Last week this rather odd video of Tom Waits announcing his summer US tour showed up on his record label, Anti's Youtube channel. Altogether now; Peskjumba...
YouTube has become a treasure-trove for Tom Waits fans and plenty of other great musicians you don't don't readily find on TV screens in Britain. Waits' surreal spin on the interview process is particularly inspired.
Take this hilarious chat with David Letterman in 2006:
Going further back to the "Asylum Years", here he is on the Mike Douglas Show in 1976. Bonus points for bumming a smoke off Glenda Jackson.
Staying in the 70s with Tom sucking down some bourbon, he gives the comedians on the short-lived Fernwood Tonight show a run for their money.
And to put you in the mood for Waits' live show, which as he hinted in his "press conference" might be coming to Europe this summer, here's a brilliant performance on the Letterman show of "Chocolate Jesus" from his 1999 album Mule Variations. Play us out of town Tom...
Ah, Tom Waits. One of the great musical wonders of the world. One of my great ambitions before I shuffle off this mortal coil is watch this man in concert. Until that happens, I'll just have to put all his albums since Closing Time on permanent rotation in the jukebox and enjoy the most bizarre worldview available without ingesting illegal substances. What someone wrote of Philip K. Dick applies equally well to old Tom: he makes every other singer-songwriter look like a navel gazer in a cul-de-sac. Thanks for the clips.
Now, what's it to be? Heart Attack & Vine, or Ninth and Hennepin; Mayor's Income, TN, or the Iroquois Hotel, in Moverly, Missouri where I hear she checked in with the president and ran up quite a bill?
Now that sounds like fun, don't it ...
Posted by: Macander | Wednesday, 14 May 2008 at 09:56 PM
Who is this Robert Frisk bloke ? Which slogans at yours does he take care of??
Posted by: amyvape_58 | Thursday, 15 May 2008 at 12:15 AM
"Who is this Robert Frisk bloke ? Which slogans at yours does he take care of??"
I think you have the wrong number.
Posted by: Macander | Thursday, 15 May 2008 at 03:17 AM
I'd recommend his performance of Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis / Silent Night, too - the most sozzled of beautiful songs.
Posted by: Ben | Thursday, 15 May 2008 at 03:57 PM