TOM JONES – “It’s Not Unusual”
Tom Jones is clearly well-meaning, approaches his music with unyielding gusto, and has surely done wonders for the gaiety of the nation. But frankly I can’t stand him. A comical background figure in the way that national treasures often are, I didn’t notice him much until his various bellowing comebacks in the mid-90s. Well, I thought, his early stuff was probably alright. I’m still open to persuasion, but the evidence so far isn’t swaying me.
The best Tom Jones song is probably “What’s New, Pussycat?”, which uses his brashness to maximum effect, matches it with a steamroller arrangement and is also happily, entirely ridiculous. I still don’t enjoy it much but I can see what it’s doing. “It’s Not Unusual” has just as much muscle but aside from the closing yelps Jones’ delivery is a one-note bludgeon. Has anyone ever sounded happier singing about wanting to die?
Alright, I admit it, he’s a charismatic bastard and I can only really really dislike him if I work hard at it. And yes, his voice is a powerful thing even if used for ill. But I still come away from his records feeling like I have spit all over my face.
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Nah, this is a great record, though probably the only decent thing he’s ever done. Well ‘Kiss’ and ‘Delilah’ were OK I suppose.
In the 90s when he had his revival I didn’t like him – and all his songs are like the signifiers of things instead of being the things in & of themselves. So the only place he makes sense is Las Vegas, more or less…
…and so it makes sense that this was used for a Coke or Pepsi radio ad at the time, because it’s loud and brassy and in-your-face commercial already…
Total agreement about the spit-on-face line! Sweaty in a nylon shirt way, I come over all synasthetic when I hear his voice and can smell a clammy, Beefeater-like restaurant circa mid 70s. Horrible. The overwrought ballads work better because they are SO extreme (the weird grunts and squeaks on I’ll Never Fall In Love Again are actually closer to Prince than that sledgehammer cover of Kiss) but his uptempo stuff is unbearably pleased with itself.
So many comebacks telling us he was ‘cool’ and finally the public were bludgeoned into believing it – now I’m in the minority.
Wish I could agree with you about “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again” but I’m afraid to me it still sounds like Freddie Starr trying to impersonate Solomon Burke.
As Dale reminded us yesterday (May 1987 – what a godawful chart) Tom’s first actual comeback hit following “Kiss” on The Last Resort was the ultra-naff “A Boy From Nowhere” from the unmourned musical Matador.
The boys don’t know but the old men understand. Love the horns, the whole thing swings, great production delivered with gusto, easily his best (along with ‘Thunderball’, but that’s deliberately OTT as all good Bond themes are).
(First heard on the waltzers at the fair, aged 11, a perfect place to hear it)
Naaah – sorry – Cant stand TJ either. All that Big Voice Bellowing, whether in the 60s tousle-haired pub-singer era, or the 90s-2000s orange faced Mr Potato-head years. This may be a standard, but its cabaret schlock.
I’d give it a 1 for popularity.