"I'm Alive" is a song written by

Tommy James Tommy James (born Thomas Gregory Jackson; April 29, 1947), also known as Tommy Tadger, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, widely known as frontman of the 1960s rock band Tommy James and the Shondells, who were know ...

and first recorded and released in 1968 by American singer

Johnny Thunder Johnny Thunder is the name of three fictional superheroes appearing in comics published by DC Comics. A fourth character has the variant name Jonni Thunder. The character appeared in the second season of '' Stargirl'' on The CW network played ...

. Thunder's recording of "I'm Alive" was a "raucous" rock single, featuring "Verbal Expressions of T.V." as its

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

, who had heard "I'm Alive" on the radio, was asked by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''s

Jann Wenner Jann Simon Wenner ( ; born January 7, 1946) is an American magazine magnate who is a co-founder of the popular culture magazine ''Rolling Stone'', and former owner of '' Men's Journal'' magazine. He participated in the Free Speech Movement while ...

in 1969 if he was impressed by anything in the

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

scene and pointed to the song: "Never heard it either, huh? Well, I can't believe it. Everyone I've talked to, I've asked them if they've heard that record. It was one of the most powerful records I've ever heard. It's called 'I'm Alive.' By Johnny Thunder. Well, it was that sentiment, truly expressed. That's the most I can say ... if you heard the record, you'd know what I mean." James recorded and released his version in 1969 with his band the Shondells as part of their album ''

Crimson & Clover "Crimson and Clover" is a 1968 song by American rock band Tommy James and the Shondells. Written by the duo of Tommy James and drummer Peter Lucia Jr., it was intended as a change in direction of the group's sound and composition. "Crimson and ...

''. It was released as a

for the single "

Crystal Blue Persuasion "Crystal Blue Persuasion" is a 1969 song originally recorded by Tommy James and the Shondells and composed by Eddie Gray, Tommy James and Mike Vale. Background A gentle-tempoed groove, "Crystal Blue Persuasion" was built around a prominent orga ...

". Thunders' version was later used by

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

in their advertisement of the

Galaxy S6 Edge The Samsung Galaxy S6 is a line of Android-based smartphones manufactured, released and marketed by Samsung Electronics. Succeeding the Samsung Galaxy S5, the S6 was not released as a singular model, but instead in two variations unveiled and ...

in 2015. That version was also used in the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

for the 2018 film ''

American Animals ''American Animals'' is a 2018 heist film written and directed by Bart Layton. Starring Evan Peters, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner, Jared Abrahamson, and Ann Dowd, it follows four college friends who plan a heist of their library. It tells the story ...

.''

Don Fardon version

English singer

Don Fardon Don Fardon (born Donald Arthur Fardon, 19 August 1940, Coventry, Warwickshire, England) is an English pop singer. Fardon is best known for his cover of the song "Indian Reservation" (1968), a UK number 3 hit and global million selling disc. ...

released a cover as a single also in 1969.Discogs: Don Fardon's version
/ref> His recording has been featured in a UK television advertisement for

Five Alive Five Alive (french: Déli-cinq) is a line of fruit juice blends created by Minute Maid, a subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company. Both the name and the five colors of the logo refer to the five fruit juices each variety contains. The juice line was ...

fruit drinks, and a Dutch

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...

commercial. On the back of the success of the latter, "I'm Alive" was reissued in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and in March 2011 it reached the Top 20 of the Dutch singles chart. Don Fardon's version has been

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

ed and released as a single by English DJ

Ashley Beedle Ashley Beedle (born November 25, 1962, in Hemel Hempstead, England) is a British house music DJ and producer. He was a member of the groups Black Science Orchestra and X-Press 2 in addition to releasing material under his own name. Career Bee ...

Other versions

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

band

Blue Swede Blue Swede were a Swedish rock band fronted by Björn Skifs which was active between the years 1973–1979. Blue Swede released two albums of cover versions, including a rendition of "Hooked on a Feeling", which brought them international chart s ...

recorded a mash-up which combined verses of ''I'm Alive'' with others borrowed from ''

Hush Hush may refer to: Film and television * ''Hush'' (1921 film), starring Clara Kimball Young * ''Hush'' (1998 film), starring Gwyneth Paltrow * ''Hush!'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film directed by Ryosuke Hashiguchi * ''Hush'' (2005 film), starring ...

'', by

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

.
The song was also recorded by Tom Jones. The track appeared on his 2008 album ''24 Hours''. Canadian garage-punk band, UIC, from Toronto, Ontario, recorded their version of I'm Alive on their 1986 album Our Garage.

References

{{authority control 1969 songs Songs written by Tommy James