Tom Jones International

An article about Atlantic City in the Baltimore Sun quoted Jeff Vassar, president of the Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Bureau, who said: “Ten years ago, you saw the same acts rotating through Atlantic City all the time,” he says. “As much as I like Tom Jones and Don Rickles, they appeal to a much older audience. Now, Atlantic City is taking a much younger approach. We’ve got Carrie Underwood, Nickelback – you wouldn’t see acts like that 10 years ago.”

OK, Mr. Vassar, let’s get honest here. Among the mix of entertainers in AC this year are: Engelbert, Frankie Valli, Dion, Michael Bolton, Neil Sedaka and, the only one who’s sold out thus far is Jeff Beck. Clearly, Mr. Vassar is being less than honest….perhaps the reason is that the casinos aren’t offering as many multi-night engagements and are offering a lot less money. (And, by the way, since when does Michael Bolton appeal to a young crowd?

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On April 15, Mullocks Auctions in Shropshire (UK) will include some TJ memorabilia in it’s auction. Here’s the story and it’s amusing….imagine not wanting to take any old job! …imagine not being absolutely honest with a government official! Note, too, that the spellings (scepticism eg.) are left here as in the original. The story was in several UK papers and I posted the best version. But, honestly, hasn’t enough time elapsed to let it go and just regard it as a quaint curiosity. Hasn’t Tom Woodward proven he’s a hard worker? Jeez! Wouldn’t it be great if Tom could acquire these books (well, of course, he could acquire them) and frame the relevant pages?

Tom Jones jobcentre records reveal staff scepticism
Documents up for auction show 60s civil servants were not too impressed with young singer chasing big break

Steven Morris/Monday 8 March 2010 13.07 GMT/http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/mar/08/tom-jones-employment-jobcentre-records”>Guardian

He went on to sell many millions of records across the world, but employment office records suggest the civil servants who dealt with Tom Jones before he made it big were sceptical and perhaps a little jealous.

Found in a skip and now up for auction, the records include pointed remarks that mock him for signing on rather than signing autographs.

The notes also reveal that he preferred not to do shift work because it interfered with his burgeoning pop career and, it would appear, donned dapper outfits when he attended the employment office in his native south Wales.

One comment from the employment office in December 1963 states: “He does not want shiftwork but I believe the reason for his not liking shifts is because he is a member of a vocal group which is supposedly an amateur affair.

“From the number of adverts one sees in the local press, however, it seems that this group has a good thing going … from the way he is able to dress, it would seem that Mr Woodward’s [his original name] little hobby is highly lucrative and this would also account for his non-enthusiasm in securing employment.

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*Moderator’s Note: If you have a minute, please use it to go to the Bel Air Magazine website and fill out the Oscar survey on the right side of the homepage. If you surf around the site, it’ll become clear why I am asking. Thanks!

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This preview of Tom’s appearance in the Philippines reads as if it’s taken straight from his press kit. Nonetheless, there are errors. For example, the song she calls The New Mexican Puppeteer is really The Young New Mexican Puppeteer and it never got higher than #80 on the Billboard Top 100 Pop Chart. It was not on any country chart. And notice that, here, it’s no longer the 24 Hours tour. It’s Tom Jones Live In Manila! (Love the exclamation point!).

If you’ve never seen the rugby that National Rugby League of Australia advert with Tom singing to the tune of the Salt ‘N’ Pepa song, What A Man,, here it is. It’s called What A Game

As usual, if you cannot play it, drop me a line using the “Contact TJI” link at the bottom right and I’ll email it to you.

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Tom Jones to serenade fans at the Big Dome

By CRISPINA MARTINEZ-BELEN/ March 1, 2010, 3:16pmManila Bulletin

Tom Jones, the international pop sensation who captivated millions with the beauty and charm of his timeless love songs and romantic ditties, will be reunited with his countless Filipino fans when he visits Manila for a concert on March 28 at the Araneta Coliseum.

Titled Tom Jones Live In Manila! the one-night musical event from Ovation Productions is part of the Welsh star’s Asia-Australia tour that also includes New Zealand.

It will showcase a breathtaking array of classic and contemporary hits from one of the most acclaimed and enduring personalities in pop music, such as It’s Not Unusual, Delilah, Green Green Grass Of Home, Help Yourself, Love Me Tonight, I Who Have Nothing, She’s A Lady, Kiss, Sex Bomb, Black Betty and Stoned In Love.

The concert promises an unforgettable treat for music lovers from a singer and entertainer who is endowed with a special appeal and attraction that translate into an indefinable and lasting chemistry with his audience.

With his gorgeous baritone in absolutely perfect form that can reach every corner of the concert hall, Jones turns every performance into an absolutely delightful and entertaining experience.

Known in his native Wales as “Jones the Voice,” he is considered one of the most respected, admired and loved performers in modern popular music because of his unique vocal power, ability and appeal.

Tom Jones started his career in the 1960s and initially acquired a reputation as the front man for a local beat group in his native South Wales, until he was discovered by future manager Gordon Mills, who took him to London and renamed him “Tom Jones.”

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As noted in the March 1, Tom was interviewed by reporter Liam Bartlett for 60 Minutes Sunday in Australia.

The interview, recorded in London, lasts 11:43 and, like the transcript posted Monday, is still kind of rude and intrusive and, like the interview posted yesterday, shows a photo of Tom’s sister and identifies her as his wife. Again, too, he gets Tom’s real name wrong.

The thing is, he got several hours with Tom and wasted the time asking silly and — worst of all — obvious questions. Absolutely nothing is new or revelatory. What is nice, that isn’t in the transcript, are the clips vintage video clips. My favorite was Tom singing with Johnny Cash.

In fairness, Tom is clearly having a good time. I love when he points out the limo’s window and states the obvious — “That’s Buckingham Palace.”

Anyhow, have a look and, join me in thanking Sean for sending it from Down Under.

You can watch it in the TJI.com Video Library.

Don’t forget the TJI Question of the Month, in the post below.

There is video of an interview Tom did the other day with the Australian TV show Today Tonight. The transcript is at the bottom of this post. This interviewer did a better job than that last one. If you follow Tom, you won’t find anything new, but it’s nice — except they mistook a photo of Tom with his sister for a photo of Tom with his wife. (They did that in yesterday’s interview, too.)

To watch the interview, click the thumbnail at left. Then, come back here to read the new interview and, if you wish, the transcript of this video interview.

Tom Jones performing at Sandalford Wines

Sally Browne/PerthNow/March 03, 2010 11:27AM

WHEN Elvis is telling you one thing and Frank Sinatra is telling you another, it’s hard to know who to listen to.

But that’s what it was like for a young Tom Jones when he first made it in America.

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How could I forget?

Happy St. David’s Day To All! And a special congratulations to Sir Tom whose song It’s Not Unusual hit #1 45 years ago today!

Dydd Gwyl Dewi hapus! Happy St David’s Day!

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Tom was one of the guests on the Australian TV news magazine 60 Minutes Sunday. TJI should have the video soon and, despite how I feel about this interview, I will post it. At least it’s something nice to look at and one can always turn down the sound. Meanwhile, the transcript of the interview is below. But as you read it, note that the reporter’s voiceover comments are mixed in with the conversation, so it’s a bit confusing.

Of course, even though we can bet sure money that the reporter was given ground rules — told NOT to discuss knickers, Tom’s marriage, infidelity, he just plowed right ahead, even asking about dead contemporaries (perhaps to underscore the point that he thinks Tom is old?) and whether the Queen, upon knighting Sir Tom, threw ” a pair of royal knickers.” And, no surprise, he gets Tom’s name wrong.

After all is said and done, it is a pointless, stupid interview with no discussion of Tom’s music, the 24 Hours tour and CD. I’ve seen Tom’s press material and there’s a enough stuff in there — and in other sources that any halfway decent reporter can obtain — on which to base reasonable questions. I’m not a prude and there were no new revelations here but — I’ve never said this before — whomever accompanied Tom to the interview should have put a stop to it. I’m among those many fans who’d love to see Tom have another shot here at 60 Minutes, 20//20 or Dateline but, if it were to be like this, I’d just as soon skip it. This is pure crap that does nothing to promote his tour or enhance his image.

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Sex Bomb

Reporter: Liam Bartlett/Producer: Howard Sacre

He’s the coal miner’s son who hit pay-dirt with his great voice. The original, hip-swivelling smoothie from the swinging sixties.

Now he’s pushing seventy, but Tom Jones is still a sex bomb and hard at it, singing, that is.

He says his days as a serial philanderer are over. But on stage, Sir Tom, yes he’s even scored a knighthood, can still bump ‘n’ grind with the best.

And as Liam Bartlett discovered when he caught up with him on the eve of his Australian tour, there’s still no shortage of knicker-hurling fans.

LIAM BARTLETT: We’re at one of Tom Jones’ favourite hang-outs, a pub in London. Most of his contemporaries have long left the stage, but Tom’s as happy as ever in the spotlight. Still touring, still recording albums. I read where you’ve sold 100 million records?

TOM JONES: Oh, yeah. Yeah, it could be even more because like places in South America we couldn’t get the the proper results of what we did sell, you know, so that’s a conservative estimate.

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First, the art: Welsh fan Melvyn Chircop is a talented artist. He works in a variety of media: acrylics, oils, pencil and watercolor. You can see his work, including this and other portraits of Tom here. You’ll recognize Tom, Enge, George Michael and Robbie Williams. The other subjects are all British snooker champions.

Next, the commerce: (Note: One US dollar = 89.5 cents Australian) Tonight (February 27 there) Tom performed his first winery concert in Australia. The promotion material notes, “In a very special offer to celebrate the release of 24 Hours, everyone who purchases a ticket to the Bimbadgen Estate concert will receive a free copy of the album!”

It was an interesting day in New South Wales: One newspaper forecasts the events:

$10m boost for vineyards as Whitney Houston, Tom Jones head for wine region

BY TESS CAMPBELL/27 Feb, 2010 04:00 AM/The Herald, Australia

THE Hunter Valley is gearing up for one of its biggest concert weekends, expected to inject more than $10 million directly into the wine country region.

New data has confirmed that outdoor concerts are a major money-spinner for wine country, with each show generating tens of millions.

About 15,000 fans will flock to two separate concerts today featuring Whitney Houston at Hope Estate Winery and Tom Jones at Bimbadgen Estate.

For the rest of this article and to see the TV commercial, click here to (more…)

This is an out-and-out rave review. Thus, who cares if she didn’t know the name of the song He’ll Have To Go? Look at the adjectives she used to describe Tom: “enthralled,” “consummate,” “lovely,” “master class [in] entertainment,” “strength of his presence”…Wow! This is also, judging from the 90-minute length, the same set list as he used in Las Vegas last month.

Knickers fly for consummate performer

By Dene Mackenzie on Thu, 25 Feb 2010/Otago Daily Times

Welsh entertainer Tom Jones last night treated a remarkably enthusiastic Dunedin audience to a master class of entertainment.

Make no mistake, the only thing he left on the stage last night was sweat.

Everything Jones had to offer from his vast array of talent was on display in the Dunedin Town Hall.

He sang, he danced, he gyrated — still a lovely mover — for 90 minutes without a break.

Sublime.

From the moment he walked on to the stage, the personality of Jones filled the auditorium.

It would be surprising if anyone in the nearly packed Town Hall felt he was not singing directly to them; such was the strength of his presence.

The audience responded readily to any calls for participation through clapping or singing some of the ballads.

To read the end of this review and to watch the excellent TV interview, click here (more…)

The story below is distasteful on two levels. Firstly, the woman’s remark about her decision to buy the painting of Tom — “buy…and then wait till he dies and then sell it” — is crass but, secondly, the response from the promoter (who, of course didn’t know what she said) is, from a pubic relations perspective, just stupid.

The promoter’s response should simply have been, “Give us the contact information and if the opportunity arises we’ll arrange for Tom to sign it for her.” Then, the “opportunity” didn’t have to arise.

That promoter has no idea if this woman is or is not a long-time, devoted fan. Since the natural assumption would be that if someone possesses such a painting she would be a fan, this remark thus reflects the contempt with which someone regards fans.

That “someone,” by the way, is not Tom himself. As many of you have found, he is cordial and gracious to fans. He knows who has kept him thriving all these years — fans, only fans. If it weren’t for fans — long-standing and new — it wouldn’t matter what he records or where he appears. He has a remarkable ability to gather new fans as he goes, and it’s they who buy CDs and tickets. So, it was really dumb to say that and even dumber to say it on the record so it will be printed for thousands of people to read — especially because many readers will interpret it as Tom himself saying he “doesn’t have time” for a fan.

Without debating whether or not this person “deserves” to get the autograph, if you were the promoter responding to the newspaper, what would you have said about the autograph request?

Pop star portrait plan foiled

By Mark Price on Wed, 24 Feb 2010/Otago Daily Times, NZ

A Mosgiel woman’s hopes of having her oil painting of Sir Tom Jones signed by the famous Welsh singer at his concert in Dunedin tonight have been dashed.

Cat Hunter came across the painting in an op shop in Perth four or five years ago, where it was for sale for $10.

“I thought ‘Well, the least I can do is buy that and then wait till he dies and then sell it to some sad Tom Jones fan’,” Ms Hunter said.

When she returned to New Zealand with her partner the painting came too and it now hangs, in its tatty frame, on a wall near her front door.

Visitors often remark that the eyes appear to follow people, like those of the Laughing Cavalier.

“Tom follows you everywhere . . .

“There’s something about Tom, and now I’m sort of starting to think I’ll never sell him.”

Ms Hunter says the painting is in the style of an old master, is dated 1969 and is signed by VA Kirton, of Skegness, Lincolnshire.

For the rest of this article and another about Tom and Whitney Houston in “dueling” concerts Saturday night, click here to (more…)

Correction: When I wrote about Tom playing Korea, I said it was his first time. In fact, it isn’t. He played there 27 years ago. I stand corrected.

On Sunday, once again, TJI was quoted in the Welsh press. It’s accurate, it was indeed on this site last Wednesday. My only quibbles? He spelled my name wrong. And, I should have noted when the comment about stage makeup was posted that Tom doesn’t wear any. Certainly not as he did in the glam days back in the 70s (photo left) with eyeliner and pancake makeup. Remember that?

Tom Jones’ backstage concert demands revealed

Feb 21 2010 by Nathan Bevan, Wales On Sunday

SEVEN dwarves, submachine guns, a Bob Hope impersonator and a huge bowl of M&Ms with all the brown ones taken out — it’s not unusual for rock bands to make the occasional odd request while out on tour.

But in the case of Tom Jones’ recent appearance at a music festival in Chile it seems the 69-year-old Ponty Sex Bomb’s backstage needs are far from the wild excess of his musical peers these days.

According to a South American newspaper, the Valleys singing legend is quite content to perform providing there’s two people on standby to iron his clothes and plenty of black towels to wipe up the sweat and ensure “the audience does not see anything dirty”.

The story in Estrella Norte revealed Jones, who they dubbed The Tiger Of Wales, requested that promoters for Festival Antofagasta supply him with specific French white wines, including a bottle of Chassagne-Montrachet 2008 exclusively from the vineyard Domaine Paul Pillot, a van actor Daniel Craig used while filming the 22nd Bond movie Quantum of Solace nearby, a shower in his dressing room at the side of the stage and a safe.

“Compared to the most mythical of documents that was the Van Halen tour rider of 1982 — a 52-pager asking for such things as herring in sour cream, malt liquor, K-Y Jelly and, most famous of all, a dish of M&Ms with all the brown ones removed — Tom’s requests are downright dull,” said Ellen Stirling, a US journalist who runs tomjonesintl.com, the web’s largest fan site dedicated to The Voice.

Meanwhile, one of the site’s subscribers posted her thoughts on the mystery of the black towels.

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After Tom leaves the Philippines on March 28, he’ll play in South Korea. As far as TJI could find out, this is the first time he’ll be there. He is certainly circling the globe in 2010. Friday April 2 and Saturday April 3: Seoul, South Korea; Olympic Park, Fencing Stadium; 6:30 pm: Tickets While the official TJ site still lists the May MGM Grand cancellation in big fat letters, the April 7 and 10 dates in South Africa still aren’t listed, but tickets are being sold. Click here to find links to the ticket sales.<

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Tom arrived in New Zealand Wednesday and held a press conference covered by just about all the press in the nation. His management was firm in telling reporters what questions were off-limits and, as you can see, the promoters turned it into a real media event. There is video at the bottom of the last article in this post.

Tom Jones still chases the dream

By Michael Dickison/4:27 PM Thursday Feb 18, 2010/New Zealand Herald

Perennial entertainer Tom Jones will sing Sex Bomb even as he turns 70 and tell stories told many times before with enthusiasm – but will not entertain questions about women flinging their underwear at him.

Jones, 69, famous for It’s Not Unusual and stages filled with underwear thrown from lusting crowds, cheerfully answered questions today in a press conference to promote his four-stop tour around New Zealand, starting at Auckland’s Villa Maria Estate on Sunday.

Jones walked into the conference room, in front of a pack of cameras and reporters, with a charming grin and salute.

But this was after repeated warnings by organisers not to ask about women’s underwear, questions that would be “old hat” and “unimaginative.”

Reporters were told their reputations would be on the line.

Jones has performed for 50 years, toured the world, amassed an estimated $400 million, and mixed with the biggest names, like Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra.

For the rest of this article and two more, two new photos and a video of Tom’s New Zealand press conference, click here to (more…)