In the mid-60’s, a Welsh singer had his very first hit that would rocket him to stardom. I recall hearing it often on WOKY and WRIT on my tiny little RCA transistor radio with the light brown case that I would attach to my Raleigh bike with the banana seat.
For the longest time, whenever I’d hear “Its Not Unusual,” I thought the vocalist was black. Back then, there was no Internet, no 200 cable TV channels where you could get a look at this guy. There were some monthly fan magazines, but I was busy buying Superman and the Fantastic Four. Fan magazines were for girls. Our summer Friday night concert series has focused primarily on the late night shows from the 70’s: ABC’s In Concert, NBC’s Midnight Special, and Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert. Tonight, a look at a popular TV show that ran Friday nights, in primetime on ABC, from February 1969- January 1971.
Our guest tonight is the legendary Tom Jones.
During This is Tom Jones, one of the features had Jones end each show with a mini-concert, center stage, surrounded by screaming fans (mostly women) and backed by a huge, cookin' orchestra.
You're watching Friday Night Live. This week, a look back to the ABC-TV varierty show, This is Tom Jones.
I do believe that last number Tom did was an old classic from Aretha Franklin...
Tom Jones always had some of the best names in popular music guest star on his show.
At the time of his TV show, Tom Jones was a hit machine, cranking out one gold record after another.
At the end of each show, Tom would conclude with this message in his native Welsh:
"Gwyn eich byd a dymunaf i chwi lawenydd bob amser" ("May you always be well and be happy"). That's it for this week's edition of Friday Night Live. Thank you for tuning in. Good night.
