What's New, Pussycat?

[Prudence]

Tom Jones is knighted.


Yeah, so I dig listening to his music.

[katiesue]

My daughter had a Tom Jones phase when she was three. She'd listen to "What's New Pussycat" over and over and over and over. Made me slightly bonkers.

[mousepod]

I never thought I'd have an opportunity to share my favorite Tom Jones story on the LoT, but since Prudence started the thread:

A dozen or so years ago, when we still lived on the East Coast, Heather & I decided to go see a Tom Jones show at the Garden State Arts Center in NJ. We brought along my pal Chris and Angie, Heather's friend and workmate from Betsey Johnson. Considering the high swank factor of the show, we dressed up in our snappiest duds, the girls wearing sexy crepe de chine dresses from work.

When we arrived at the amphitheater, we quickly realized that we were among the youngest folks in the crowd. How sad, we thought, that more people from our generation didn't appreciate the pure genius of TJ. We settled into our seats and awaited the start of the show.

Tom hit the stage like a whirlwind. His band rocked. He belted out every single hit with such gusto that it felt as if the entire theater was electrified. It didn't matter how old the audience was - we were all screaming teenagers.

We noted one odd, slightly disconcerting thing, though. The man sweat. A lot. Not a "mop your brow between songs" kind of sweat, but a "someone stuck a garden hose up him" sweat. It literally poured off him from the moment he hit the stage.

The main set neared its end when Angie turned to us. "I'm going to rush the stage and hug him. The security guards look like a bunch of high school kids."

And she did.

Her single act of insanity triggered some kind of reaction, because within minutes the stage was attacked again and again by wild-eyed adult women, who were no match for the scrawny security. Tom obligingly hugged each one, and never missed a beat.

On the way back to the car, still buzzing from the outstanding show, Heather, Chris and I looked over to Angie to congratulate her for starting the flood of hugs. And then we noticed something. Crepe de chine, you see, shrinks when it gets wet. Her beautiful party dress, which had begun the night as a mid-calf number, was now knee-length in the front.

God bless Sir Tom, that sweaty bugger.

[Snowflake]

A great entertainer all the way around. Congrats Sir Tom whoda thunk knighthood could be so swankified?

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Great story, mousepod!

My mom was a major TJ fan so I got a pretty good dose of his music as a kid. My parents also saw in him in Vegas a few times and always raved about how great a show he did.

Concerning the sweat, I con only imagine how many bright lights accompany a TJ show. It's probably 150 degrees on that stage. I know from my past experience of having to play drums under a lot of bright lights (and nowhere near as many as Tom, I'm sure) it really gets the sweat flowing. Nothing like trying to hold on to two varnished drumsticks when you are drenched.

Then again, I do recall noticing that Robin Williams seems to sweat enormously. Maybe Tom is special that way.

Regardless, congrats to Mr Jones.

[Prudence]

Teehee! That was a funny story, Mousepod!

Tom Jones is a mighty swanky dude, apparently a mighty sweaty swanky dude.

I think Thunderball is my favorite James Bond theme. I daily sing "What's new, Boriscat?" when Boris comes to monitor my shower. That is likely enough confessional for one day.

[innerSpaceman]

Ahem, that's Sir Jones, you commoner.

[Prudence]

Actually, it could be Sir Tom or Sir Tom Jones but never Sir Jones.

/pedant

[innerSpaceman]

I stand quite corrected.

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by Prudence

Yeah, so I dig listening to his music.

It's not unusual, Prudence.