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.
The Time: 1994; The Place: HOB, LA; The Music: Tom Jones, “It’s Your Thing”
Saturday, July 25th, 2009
In 1994 Tom appeared at LA’s new House of Blues. The next year there was a TV special about it on which he also appeared.In 1994 his well-received CD, The Lead and How To Swing It, also came out in 1994.
Some reviews from that time are below:
“Some leather-clad longhair and I danced and screamed like a couple of tipsy housewives on an annual girls’ night out. Normally, you’d have to hold a gun to my head to induce this kind of behaviour, but I guess that’s the magic of Tom Jones.” – Lorraine Ali, Rolling Stone, Request Magazine poll of best live shows in 1994 (Billboard: Tom Jones at the House of Blues, 10/94)
“Tom Jones proved . . . that he’s edgy, way cool and a total crowd- pleaser even when the crowd is more accustomed to his labelmates Nine Inch Nails. His new audience wears Doc Martens, not Dr. Scholl’s. From songs by Lenny Kravitz to the Black Crowes, Jones showed himself to be an absolutely unique animal: a rock-song stylist. This is not this year’s MTV-friendly Sinatra or Tony Bennett. Jones has moved from pop to bona-fide rock, a talent no one thought he had during his decades of singing wimpy love songs to blue hairs.” (- Jeffrey Jolson-Colburn, The Hollywood Reporter)
“The antithesis of Tony Bennett . . . Tom Jones has sustained his [credibility] – 30 years after It’s Not Unusual – by keeping up with what’s new, musically, without embarrassing himself. Audience reaction to the super-energetic set was ecstatic, enough so to drown out the high-decibel chattering characteristic of House of Blues audiences.” (—Todd Everett, Daily Variety )
One of the songs he did at the HOB and in his shows then was It’s Your Thing. Lampie sent us video of the HOB appearance (not of the TV special) and you can watch the it in the TJI.com Video Library.
July 25th, 2009 at 8:08 am
The one interesting thing about this….why the UK band? Missing the soul in the vocal backgrounds. Not that this band is not good or anything, just unusual not to have the US band here.
July 25th, 2009 at 8:08 am
Thanks both! Great to see footage from the year when I first attended Tom’s live shows. Didn’t know this stuff was out there.
July 25th, 2009 at 8:49 am
Thanks Lampie for sharing. My first TJ concert wasn’t until 2000 so I really appreciate these earlier snipets.
July 25th, 2009 at 9:12 am
Yay! I saw Tom for the first time only months after this! Ah to have a time machine!
July 25th, 2009 at 9:45 am
Keith,
There must have been a mix-up, because that’s Cardiff, in the UK. That’s why the UK band. It’s still 1994, and from the same show as the videos “Down To The Nightclub” and “I Wanna Get Back With You”, a bit further down the page.
mharding wrote…”Didn’t know this stuff was out there.”
Me either, but I’ve come to believe that as of March 21, 2007, at 08:24 am GMT, everything is on the internet. Really, I mean EVERYTHING. I found Jimmy Hoffa one night, and I’ve been racking my brain trying to remember the URL ever since.
I’ve had a VHS copy of this show stuck in the back of my closet for the past 15 years, and forgot it existed. To the best of my knowledge, there was only one other copy made, and it was supposed to be sent to Tom’s LA office. Last month, I saw a clip of this show floating around the internet (with fair quality video, but really poor audio). First, I laughed, because it proves my “everything” theory. It also reminded me I had a copy, and I started looking for it. The VHS tape is 15 years old, and might not last much longer, so I’ve been pulling the whole thing to digital, a little at a time, over the last couple weeks.
July 25th, 2009 at 9:52 am
thanks Lampie…no matter…anytime we get to see TJ we enjoy it and thank you for taking the time to send it here for everyone to see.
July 25th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Thanks Lampie for all you bring us. So much fun to see and watch Tom enjoying what he does best. Thanks Ellen for posting.