Tom Jones International

Hi, all: I’m back from Palm Springs, company’s gone and I will really focus on the calendar now. So, if you have any photos, hurry and get them in! If they’re similar to the ones below, then we are all in luck. Meanwhile, have a happy, safe Halloween. (To those not in the US, it’s a very big deal here, although last night Jimmy Kimmel pointed ot that in an attempt to stem the tide of H1N1 virus, nothing works like having children go door-to-door and take candy from strangers.)

In the newest edition of Las Vegas Weekly, actor Malcolm McDowell — star of the Kubrick classic A Clockwork Orange and, lately, a star of the terrific HBO series Entourage, is interviewed as he’s in Las Vegas for the http://tomjonesintl.com/?p=14524&preview=trueweekend. He talks about lots of things, including his plans for a Halloween costume. (He really has none.) But he does mention that, “My five-year-old son Beckett—and it’s perfect for Vegas—he’s obsessed with Elvis and Tom Jones. If I could get Tom Jones to come to the house and have tea, he said he’d give [Tom] his favorite surprise. I said, “And what is that?” And he said, “A cookie.” But what child goes around singing It’s Not Unusual around the house? It’s wild.”

It may be “wild,” but this is clearly a kid with good taste.

These are five of the eight portraits of Sir Tom found in Britain’s National Portrait Gallery. Note the sharp outfits in the two photos near left….the pants worn with the orange-trimmed jacket have orange pinstripes. So very cool, as are the patterned cuffs.

Here’s what they say about him.

Notice anything incorrect?

“Sir Tom Jones (Thomas Jones Woodward) (1940-), Singer and entertainer

Sitter in 8 portraits
Welsh-born singer. Worked as a bricklayer and salesman before gaining his first recording contract in 1964. Came to international prominence with It’s Not Unusual (1964), followed by hits such as What’s New Pussycat? (1965), Green Green Grass of Home (1966)and Delilah (1968). Revived his career in the the late 1980s with A Boy From Nowhere (1987) and again in 1999 with the album Reload with hit singles Baby It’s Cold Outside (with Cerys Matthews) and Sex Bomb (with Mousse T).

Of course, what’s wrong is the middle name. But, no matter. The important point is Tommy Woodward, son of a coal miner from a small town in Wales, is included in this august institution.