Fan Fare, What's New, Pussycat?
Here’s where you’ll find TJ photos and stories that don’t fit into any other categories. It is, as its name says, just for fans — and, hopefully, for fun.
Report From A Taffy On the Scene: Tom On Lots of Radio & TV in the UK
Monday, April 24th, 2006
To the envy of fans not able to see or hear the shows, Tom has been on UK radio and TV flogging away at Stoned In Love. (This is his new single with Chicane, in case you hadn’t heard.) Luckily for us, though, the intrepid mharding has been kind enough to listen/watch (and watch and listen) and send us details (including the fact that, “Tom was keen to point out that his receiving the title was due to the effort made by the public”).
So, thanks to one of our three favorite “Taffys,” mharding. We are grateful.
(On Wednesday, April 26, mharding noted that you can access the Popworld interview on your computer. The screen shots on this post are from that interview.)
1 Leicester Square: Not as long an interview as the JR show. Tom and Nick Bracegirdle (he who is hovering at Tom’s shoulder in the Western Mail photo) were interviewed by Russell but there was no performance. An interesting factoid to mention is that Tom’s vocals were recorded in Malibu and Nick brought the track out to him. Nick said it was “very cool” to work with Tom.
It was a light-hearted interview as was the Ross show and Russell made Tom and Nick giggle a lot. He spoke
to Tom mostly:
“Did he have protection from gangsters?” “No, but it had been offered.”
Standard questions, really. Russell referred to Bracegirdle’s surname as sounding like that of a Victorian undertaker and ratcatcher and accused him of manipulating Tom’s talent for his own “evil” ends. Knighthood wasn’t mentioned as this is youth telly and nobody cares.
Popworld: This interview on Saturday morning had Tom on his own with two zany, postmodern youth presenters who were all hipster jeans and smart-arsed irony. Tom walked through it on his hands to be honest and played along with the stream of consciousness ramblings of the two interviewers though there were a couple of moments where you could see he was waiting for them to stop rambling and get on with it.
“Was he condoning robbery with the new video?”
“No, they were worried about that when making it but it was intended to be a joke.”
Given that he now works with Ibiza legend Chicane has he ever larged it (meaning “lived it large” or partied
excessively) in Ibiza clubs? No, but he had been to similar club resorts like Monte Carlo.
What did he think of Grime?*
“Wellll…what IS grime”? Tom mused, entering into the postmodern irony mode. “It’s just a grimy thing really isn’t it” he shrugged.
Would he ever do French-Canadian Post-Rock? “I don’t know what that is. It would depend on the song.”
Good enough answers, I thought.
They asked him if he thought the American Church that is dedicated to preaching through Tom (Pastor Jack at www.churchoftomjones.com/) was weird and he said he thought it was okay as it was a positive thing with it being a church.
They played him the new Orson video
(http://www.orsonband.com/orsonband.htm) and asked his opinion.
One of the presenters said the band had been described as “Slipknot meets Engelbert Humperdinck”. Tom let
that pass, commenting “It’s a good hard sound, which is very important to me”.
What about the trilby hats? Tom opined that you have to do something to look different. One of the presenters countered “It’s not really that different though is it, Tom?”
They all agreed (ironically and post-modernly) that Tom had caught them out when he retorted “Who else is doing it then? With the hat?”. Will Young
(http://www.will-youngonline.com/) was the best they could come up with.
On HTV Wales News April 24: Tom was interviewed from his hotel room. Standard stuff again but he did say he was told about the Knighthood at Christmas and that he read up on the history of it at that point and when the importance of it sank in he started to question his character, worthiness, etc. He said that he’d like to thank very much all those who campaigned for him to receive the title and stressed that Downing Street (the Prime Minister makes the recommendations) needs to be made aware that there’s a public demand for a particular person to be acknowledged.
Tom was keen to point out that his receiving the title was due to the effort made by the public.
Paul O’Grady Show:
Tom took part in a regular musical phone in game they have and had to act as a dog handler for a homeless dog.
London Tonight:
Here he was with Nick in the hotel
room. There’s been a rumour going around that Tom doesn’t like J. Timberlake and he again tonight was asked about it. He claimed it was a misquote and he doesn’t think JT is crap.
Then he pointed out that they could edit the tape to make it look as if he had just said “Justin Timberlake is crap”.
Nick had his head in his hands laughing; he’s heard these questions a million times now.
Tom also said he was to appear with Chicane last night (Monday, April 24) at Carling Academy in Islington.
*Grime (As defined by wickipedia.org): a genre of urban music which has been developing in London’s underground since 2002. Grime’s tempo is typically around 140 beats per minute. Style of flow also varies but its most common for rappers to “spit” double time or aggressively over the beat. In contrast to its more soulful progenitor, Grime can often be dark and aggressive, featuring MCs as opposed to singers and jettisoning the R&B influences of earlier 2 step UK Garage. In contrast, the success of grime is inseparable from its connection with pirate radio, with many performers honing their skills and achieving underground success before approaching the mainstream. Grime has roots in both hip hop and electronic music and is characterised by rapid and rhythmic rhyming over sparse break beats, futuristic bleeps and guttural bass growls. Perhaps due to its experimental nature and diverse stylistic influences, grime resisted attempts to classify or pigeonhole it for a long time, but in the past has also gone by the names sublow, 8bar, nu shape or eskibeat.
April 26th, 2006 at 9:34 am
Thank you for all this information. Wish the bloody thing was being promoted in the good ole US of A. I do, however, love the way the British describe things, and have a dear British friend who keeps me abreast of the lingo……but, what does “Walked through it on his hands” mean? Since we are talking about Tom, it does present an interesting visual.
April 26th, 2006 at 11:17 am
Sorry, he wasn’t really walking around on his hands, nor was he literally standing on his head during the interview. I just meant he sailed through it despite having to field some daft questions. The presenters seemed more intent on attempting Abbott and Costello style double-talk than a proper interview.
April 26th, 2006 at 11:21 am
Thanks for the reviews!! I have thought for years that the majority of interviewers treat Tom like a dumb blonde!! No offence meant to blondes.
Like he has no brain in his head. It’s actually quite refreshing lately to read reviews and interviews of Tom and have the writers actually treat him with respect.
mharding, do you know if the Abbott and Costello routine are normal for these people?
Thanks again for sharing with us. I’m from Canada and can’t watch either.
April 26th, 2006 at 1:41 pm
Actually, I’ve just noticed you CAN watch a version of the interview here:
mms://video.channel4.com/entertainment/t4/popworld/tomjones.wmv
It’s a bit different to the tv version as it includes Tom discussing his lack of plastic surgery.
Bye!
p.s.
The two presenters fool about with everyone. It’s just their style.
April 26th, 2006 at 2:23 pm
Thanks. I’ll go and watch it now. I’m glad to hear that the presenters didn’t single Tom out for their craziness!
April 26th, 2006 at 2:31 pm
Ok, I’ve watched it. They should have left the girl to do the interview. He has such a great voice.
Even his talking voice is great!
Thanks again mharding. I do appreciate it.
April 26th, 2006 at 4:31 pm
Thanks to mHarding/Moderators, loved being able to watch the video interview. Tom can put up with any age interviewer, can’t he?? It seems like I am in another world when I hear radio interviewers asking questions about terms I have never heard. Wondered if the two interviewers were trying to trip him up.
April 27th, 2006 at 2:38 am
I guess it’s hard to figure out what’s true about Tom’s plastic surgery. On the TV interview, he mentions only the nose job, while in the Daily Mirror a couple weeks back, he mentioned a few nips and tucks. I’m starting to think the Daily Mirror made it up since it’s really a tabloid kind of magazine. Who knows?? I guess it doesn’t really matter.
April 27th, 2006 at 9:05 am
We took that article off our home page because Tom has since said that he was misquoted/didn’t say that at all. And, as Vince said, in the end it doesn’t matter (and is really none of our business).
AND, while we’re talking about interviews, the Popworld one was nothing to do with Tom, really. It was these two babies showing off. He looks at tad exasperated at their nonsense and he should be. But it was great that he corrected them about the number of records. Just a stupid waste of time…..guess if you want to sell, you’ve got to present the product. As mharding said, he did really well. Wonder where those presenters will be in 41 years? Still in the business?
April 27th, 2006 at 9:26 am
It would be a joke to predict those two radio hosts would be in the business much longer than the average songster of today with no talent. I say R-E-S-P-E-C-T would have earned them a bit longer time in the future. Perhaps they appeal to the younger crowd…..like 15 or so??
April 27th, 2006 at 10:08 am
My daughter is 15 and would have been disgusted with their antics. Especially his. You are right about him looking exasperated. I would have been too! Oh and by the way, I’m from Canada and have no idea what French Canadian Post Rock (correct me if I’m wrong)is. It was the young woman who asked the question so I have to believe that it really is some form of music. Anyone know what it is?
I finally got around to listening to the Colin and Edith Show and enjoyed listening to that so much more. This was the show I was wondering about. The one with the contest for best question. These interviewers respected Tom as a person and a performer … or at least it sounded that way … It may be gone now but it was worth a listen. I would have rather watched these two interviewers then the other two!!
April 27th, 2006 at 2:20 pm
OK, Cathy: First, French Canadian Post-Rock (from amazon.ca) “Combining elements of jazz, ambient, and progressive rock, [the group] Do Make Say Think were quickly identified as part of Canada’s highly-touted ‘post-rock’ scene. Goodbye Enemy Airship, a whirling, everything-and-the-kitchen-sink ride stamped both the band and the movement as worthy of attention.”
Second, I don’t think it’s a matter of respect of Tom Jones, they were just trying to be cute and edgy…..and failing miserably. But, if interviews like these help sell his CDs, then that’s just fine. Right?
April 27th, 2006 at 2:56 pm
Thanks for the description. Huh?? Never mind, I don’t care. I like all kinds of music and I don’t care what category it’s in.
I definitely understand why Tom would do the show. Not only might he sell more CD’s but he also might inspire more young fans.