Tom Jones International

Does the guy at the right look sort of familiar?

He’s Tom Jones impersonator Steve McCoy.

Meet him and see more photos in the entertainment section of Our Las Vegas and be sure to check out his website. Not only does he have a terrific voice, but he’s got the mannerisms perfectly.

Steve says he’s grateful for the role model Tom presents as a performer; for the opportunities he’s gotten; the people he’s met (including Tom himself) and for the travel he’s done as a result of “being” Tom Jones. And, he adds, he’s especially grateful that Tom has always been gracious to him — from the time Tom judged the “Tom Jones Look-Alike” contest Steve won in Atlantic City and started him on his present career.

From a BBC Press Release/Date: 21.04.2006

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross: “I’m scared of retirement”, says Tom Jones

Sir Tom Jones talks frankly about his fear of losing his voice when he guests on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross today on BBC ONE.

Tom confides to Jonathan Ross: “I dread the day when I can’t sing as well, which will happen. I’m not looking forward to retiring… when singing is taken away from that’ll be a sad day for me.”

He also talks about protecting his privacy and why he’s never written his life story: “If I was going to do an autobiography I’d want to do the whole thing, it’s not a thing I’d like to do, I’m not a tell-all person.”

He also regrets ageism in the music industry today. “I was always doing new things but didn’t get the chance to record them — it’s an on-going struggle.

“They’re [record companies] always looking for youth. When you’ve been around for a while sometimes it’s difficult to do something new.”

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The photo above is from the BBC press release. Andre has sent us lots of screen shots from the show like the (very cool fade-out) one on the left. They’ll be posted in our flickr sets. When that is done, we’ll add a link so you can see them.

For a great, detailed description of the show, be sure to check out mharding’s comment below. And we sincerely thank him.

In the UK to promote Stoned In Love until next Tuesday (he opens at the MGM Grand Thursday for 14 shows) Tom did two radio interviews today.

The first was on The Colin and Edith Show on BBC1. The almost-20 minute long live interview starts at about 2 hours, 14 minutes into the show. You can listen here for one week.

While Tom was being interviewed, the webcam was going. Below are a couple of blurry photos, but you can see Tom if you look carefully. (Thanks, M)

They didn’t ask the really interesting questions sent in by listeners and we’d love to know which question won the mask.
















The second interview was on BBC Radio 2’s Chris Evans Show. A phoner from his London hotel suite (which, you will hear only has one loo, so he and Don have to share), this short bit is kind of fun. And, as this is written, Sir Tom, his son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren are — according to what he said in the interview — having dinner in a London restaurant.

You can listen to that interview here through next Thursday. It starts shortly after 30 minutes in.

(When the BBC radio player is playing, buttons to fast forward, stop and pause are on top of the play window.)

Our only comment: Tom Jones deserves every bit of his success and has earned every penny — er, shilling. Whatever, he’s earned it.

Sir Tom tops Welsh celebrity Rich List

Apr 21 2006/Sally Williams, Western Mail

SIR TOM JONES has banked more than any other Welsh celebrity this year as he boosted his fortune by £10m.

Sir Tom’s sell-out concerts, his knighthood and the rights to his eagerly awaited autobiography, all helped to raise his fortune to £185m, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.

He is equal 10th on the music list with Sting, and 318th on the full list.

Rich List compiler Philip Beresford said yesterday, “Tom seems to be evergreen, he keeps producing hits, he can get his bus pass but he shows no signs of needing to draw his pension yet on this ranking.

“His knighthood has added a certain lustre to his name. The juicier he makes his autobiography, the higher he will climb up my list in future.

“He has a huge Los Angeles estate — he doesn’t have to pay high taxes there and it is close to Las Vegas for performing.

“And he has been selling the £3m home that he bought for his late mother.

“The home he bought in Bel Air for his sister Sheila is also up for sale because she preferred a bungalow.”

On Friday, April 21, Tom will be on The Colin and Edith Show on BBC1 from 1 to 4 p.m. in the U.K. You can listen here for one week, through April 27. We’ll try to let you know how far into the show the interview is.

A signed mask like the one worn in Stoned In Love is offered to the person who asks the best question of Sir Tom (who, for the record, is clearly not modeling it in this photo). The winner must be a UK resident (of course), but that shouldn’t prevent anyone from asking a question, should it?

To post your question, go to Colin and Edith’s site. If you do enter and feel like sharing your question, please tell us what it is. Or, if you don’t enter and just feel like posting a question, that’s OK, too.

Think quickly (remember the time difference) and get your question in. Good luck!

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Raise Your Hand If You Believe This Headline:

“Tom Jones Questions His Knighthood”

Here’s the brief story from the MTV/UK website:

The Welsh sex monster wasn’t sure he was worthy, he tells Russell Brand…
Tom Jones had to question whether he deserved his knighthood, he has revealed.

Speaking in an interview with Russell Brand for this week’s 1 Leicester Square, the Welsh sex-god and singing legend revealed that the whole experience of being on the New Year’s Honours List knocked him for six. “It really does shake you up a bit,” said Tom, looking resplendent in black and with his big hair. “When you’re on the New Year’s Honours List, you start to question yourself morally.”

“I kept saying ‘am I worthy of this award?’ It’s a strange thing.”

“Getting a knighthood is a very important thing,” he added. “It puts a weight on your shoulders.”

Watch the whole interview on this week’s 1 Leicester Square, Sunday at 8pm on MTV.

Of course, this is being broadcast, so he undoubtedly did say this. But that headline? Does he sincerely and really question the granting of a knighthood? Come now. It’s probably that sense of wonder one may feel when a tremendous accomplishment, a dream, is realized. Not necessarily an “I am not worthy” moment.

What do you think?

Anyway, please, don’t forget to share your questions from the Colin and Edith Show.

One person actually asked (our current favorite for the prize), “Do you still believe putting on a puppet show is a good way to teach people civil rights?”

Now, that’s a great question. If you have others (even not so great) let us hear them.

Press for the April 24 release of Stoned In Love is going full steam ahead in the UK. Here’s the latest article from icWales. Lots to read in it, too, if you follow the links in the article. We’ll add links to articles about the song as we come across them.

The song is now available on iTiunes only in the UK.

If you have an account with iTunes in the US (or Canada, or anywhere else), you cannot use this account to buy the CD (which sells for £1.99). If you try without a billing address in the UK you are either declined or kicked back to iTunes in the US or the country where you have an account/billing address.

iTunes says there is no way to purchase an item in one country with a credit card address in another. But, if you wish to request a particular item be sold on iTunes in the US, to to the iTunes website and fill in the request form.

Meanwhile, we do hope this song is ultimately sold here, as Chicane’s other music — including the recordings done with Bryan Adams — is readily available on iTunes US. And, if anyone knows how to complete such a purchase, please let us know.

Thanks!

Hi:

We’ve added a few small things to our site and hope you’ll check them out. The most obvious is the slightly redesigned menu at right so it’s easier to see what’s on the site.

Under “Pitchman Perfect,” there are now some sound clips of ads Tom has done and, under “Tom’s Musical History” we’ve added some photos (and will continue to do so). Now posted is the best album art ever. And that page is still the best narrative history of Tom’s music over the years. (For the very best discography, click the link at right.)

If you check out the “Our Las Vegas” pages, you’ll see some new photos like the one at right.

We’re also going to be adding a store soon, where you can buy TJI.com logo t-shirts.

Of course, we want your suggestions and feedback, so please stay in touch.

— Ellen & Ursula

If you haven’t seen it, you can view (but not download) the Stoned in Love video on these two sites from the Netherlands: Superclip or Videoclips

We cannot vouch for the quality, but you can certainly get the idea. And, for the record, we’re not too sure how long they’ll be up. If you have other sites you’d like to share, just let us know.

…So, now that you’ve seen it, what do you think?

(To see what people are saying about the Stoned In Love CD, you can go to our post about it and add your opinion, too.)

No matter what holiday you celebrate, we wish you a terrific one, spent doing what you love with people you love. And, if someone decorates a matzoh for us, next year we’ll post a photo of that, too.

—Ellen & Ursula

This story from the Minneapolis Star Tribune has lots of compliments for sure. But, honestly, Wayne Newton?? “More charisma?” Tom is “hammy?” A “bit of a parody of himself?”

On the other hand, the reviewer really did get the music and did see Sir Tom’s terrific sense of humor and the fact that the audience is meant to have a good time, but the show is a “hoot?”

He wrote as if he just didn’t get the show. Is this Tom Jones funny? Is he campy? Or should he be taken seriously? And, most important to this reviewer apparently was this burning question: If I write how much I liked the show and admire the guy, will people who aren’t fans laugh at me? So,though his review is on balance positive, seems like he was almost ashamed to say so. Too bad.

But, maybe we’re being oversensitive. He enjoyed the show and the performer and, likely, that’s enough. What do you think?

We’re posting this photo by Andrew Parsons of the AP again because (1) we like it and (b) it ran with the story in the paper.

Over-the-top Tom Jones is as good as it gets

CONCERT REVIEW: The 1960s heartthrob displayed his ageless panache at Mystic Lake. And the ladies loved it.

Jon Bream/Star Tribune/April 14, 2006

Tom Jones: The new British knight is still the object of bra- and panty-hurling from his female fans.

Tom Jones gets it.

Neil Diamond, 65, has a bigger catalog of hits and more songwriting acumen. Wayne Newton, 64, has larger-than-life charisma and more flash and flair in his show. But Jones, 65, has the shtick, the voice, the arrangements and the self-deprecating humor.

His 85-minute show Thursday night at Mystic Lake Casino was an absolute hoot. You could laugh with him and at him — he didn’t care as long as you were having a good time. Thanks to his humor, his hits, his hipster/camp cachet, his heartfelt interpretations of some unexpected tunes and the audience’s interaction with this hammy icon, it was a wonderfully memorable night.

Jones — actually Sir Tom Jones now, after being knighted last month by Queen Elizabeth — was a bit of a parody of himself, with his bug-eyed mugging, ageless bump-and-grinding, mincing gestures and timeless look of tight curly brown hair, diamond pinkie ring and open shirt, revealing a giant gold cross and hairy chest.

He still has that stentorian baritone, which he unleashed most effectively on country-blues-soul tunes, including Charlie Rich’s Who Will the Next Fool Be, Howlin’ Wolf’s Three Hundred Pounds of Joy (”200″ in Jones’ version), the oldie What Am I Living For and his 1969 hit I’ll Never Fall in Love Again.

The highlight was You Can Leave Your Hat On, during which Girls Night Out at Mystic Lake suddenly became Older Girls Gone Wild, as a nonstop parade of women (mostly in their 30s to 70s) danced to the lip of the stage and hurled bras and panties at Sir Tom. He mugged and winked and then sang Sex Bomb. He gets it, indeed.

(For those who are interested, here’s a photo from People of Tom with Wayne Newton that probably dates back, oh, 15 years. They both have ’staches now and, of course, TJ has a goatee. Thanks to Vince.)