Elvis Presley - World-of-Newave.info World-of-Newave.info http://www.world-of-newave.info/ 2008-11-23T13:35:31Z Latest news and articles about Elvis Presley Copyright (c)2004-2008.§/Newave SARL. All rights reserved. {NEWS > BREAKING NEWS} - The 20th Century's Industrious Designer : Photo: Courtesy Library of CongressIndustrial designer Raymond Loewy was a giant in his field. He produced innovative designs in every area from fashion to locomotives. If you admire the Streamlined Moderne style of Art Deco, you've probably admired a Loewy design. You like logos? Then, you like Loewy. That's enough from us. Take a look for yourself. Left: Loewy poses in a mocked-up designer's office with modern décor, around 1934. At his side is a model of his 1932 Hupmobile, one of the first streamlined automobiles.: Sketch: Courtesy Library of CongressLoewy made this preliminary sketch for the Cornell-Liberty Safety Car, designed for the Cornell Aeronautical Research Laboratory and the Liberty Mutual Life Insurance Company, in 1956.: Rendering: Courtesy Loewy Design Loewy designed the 1961 Avanti for Studebaker.: Photo: Library of CongressLoewy designed this car for Jaguar ? or maybe a Mr. Bruce Wayne of Gotham City. : Rendering: Courtesy Library of Congress Loewy approached the Pennsylvania Railroad in the early 1930s and told railway execs he wanted to design locomotives. Loewy's T-1 steam engine was the Pennsy's last before switching to diesel. : Photo: Courtesy Loewy Design Loewy poses with an early model of his GG1 electric locomotive for the Pennsylvania Railroad, 1935. : Credit: Courtesy Loewy Design President John F. Kennedy thought the Air Force's paint scheme for the Boeing 707 Air Force One was too royal: He wanted a look that was appropriate for a president, not a king. On the advice of first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, the White House contacted Loewy, who redesigned the exterior livery and the interior cabins. : Sketch: Courtesy Library of Congress Loewy played around with 18 design ideas for a new Standard Oil Company logo. Loewy OK'd a version only slightly different from the eventual, final version (next slide). : Credit: Courtesy of Loewy Design Loewy designed or redesigned well-known logos for scores of corporations. : Credit: Courtesy Loewy DesignLoewy modernized the traditional Coke bottle, as well as designed its new larger sizes and "no deposit, no return" bottles and cans. His countertop dispenser for restaurants and soda fountains is an icon of postwar Americana. : Credit: Courtesy Loewy Design Loewy simplified the old Lucky Strike cigarette logo and changed the dark green pack to white. The underlying reasons for the change were the American Tobacco Company's desire to attract more women to the brand with a brighter package, and also that the green ink gave off an odor. However, with the United States entering World War II, the company marketed the move as patriotism, claiming it was made to conserve the metals used make green ink. Advertisements trumpeted the slogan, "Lucky Strike Green has gone to war," and millions of packs were distributed to GIs. American Tobacco didn't forget its plan to market to women, as this ad in Ladies Home Journal makes evident. : Credit: Courtesy of Loewy Design With a hemline that low, you would guess this outfit has to be prewar or postwar, because the fashion industry conserved fabric with high hemlines during World War II. As a matter of fact, this Loewy modern black ensemble with matching accessories appeared in Vogue in 1939. : Credit: Courtesy Loewy Design Loewy created this quasi-futuristic jukebox for United Music Corp. in 1958. You might have selected from a mixed-bag playlist of 45s like these 1958 hits: "Don't" — Elvis Presley "Great Balls of Fire" — Jerry Lee Lewis "Johnny B. Goode" — Chuck Berry "Good Golly Miss Molly" — Little Richard "La Bamba" — Ritchie Valens "Fever" — Peggy Lee "Poor Little Fool" — Ricky Nelson "Rebel Rouser" — Duane Eddy "All the Way" — Frank Sinatra "26 Miles (Santa Catalina)" — The Four Preps "A Wonderful Time Up There" — Pat Boone "Tequila" — The Champs "Catch a Falling Star" — Perry Como "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" — Laurie London "Twilight Time" — The Platters "Witch Doctor" — David Seville "All I Have to Do Is Dream" — The Everly Brothers "Purple People Eater" — Sheb Wooley "Yakety Yak" — The Coasters "Splish Splash" — Bobby Darin "Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Blu)" — Dominico Modugno "Rockin Robin" — Bobby Day "Tom Dooley" — The Kingston Trio "To Know Him Is to Love Him" — Teddy Bears "The Chipmunk Song" — The Chipmunks/David Seville "Jingle Bell Rock" — Bobby Helms : Photo: Courtesy Hagley Museum and Library Loewy also created this 1950s Charcoal line china for Rosenthal. : Credit: Courtesy Loewy Design Loewy designed this classic bedroom set for Mengel Furniture. : Photo: Gottscho-Schleisner/Courtesy Library of Congress Loewy looks over a model of Imperial House in 1959, a planned apartment complex for Manhattan's Upper East Side. : Credit: Courtesy Loewy DesignLoewy created this prototype store for a bakery chain in New York in 1937. The white porcelain-covered steel siding and semicircular window endings gives it an air of "Radio Deco.": Photo: Courtesy Loewy Design Earth was not room enough for Loewy: He created this model for the living quarters of the NASA Skylab space station. : Study: Courtesy Loewy Design Loewy's 1970 study for a NASA space station appears influenced by sets from the 1968 film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, though it is a much smaller module. : Credit: Courtesy Loewy Design Loewy sifts through his designs for NASA. : Photo: Courtesy Loewy Design Raymond Loewy and his daughter Laurence enjoy a moment in 1982. Laurence was a prize-winning journalist who later headed the Raymond Loewy Foundation and served as CEO of Loewy Design. She died Oct 15, 2008, at age 55. David Hagerman, the COO of Loewy Design says, "Laurence hoped RaymondLoewy.org would help introduce a new generation of design enthusiasts to her father." http://articles.world-of-newave.info/news/breaking-news/the-20th-century-s-industrious-designer-2008119005.htm 2008-11-05T05:00:00Z 2008-11-05T05:00:00Z Wired.Com http://www.wired.com/culture/design/multimedia/2008/11/gallery_loewy The 20th Century's Industrious Designer {new window}   Www.Wired.Com - : Photo: Courtesy Library of CongressIndustrial designer Raymond Loewy was a giant in his field. He produced innovative designs in every area from fashion to locomotives. If you admire the Streamlined Moderne style of Art Deco, you've probably admired a Loewy design. You like logos? Then, you like Loewy. That's enough from us. Take a look for yourself. Left: Loewy poses in a mocked-up designer's office with modern décor, around 1934. At his side is a model of his 1932 Hupmobile, one of the first streamlined automobiles.: Sketch: Courtesy Library of CongressLoewy made this preliminary sketch for the Cornell-Liberty Safety Car, designed for the Cornell Aeronautical Research Laboratory and the Liberty Mutual Life Insurance Company, in 1956.: Rendering: Courtesy Loewy Design Loewy designed the 1961 Avanti for Studebaker.: Photo: Library of CongressLoewy designed this car for Jaguar ? or maybe a Mr. Bruce Wayne of Gotham City. : Rendering: Courtesy Library of Congress Loewy approached the Pennsylvania Railroad in the early 1930s and told railway execs he wanted to design locomotives. Loewy's T-1 steam engine was the Pennsy's last before switching to diesel. : Photo: Courtesy Loewy Design Loewy poses with an early model of his GG1 electric locomotive for the Pennsylvania Railroad, 1935. : Credit: Courtesy Loewy Design President John F. Kennedy thought the Air Force's paint scheme for the Boeing 707 Air Force One was too royal: He wanted a look that was appropriate for a president, not a king. On the advice of first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, the White House contacted Loewy, who redesigned the exterior livery and the interior cabins. : Sketch: Courtesy Library of Congress Loewy played around with 18 design ideas for a new Standard Oil Company logo. Loewy OK'd a version only slightly different from the eventual, final version (next slide). : Credit: Courtesy of Loewy Design Loewy designed or redesigned well-known logos for scores of corporations. : Credit: Courtesy Loewy DesignLoewy modernized the traditional Coke bottle, as well as designed its new larger sizes and "no deposit, no return" bottles and cans. His countertop dispenser for restaurants and soda fountains is an icon of postwar Americana. : Credit: Courtesy Loewy Design Loewy simplified the old Lucky Strike cigarette logo and changed the dark green pack to white. The underlying reasons for the change were the American Tobacco Company's desire to attract more women to the brand with a brighter package, and also that the green ink gave off an odor. However, with the United States entering World War II, the company marketed the move as patriotism, claiming it was made to conserve the metals used make green ink. Advertisements trumpeted the slogan, "Lucky Strike Green has gone to war," and millions of packs were distributed to GIs. American Tobacco didn't forget its plan to market to women, as this ad in Ladies Home Journal makes evident. : Credit: Courtesy of Loewy Design With a hemline that low, you would guess this outfit has to be prewar or postwar, because the fashion industry conserved fabric with high hemlines during World War II. As a matter of fact, this Loewy modern black ensemble with matching accessories appeared in Vogue in 1939. : Credit: Courtesy Loewy Design Loewy created this quasi-futuristic jukebox for United Music Corp. in 1958. You might have selected from a mixed-bag playlist of 45s like these 1958 hits: "Don't" — Elvis Presley "Great Balls of Fire" — Jerry Lee Lewis "Johnny B. Goode" — Chuck Berry "Good Golly Miss Molly" — Little Richard "La Bamba" — Ritchie Valens "Fever" — Peggy Lee "Poor Little Fool" — Ricky Nelson "Rebel Rouser" — Duane Eddy "All the Way" — Frank Sinatra "26 Miles (Santa Catalina)" — The Four Preps "A Wonderful Time Up There" — Pat Boone "Tequila" — The Champs "Catch a Falling Star" — Perry Como "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" — Laurie London "Twilight Time" — The Platters "Witch Doctor" — David Seville "All I Have to Do Is Dream" — The Everly Brothers "Purple People Eater" — Sheb Wooley "Yakety Yak" — The Coasters "Splish Splash" — Bobby Darin "Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Blu)" — Dominico Modugno "Rockin Robin" — Bobby Day "Tom Dooley" — The Kingston Trio "To Know Him Is to Love Him" — Teddy Bears "The Chipmunk Song" — The Chipmunks/David Seville "Jingle Bell Rock" — Bobby Helms : Photo: Courtesy Hagley Museum and Library Loewy also created this 1950s Charcoal line china for Rosenthal. : Credit: Courtesy Loewy Design Loewy designed this classic bedroom set for Mengel Furniture. : Photo: Gottscho-Schleisner/Courtesy Library of Congress Loewy looks over a model of Imperial House in 1959, a planned apartment complex for Manhattan's Upper East Side. : Credit: Courtesy Loewy DesignLoewy created this prototype store for a bakery chain in New York in 1937. The white porcelain-covered steel siding and semicircular window endings gives it an air of "Radio Deco.": Photo: Courtesy Loewy Design Earth was not room enough for Loewy: He created this model for the living quarters of the NASA Skylab space station. : Study: Courtesy Loewy Design Loewy's 1970 study for a NASA space station appears influenced by sets from the 1968 film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, though it is a much smaller module. : Credit: Courtesy Loewy Design Loewy sifts through his designs for NASA. : Photo: Courtesy Loewy Design Raymond Loewy and his daughter Laurence enjoy a moment in 1982. Laurence was a prize-winning journalist who later headed the Raymond Loewy Foundation and served as CEO of Loewy Design. She died Oct 15, 2008, at age 55. David Hagerman, the COO of Loewy Design says, "Laurence hoped RaymondLoewy.org would help introduce a new generation of design enthusiasts to her father."
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]]> {EUROPE > NEWS AND MEDIA} - On song: Tom Jones talks to Simon Hattenstone Tom Jones has two recurring nightmares. In the first, he is wrongfully accused of murder. In the second, he has hidden a body in the attic, the house has just been sold and the body is about to be discovered. He wakes up in a bath of sweat. The nightmares confused him for years. "I haven't killed anybody. I've never wanted to kill anybody. I've tried to analyse it, and I think, since I started making hit records, I've thought, 'Jesus Christ, this is the best thing that's ever happened to me.' But always you think this is going to fall apart. Something will happen. There is a skeleton in the closet." He stops. "Which there isn't. But in my mind I think they're going to find that out, and that's going to finish me."Jones, now 68, has a lovely way of telling stories, as if every thought has hit him for the first time.Perhaps there's another reason for the nightmares. His biggest hit, Green, Green Grass Of Home, was about a man facing execution. Another huge single, Delilah, tells the story of a jealous boyfriend killing his girlfriend. His new album is called 24 Hours and the title track is about another man on death row ? though it can just as easily be read as the sombre reflections of an elderly man looking into the abyss. It's a landmark album for Jones ? his most personal, and the first for which he has a joint writing credit on most of the songs.We first meet in a London hotel. He is wearing black, as he often does. Black polo neck, black trousers, black shoes, strange black hair that looks as if it could be woven from acrylic, and black goatee. He is accompanied by his son and daughter-in-law, Mark and Donna Woodward, the svengalis behind his renaissance over the past 20 years. Mark looks like a greyer version of his father ? how Jones might look if he'd chosen a more sober career. Jones also introduces me to a handsome elderly man with snow white hair, Don Archell, his personal assistant, and to the singer Cerys Matthews, with whom he duetted on the hit record Baby, It's Cold Outside. Jones orders the first of his vodka martinis, and he's off.If there's one thing Tom Jones enjoys as much as singing, it's chatting. He's seen so much, met so many people, had such a lucky life, of course he wants to talk about it, he says. He loves being interviewed. "Look, if I go into a pub, I'm doing an interview because people want to know things. And I love my life, I love my achievements, I love talking about it . If somebody wasn't asking me, I'd go and find someone and say, 'Guess what I did?!' It's a Celtic thing. The people in Wales, they all talk, and I love it."So he talks about drinking with Robbie Williams' dad in Los Angeles, his grandson's skills on the ski slopes , the time Otis Redding told him that soul singers try to sing like Jones. "I said to Otis, 'You're joking ? I'm trying to sound like you.'" Jones spent so many years in Vegas, singing epic ballads, that it is easy to forget he was one of the great white soul singers. Go to YouTube and watch him battling it out note for note with Stevie Wonder on Superstition, Aretha Franklin on See Saw and Tina Turner on Nutbush City Limits, and you see just how raw, radical and soulful he was.He grew up in Pontypridd in a Welsh mining community. His earliest memories are of tugging on his mother's sleeve at family weddings, asking when he could sing, and her saying he had to wait to be invited. He was five or six, and impatient. Even then, he says, when he got up, he was aware of the effect he had on the little girls. They made eyes at him, asked him what school he went to. He can't remember his voice being much different ? even then, he wanted to belt them out. "Some kids, they sing very high and then their balls drop and their voice drops. I can't remember that ever happening to me. It was higher, but it didn't change dramatically."He was useless at school. Not interested. He thinks he was slightly dyslexic, but says he might be making excuses for himself ? perhaps he was just thick. Even on the sports field, he couldn't concentrate ? sure, he'd play rugby because he had to, but all the while he'd be watching the time, telling himself in a few minutes he could be down the shops buying himself an air gun or at home singing. He boxed, but didn't much care for getting hit.At 13, he contracted tuberculosis. He was off school for two years, most of the time spent in bed. Thank God for TB, he says. If it hadn't been for the illness, he might have ended up down the mines, like his father. "The doctor said to my parents, ' Whatever you do, you can't put this boy in a coal mine because he has weak lungs .' And the weird thing is, with weak lungs I've become a fuckin' singer."The illness changed his attitude to life. "When I used to get up for an hour a day, I would stand at the front door and see my mates playing, going up the hills. They'd shout, 'All right, Tom' but I couldn't get out the door. There was a lamp-post at the end of our street, and I'd look at it and think, once I can walk from this door to that lamp-post, I will never complain about another thing in my life. And that was it. And if I do, if the thought ever enters my mind, I see that lamp-post."He returned to school for a year and left at 15 to work as a labourer's mate. "Hod carrying, mixing cement. Up and down ladders. Good, strong legs." A year later, he was married to Linda, living in her mother's house with baby Mark. They wanted more children, but a miscarriage left her infertile.Fast-forward another year and Jones is doing shifts on building sites by day and singing at working men's clubs by nights. The women loved him, but it was the fellas who really came to watch and judge. Big, tough, emotional men, they made for a demanding audience. "On Sunday nights it was men only. You'd have to make sure you put a bunch of ballads in there. The men loved them. Especially in Wales."All the time he really wanted to sing edgier songs. First, there was the new rock'n'roll of Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis, then there was the blues. "I was liking black singers without realising. And the blues. Big Bill Broonzy. I heard this song, 'If you was white, you's all right, if you was brown, stick around, but if you's black, oh brother, get back' and I thought what a great line that is." Jones' voice is lilting, even by Welsh standards, and every few minutes he breaks into song to illustrate his point. He can't help himself.It was when he got himself a band, and started to play rock'n'roll and blues and soul, that women went crazy for him. By now, Linda didn't like turning up to his shows. They made her feel uncomfortable, and she had Mark to look after, anyway. "She said, 'Go on, I know what those girls are like and I don't want to see it. As long as you come home here.' So that's what happened."In his mid-20s in 1964, Jones, still known as Tom Woodward (his mother's name was Jones), headed off for London, championed by the people of Pontypridd. All he had was his looks, the moves he had learned as a teenager and the voice. "My mates would say, 'You can sing, you've got to go to London,you've got to show these fuckers how to put it together.'" He hated leaving Linda and Mark at home, Linda working at a battery factory to make ends meet ? he considered it demeaning to be supported by a woman. Working in the mines or factories of Pontypridd was drudgery, certainly not a career. He promised himself that when he became successful, he would ensure that his family never had to work again. One of the things of which he is most proud is that he was able to retire his father from the mines at 50.Three days later, on Saturday, we meet at Bethnal Green Working Men's Club in east London, where he is having his photograph taken. It's a throwback to his early days ? a huge red heart on the stage, carpets that stink of stale beer, and a few elderly men dotted around supping on pints. Jones is here with his mini entourage ? Don, Mark and Donna, and their ageing staffordshire bull terrier, Leroy. Leroy and Jones are not dissimilar ? both have been round the block a few times, yet exude a puppyish verve. Leroy likesnothing more than lying on his back and being given a good tickle. I would imagine the same could be said for Jones.Jones is all in black again ? this time in a frilly shirt rather than polo neck. After six decades in the business, he still gets self-conscious when having his picture taken. He asks if we'd mind leaving the room while he psyches himself up. When we return, he's fiddling with his silver crucifix, trying on a new shirt ? white this time ? and singing along to one of the songs. After the shoot, he fancies a drink. Two vodka martinis, please. He asks if I went on somewhere else the other night. He and Cerys had a bit of dinner and a few drinks, he says. "She left about 12.30 to 1am." But she was going to leave at 8pm? "Exactly!" he says with delight.Matthews later tells me she doesn't get much chance to go out now that she's a mother of two. "Tom is very persuasive. We had so much fun ? we didn't stop laughing. He's a riot and a good friend, as well as being an old school gentleman." She has never sung with anybody like him, she says. "It's the best feeling in the world. His instincts are natural, his passion is absolute. I once asked him what his ideal day would be and said don't let it be about music. 'Well, it couldn't be my ideal day if I couldn't get up and do a show,' he said."When Jones came to London in 1964, he hooked up with aspiring manager and song writer Gordon Mills. It was Mills who suggested changing the name to Jones ? very Welsh, very laddish, very Henry Fielding. Six months on, Jones felt he was wasting his time recording demos for stars to turn into hits. He made a demo of a song written by Mills called It's Not Unusual and was told it was going to be recorded by a young singer called Sandie Shaw. He knew he'd done the song more than justice, that it was perfect for him, and decided he would return to Pontypridd if he couldn't make it his. "Thank God Sandie Shaw listened to the demo and said, ' Whoever's singing this song, it's his song', so God bless her."Another vodka martini. A toast to Sandie Shaw. Jones has an incredible memory for dates. He'd do brilliantly on Mastermind with Tom Jones as his specialist subject. "I recorded It's Not Unusual on November 11 1964, it came out on January 22 1965 and it was number one by March 1, which was St David's Day. Tremendous!"There are a couple of things people know about Tom Jones: he has always been something of a ladies' man ? women throw their knickers at him ? and he is still married to the woman he wed at 16. It's not that he boasts about his conquests; others do that for him. There have been countless kiss'n'tells, most famously Mary Wilson of the Surpremes who claimed they had enjoyed a two-year fling; there was the paternity case (he paid out because, he says, he could not prove the boy was not his son ? there has been no relationship); and there have been the former associates who have done the dirty on him.For the first time on the new album, he addresses his infidelities in the remarkable confessional The Road, when he sings that however far and often he has strayed, he has always returned home. It is both a love song and an apology, isn't it? "Well, I never admit to anything, you know what I mean." I can't help laughing. Tom, you admit plenty in this song.He recites the lyrics as if standing at the pulpit. "'I have felt weakness when I was strong, felt sweetness when I was wrong.' Linda wouldn't say to me, 'What d'you mean by that?' No, she wouldn't do that. The thing that she likes more than anything else is, 'But the road always leads back to you.' And that 's the truth. I will never leave my wife. It never entered my mind." They've been apart a lot, he says. "But we are still in love with one another. You know, we're not sexually like we were, but we are still in tune with one another, we can still have fun with one another, we still talk. She's still the Welsh girl I married."He says Linda is shy, agoraphobic. When he has well-known friends around, she hides. I also heard she once beat him up after hearing about one of his affairs. "Oh yeah!" he says, almost enthusiastically. "She's actually thrown things at me." Sometimes, he says, she settles for harsh words. "The funniest thing is, we were having a bit of a barny one night in LA ? sometimes it can start off really nice, a nice dinner, back to the music room, put on the old records that we used to dance to when we were teenagers, and it's all lovely, lovely, lovely, and then it becomes, 'Well, what about when you did this?' "Would that be about Mary Wilson? "Exactly. Things like that. So she said, 'Let me tell you something, but you've got to stand there, and you've got to promise me that you will not try and get hold of me.' And I thought, 'Jesus, what's she going to tell me ? that she's been with an old friend of mine or what?' So I'm expecting the worst, and we're both well oiled by this point. 'OK, come on, what is it?' She says, 'If you couldn't sing, you wouldn't have a friend in the world' and runs out of the room. Well, I fell on the floor in a heap. She thought that was the worst thing she could ever say to me ? I thought it was hilarious."Does he think there's any truth in it? "Maybe! No, nah." I ask if she has had affairs. "Not as far as I know ? Best not to go into it. We don't discuss it, never have." He pauses. "That has never been discussed either, if you know what I mean ? the not discussing it. Should we have another?"I'm beginning to sink into a happy blur, while Jones is remembering more and more dates: 1968, Copacabana, New York ? the first time he had knickers thrown at him. "There was a supper club, and the singer sang at the same level as the table and chairs, right on the floor. And the more people you drew into the club, the smaller the area in which you performed ? like some of the northern clubs. At one point I'm performing in a tiny area and I'm sweating ? I was always a good sweater. So because they'd had dinner, they had napkins on the table, so they see me sweating and hand me their napkins, I hand them back and they'd keep them. So this one woman stood up ? up with the dress, down with the drawers. Took 'em off and handed them to me." What did you do? "I wiped my brow and said, 'Sweetheart, watch you don't catch cold.' Because you always learn in working men's clubs, no matter what happens, you've got to try to make some fun out of it." When he went to Vegas for the first time later that year, the women started throwing hotel keys as well.In the 70s, his income tax rose to 98 %; Jones and Linda packed their bags and moved to Los Angeles, where they still live. By now, he was known for his tight trousers, hairy chest, snake hips and libidinous thrust as much as for the voice. Was he as horny as he appeared to be, or was it an act? Hell, no, he says, appalled, it was ? is ? for real. Was any other performer as sexually charged as him? "Well, the only one really was Elvis Presley. I knew him very well, and he said I see in you what I feel myself. You see, Elvis was a macho man, he was a good-looking fella, but he was still strong. That's why he was always doing karate in those movies, it was a male thing that he felt. So, not to pick on Mick Jagger, but [Elvis] said how the fuck ? what do people see in the Beatles and the Stones and these British bands? He said thank heaven for you coming out of Britain, that you feel the same thing. I said, 'Well, you are partly to blame, it was watching you ? you rubbed off on me so much that you gave me confidence to do it.'" Does he get excited on stage? "Oh yeah!" Sexually excited? "Well, you don't get physically aroused, because you concentrate so much."I ask if it is true that at his shows he was provided with both a dressing room and a love-making suite. He looks sheepish, and stutters into a non sequitur. "Well, well ? I ? no ! Well, we can't go into that ? but I do love to drink. Though not before a show ? "His friendship with Elvis provided him with some of his most cherished memories. They never performed together publicly, but they often went to Elvis's hotel suite for a sing-song when they were both playing Vegas . "He'd say, 'I'll get the group up and we'll do something' and I'd already done two shows. There were two songs he loved at the time. A song Kris Kristofferson wrote called Why Me and Roberta Flack's Killing Me Softly. Once he latched on to something, he wouldn't let it go. So we're at the suite, comparing gospel I learned in Wales with gospel he learned in Mississippi. We must have sung The Old Rugged Cross a dozen times with an electric piano and his vocal group, the Sweet Inspirations. He'd say, 'D'you think I'd like Wales, Tom, if I came over ?' I said, 'You'd love the male voice choirs.' I had this vision of taking him up the Rhondda valley and having him sing with all the choirs."For the last two years of Presley's life, Jones never saw him. He knew he'd become addicted to diet pills and had turned in on himself, but he didn't know how desperate he was. In 1977, Presley died and Jones still regrets that he didn't make more of an effort to help him. Towards the end he had stopped taking calls. "I didn't know Elvis was sick. I thought he was just getting lazy ? he was getting heavy and pushed people away from him. The first thing that hit me after he died was I should have gone and seen him. Priscilla called me, and said, 'When you show up, you give him a spark. He's got this competitive spark in him again.' So I thought maybe I could have given him that shot again. Maybe."Presley's death coincided with a downturn in Jones' fortunes. He came to be regarded as a kitsch crooner, a parody of his former self, and went without another hit in Britain for 15 years. He continued to sell out shows, but the venues were smaller. The knickers and door keys began to pall. People stopped talking about the voice. "The thing that I don't like about it, it became a joke. People go, 'Oh Tom Jones, knickers.' You want another?"Two more vodka martinis."Since then I've thought it's positive, it's not as if they're throwing bottles at you. But it did become a bit of a joke. Girls would run to the front even when I'm doing a ballad. You're trying to create a mood, doing the Green, Green Grass Of Home, and underwear lands straight on you, and everybody laughs. I once did a radio show with Howard Stern in New York and Roger Daltrey was going in after me, and he said, 'I just had to walk through a room full of knickers back there, I thought you must be on the show.' And I thought, ' Oh fuck, it's even got to Roger Daltrey' ? all he could think to say about me was not love the way you sing or hate the way you sing, but knickers."I'm staring at Jones through my martini glass. His teeth are so white. "Oh yeah, they were capped," he says. His hair ? so black."Oh yeah, that's dyed." His skin ? so firm. "Oh yeah, I had the fat removed from under my chin. That's basically why I wear the goatee because it covers the scar. If I went for laser treatment, I could get rid of it, but I thought, fuck it, I'll wear a goatee. And my nose, that was straightened. Then, with the eyes, they took the heaviness out of the lids. Thank God the plastic surgeon said you've got to be careful because you've got to look like you, you can't look like someone else." A toast. To the plastic surgeon.In 1986, Gordon Mills, his manager, died. Jones was devastated. He had lost a close friend, and his career was in a trough. And that was when his son Mark came into his own. Ever since Mark had been in his late teens, he had toured with his father, helping out with the lights and design, even the song choices. Mark himself was a fine singer, but he got red-light fever if he had to perform ? the studio light went on and he lost his bottle. But what he loved more than anything was dreaming up strategies that might revive his father's career. "Mark said to me, 'Well, what do we do now for a manager?' and I said, 'Why don't you have a go?' Donna, his wife, was Bill Cosby's secretary and she was always talking about things she thought I should be doing, so I said, 'Why don't you both do it? We can do it all together ? '"Mark looked at Jones' act ? the knickers and the tight trousers and the old repertoire ? and told his father that there was a good reason people didn't talk about the singing any more. " When I see those old clips, I see why people didn't take me more seriously, vocally ? cos your trousers are too tight. Not tight in the waist," he says delicately. "And I've always had big legs, so where are you going to put all that stuff. So there it was. When I look at it, I think no wonder people went, 'Oh!' when I came on stage."Mark realised that what had been problematic for Mills ? Jones' versatility ? could prove a virtue. If Jones could sing anything, why not hire trendy producers and record some of the contemporary songs he performed in his shows. In 1988, Jones had a massive hit with the Prince song Kiss, produced by techno pop stars Art Of Noise. A new young audience was entranced by the voice. "There was no baggage for them. You want another?"A toast. To Mark, Prince, Tom's stamina and his not-so-tight trousers.Monday morning, 8.15am, BBC radio studios in London. Jones isn't used to early mornings, but you wouldn't know it. He fair bounds in ? all in black, new jumper . "You go on anywhere, on Saturday?" he says.No, straight home, I tell him. And you? "Ah, nothing much. Don and I had a meal, and some red wine." A second later he realises he's forgotten something. "And a few champagnes. Have I got time for the khazi?" They tell him he's due on any second. Ever the professional, Jones holds it in. Wogan and Jones ? both of them knighted ? are chatting way in the studio. Meanwhile, Don Archell is reminiscing about drinking way back when ? "Oh yes, he was up there with the Richards in the old days ? Burton and Harris. I couldn't keep up with him, no way. I don't know how he did it. In Vegas, we used to be up till 7-8am. I'm glad it's not like that any more." Don still accompanies him around the world ? 200 shows a year. Home for Jones is LA, home for Don is Luton. "Mind you, I'm hardly ever there."What's Jones like as a man? "As you see him. Every day. Never changes. Same mood. Never loses it. So laid back." Wogan says it's amazing that after all these years Jones is so fashionable, with artists such as Duffy and MarkRonson keen to recapture the retro feel. The funny thing is that at his peak in the 60s and early 70s, Jones was never really cool ? not like today. In 2000, he released Reload, an album of covers recorded with other artists and bands including Robbie Williams and the Stereophonics. It went on to sell four million ? his biggest album. In 2005, he was estimated to be worth £175m.I ask Mark, who is the boss ? him or his dad? "Well, it's a proper relationship." Does it feel like a traditional father/son relationship? "It depends what you're doing. We were always friends, but if we weren't a proper manager/artist relationship at some point in the day, it wouldn't have worked for long." Does he have to make the decisions for Jones? "He relies on it. I know what he can sing."Jones is talking about the new album. He loves the fact that, along with the more reflective songs, it's a statement about the here and now ? that he's still around, and plans to be for some time. The opening song, I'm Alive, is a dance track every bit as celebratory as its title. He directs me to the lyrics ofanother song, Seasons. "What I like about that song is that I walk on and 'make my memories'. I'm still making my memories, I'm not just thinking of old memories."A week later Jones is on Jools Holland's BBC2 show, Later. No sign of Leroy, but Mark is on stage giving his father instructions. Profile to profile, deep in discussion, they look as if they could be auditioning for a Welsh Sopranos. As the other acts perform, Jones stands in front of his band, straight-backed and still, waiting his turn. When he gets his chance, there is a transformation ? the blood seems to be flowing faster. There's a technical hitch, and he is asked to start again. "Do we have to stop?" he pleads. I'm reminded of the little boy tugging at his mother's sleeves. He sings three songs from the new album, and at the end of each his face creases into ecstasies.Back in the changing room, he's buzzing. He thinks his voice now is better than it ever has been. "I've only lost a little bit on the high end, thank God, and I've gained a tremendous amount of bottom end. I couldn't have sung 24 Hours in that low key when I was in my 20s. And it's become richer. When you experience life, you read more into things. When you're younger, you're charging, and you think, 'Right, I'll hit the shit out of this, smacking everything.' I still do to an extent, but there's pathos."It's notable how many times, over the days, he's thanked God. Well, he says, he was raised a Presbyterian and though he doesn't attend chapel, he has never lost his faith. "I pray every night by the bed before I go to sleep. I say, 'Look after my family and my friends and band members and all the people who work with me, and thank you for giving me this voice. Please may I keep it for as long as I live.'" ? Jones' new album, 24 Hours is out on November 17Pop and rockguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/news-and-media/on-song-tom-jones-talks-to-simon-hattenstone-20081094722.htm 2008-10-25T00:07:11Z 2008-10-25T00:07:11Z Guardian.Co.Uk http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/oct/25/tom-jones-simon-hattenstone-interview On song: Tom Jones talks to Simon Hattenstone {new window}   Www.Guardian.Co.Uk - Tom Jones has two recurring nightmares. In the first, he is wrongfully accused of murder. In the second, he has hidden a body in the attic, the house has just been sold and the body is about to be discovered. He wakes up in a bath of sweat. The nightmares confused him for years. "I haven't killed anybody. I've never wanted to kill anybody. I've tried to analyse it, and I think, since I started making hit records, I've thought, 'Jesus Christ, this is the best thing that's ever happened to me.' But always you think this is going to fall apart. Something will happen. There is a skeleton in the closet." He stops. "Which there isn't. But in my mind I think they're going to find that out, and that's going to finish me."Jones, now 68, has a lovely way of telling stories, as if every thought has hit him for the first time.Perhaps there's another reason for the nightmares. His biggest hit, Green, Green Grass Of Home, was about a man facing execution. Another huge single, Delilah, tells the story of a jealous boyfriend killing his girlfriend. His new album is called 24 Hours and the title track is about another man on death row ? though it can just as easily be read as the sombre reflections of an elderly man looking into the abyss. It's a landmark album for Jones ? his most personal, and the first for which he has a joint writing credit on most of the songs.We first meet in a London hotel. He is wearing black, as he often does. Black polo neck, black trousers, black shoes, strange black hair that looks as if it could be woven from acrylic, and black goatee. He is accompanied by his son and daughter-in-law, Mark and Donna Woodward, the svengalis behind his renaissance over the past 20 years. Mark looks like a greyer version of his father ? how Jones might look if he'd chosen a more sober career. Jones also introduces me to a handsome elderly man with snow white hair, Don Archell, his personal assistant, and to the singer Cerys Matthews, with whom he duetted on the hit record Baby, It's Cold Outside. Jones orders the first of his vodka martinis, and he's off.If there's one thing Tom Jones enjoys as much as singing, it's chatting. He's seen so much, met so many people, had such a lucky life, of course he wants to talk about it, he says. He loves being interviewed. "Look, if I go into a pub, I'm doing an interview because people want to know things. And I love my life, I love my achievements, I love talking about it . If somebody wasn't asking me, I'd go and find someone and say, 'Guess what I did?!' It's a Celtic thing. The people in Wales, they all talk, and I love it."So he talks about drinking with Robbie Williams' dad in Los Angeles, his grandson's skills on the ski slopes , the time Otis Redding told him that soul singers try to sing like Jones. "I said to Otis, 'You're joking ? I'm trying to sound like you.'" Jones spent so many years in Vegas, singing epic ballads, that it is easy to forget he was one of the great white soul singers. Go to YouTube and watch him battling it out note for note with Stevie Wonder on Superstition, Aretha Franklin on See Saw and Tina Turner on Nutbush City Limits, and you see just how raw, radical and soulful he was.He grew up in Pontypridd in a Welsh mining community. His earliest memories are of tugging on his mother's sleeve at family weddings, asking when he could sing, and her saying he had to wait to be invited. He was five or six, and impatient. Even then, he says, when he got up, he was aware of the effect he had on the little girls. They made eyes at him, asked him what school he went to. He can't remember his voice being much different ? even then, he wanted to belt them out. "Some kids, they sing very high and then their balls drop and their voice drops. I can't remember that ever happening to me. It was higher, but it didn't change dramatically."He was useless at school. Not interested. He thinks he was slightly dyslexic, but says he might be making excuses for himself ? perhaps he was just thick. Even on the sports field, he couldn't concentrate ? sure, he'd play rugby because he had to, but all the while he'd be watching the time, telling himself in a few minutes he could be down the shops buying himself an air gun or at home singing. He boxed, but didn't much care for getting hit.At 13, he contracted tuberculosis. He was off school for two years, most of the time spent in bed. Thank God for TB, he says. If it hadn't been for the illness, he might have ended up down the mines, like his father. "The doctor said to my parents, ' Whatever you do, you can't put this boy in a coal mine because he has weak lungs .' And the weird thing is, with weak lungs I've become a fuckin' singer."The illness changed his attitude to life. "When I used to get up for an hour a day, I would stand at the front door and see my mates playing, going up the hills. They'd shout, 'All right, Tom' but I couldn't get out the door. There was a lamp-post at the end of our street, and I'd look at it and think, once I can walk from this door to that lamp-post, I will never complain about another thing in my life. And that was it. And if I do, if the thought ever enters my mind, I see that lamp-post."He returned to school for a year and left at 15 to work as a labourer's mate. "Hod carrying, mixing cement. Up and down ladders. Good, strong legs." A year later, he was married to Linda, living in her mother's house with baby Mark. They wanted more children, but a miscarriage left her infertile.Fast-forward another year and Jones is doing shifts on building sites by day and singing at working men's clubs by nights. The women loved him, but it was the fellas who really came to watch and judge. Big, tough, emotional men, they made for a demanding audience. "On Sunday nights it was men only. You'd have to make sure you put a bunch of ballads in there. The men loved them. Especially in Wales."All the time he really wanted to sing edgier songs. First, there was the new rock'n'roll of Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis, then there was the blues. "I was liking black singers without realising. And the blues. Big Bill Broonzy. I heard this song, 'If you was white, you's all right, if you was brown, stick around, but if you's black, oh brother, get back' and I thought what a great line that is." Jones' voice is lilting, even by Welsh standards, and every few minutes he breaks into song to illustrate his point. He can't help himself.It was when he got himself a band, and started to play rock'n'roll and blues and soul, that women went crazy for him. By now, Linda didn't like turning up to his shows. They made her feel uncomfortable, and she had Mark to look after, anyway. "She said, 'Go on, I know what those girls are like and I don't want to see it. As long as you come home here.' So that's what happened."In his mid-20s in 1964, Jones, still known as Tom Woodward (his mother's name was Jones), headed off for London, championed by the people of Pontypridd. All he had was his looks, the moves he had learned as a teenager and the voice. "My mates would say, 'You can sing, you've got to go to London,you've got to show these fuckers how to put it together.'" He hated leaving Linda and Mark at home, Linda working at a battery factory to make ends meet ? he considered it demeaning to be supported by a woman. Working in the mines or factories of Pontypridd was drudgery, certainly not a career. He promised himself that when he became successful, he would ensure that his family never had to work again. One of the things of which he is most proud is that he was able to retire his father from the mines at 50.Three days later, on Saturday, we meet at Bethnal Green Working Men's Club in east London, where he is having his photograph taken. It's a throwback to his early days ? a huge red heart on the stage, carpets that stink of stale beer, and a few elderly men dotted around supping on pints. Jones is here with his mini entourage ? Don, Mark and Donna, and their ageing staffordshire bull terrier, Leroy. Leroy and Jones are not dissimilar ? both have been round the block a few times, yet exude a puppyish verve. Leroy likesnothing more than lying on his back and being given a good tickle. I would imagine the same could be said for Jones.Jones is all in black again ? this time in a frilly shirt rather than polo neck. After six decades in the business, he still gets self-conscious when having his picture taken. He asks if we'd mind leaving the room while he psyches himself up. When we return, he's fiddling with his silver crucifix, trying on a new shirt ? white this time ? and singing along to one of the songs. After the shoot, he fancies a drink. Two vodka martinis, please. He asks if I went on somewhere else the other night. He and Cerys had a bit of dinner and a few drinks, he says. "She left about 12.30 to 1am." But she was going to leave at 8pm? "Exactly!" he says with delight.Matthews later tells me she doesn't get much chance to go out now that she's a mother of two. "Tom is very persuasive. We had so much fun ? we didn't stop laughing. He's a riot and a good friend, as well as being an old school gentleman." She has never sung with anybody like him, she says. "It's the best feeling in the world. His instincts are natural, his passion is absolute. I once asked him what his ideal day would be and said don't let it be about music. 'Well, it couldn't be my ideal day if I couldn't get up and do a show,' he said."When Jones came to London in 1964, he hooked up with aspiring manager and song writer Gordon Mills. It was Mills who suggested changing the name to Jones ? very Welsh, very laddish, very Henry Fielding. Six months on, Jones felt he was wasting his time recording demos for stars to turn into hits. He made a demo of a song written by Mills called It's Not Unusual and was told it was going to be recorded by a young singer called Sandie Shaw. He knew he'd done the song more than justice, that it was perfect for him, and decided he would return to Pontypridd if he couldn't make it his. "Thank God Sandie Shaw listened to the demo and said, ' Whoever's singing this song, it's his song', so God bless her."Another vodka martini. A toast to Sandie Shaw. Jones has an incredible memory for dates. He'd do brilliantly on Mastermind with Tom Jones as his specialist subject. "I recorded It's Not Unusual on November 11 1964, it came out on January 22 1965 and it was number one by March 1, which was St David's Day. Tremendous!"There are a couple of things people know about Tom Jones: he has always been something of a ladies' man ? women throw their knickers at him ? and he is still married to the woman he wed at 16. It's not that he boasts about his conquests; others do that for him. There have been countless kiss'n'tells, most famously Mary Wilson of the Surpremes who claimed they had enjoyed a two-year fling; there was the paternity case (he paid out because, he says, he could not prove the boy was not his son ? there has been no relationship); and there have been the former associates who have done the dirty on him.For the first time on the new album, he addresses his infidelities in the remarkable confessional The Road, when he sings that however far and often he has strayed, he has always returned home. It is both a love song and an apology, isn't it? "Well, I never admit to anything, you know what I mean." I can't help laughing. Tom, you admit plenty in this song.He recites the lyrics as if standing at the pulpit. "'I have felt weakness when I was strong, felt sweetness when I was wrong.' Linda wouldn't say to me, 'What d'you mean by that?' No, she wouldn't do that. The thing that she likes more than anything else is, 'But the road always leads back to you.' And that 's the truth. I will never leave my wife. It never entered my mind." They've been apart a lot, he says. "But we are still in love with one another. You know, we're not sexually like we were, but we are still in tune with one another, we can still have fun with one another, we still talk. She's still the Welsh girl I married."He says Linda is shy, agoraphobic. When he has well-known friends around, she hides. I also heard she once beat him up after hearing about one of his affairs. "Oh yeah!" he says, almost enthusiastically. "She's actually thrown things at me." Sometimes, he says, she settles for harsh words. "The funniest thing is, we were having a bit of a barny one night in LA ? sometimes it can start off really nice, a nice dinner, back to the music room, put on the old records that we used to dance to when we were teenagers, and it's all lovely, lovely, lovely, and then it becomes, 'Well, what about when you did this?' "Would that be about Mary Wilson? "Exactly. Things like that. So she said, 'Let me tell you something, but you've got to stand there, and you've got to promise me that you will not try and get hold of me.' And I thought, 'Jesus, what's she going to tell me ? that she's been with an old friend of mine or what?' So I'm expecting the worst, and we're both well oiled by this point. 'OK, come on, what is it?' She says, 'If you couldn't sing, you wouldn't have a friend in the world' and runs out of the room. Well, I fell on the floor in a heap. She thought that was the worst thing she could ever say to me ? I thought it was hilarious."Does he think there's any truth in it? "Maybe! No, nah." I ask if she has had affairs. "Not as far as I know ? Best not to go into it. We don't discuss it, never have." He pauses. "That has never been discussed either, if you know what I mean ? the not discussing it. Should we have another?"I'm beginning to sink into a happy blur, while Jones is remembering more and more dates: 1968, Copacabana, New York ? the first time he had knickers thrown at him. "There was a supper club, and the singer sang at the same level as the table and chairs, right on the floor. And the more people you drew into the club, the smaller the area in which you performed ? like some of the northern clubs. At one point I'm performing in a tiny area and I'm sweating ? I was always a good sweater. So because they'd had dinner, they had napkins on the table, so they see me sweating and hand me their napkins, I hand them back and they'd keep them. So this one woman stood up ? up with the dress, down with the drawers. Took 'em off and handed them to me." What did you do? "I wiped my brow and said, 'Sweetheart, watch you don't catch cold.' Because you always learn in working men's clubs, no matter what happens, you've got to try to make some fun out of it." When he went to Vegas for the first time later that year, the women started throwing hotel keys as well.In the 70s, his income tax rose to 98 %; Jones and Linda packed their bags and moved to Los Angeles, where they still live. By now, he was known for his tight trousers, hairy chest, snake hips and libidinous thrust as much as for the voice. Was he as horny as he appeared to be, or was it an act? Hell, no, he says, appalled, it was ? is ? for real. Was any other performer as sexually charged as him? "Well, the only one really was Elvis Presley. I knew him very well, and he said I see in you what I feel myself. You see, Elvis was a macho man, he was a good-looking fella, but he was still strong. That's why he was always doing karate in those movies, it was a male thing that he felt. So, not to pick on Mick Jagger, but [Elvis] said how the fuck ? what do people see in the Beatles and the Stones and these British bands? He said thank heaven for you coming out of Britain, that you feel the same thing. I said, 'Well, you are partly to blame, it was watching you ? you rubbed off on me so much that you gave me confidence to do it.'" Does he get excited on stage? "Oh yeah!" Sexually excited? "Well, you don't get physically aroused, because you concentrate so much."I ask if it is true that at his shows he was provided with both a dressing room and a love-making suite. He looks sheepish, and stutters into a non sequitur. "Well, well ? I ? no ! Well, we can't go into that ? but I do love to drink. Though not before a show ? "His friendship with Elvis provided him with some of his most cherished memories. They never performed together publicly, but they often went to Elvis's hotel suite for a sing-song when they were both playing Vegas . "He'd say, 'I'll get the group up and we'll do something' and I'd already done two shows. There were two songs he loved at the time. A song Kris Kristofferson wrote called Why Me and Roberta Flack's Killing Me Softly. Once he latched on to something, he wouldn't let it go. So we're at the suite, comparing gospel I learned in Wales with gospel he learned in Mississippi. We must have sung The Old Rugged Cross a dozen times with an electric piano and his vocal group, the Sweet Inspirations. He'd say, 'D'you think I'd like Wales, Tom, if I came over ?' I said, 'You'd love the male voice choirs.' I had this vision of taking him up the Rhondda valley and having him sing with all the choirs."For the last two years of Presley's life, Jones never saw him. He knew he'd become addicted to diet pills and had turned in on himself, but he didn't know how desperate he was. In 1977, Presley died and Jones still regrets that he didn't make more of an effort to help him. Towards the end he had stopped taking calls. "I didn't know Elvis was sick. I thought he was just getting lazy ? he was getting heavy and pushed people away from him. The first thing that hit me after he died was I should have gone and seen him. Priscilla called me, and said, 'When you show up, you give him a spark. He's got this competitive spark in him again.' So I thought maybe I could have given him that shot again. Maybe."Presley's death coincided with a downturn in Jones' fortunes. He came to be regarded as a kitsch crooner, a parody of his former self, and went without another hit in Britain for 15 years. He continued to sell out shows, but the venues were smaller. The knickers and door keys began to pall. People stopped talking about the voice. "The thing that I don't like about it, it became a joke. People go, 'Oh Tom Jones, knickers.' You want another?"Two more vodka martinis."Since then I've thought it's positive, it's not as if they're throwing bottles at you. But it did become a bit of a joke. Girls would run to the front even when I'm doing a ballad. You're trying to create a mood, doing the Green, Green Grass Of Home, and underwear lands straight on you, and everybody laughs. I once did a radio show with Howard Stern in New York and Roger Daltrey was going in after me, and he said, 'I just had to walk through a room full of knickers back there, I thought you must be on the show.' And I thought, ' Oh fuck, it's even got to Roger Daltrey' ? all he could think to say about me was not love the way you sing or hate the way you sing, but knickers."I'm staring at Jones through my martini glass. His teeth are so white. "Oh yeah, they were capped," he says. His hair ? so black."Oh yeah, that's dyed." His skin ? so firm. "Oh yeah, I had the fat removed from under my chin. That's basically why I wear the goatee because it covers the scar. If I went for laser treatment, I could get rid of it, but I thought, fuck it, I'll wear a goatee. And my nose, that was straightened. Then, with the eyes, they took the heaviness out of the lids. Thank God the plastic surgeon said you've got to be careful because you've got to look like you, you can't look like someone else." A toast. To the plastic surgeon.In 1986, Gordon Mills, his manager, died. Jones was devastated. He had lost a close friend, and his career was in a trough. And that was when his son Mark came into his own. Ever since Mark had been in his late teens, he had toured with his father, helping out with the lights and design, even the song choices. Mark himself was a fine singer, but he got red-light fever if he had to perform ? the studio light went on and he lost his bottle. But what he loved more than anything was dreaming up strategies that might revive his father's career. "Mark said to me, 'Well, what do we do now for a manager?' and I said, 'Why don't you have a go?' Donna, his wife, was Bill Cosby's secretary and she was always talking about things she thought I should be doing, so I said, 'Why don't you both do it? We can do it all together ? '"Mark looked at Jones' act ? the knickers and the tight trousers and the old repertoire ? and told his father that there was a good reason people didn't talk about the singing any more. " When I see those old clips, I see why people didn't take me more seriously, vocally ? cos your trousers are too tight. Not tight in the waist," he says delicately. "And I've always had big legs, so where are you going to put all that stuff. So there it was. When I look at it, I think no wonder people went, 'Oh!' when I came on stage."Mark realised that what had been problematic for Mills ? Jones' versatility ? could prove a virtue. If Jones could sing anything, why not hire trendy producers and record some of the contemporary songs he performed in his shows. In 1988, Jones had a massive hit with the Prince song Kiss, produced by techno pop stars Art Of Noise. A new young audience was entranced by the voice. "There was no baggage for them. You want another?"A toast. To Mark, Prince, Tom's stamina and his not-so-tight trousers.Monday morning, 8.15am, BBC radio studios in London. Jones isn't used to early mornings, but you wouldn't know it. He fair bounds in ? all in black, new jumper . "You go on anywhere, on Saturday?" he says.No, straight home, I tell him. And you? "Ah, nothing much. Don and I had a meal, and some red wine." A second later he realises he's forgotten something. "And a few champagnes. Have I got time for the khazi?" They tell him he's due on any second. Ever the professional, Jones holds it in. Wogan and Jones ? both of them knighted ? are chatting way in the studio. Meanwhile, Don Archell is reminiscing about drinking way back when ? "Oh yes, he was up there with the Richards in the old days ? Burton and Harris. I couldn't keep up with him, no way. I don't know how he did it. In Vegas, we used to be up till 7-8am. I'm glad it's not like that any more." Don still accompanies him around the world ? 200 shows a year. Home for Jones is LA, home for Don is Luton. "Mind you, I'm hardly ever there."What's Jones like as a man? "As you see him. Every day. Never changes. Same mood. Never loses it. So laid back." Wogan says it's amazing that after all these years Jones is so fashionable, with artists such as Duffy and MarkRonson keen to recapture the retro feel. The funny thing is that at his peak in the 60s and early 70s, Jones was never really cool ? not like today. In 2000, he released Reload, an album of covers recorded with other artists and bands including Robbie Williams and the Stereophonics. It went on to sell four million ? his biggest album. In 2005, he was estimated to be worth £175m.I ask Mark, who is the boss ? him or his dad? "Well, it's a proper relationship." Does it feel like a traditional father/son relationship? "It depends what you're doing. We were always friends, but if we weren't a proper manager/artist relationship at some point in the day, it wouldn't have worked for long." Does he have to make the decisions for Jones? "He relies on it. I know what he can sing."Jones is talking about the new album. He loves the fact that, along with the more reflective songs, it's a statement about the here and now ? that he's still around, and plans to be for some time. The opening song, I'm Alive, is a dance track every bit as celebratory as its title. He directs me to the lyrics ofanother song, Seasons. "What I like about that song is that I walk on and 'make my memories'. I'm still making my memories, I'm not just thinking of old memories."A week later Jones is on Jools Holland's BBC2 show, Later. No sign of Leroy, but Mark is on stage giving his father instructions. Profile to profile, deep in discussion, they look as if they could be auditioning for a Welsh Sopranos. As the other acts perform, Jones stands in front of his band, straight-backed and still, waiting his turn. When he gets his chance, there is a transformation ? the blood seems to be flowing faster. There's a technical hitch, and he is asked to start again. "Do we have to stop?" he pleads. I'm reminded of the little boy tugging at his mother's sleeves. He sings three songs from the new album, and at the end of each his face creases into ecstasies.Back in the changing room, he's buzzing. He thinks his voice now is better than it ever has been. "I've only lost a little bit on the high end, thank God, and I've gained a tremendous amount of bottom end. I couldn't have sung 24 Hours in that low key when I was in my 20s. And it's become richer. When you experience life, you read more into things. When you're younger, you're charging, and you think, 'Right, I'll hit the shit out of this, smacking everything.' I still do to an extent, but there's pathos."It's notable how many times, over the days, he's thanked God. Well, he says, he was raised a Presbyterian and though he doesn't attend chapel, he has never lost his faith. "I pray every night by the bed before I go to sleep. I say, 'Look after my family and my friends and band members and all the people who work with me, and thank you for giving me this voice. Please may I keep it for as long as I live.'" ? Jones' new album, 24 Hours is out on November 17Pop and rockguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
On song: Tom Jones talks to Simon Hattenstone | Music | The Guardian {...} Tom Jones can't believe his luck. He's a belting balladeer rediscovered as cool, he's a womaniser with a lifelong happy marriage, and then there's the voice ? good enough to tussle with Elvis. As the… {...}
Published: October 25, 2008, 12:07 am - Indexed: October 25, 2008, 11:52 am - Page Size: 100KB
Category: Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > News and Media

]]> {LITERATURE > CYBERPUNK} - PJ Proby: Three Week Hero I've especially enjoyed sharing some of my enthusiasms for obscure musical acts here on Boing Boing as the guest blogger. This post is about PJ Proby, crazed crooner and rock and roll hellion. I am a massive, massive fan of this guy's music. I've been fascinated by him for years and would LOVE to make a documentary about him. No one plays the sad, apologetic lonely guy better than PJ Proby. His voice can make a grown man cry, but you'd almost have to be half-mad to sell a song like he can. And half-mad PJ Proby probably is... Once famously blacklisted in the UK for repeated splitting his blue velvet trousers onstage, it's tempting to call PJ Proby the "Zelig of rock and roll." Despite the fact that today almost no one remembers who the guy is/was, he was a peer and fellow performer of The Beatles, Tom Jones, Cilla Black, The Rolling Stones, Jackie DeShannon, Marc Almond, St. Etienne and many others. His sister dated Elvis Presley and Proby himself sang the "vocal guides" imitating Elvis that the King would then re-record during his Hollywood movie phase. His first British TV appearance was as a special guest on "Around the Beatles." His 1968 album "Three Week Hero" featured none other than a young Led Zeppelin (or the "New Yardbirds" as they were then known) warming up as his backing band and he appeared as "The Godfather" touring with The Who during their 1997 "Quadrophenia" production. Van Morrison even wrote a song called "Whatever Happened to PJ Proby?" I could go on and on, he's led a very colorful, albeit very self-destructive life, but I'll leave the bio for the links and concentrate on all the great PJ Proby performances you can find on YouTube after the jump (and trust me, this isn't the best stuff that's out there). "You Can't Come Home Again (If You Leave Me Now) | "Around The Beatles" (1964) | "Hold Me" (first UK hit single) | "That Means A Lot" (Lennon-McCartney composition) | "Somewhere" | ""What's Wrong With My World?" | PJ Proby/Marc Almond duet "Yesterday Has Gone" (1996) | Interesting Marc Almond interview on the difficulties of working with PJ Proby | "Niki Hoeky" (audio only) (Can someone out there please post a video of this?) | Official PJ Proby site | Get Hip to His Conflagration | The Fall and Rise of PJ Proby | How P.J. Proby's life is falling apart at the seams (Recent article about the 69-year-old singer's legal troubles) | St. Etienne's Bob Stanley on the Pop Mavericks... http://articles.world-of-newave.info/arts/literature/genres/cyberpunk/pj-proby-three-week-hero-20081021721.htm 2008-10-18T03:50:11Z 2008-10-18T03:50:11Z Boingboing.Net http://www.boingboing.net/2008/10/17/pj-proby-three-week.html PJ Proby: Three Week Hero {new window}   Www.Boingboing.Net - I've especially enjoyed sharing some of my enthusiasms for obscure musical acts here on Boing Boing as the guest blogger. This post is about PJ Proby, crazed crooner and rock and roll hellion. I am a massive, massive fan of this guy's music. I've been fascinated by him for years and would LOVE to make a documentary about him. No one plays the sad, apologetic lonely guy better than PJ Proby. His voice can make a grown man cry, but you'd almost have to be half-mad to sell a song like he can. And half-mad PJ Proby probably is... Once famously blacklisted in the UK for repeated splitting his blue velvet trousers onstage, it's tempting to call PJ Proby the "Zelig of rock and roll." Despite the fact that today almost no one remembers who the guy is/was, he was a peer and fellow performer of The Beatles, Tom Jones, Cilla Black, The Rolling Stones, Jackie DeShannon, Marc Almond, St. Etienne and many others. His sister dated Elvis Presley and Proby himself sang the "vocal guides" imitating Elvis that the King would then re-record during his Hollywood movie phase. His first British TV appearance was as a special guest on "Around the Beatles." His 1968 album "Three Week Hero" featured none other than a young Led Zeppelin (or the "New Yardbirds" as they were then known) warming up as his backing band and he appeared as "The Godfather" touring with The Who during their 1997 "Quadrophenia" production. Van Morrison even wrote a song called "Whatever Happened to PJ Proby?" I could go on and on, he's led a very colorful, albeit very self-destructive life, but I'll leave the bio for the links and concentrate on all the great PJ Proby performances you can find on YouTube after the jump (and trust me, this isn't the best stuff that's out there). "You Can't Come Home Again (If You Leave Me Now) | "Around The Beatles" (1964) | "Hold Me" (first UK hit single) | "That Means A Lot" (Lennon-McCartney composition) | "Somewhere" | ""What's Wrong With My World?" | PJ Proby/Marc Almond duet "Yesterday Has Gone" (1996) | Interesting Marc Almond interview on the difficulties of working with PJ Proby | "Niki Hoeky" (audio only) (Can someone out there please post a video of this?) | Official PJ Proby site | Get Hip to His Conflagration | The Fall and Rise of PJ Proby | How P.J. Proby's life is falling apart at the seams (Recent article about the 69-year-old singer's legal troubles) | St. Etienne's Bob Stanley on the Pop Mavericks...
PJ Proby: Three Week Hero - Boing Boing {...}
Published: October 18, 2008, 3:50 am - Indexed: October 21, 2008, 11:24 am - Page Size: 64KB
Category: Arts > Literature > Genres > Cyberpunk

]]> {ENTERTAINMENT > PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA} - Lisa Marie Presley names babies Singer Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of rock icon Elvis, calls her twin daughters Finley and Harper. http://articles.world-of-newave.info/arts/entertainment/publications-and-media/lisa-marie-presley-names-babies-20081012417.htm 2008-10-14T19:58:45Z 2008-10-14T19:58:45Z News.Bbc.Co.Uk http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7670556.stm Lisa Marie Presley names babies {new window}   News.Bbc.Co.Uk - Singer Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of rock icon Elvis, calls her twin daughters Finley and Harper.
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Lisa Marie Presley names babies {...}
Published: October 14, 2008, 7:58 pm - Indexed: October 15, 2008, 11:50 am - Page Size: 42KB
Category: Arts > Entertainment > Publications and Media

]]> {ENTERTAINMENT > PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA} - Twin girls for Lisa Marie Presley Singer Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of rock icon Elvis, has given birth to twin girls, her publicist reveals. http://articles.world-of-newave.info/arts/entertainment/publications-and-media/twin-girls-for-lisa-marie-presley-20081076620.htm 2008-10-12T12:37:45Z 2008-10-12T12:37:45Z News.Bbc.Co.Uk http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7665984.stm Twin girls for Lisa Marie Presley {new window}   News.Bbc.Co.Uk - Singer Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of rock icon Elvis, has given birth to twin girls, her publicist reveals.
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Twin girls for Lisa Marie Presley {...}
Published: October 12, 2008, 12:37 pm - Indexed: October 14, 2008, 2:49 pm - Page Size: 42KB
Category: Arts > Entertainment > Publications and Media

]]> {ENTERTAINMENT > PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA} - Who'll be singing with the King this Christmas? A host of country stars are to perform with Elvis Presley on a Christmas duet album. http://articles.world-of-newave.info/arts/entertainment/publications-and-media/who-ll-be-singing-with-the-king-this-christmas-2008085682.htm 2008-08-07T11:01:20Z 2008-08-07T11:01:20Z News.Bbc.Co.Uk http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7546667.stm Who'll be singing with the King this Christmas? {new window}   News.Bbc.Co.Uk - A host of country stars are to perform with Elvis Presley on a Christmas duet album.
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Elvis set for album chart return {...}
Published: August 7, 2008, 11:01 am - Indexed: August 8, 2008, 11:47 am - Page Size: 44KB
Category: Arts > Entertainment > Publications and Media

]]> {EUROPE > COMPUTERS AND INTERNET} - Researcher gives Elvis and bin Laden fake e-passports Claims they'll fool e-readers. Uh huh huh The 'fraud-proof' e-passport can be copied and altered, a Dutch security researcher has demonstrated. In tests conducted for the Times, Jeroen van Beek of the University of Amsterdam changed the chip data in a normal UK e-passport to contain a picture of Osama bin Laden. The paper also reports that van Beek has contrived to have a passport in the name of Elvis Presley accepted by a public e-reader in a Dutch town hall.? http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/business-and-economy/computers-and-internet/researcher-gives-elvis-and-bin-laden-fake-e-passports-2008088673.htm 2008-08-06T11:39:26Z 2008-08-06T11:39:26Z Theregister.Co.Uk http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/06/epassport_alteration_demo/ Researcher gives Elvis and bin Laden fake e-passports {new window}   Www.Theregister.Co.Uk - Claims they'll fool e-readers. Uh huh huh The 'fraud-proof' e-passport can be copied and altered, a Dutch security researcher has demonstrated. In tests conducted for the Times, Jeroen van Beek of the University of Amsterdam changed the chip data in a normal UK e-passport to contain a picture of Osama bin Laden. The paper also reports that van Beek has contrived to have a passport in the name of Elvis Presley accepted by a public e-reader in a Dutch town hall.?
Researcher gives Elvis and bin Laden fake e-passports | The Register {...}
Published: August 6, 2008, 11:39 am - Indexed: August 6, 2008, 11:50 pm - Page Size: 27KB
Category: Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > Business and Economy > Computers and Internet

]]> {AVIATION > HANG GLIDING} - Tennessee Tree Toppers Team Challenge 2008 Tennessee Tree Toppers Team Challenge 2008 Lucas Ridley and oliver gregory <> writes: I thought we'd never beat the fantastic soaring weather and the great line up of speakers we had for Team Challenge 2007, but we did. BY A LOT! We stayed at Henson's every day. Only Wednesday was called due to high winds, but high wind aficionados flew for fun. Every day was soarable and good for XC for those with solid thermal soaring skills. Camping was so pleasant! It never felt too hot. Fall is wonderful in Tennessee Tree Toppers land! We had fine meals on site made by Tennessee Tree Toppers volunteers. Aldonna had breakfast ready for us right on site every morning. The dinners for affordable donations were a big hit. I'm hungry for some of Jeff's cooking now! Jeff Wilson fed us like kings and queens. Dinner menus included ribeye steaks, pork butt, chicken and gourmet burgers and fantastic sides. I can't say enough about the Tennessee Tree Toppers volunteers. The place looked great. The hand outs were excellent. The launch crew was top notch. We had excellent help all week! Tennessee Tree Toppers supporters were very creative this year. We had homemade Tennessee Tree Toppers soap, cologne, stickers, magnets, gift boxes, Tennessee Tree Toppers license plates and cards for sale to help with fund raising for our Whitwell LZ Field of Dreams project. I want to thank those industry supporters who contributed items to award to our pilots. Steve Kroop of Flytec USA, Wills Wing, Kraig Coomber of Moyes USA, LMFP all helped out with great hang gliding bling. And, of course, we want to thank you, Davis, for getting the word out on the Oz Report! We went high tech this year with video and Power Point presentations! Every evening and all day on the windy day we enjoyed great seminars. Our great A pilots were helping out in every way possible. Mark Stump led the Arkansas Air Hogs and did his hilariously funny talk on assessing the air and one's personal skills in the context of the micro meteorology of the day. Mike Barber became our most professional wind technician, did several excellent talks ranging from XC decision making, to landing video clinics and safe flying. Boy, Mike pulled us this year! Thanks Mike! Hang gliding author, Dennis Pagen led a team, led a wonderfully effective video launch technique seminar where every launch was analyzed. Dennis promotes the prolonged grape vine launch technique and it works great. My launch technique certainly improved due to this unique seminar. Dennis also did a great "Scratching" seminar for soaring in light lift. Jim Lamb led the Ohio Flyers to second place, did a fantastic "Soaring 101" that explained polars, thermal soaring efficiently and using the MacCready function correctly. For a lot of the C's, this talk was a little over their heads, but all the A's and B's were nodding and smiling enthusiastically as Jim made points we put to use the next day. Terry Presley substituted for an absent A pilot, pulled a C to goal, made goal himself so the team scored big that day! (They won overall!) Terry also did a seminar on "XC Landing Field Assessment." We learned to read the terrain, look for hazards and set up good approaches over unfamiliar fields. His seminar also included short field landing techniques. I didn't hear of anyone needing to use the short field techniques, because the Sequatchie has so many big fields, but the guys were ready. Kevin Carter led a team and gave a great "Gettin' Ready to Race" seminar addressing the unique skills needed to move up to XC racing. We followed the format set a couple years back. We called conservative tasks for C's, B's and challenging tasks for A's. The scoring system is designed to heavily handicap A pilots on super ships, but our A's were so good, they were scoring more than the C's who made their goals. C's who were making shorter goals got big multipliers of their milages. In the spirit of Team Challenge, we made a big adjustment mid week. The adjustment resulted in all pilots at every level getting a score of 100 when they made their goal. We made this scoring format retroactive to the first day. The handicaps were simply accomplished by the progressively tougher tasks for the 3 classes. A's still got bonuses for "really, really" helping their C's make goal. This put the scoring emphasis back on the C's and turned the scores around and away from teams loaded with A's. At any other comp, fist fights would have broken out, but everyone at Team Challenge welcomed the adjustment which rewarded the C's for their flights. Courses always overlapped so the A's could help their team mates make their shorter goals before the A's took off for their more challenging task. We usually did race track or out and back, and repeat tasks so the A's could stay with their team and help the less experienced pilots. A good example is the last task. We called a C pilot goal to Galloway Airport 5 miles into the valley on a light wind day. B pilot task was to fly to Galloway and back to Henson's LZ for a about 9.5 miles. The A pilot task was fly to Galloway, back to Henson's, back to Galloway and back to Henson's to land for a task of almost 20 miles. This format keeps the A pilots flying with or overlapping their team and allows the A pilots to get a section of their task done while their C's and B's made the shorter goals or missed it the first time. We allowed as many reflights as possible as long as the landing was in one of the designated LZ's. Actually all relights got bonus reflight points. This is what happened to me on the last day. I love my Pale Glider Team, but they had a tough last day. I launched right with most of my C pilot buddies but they all missed the light thermals and landed. I got up and ran the first lap with my free flying buddy James Stinnett. When I got back to Henson's after lap one, I waited around in yo yo mode till my team set up again to re-fly. I spiraled down to take off height when they got close to the front of the launch line. This allowed me to fly with them a second time. I helped as much as possible, as did one of my VR flying friends David Giles. I know it was kinda cheating to have Dave on his VR space ship spiraling down with me to get below launch and help out, but that day, my guys needed all the help they could get! We did everything but throw 'em a rope! Unfortunately, the guys still didn't get their climb tickets punched, so I ran the second lap of the task with my friend Dave. Lots of fun, but it would have been even sweeter if we'd pulled some of the boys out to their goal. This meet was all about the C's and B's. I want to thank all the A pilots who spent the week working with their less experienced team mates. I'm happy to say that all 4 of my C pilots made their XC goals at least once this week. I believe all of my guys had their longest XC flights this week! It was clear all 52 competitors had a blast and many pilots had personal bests this meet. Here's how the teams ended up after a 6 days of Team Challenge flying: In Tenth place were Team Mountaineers with A pilots Will Jenkins on a topless, A Jim Rowan on a double surface. A pilot Patrick Brooks on a double surface. A pilot Patrick Brooks on a double surface, A pilot Pat Halfill on a double surface, A pilot John McAllister on a topless. In Ninth place were the Arkansas Air Hogs. They had 6 and flew 5 a day. They were loaded with A+ pilot and my best old flying buddy Mark Stump on a VQ, A pilot Barron McKinley on an ATOS C, B pilot Walter Jordan on a double surface, B pilot Butch Pritchett on a topless, C pilot Steve Prater on a double surface, and my old buddy Miller Stroud making his comeback to hang gliding on an ancient wing, the Manta Fledge IIB! The last time I flew with Miller, I was on one too! On that last day, Dave Giles and I were spiraling down to get with my C's when Miller launched. I asked Dave if he'd ever seen one of those funny looking wings before. Dave said, "Maybe in a museum!" In Eighth place were The Leftovers with A+ pilot Bruce Engen on a VX, B pilot Kinsley Sykes on a topless, C pilot Jonathan Small on a double surface, C pilot Rodger Tubbs on a double surface, and C pilot Kevin Sheridan on a double surface. In Seventh place were Team Colorado with A pilot Jeff Laughery on a topless, B pilot Fred Kaemerer on a double surface, B pilot Shawn Banks on a double surface, B pilot John Wilber on a double surface and C pilot Rick Maddy on a double surface. In Sixth place were my boys! The Pale Gliders had 6 and flew 5 a day. Our team was full of talent with C pilots Colin Hodson on a double surface, Jake Mitchell on a double surface, Jeff Bozart on a double surface and Ricker "The Ringer" Goldsborough on a double surface. My old buddy A pilot Larry Snyder flew in from Seattle WA, rented a Sport 2 from Lookout and had a blast. I was on The Pale Glider VR and am ranked A+. We had a so much FUN!!! In Fifth place were Team B'Low Me Again with A+ team leader Dennis Pagen on a topless, A pilot Stephen Krichen on a topless, B pilot Jesse Fulkersin on a Topless, C pilot Donald Campasino on a double surface, and C pilot Edward Jowett on a double surface. In Fourth place were The Comp Concepts with A++ pilot Kevin Carter leading, B pilot Jeff Nibler on a double surface, B pilot Bryon Estes on a topless, B pilot Peter Kane on a topless, and C pilot William Estes on a double surface. In Third place were The E Team with A+ pilot Dave Hopkins on an ATOS B with a tail and modified spoilers, A pilot Stan Roberts on a Phantom, B pilot Lindsey Chew on a double surface, C pilot James Donovan on a double surface, and C pilot Gavin Riley on a double surface. In Second place, was Team Ohio led by "The Man" Jim Lamb A++ on an ATOS VQ that my old buddy Miller took home with him after the dust settled. The rest of the Ohio boys are C pilot Terry Mull n a double surface, C pilot Mark Thogmartin on a double surface, C pilot Christopher Thale on a double surface, and B pilot Crain Hassen on a double surface Winning it all, a team with some local boys leading was Team Thermal Underware. The Underwares were made up of A pilot Eric Donaldson on a WW T2, A pilot Lucas Ridley on a Litespeed S, C pilot William Baker on a double surface, B pilot Keith Smith on a U2, and Bob Belshan on a double surface. I can't wait to do it again next year. Team Challenge is evolving in a very interesting and healthy way. Just don't miss it next year! The winning Thermal Underwear team was led by super duper A's Eric Donaldson and Lucas Ridley. They were the coolest team leaders beyond a doubt! Here's the story of the Thermal Underware A leader and prototype Team Challenge pilot Lucas Ridley. Thanks Lucas for all the help with the write up! In Lucas' words: My Team Challenge history begins one year ago, the day before the meet started was the first day I thermal soared! I went into that meet a new H3 with only ridge soaring under my belt. Now, a year later, I am a leading a team with Eric Donaldson. Because of that one week of flying a year ago I was propelled into another dimension of hang gliding that would have taken much longer to find on my own, if at all. After Team Challenge 2007, I flew all winter and spring and got up the nerve up to go to the East Coast Championships. I was hooked! Only two months later I went to the Big Spring Championship. All this within less than a year of Team Challenge. I credit Tennessee Tree Toppers's incredible meet with motivating me to fly a lot and teaching me cross country skills. Otherwise, I think I would have puttered around my home site for another year or two before I built up the courage to venture out. Encouragement is where Team Challenge really excels. Team Challenge like meets can do a lot for our sport by creating opportunities for those pilots in H2 purgatory who have not had a formal introduction to cross country flying or competition to try it out in a welcoming environment. Heck, Kevin Carter's first competition was a Team Challenge and he went on to be a World team member and comes back to help give seminars and lead his own teams. Ollie's H2 driver even learned a lot just from listening to the seminars and the radio each day and plans to come back next year on a team. I have new respect for what A-pilots do and what Mike Barber does all the time when helping out lower air time pilots. It adds a new dynamic to not only try to make your goal, but fly as a team and help others along. Many times that required spiraling down to be at the same level with those you were trying to help and sacrificing altitude that you've struggled to achieve. One of the best video seminars featured Dennis Pagen critiquing everyone's  launch! Not to say you can't pop your nose with the grapevine grip, but the worst launches I witnessed were using the bottle grip. I think everyone took something away from the talk, and here are a few example pictures of what we saw: The first and second photo sets show how easy it is to pop your nose with the bottle grip where the only contact with the glider is through the hands, not the shoulders. The next two photos show what most people did at the meet: start with grapevine and transition to the bottle grip during the launch sequence. Dennis called this transition 'unnecessary' and felt it still allows for an opportunity to pop the nose. Bottle vs. Grapevine: The last two sets of photos show holding the grapevine grip throughout the launch sequence by allowing the hands to slide down the downtubes as the glider begins to lift above the pilot. The shoulders lock the glider to the pilots body as it continues to lift, enabling three axis control during the entire launch sequence. That is just one example from the many great seminars that were given by the pro's that came out to volunteer their knowledge, many thanks to them! I hope to go to more competitions in the future and it all started at Team Challenge where I continued to learn so much this year. I would encourage all H2's to try to get their H3 by next Team Challenge so you can get signed up early. It filled up early this year, and I anticipate it filling up even sooner this coming year. See you there! Lucas Ridley Below are some of the comments made on our club email list after the event and links to videos from the event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AXAYoENhlQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9LsxxNiEu4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLgg_5OLpLw There is a loss for words on how to express my deepest appreciation for all who contributed to this years team challenge. I am blessed to know that there is NO where else in the world that you can go to learn at this level from the best pilots ever. (This is history in the making) The level of knowledge at this event was unprecedented. We had the top pilots there to teach us what they know. It is one thing to be a great pilot and another to have the ability and willingness to teach others. The best pilots in the world were there and ALL of them knew how to share their knowledge with passion and a genuine loving spirit. I THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING SO GENEROUS WITH YOUR SHARING AND TEACHING. The knowledge base was HUGE! Even our drivers were amazed in what they learned. Ollie, I have to give you thanks for keeping a tight hold on the leash. Even when you are stressed out you have a rather calming nature about you. You are truly blessed with many positive personality traits that I hope to obtain in the years to come. Congratulations Bill for clenching the "C" pilot Rookie of the Year award. You truly earned it. I will see you all next year. Discuss Tennessee Tree Toppers Team Challenge 2008 at the Oz Report forum   link» http://articles.world-of-newave.info/recreation/aviation/aircraft/footlaunched/hang-gliding/tennessee-tree-toppers-team-challenge-2008-20081024726.htm 2008-10-24T15:28:29Z 2008-10-24T15:28:29Z OzReport.Com http://OzReport.com/1224858509 Tennessee Tree Toppers Team Challenge 2008 {new window}   OzReport.Com - Tennessee Tree Toppers Team Challenge 2008 Lucas Ridley and oliver gregory <> writes: I thought we'd never beat the fantastic soaring weather and the great line up of speakers we had for Team Challenge 2007, but we did. BY A LOT! We stayed at Henson's every day. Only Wednesday was called due to high winds, but high wind aficionados flew for fun. Every day was soarable and good for XC for those with solid thermal soaring skills. Camping was so pleasant! It never felt too hot. Fall is wonderful in Tennessee Tree Toppers land! We had fine meals on site made by Tennessee Tree Toppers volunteers. Aldonna had breakfast ready for us right on site every morning. The dinners for affordable donations were a big hit. I'm hungry for some of Jeff's cooking now! Jeff Wilson fed us like kings and queens. Dinner menus included ribeye steaks, pork butt, chicken and gourmet burgers and fantastic sides. I can't say enough about the Tennessee Tree Toppers volunteers. The place looked great. The hand outs were excellent. The launch crew was top notch. We had excellent help all week! Tennessee Tree Toppers supporters were very creative this year. We had homemade Tennessee Tree Toppers soap, cologne, stickers, magnets, gift boxes, Tennessee Tree Toppers license plates and cards for sale to help with fund raising for our Whitwell LZ Field of Dreams project. I want to thank those industry supporters who contributed items to award to our pilots. Steve Kroop of Flytec USA, Wills Wing, Kraig Coomber of Moyes USA, LMFP all helped out with great hang gliding bling. And, of course, we want to thank you, Davis, for getting the word out on the Oz Report! We went high tech this year with video and Power Point presentations! Every evening and all day on the windy day we enjoyed great seminars. Our great A pilots were helping out in every way possible. Mark Stump led the Arkansas Air Hogs and did his hilariously funny talk on assessing the air and one's personal skills in the context of the micro meteorology of the day. Mike Barber became our most professional wind technician, did several excellent talks ranging from XC decision making, to landing video clinics and safe flying. Boy, Mike pulled us this year! Thanks Mike! Hang gliding author, Dennis Pagen led a team, led a wonderfully effective video launch technique seminar where every launch was analyzed. Dennis promotes the prolonged grape vine launch technique and it works great. My launch technique certainly improved due to this unique seminar. Dennis also did a great "Scratching" seminar for soaring in light lift. Jim Lamb led the Ohio Flyers to second place, did a fantastic "Soaring 101" that explained polars, thermal soaring efficiently and using the MacCready function correctly. For a lot of the C's, this talk was a little over their heads, but all the A's and B's were nodding and smiling enthusiastically as Jim made points we put to use the next day. Terry Presley substituted for an absent A pilot, pulled a C to goal, made goal himself so the team scored big that day! (They won overall!) Terry also did a seminar on "XC Landing Field Assessment." We learned to read the terrain, look for hazards and set up good approaches over unfamiliar fields. His seminar also included short field landing techniques. I didn't hear of anyone needing to use the short field techniques, because the Sequatchie has so many big fields, but the guys were ready. Kevin Carter led a team and gave a great "Gettin' Ready to Race" seminar addressing the unique skills needed to move up to XC racing. We followed the format set a couple years back. We called conservative tasks for C's, B's and challenging tasks for A's. The scoring system is designed to heavily handicap A pilots on super ships, but our A's were so good, they were scoring more than the C's who made their goals. C's who were making shorter goals got big multipliers of their milages. In the spirit of Team Challenge, we made a big adjustment mid week. The adjustment resulted in all pilots at every level getting a score of 100 when they made their goal. We made this scoring format retroactive to the first day. The handicaps were simply accomplished by the progressively tougher tasks for the 3 classes. A's still got bonuses for "really, really" helping their C's make goal. This put the scoring emphasis back on the C's and turned the scores around and away from teams loaded with A's. At any other comp, fist fights would have broken out, but everyone at Team Challenge welcomed the adjustment which rewarded the C's for their flights. Courses always overlapped so the A's could help their team mates make their shorter goals before the A's took off for their more challenging task. We usually did race track or out and back, and repeat tasks so the A's could stay with their team and help the less experienced pilots. A good example is the last task. We called a C pilot goal to Galloway Airport 5 miles into the valley on a light wind day. B pilot task was to fly to Galloway and back to Henson's LZ for a about 9.5 miles. The A pilot task was fly to Galloway, back to Henson's, back to Galloway and back to Henson's to land for a task of almost 20 miles. This format keeps the A pilots flying with or overlapping their team and allows the A pilots to get a section of their task done while their C's and B's made the shorter goals or missed it the first time. We allowed as many reflights as possible as long as the landing was in one of the designated LZ's. Actually all relights got bonus reflight points. This is what happened to me on the last day. I love my Pale Glider Team, but they had a tough last day. I launched right with most of my C pilot buddies but they all missed the light thermals and landed. I got up and ran the first lap with my free flying buddy James Stinnett. When I got back to Henson's after lap one, I waited around in yo yo mode till my team set up again to re-fly. I spiraled down to take off height when they got close to the front of the launch line. This allowed me to fly with them a second time. I helped as much as possible, as did one of my VR flying friends David Giles. I know it was kinda cheating to have Dave on his VR space ship spiraling down with me to get below launch and help out, but that day, my guys needed all the help they could get! We did everything but throw 'em a rope! Unfortunately, the guys still didn't get their climb tickets punched, so I ran the second lap of the task with my friend Dave. Lots of fun, but it would have been even sweeter if we'd pulled some of the boys out to their goal. This meet was all about the C's and B's. I want to thank all the A pilots who spent the week working with their less experienced team mates. I'm happy to say that all 4 of my C pilots made their XC goals at least once this week. I believe all of my guys had their longest XC flights this week! It was clear all 52 competitors had a blast and many pilots had personal bests this meet. Here's how the teams ended up after a 6 days of Team Challenge flying: In Tenth place were Team Mountaineers with A pilots Will Jenkins on a topless, A Jim Rowan on a double surface. A pilot Patrick Brooks on a double surface. A pilot Patrick Brooks on a double surface, A pilot Pat Halfill on a double surface, A pilot John McAllister on a topless. In Ninth place were the Arkansas Air Hogs. They had 6 and flew 5 a day. They were loaded with A+ pilot and my best old flying buddy Mark Stump on a VQ, A pilot Barron McKinley on an ATOS C, B pilot Walter Jordan on a double surface, B pilot Butch Pritchett on a topless, C pilot Steve Prater on a double surface, and my old buddy Miller Stroud making his comeback to hang gliding on an ancient wing, the Manta Fledge IIB! The last time I flew with Miller, I was on one too! On that last day, Dave Giles and I were spiraling down to get with my C's when Miller launched. I asked Dave if he'd ever seen one of those funny looking wings before. Dave said, "Maybe in a museum!" In Eighth place were The Leftovers with A+ pilot Bruce Engen on a VX, B pilot Kinsley Sykes on a topless, C pilot Jonathan Small on a double surface, C pilot Rodger Tubbs on a double surface, and C pilot Kevin Sheridan on a double surface. In Seventh place were Team Colorado with A pilot Jeff Laughery on a topless, B pilot Fred Kaemerer on a double surface, B pilot Shawn Banks on a double surface, B pilot John Wilber on a double surface and C pilot Rick Maddy on a double surface. In Sixth place were my boys! The Pale Gliders had 6 and flew 5 a day. Our team was full of talent with C pilots Colin Hodson on a double surface, Jake Mitchell on a double surface, Jeff Bozart on a double surface and Ricker "The Ringer" Goldsborough on a double surface. My old buddy A pilot Larry Snyder flew in from Seattle WA, rented a Sport 2 from Lookout and had a blast. I was on The Pale Glider VR and am ranked A+. We had a so much FUN!!! In Fifth place were Team B'Low Me Again with A+ team leader Dennis Pagen on a topless, A pilot Stephen Krichen on a topless, B pilot Jesse Fulkersin on a Topless, C pilot Donald Campasino on a double surface, and C pilot Edward Jowett on a double surface. In Fourth place were The Comp Concepts with A++ pilot Kevin Carter leading, B pilot Jeff Nibler on a double surface, B pilot Bryon Estes on a topless, B pilot Peter Kane on a topless, and C pilot William Estes on a double surface. In Third place were The E Team with A+ pilot Dave Hopkins on an ATOS B with a tail and modified spoilers, A pilot Stan Roberts on a Phantom, B pilot Lindsey Chew on a double surface, C pilot James Donovan on a double surface, and C pilot Gavin Riley on a double surface. In Second place, was Team Ohio led by "The Man" Jim Lamb A++ on an ATOS VQ that my old buddy Miller took home with him after the dust settled. The rest of the Ohio boys are C pilot Terry Mull n a double surface, C pilot Mark Thogmartin on a double surface, C pilot Christopher Thale on a double surface, and B pilot Crain Hassen on a double surface Winning it all, a team with some local boys leading was Team Thermal Underware. The Underwares were made up of A pilot Eric Donaldson on a WW T2, A pilot Lucas Ridley on a Litespeed S, C pilot William Baker on a double surface, B pilot Keith Smith on a U2, and Bob Belshan on a double surface. I can't wait to do it again next year. Team Challenge is evolving in a very interesting and healthy way. Just don't miss it next year! The winning Thermal Underwear team was led by super duper A's Eric Donaldson and Lucas Ridley. They were the coolest team leaders beyond a doubt! Here's the story of the Thermal Underware A leader and prototype Team Challenge pilot Lucas Ridley. Thanks Lucas for all the help with the write up! In Lucas' words: My Team Challenge history begins one year ago, the day before the meet started was the first day I thermal soared! I went into that meet a new H3 with only ridge soaring under my belt. Now, a year later, I am a leading a team with Eric Donaldson. Because of that one week of flying a year ago I was propelled into another dimension of hang gliding that would have taken much longer to find on my own, if at all. After Team Challenge 2007, I flew all winter and spring and got up the nerve up to go to the East Coast Championships. I was hooked! Only two months later I went to the Big Spring Championship. All this within less than a year of Team Challenge. I credit Tennessee Tree Toppers's incredible meet with motivating me to fly a lot and teaching me cross country skills. Otherwise, I think I would have puttered around my home site for another year or two before I built up the courage to venture out. Encouragement is where Team Challenge really excels. Team Challenge like meets can do a lot for our sport by creating opportunities for those pilots in H2 purgatory who have not had a formal introduction to cross country flying or competition to try it out in a welcoming environment. Heck, Kevin Carter's first competition was a Team Challenge and he went on to be a World team member and comes back to help give seminars and lead his own teams. Ollie's H2 driver even learned a lot just from listening to the seminars and the radio each day and plans to come back next year on a team. I have new respect for what A-pilots do and what Mike Barber does all the time when helping out lower air time pilots. It adds a new dynamic to not only try to make your goal, but fly as a team and help others along. Many times that required spiraling down to be at the same level with those you were trying to help and sacrificing altitude that you've struggled to achieve. One of the best video seminars featured Dennis Pagen critiquing everyone's  launch! Not to say you can't pop your nose with the grapevine grip, but the worst launches I witnessed were using the bottle grip. I think everyone took something away from the talk, and here are a few example pictures of what we saw: The first and second photo sets show how easy it is to pop your nose with the bottle grip where the only contact with the glider is through the hands, not the shoulders. The next two photos show what most people did at the meet: start with grapevine and transition to the bottle grip during the launch sequence. Dennis called this transition 'unnecessary' and felt it still allows for an opportunity to pop the nose. Bottle vs. Grapevine: The last two sets of photos show holding the grapevine grip throughout the launch sequence by allowing the hands to slide down the downtubes as the glider begins to lift above the pilot. The shoulders lock the glider to the pilots body as it continues to lift, enabling three axis control during the entire launch sequence. That is just one example from the many great seminars that were given by the pro's that came out to volunteer their knowledge, many thanks to them! I hope to go to more competitions in the future and it all started at Team Challenge where I continued to learn so much this year. I would encourage all H2's to try to get their H3 by next Team Challenge so you can get signed up early. It filled up early this year, and I anticipate it filling up even sooner this coming year. See you there! Lucas Ridley Below are some of the comments made on our club email list after the event and links to videos from the event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AXAYoENhlQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9LsxxNiEu4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLgg_5OLpLw There is a loss for words on how to express my deepest appreciation for all who contributed to this years team challenge. I am blessed to know that there is NO where else in the world that you can go to learn at this level from the best pilots ever. (This is history in the making) The level of knowledge at this event was unprecedented. We had the top pilots there to teach us what they know. It is one thing to be a great pilot and another to have the ability and willingness to teach others. The best pilots in the world were there and ALL of them knew how to share their knowledge with passion and a genuine loving spirit. I THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING SO GENEROUS WITH YOUR SHARING AND TEACHING. The knowledge base was HUGE! Even our drivers were amazed in what they learned. Ollie, I have to give you thanks for keeping a tight hold on the leash. Even when you are stressed out you have a rather calming nature about you. You are truly blessed with many positive personality traits that I hope to obtain in the years to come. Congratulations Bill for clenching the "C" pilot Rookie of the Year award. You truly earned it. I will see you all next year. Discuss Tennessee Tree Toppers Team Challenge 2008 at the Oz Report forum   link»
Published: October 24, 2008, 3:28 pm - Indexed: October 25, 2008, 10:43 am -
Category: Recreation > Aviation > Aircraft > Footlaunched > Hang Gliding

]]> {AVIATION > HANG GLIDING} - 2008 Team Challenge, Day 5 2008 Team Challenge, Day 5 http://lucasridley.blogspot.com/ Today was a later day, as usual for this NW facing site. My team was able to launch around 3 after about 20 other gliders. The day was called to be a good, albeit blue, day with the inversion rising to 6,500'-7,000', which is good for this site and 500 avg fpm climbs. Lucas Ridley <> writes: Yesterday was a fun blue day. It was tough though. There was only 9 competitors that made their goals. The task was called for everyone (A, B, and C pilots) to land in the same field and there were just different turn around waypoints for the B's and A's and that field was the only waypoint for the C's. There was a big gaggle of pilots over launch and many C pilots it was there first time to thermal with a number of other gliders. As I type Dennis Pagen, Jim Lamb, and Mike Barber are going over rules of the sky with everyone because there were some close calls with the less experienced pilots. I'm sure they and everyone are learning a lot with every experience at this meet, I know I am. For example, there were seven happy pilots who raised their hands this morning that had their first xc flights yesterday. I have a lot of respect for what Mike Barber does at Wallaby when he flies with someone to teach them. It is quite difficult and adds an interesting dynamic for the A pilots for their priority of this meet is to fly and stay with less experienced pilots. I landed at the goal field, without having completed my task because I was spending my time helping someone else, but I had a keg to look forward to that was kindly donated to help raise money to buy a landing field, as well as the pork butt and chicken that was cooked all day which was another donation to raise lz money. Thanks to Terry Presley for taking Eric Donaldsons place on our team for yesterday which he was able to get our C pilot and himself to complete their task (2 of the 9 were on my team!), which has kept us in first. After dinner Terry conducted a seminar on restricted landing field approaches and landing. Today is a triangle task for the A's and the B and C's get dropped off at the second and first vertex of the triangle. Hopefully, it should be a better day than yesterday with it being a little hotter of a day, but it will be blue. Here are the team scores with the new scoring system that I think we'll be adopting, where the biggest changes lay in normalizing the points for making goal for all pilots. Now everyone gets a flat 100 points for making goal, then a multiplier for their wing type and then a set amount of bonus points (instead of another multiplier) for escorting another pilot, relights, and landing at the goal LZ: 1- 1,922 - Thermal Underwear 2- 1,727 - Team Ohio 3- 1,715 - E Team 4- 1,433 - B'Low Me Again 5- 1,371 - Comp Concepts 6- 1,236 - The Pale Gliders 7- 1,131 - Team Colorado 8- 1,011 - The Leftovers 9- 916 - Mountaineers 10- 825 - Air Hogs Since the Mountaineers have been dropping in scores because they only have A pilots, The Leftovers were in last place. The E Team has dropped from a solid second to being in 3rd by only 12 points though. Dennis' team jumped from 7th to 4th as well, but I don't think he is going to be flying today. He has offered to measure sprogs today and tomorrow which I am looking forward to since I bought my Litespeed used. There is only one more day of competition after today and tomorrow night there is a pizza place bringing in their trailer to make hand tossed pizzas at launch with a couple kegs of beer that is on the Tree Toppers! But I know there will be plenty of donations for the lz fund. Discuss 2008 Team Challenge, Day 5 at the Oz Report forum   link» http://articles.world-of-newave.info/recreation/aviation/aircraft/footlaunched/hang-gliding/2008-team-challenge-day-5-2008102873.htm 2008-10-03T16:08:33Z 2008-10-03T16:08:33Z OzReport.Com http://OzReport.com/1223046513 2008 Team Challenge, Day 5 {new window}   OzReport.Com - 2008 Team Challenge, Day 5 http://lucasridley.blogspot.com/ Today was a later day, as usual for this NW facing site. My team was able to launch around 3 after about 20 other gliders. The day was called to be a good, albeit blue, day with the inversion rising to 6,500'-7,000', which is good for this site and 500 avg fpm climbs. Lucas Ridley <> writes: Yesterday was a fun blue day. It was tough though. There was only 9 competitors that made their goals. The task was called for everyone (A, B, and C pilots) to land in the same field and there were just different turn around waypoints for the B's and A's and that field was the only waypoint for the C's. There was a big gaggle of pilots over launch and many C pilots it was there first time to thermal with a number of other gliders. As I type Dennis Pagen, Jim Lamb, and Mike Barber are going over rules of the sky with everyone because there were some close calls with the less experienced pilots. I'm sure they and everyone are learning a lot with every experience at this meet, I know I am. For example, there were seven happy pilots who raised their hands this morning that had their first xc flights yesterday. I have a lot of respect for what Mike Barber does at Wallaby when he flies with someone to teach them. It is quite difficult and adds an interesting dynamic for the A pilots for their priority of this meet is to fly and stay with less experienced pilots. I landed at the goal field, without having completed my task because I was spending my time helping someone else, but I had a keg to look forward to that was kindly donated to help raise money to buy a landing field, as well as the pork butt and chicken that was cooked all day which was another donation to raise lz money. Thanks to Terry Presley for taking Eric Donaldsons place on our team for yesterday which he was able to get our C pilot and himself to complete their task (2 of the 9 were on my team!), which has kept us in first. After dinner Terry conducted a seminar on restricted landing field approaches and landing. Today is a triangle task for the A's and the B and C's get dropped off at the second and first vertex of the triangle. Hopefully, it should be a better day than yesterday with it being a little hotter of a day, but it will be blue. Here are the team scores with the new scoring system that I think we'll be adopting, where the biggest changes lay in normalizing the points for making goal for all pilots. Now everyone gets a flat 100 points for making goal, then a multiplier for their wing type and then a set amount of bonus points (instead of another multiplier) for escorting another pilot, relights, and landing at the goal LZ: 1- 1,922 - Thermal Underwear 2- 1,727 - Team Ohio 3- 1,715 - E Team 4- 1,433 - B'Low Me Again 5- 1,371 - Comp Concepts 6- 1,236 - The Pale Gliders 7- 1,131 - Team Colorado 8- 1,011 - The Leftovers 9- 916 - Mountaineers 10- 825 - Air Hogs Since the Mountaineers have been dropping in scores because they only have A pilots, The Leftovers were in last place. The E Team has dropped from a solid second to being in 3rd by only 12 points though. Dennis' team jumped from 7th to 4th as well, but I don't think he is going to be flying today. He has offered to measure sprogs today and tomorrow which I am looking forward to since I bought my Litespee