Johnny Yen's One Hit Wonders: "Tighter, Tighter," by Alive and Kicking

"Tighter, Tighter" was a hit in 1970 for the Brooklyn group Alive and Kicking. The band formed in 1968 in the basement of the original bassist Rich Luisi. In 1970, they were signed to Tommy James' Roulette Records. At first, James considered having them record his song "Crystal Blue Persuasion," but he liked that song so much he wanted to record his own version of it (he went on to have a top ten hit with it). Instead, they recorded "Tighter, Tighter," which James had written with Bob King.



"Tighter, Tighter" was released in May of 1970 and stayed in the charts for 16 weeks, selling over a million copies, certifying it as a gold record.

Alive and Kicking were never able to repeat their chart success of the lovely "Tigher, Tighter." After releasing a couple of more records, they disbanded in 1971, but reformed in 1976, and some members of the original group still tour under the name. Bruce Sudano, the guy who played the great keyboards on the song, went on to join the group Brooklyn Dreams, and in 1980, married singer Donna Summer. They are still married, have two grown children and live in Nashville, Tennessee. Sudano is still a working musician, singing and performing with his wife.