Football Quiz: Name the all-time Top 3 winningest coaches in
the NFL, including playoffs. Answer below.
Tom Jones
This past June, crooner Tom Jones celebrated his 60th birthday.
So I thought it would be appropriate to profile an entertainer
whose success is one of the more unusual stories in the history of
the music business.
Born Thomas Jones Woodward in rural Wales, Tom”s father was
a coal-miner. They were poor, the house had no bath and it
wasn”t too difficult to see that young Tom would evolve into
somewhat of a juvenile delinquent.
After finishing up his schooling at the age of 16 (common in
Britain), Tom got married right away and, in order to support his
family, took a job as a builder”s laborer (and later glove cutter)
while singing in pubs at night. His professional debut, so to
speak, was in 1957 at the Treforest Non-Political Working Men”s
Club. It would be fair to say he didn”t burst into stardom at that
point.
Jones loved Wales and was content to play local gigs. In 1963,
he formed his first band, Tommy Scott & the Senators. Soon
after, Tom was discovered by Gordon Mills, a former rock singer
who had decided to concentrate on songwriting and managing.
Tom signed with Mills and the latter convinced Tom to adopt the
Tom Jones moniker (allegedly picking up the name not from his
real, formal one, but rather from the title of the film that had just
hit the theatres).
Jones and Mills went to London and initially had zero success.
Back then the record companies were focusing on the male
groups that were rocking the scene and Jones”s act and booming
voice were seen as appealing to an older audience.
Meanwhile, Mills had penned a song, “It”s Not Unusual,” which
he was saving for a female performer. Jones wanted to record it
himself and got his chance when the girl turned it down. That
was March 1965 and the tune hit #1 in the U.K., branding him as
a top male singer in the group dominated scene. “It”s Not
Unusual” hit #10 in the U.S. Ironically, many DJs who played it
“blind” thought Jones was black…so the song did well on the
R&B charts as well.
The next year was a total blur, as it so often was for stars back
then. And wouldn”t you all have loved to be sitting in Wembley
Stadium back in April of ”65, watching a bill which featured not
only Tom Jones, but the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the
Animals. That would have been awesome. [And it”s too bad it
wasn”t filmed, as far as I know.]
Also in April, Jones recorded “What”s New Pussycat” with Burt
Bacharach and the song soared to #3 in the U.S.
May 2, Jones appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show” for the first
time, again with the Stones. About five weeks later, Sullivan
invited Jones back. Then he began a one-week stint at New
York”s Paramount Theatre. Jones was hot.
Also that month, Tom recorded another Bacharach tune,
“Promise Her Anything,” for the Leslie Caron film of the same
title. I only bring this up because it”s one of my favorite Jones
songs, yet it didn”t hit the Top 40.
By December, Jones was back doing Sullivan and preparing for
the premiere of the James Bond flick, “Thunderball,” for which
Tom sang the title song. And, completing the whirlwind 12-
months, Jones captured the Grammy for Best New Artist of
1965.
Soon after, Jones toured Australia with Herman”s Hermits. As
the stint ended, he checked himself into a hospital, ostensibly to
have his tonsils removed, but rumor had it that he was really
getting a nose job.
And just a few more highlights, as I realize I”m giving you more
than you probably ever wanted to know about the Welshman.
In June 1966, he crashed his Jaguar in London, suffering 14
stitches to the forehead. Then in 1967, “Green, Green Grass of
Home” (which peaked at #11 in the U.S.) became the best-selling
single of his career. This was followed in 1968 by “Delilah”
(#15), a song which was to become a leading number for Jones
impressionists.
By February 1969, Jones was starting a 2-year run at ABC where
his “This is Tom Jones” was a big hit. Because of this
experience, he decided to spend more and more of his time in
Las Vegas, where he made a fortune with his act.
[In 1997, Business Age magazine ranked Jones as the 3rd
wealthiest rock star in the U.K. with a net worth of $460 million,
trailing David Bowie ($917 million) and Paul McCartney ($868
million).]
February 1970 produced the #5 hit, “Without Love.” And one
year later “She”s A Lady” (#2) became his last Top 10 song in
America. Jones”s career then took a dive.
After recording some mildly successful country tunes, Jones
finally had an international hit when he recorded Prince”s “Kiss”
in the fall of 1988. “Kiss” hit #5 in the U.K. and #31 in the U.S.
It was the return of Tom Jones mania, and in certain respects, it
hasn”t left us since. Heck, who can forget his serenading of
Marge on “The Simpsons” back in 1992?!
But right about now, you may be saying to yourself, what about
Jones”s interaction with his female fans? Glad you had that
thought. My friend HK passed along an article written by the
National Post”s (Canada) Mark Steyn. Steyn is brilliantly funny
and he had these thoughts on Jones hitting 60.
“Now he”s hotter than ever. Recently, there”ve been hit songs
about Tom Jones fans, and films, and novels – one with a heroine
called Delilah. And, speaking of Delilah, at the Wales / Scotland
rugby international in March the Band of the Royal Welsh
Regiment played it and the crowd enthusiastically sang along –
50,000 beery rugger boyos bawling the all-time great anthem of
male violence. ”I felt the knife in my hand,” they roared in
unison, ”and she laughed no more.”” [Boys will be boys.]
Amazingly, Jones is still married to his first wife. Of course, it”s
a different kind of relationship. All kinds of paternity suits have
been filed against Tom, most successful. And women still throw
their panties at him on stage, many of them gaining a backstage
pass afterwards, if you catch my drift.
And I loved what Steyn had to say about Tom”s singing style.
“He still sings all the kitsch but he mixes it with newer things,
and he sings them all the same – loud. He could never have been
a British Sinatra (the original hope), but he was a belated British
answer to Frankie Laine and the other booming balladeers of the
early Fifties rather than the white soul boy he”d like to be taken
for. That”s why what works best for Tom is big open-voweled
bombast:”
“Whaaaaah, whaaaaah, whaaaaaah, Delilah?”
“What”s New, Pussycat? Whoa-o-o-o-o-oah!”
“Why can”t this crazy love be miiiiine? Whoa-o-o-oh-oh-oah!”
Tom Jones…the one-night stands.the three-way romps…the
paternity suits…the hits…still loved.
[Sources: “VH1: Rock Stars Encyclopedia,” “Irwin Stambler”s
Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock and Soul,” “The Rolling Stone
Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll.]
One-Hit Wonders, continued
[Artists whose only Billboard Top 40 song was also a Top 10 hit,
covering the period 1961-1975. Chart release date and peak
position included.]
1910 Fruitgum Co. “Simon Says” 2/68 #4
Cliff Nobles & Co. “The Horse” 6/68 #2 [Detested by every
high school marching band.]
Ocean “Put Your Hand In The Hand” 3/71 #2
The O”Kaysions “Girl Watcher” 9/68 #5
Mike Oldfield “Tubular Bells” 3/74 #7 [Theme from “The
Exorcist”] *I had a friend who was a program director at the
famous WABC tell me the other day that he absolutely despised
this tune.
100 Proof Aged In Soul “Somebody”s Been Sleeping” 10/70 #8
Paper Lace “The Night Chicago Died” 7/74 #1
Robert Parker “Barefootin”” 5/66 #7
Emilio Pericol “Al Di La” 6/62 #6 [From the film “Roman
Adventure”]
Pilot “Magic” 5/75 #5
The Pipkins “Gimme Dat Ding” 6/70 #9
Randy & The Rainbows “Denise” 7/63 #10 [Don”t confuse
them with ”Ruby & The Romantics”…I did, for a second.]
The Rebels “Wild Weekend” 1/63 #8
The Reflections “(Just Like) Romeo & Juliet” 5/64 #6
Jeannie C. Riley “Harper Valley P.T.A.” 8/68 #1
Minnie Ripperton “Lovin” You” 2/75 #1
The Rivieras “California Sun” 2/64 #5
College Football / Pre-Season Top 10 [AP Poll]
1. Nebraska
2. Florida State
3. Alabama
4. Wisconsin
5. Miami
6. Michigan
7. Texas
8. Kansas St.
9. Florida
10. Georgia
*Notre Dame is unranked in the Top 25 for the first time since
1986.
Penn State…Joe Paterno…Rashard Casey
The legendary Joe Paterno needs just 7 victories to surpass
“Bear” Bryant”s all-time mark of 323 wins. But, aside from the
fact that Penn State has 6 opponents ranked in the pre-season
Top 25, to get the 7 wins Paterno will also have to deal with a
quarterback controversy; that being the case of Rashard Casey
and the possible indictment Casey faces for a crime back in his
hometown of Hoboken, NJ.
Last May 14, Casey, who is black, was with two other black
friends outside a Hoboken nightspot around 2:30 a.m. when they
came upon Hoboken police officer Frank Fitzsimmons, white,
who was accompanying a black woman known to Casey and his
associates.
It is alleged that Casey and his buddies approached the woman
and, according to police, said “What are you doing with him?
You should be with us. You”re one of us.”
Fitzsimmons was then knocked unconscious and kicked in the
head. Casey”s boots were bloodstained.
Casey and one of his friends pled ”not guilty” to the resulting
assault charges. The third in the group, a tailback at Syracuse,
was not charged.
Now the issue is before a grand jury which won”t rule until
around October and any resulting trial would most likely be held
after the season. It”s also possible the grand jury could just rule
it a misdemeanor and let Casey off the hook.
Some of you may wonder why I bring this whole story up. Well,
for one, I”m familiar with the scene where the beating took place
and, having lived in Hoboken myself on three separate occasions,
know a little about the Hoboken police force. [Not from
personal experience, mind you.]
What”s a little bothersome, though, is Paterno deciding to defend
Casey to the max. For his part, Rashard, who isn”t allowed to
talk to the media about the case (certainly understandable),
nonetheless has been defiant in the few instances where he has
said something. [And, of course, he”s innocent until proven
guilty.]
Paterno has a sterling reputation and I don”t know any college
football fan who doesn”t like “Joe Pa.” But this whole case,
amidst Paterno”s quest for Bear”s record, threatens to damage his
legacy. He will be under the microscope all season for his
handling of it.
Top 3 songs for the week of 8/11/62: #1 “Breaking Up Is Hard
To Do” (Neil Sedaka) #2 “Roses Are Red” (Bobby
Vinton…underrated, seriously) #3 “The Wah Watusi” (The
Orlons…ughh).
Turf vs. Grass
Over the weekend, there was an interesting little bit compiled by
former Giants GM, George Young. Young has been keeping
track of ruptured Achilles tendon injuries and, up to the 1999
season, of the last 35, 19 were on grass, 16 on turf. This is a big
issue in the New York area this year because Giants Stadium,
where both the Jets and Giants play, has natural grass for the first
time.
Football Quiz Answer: Don Shula 347-173-6; George Halas
324-151-31; Tom Landry 270-178-6. [Dan Reeves is the
winningest active coach with 177 wins.] Think about Shula”s
record. You could coach 20 years, go 12-4 with one playoff
victory each season…and just have 260 wins.
Tidbits: Since their 1957 NFL Championship, the Detroit Lions
have one playoff victory (1991). But I still like to see them on
Thanksgiving! The New Orleans Saints first season was 1967.
Zero playoff wins in 4 attempts.
Next Bar Chat, Friday.
