Tom Jones International

USA Today, at 2.28 million, the newspaper with the largest circulation in the United States, gave Sir Tom the treatment he merits today: an admiring feature with three photos. A small Connecticut outlet, TheDay.com, wrote of Tom, Tina and Neil, pointing out how young they really are. It all makes very good reading. And, we all can assure Tom, he does not blend in and he is definitely a contender.

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Lyrics, Longevity, New Album by Tom Jones

By Edna Gundersen/USA TODAY

LOS ANGELES — Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys made a beeline for Tom Jones at London’s Q Awards in October. Jones, 68 and still a magnet for young acolytes, recalls the indie-rock singer gushing, “I love Love Me Tonight. It’s slamming! We play it before we go on stage every night.”

Turner then prodded the Ting Tings for their assessment, but the hot dance-pop duo had been out of town and said they weren’t current on radio hits, prompting laughter.

The song blared from radios in 1969.

Nearly four decades later, and 42 years since Jones won the Grammy for best new artist, the full-throated Welsh pop star remains capable of surprising fans with remarkably fresh and popular returns.

“You’ve got to have young ears,” says Jones, perched on a couch in his Century City high-rise office.

New album 24 Hours, his first U.S. studio release in 15 years, finds him collaborating with Future Cut, the British production duo behind Lily Allen and Estelle. He submits a soulful, brass-fueled cover of Bruce Springsteen’s The Hitter and turns in a robust version of the Tommy James classic I’m Alive.

“Tom Jones is like the William Shatner of classic-pop singers,” says Spin editor Doug Brod. “He has one of those voices that’s still powerful and instantly recognizable, and perhaps a bit kitschy. His willingness to poke fun at his panty-catching reputation and his engagement with trends set him apart from MOR nostalgists like Engelbert Humperdinck.”

The former ditch digger who exploded in the ’60s with It’s Not Unusual and What’s New Pussycat? enjoyed a late-career resurgence with such unexpected hits as 1988’s collaboration with Art of Noise on Prince’s Kiss and 2000’s Sex Bomb with Mousse T.

This time, his high-profile partners are U2’s Bono and Edge, who co-wrote the brazen Sugar Daddy after drinking with Jones in a Dublin club. (Opening lyrics: “I’ve got male intuition/I’ve got sexual ambition/I’m the last great tradition.”)

“It’s a bragging song,” Jones says. “I liked it, but I thought, what are people going to think? But it’s done in a clever way, not in a sloppy or blatantly sexy way. It’s a wink.”

Hours’ lyrics and vocals serve up less macho swagger than a typical Jones disc, a result of the singer taking an active role in songwriting for the first time in his career.
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Note: Nielson SoundScan, the company that tracks sales, said CD sales in 2008 were down 15 percent. Overall music sales are up 10 percent (digital sales). Vinyl is up — 1.8 million sales in 2008 — an 89 percent increase over 2007 and the highest level Nielson SoundScan has seen in its 17-year history.

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The world of record — er, CD — charting is a Byzantine, labyrinthine, just plain out-and-out confusing one.

Charts are calculated based on a variety of factors including airplay, sales and downloads. But what station plays the music, where they sell it and the site from which it is downloaded, also play a part. It is very difficult to figure out. This, for example, is Billboard’s explanation.

At any rate, here are the latest chart standings for 24 Hours. At left are the amazon numbers from January 4 and the Official UK Charts Company numbers. At right, clearly, is Billboard. The amazon numbers from both the US and the UK can change at any moment. But, the US number on amazon.com are really terrific considering the relatively small bit of promotion done here compared to Europe. You go, Tom!

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Finally! The MGM Grand is selling tickets for Tom Jones shows March 19 through April 1. (Something special for April Fool’s Day?)

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The TomJonesInternational.com photo sets that are posted on flickr are back up and fully operational — which they haven’t been since April.

You can access them under the “Jonesin’ For Photos” category on the sidebar at right.

Now, everything is up and running — except….

Many of the pictures in “Tom’s Fans & Friends” set were somehow lost. If you’ve already posted one, please check to see if it’s still there. If you haven’t and if you have a photo of yourself with Tom, with other fans at a show, with a member of the band or a back-up singer and would like it posted, please send it to me in an email. Be sure it has the names, location and (approximate) date. If other fans are in the photo with you, please get their permission. And, if your photo is on the back of the 2009 TJI.com Calendar and you’d like it posted on the site, send me an email as above.

Thanks, and enjoy the photos. They’ll be reorganized over the next several weeks. I’m really sorry they weren’t as they should be.

Meanwhile, if you haven’t seen our photo sets, do check them out. There are some terrific fan pictures — maybe some you’ve never seen. (The Ponty Park concert set may be a good example of this.)

In an effort to remember significant happenings in Tom Jones’ career, this post is devoted to Pleasure Cove a made-for-TV movie filmed in July, 1978 in California. A Love Boat-style series pilot it starred, along with Tom, Constance Forslund (the blonde in the clip), Joan Hackett, Harry Guardino and David Hasselhoff. Hal Erickson’s All Movie Guide says, “Pleasure Cove taps the Grand Hotel format already being worked to death in 1979 by Love Boat and Fantasy Island. Top-billed Tom Jones plays Raymond Gordon, a crook in disguise who becomes involved in love and larceny at the hideaway resort of Pleasure Cove. There’s an all-TV star cast, but the largest roles go to James Murtaugh and Constance Forslund as the resort managers, and Ernest Harada as the funny “Gopher-”type desk clerk. This trio would have been the continuing characters had this TV pilot film been picked up as a weekly series. But Pleasure Cove received precisely two network showings in 1979 before going to busted-pilot purgatory.”

Below is a telling interview done with Tom during filming. Below that is a clip from the film — the “naughty” nude beach scene. Of course, there’s no requirement that you read the article, you can skip straight to the clip. The photo at left is by Tony Bernard for the LA Times. At right is a screen shot from the movie.

Thanks to AF, who sent the article a long time ago. Hope AF and family are fine. Thanks for the clip go to crackerjack staff at The Tom Jones Collector’s Page. Check it out. The link to this delicious clip is below the article.

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Tom Jones and the Green Grass of TV

By Roderick Mann/Los Angeles Times/Sunday, July 30, 1978

Why would a wealthy singing star like Tom Jones — who makes more money in a month than most movie actors earn in a year — choose to spend a couple of days immersed in the ocean doing a TV movie?

Good question. And the answer seems to be that if people keep on at you long enough saying, “You ought to make a movie,” eventually you succumb.

Which is what this Welsh-born song-socker with the boxer’s build has done. He is starring in Pleasure Cove with Joan Hackett down at Redondo Beach. And finding it quite hard going.

So hard, in fact, that a couple of times last week, after sitting around for hours in wet clothes, he asked himself, “What am I doing here?”

Actually, it’s his second bash at movies. The first, two years ago, was in a thing called Yockowald. But that film ran out of money halfway through and had to be abandoned.

“It was a big disappointment,” he said, sitting in his trailer, eating lunch. “I even got my manager Gordon Mills to inquire if we couldn’t take it over and finish it. But there were too many complications.

“Ever since, people have kept saying, “Why don’t you try again? So when this came up I decided I would. I’d actually planned to take July off — because it’s the only break I’ll get this year— but it was too much of a temptation so I said yes.
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Please don’t forget the Question of the Month below and, please, when you answer, remember the rules!

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Composer Les Reed and his lyricist Barry Mason wrote many of Tom’s biggest hits, including It’s Not Unusual. One of their choruses was named yesterday in a BBC Radio 5 poll as the “Best Chorus Ever.” Below is the story from Reed’s website, the BBC 5 Radio Interview and a bit of the PJ Proby (right) version of the song, as it was originally written for him. Proby is pictured today and as he appeared in the 60s, with notoriously tight pants that “somehow, by accident” seemed to tear frequently. Tom got a big break filling in for him when one promoter and the police had had enough of that.

“In a New Year’s poll by BBC Radio 5 Live, Delilah was voted the favourite song chorus of all time by the 5 Live listeners, beating All you need is love by The Beatles into second place!

“Delilah has been recorded and performed by many artists over the years…Tom Jones, P.J.Proby, Pavarotti, Bruce Dickinson-Iron Maiden, The Russian Red Army Choir, and The Sensational Alex Harvey Band to name but just a few. “Delilah” is also the ‘anthem’ of the Welsh International Rugby Team, regularly being sung by 80,000 fans at their games. Stoke City FC have also adopted the song for their fans…they even have the “Delilah Suite” restaurant at their ground.

“Many thanks to BBC 5 Live and their listeners!!”

Here’s the BBC 5 Radio Interview with Les Reed.

And here is a clip of PJ Proby singing Delilah.

No need to compare versions of the song — we know who does it better — but, in his day, the Houston, Texas-born Proby was quite the sensation. For the record, Delilah beat All You Need Is Love in the competition for “Best Chorus.” That it would win is a given — how tedious is that Beatles’ chorus?

For January, the Question of the Month is a two-parter with a couple of rules:

(1) What was your favorite Tom Jones happening (song, appearance, story, show, etc.) in 2008?
and
(2) What would you like to see happen in the World of Sir Tom Jones in 2009?

The rules: Let’s all assume we all want Tom to appear where we live and that we all want him to remain healthy. Each of those is a given and there is no need to write them. Second, please stick to just one thing for each part of the question.

The winner of BBC Radio 5’s poll for “The Best Chorus Ever” was announced today. As Paula tells us in a comment under the post about the contest below, “And the winner is………….Delilah. But of course.” It is an irresistible tune.

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On New Years Eve 2008, Tom and the gang were in Bucharest Romania entertaining to rapturous crowds. The year that followed was a good one for him (and, thus, for his fans.) Perhaps 2009, too, will be a big news year for Tom.

Here, from the ever-reliable tabloid The Mirror, dated January 1, 2009 and bylined “3am” is the year’s first story:

Robbie Williams to be comeback kid of 2009 after support from Sir Tom Jones

We predict the comeback of the year for 2009 will be without doubt the one, the only Mr Robbie Williams (left).

And the man we have to thank for his highly anticipated return to the UK pop charts is Knight of the Realm Sir Tom Jones.

Robbie was planning to disappear into the ether forever, until the big Welshman had a heart-to-heart.

The Sexbomb took on the role of mentor to Robbie after he moved onto the same exclusive estate in Los Angeles.

And to help give him a shove in the right direction Tom even recorded a single with Rob for his new album.

Tom, who made a comeback of his own this year with 24 Hours, told us: “I give advice to some of the young bands if they ask me.

“With Robbie he asked me ‘How do you keep going?

I’m starting to wonder about it whether its for me.’

“It’s because I love it I told him. But Robbie says sometimes he doesn’t.
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This is the time to look back and reflect on the year just past. In the wider world it was a year of extremes. It was great — the longest campaign and most exciting presidential election ever in the US (and no matter how you voted you must agree) and it was scary — a world economy that has tanked, wars and conflicts that seem neverending. Those, in a nutshell, are the highs and lows.

In the somewhat narrower World of Tom Jones it was indeed a very good year.

Highlights include 24 Hours which, love it or not, gave us the opportunity to see Sir Tom on TV doing all sorts of interesting things — from busking, to chatting and being very funny. Oh, yes, and he sang a lot, too. Fans were very pleased and lots of people who didn’t before these appearances got to know Tom Jones — and that’s always good.

The new CD also meant a new setlist in late October and that was nice. It meant new publicity photos — great ones — and lots of positive press. Even when being negative, the press wasn’t bad (except for that silly, false report about insured chest hair). For example, when the “mankini” incident occurred in August the commentary as the photos were shown on a TV show known for its snide remarks was fine. (”Look at that! Sixty-eight years old and rockin’ the mankini!”)

All year Sir Tom looked and sounded great and, finally, he seems to be getting the kind of recognition he deserves, especially in the USA. Check out this site’s area of 24 Hours Reviews for ample evidence of the recognition of his stature. It’s wonderful.

Also, if you’ve missed any video, go to the TJI.com Video Library and see what’s there. If you haven’t missed any, you can view your favorites once again. That’s one place where Tom Jones is always easily accessible for you.

Quotes of the year include:
“I hope you record it. But if you don’t, no big deal, I’ll just slit my wrists.” — Tom Jones, on what Bono said after he and U2 guitarist The Edge wrote the new song, Sugar Daddy, for Jones’ new album.

“Who am I to stop them? It pleases people. I don’t like to disappoint.” — Tom on why he lets fans buy him drinks. (He really is a giver, isn’t he? That’s why we love him!)

“What I like about that song is that I walk on and ‘make my memories’. I’m still making my memories, I’m not just thinking of old memories.” — Tom on the song Seasons, to journalist Simon Hattenstone in a great interview in The Guardian

“I pray every night by the bed before I go to sleep. I say, ‘Look after my family and my friends and band members and all the people who work with me, and thank you for giving me this voice. Please may I keep it for as long as I live.’” — Tom on faith in the same interview as just above.
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From BBC Radio 5 comes an opportunity for you to vote. (Not sure, but it looks like the text # is 85058.)

So we’re close to finding out which is the ‘Best chorus ever’. We asked you to nomimate your best choruses. We had strings of suggestions. And nine of our presenters picked their favourites, based on your choices. Over the past three days you’ve whittled that list of nine down to three by taking part in a text vote.

Well, we now know which three songs have made the cut and are through to the final on January 1st. They are All you need is love by The Beatles, Delilah by Tom Jones and Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush. From seven tomorrow morning you’ll be able to vote for which one you think makes the best chorus of all time.

You can vote for the three nominations in tomorrow’s final in the Breakfast Show from seven in the morning. And to register your vote, you have to text us. Your standard charge applies. Voting will close tomorrow morning at 0930. We’ll announce the winnner before the end of the programme at ten tomorrow morning.

VOTING TERMS AND CONDITIONS

* Voting is by text only. The numbers to be used will be given during the programme. * Vote lines are opened and closed as specified on the programme. Votes received outside the specified times will not be counted, but will still be charged. Voting times may change. * The BBC reserves the right to cancel or suspend voting at any time. * Each text vote costs your standard network rate, (usally a network rate of 10-15p applies, check with your network operator). * Voters must obtain permission from the bill payer before voting. * Make sure you carefully text details of the chorus you wish to vote for. * The BBC reserves the right to disqualify votes if it has reasonable grounds to suspect that fraudulent and multiple voting has occurred or if it considers there has been any attempt to rig the voting. * The BBC, its sub-contractors, subsidiaries and/or agencies cannot accept any responsibility whatsoever for any technical failure or malfunction or any other problem with any telephone network or line, system, server, provider or otherwise which may result in any vote being lost or not properly registered or recorded. * In the event of problems with the text vote, a respected music journalist will help us choose each day’s winner * Please note that you cannot vote by email or via this website.

If nothing else, this November 20 online interview proves to everyone (especially those who take Sir Tom so very solemnly) that the man has a terrific sense of humor about himself.

By way of introduction, the site says:

At 184 yrs old, Tom has released his new album

Our HM film crew took the risky strategy of breaking in to Tom Jones hotel room disguised as cleaning maids and threatened to play him his new album non stop, unless he gave us an interview. What do you know, he was only too willing to oblige. Just goes to show, if you don’t try you never know.

So Tom, now you’ve tried, we all know — it doesn’t work.

We ended up getting a charming insight into a national treasure and asked him some indepth questions such as, “If your beard colour was sampled as a Dulux brand, what would it be called?” — Genius.

(Moderator’s Note: “Dulux” is paint)

Now, here, from HolyMoly.com comes this entirely silly interview with Sir Tom.

Thanks once again, Dre.