Friday 8 June 2018

1021 Tom Jones : The Right Time


First  viewed : 13   June  1992

This  was  ostensibly  a  six-week  history  lesson  on  the  development  of  popular  music  delivered  by  "Professor"  Tom  Jones  with  the  aid  of  various  musical  guests. It  was  a  mixture  of  performances  and  interviews  before  a  live  audience. Each  episode  focused  on  a  different  genre  until  the  final  one  which  was  given  over  to  Stevie  Wonder.

The  show  was  broadcast  on  Sunday  nights  on  ITV. The  price  exacted  for  appearing  on  the  show  appeared  to  be  a  willingness  to  let  Tom  in  on  the  performance  of  one  of  their  hits, part  of  his,  admittedly  successful, attempt  to  re-brand  himself  for  a  contemporary  audience. That  seemed  to  be  the  main  purpose  of  the  show; the  historical  content  was  vacuous.

The  two  performances  I  remember  are  Tom  doing  an  "embarrassing  uncle"  duet  with  EMF  on   Unbelievable    and  a  more  dignified  version  of  Purple  Rain  with  David  Gilmour  guesting  on  guitar.

2 comments:

  1. Having not seen it, was this any less cringeworthy than his later moves with the Cardigans and Stereophonics?

    (he had the advantage of stronger material in those instances, of course!)

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  2. No, I'd say it was more given neither of those bands were so image-conscious. The EMF lads seemed uncomfortable about it both during the performance and in the interview.

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