scene is where Morris Levy dies. Levy was the legendary godfather of the music business.That's when "I Think We're Alone Now" is sung. "It has a double meaning," James said.The singer has begun work on a new CD. It will be his first unplugged album, and he hopes to have it released by spring.He also has a YouTube show on the YouTube channel. "We call it 'Inside Tracks with Tommy James,'" he said. "There are seven- or eight-minute segments about songs or interviewing people."One of his favorite albums that he has recorded is a Christmas LP titled, appropriately, "I Love Christmas," because, said James, "I do love Christmas."The album has been a big seller and got an amazing response. "Walmart turned out to be my biggest distributor," he said.Of his shows at Penn's Peak, he said, "We will do as many hits as we can. We will do one or a few new ones."Afterward, he intends to shake hands and sign autographs.