I was at a very gay shop in the Castro buying birthday presents (we have a cloud of friends who were all born right around the middle of January so I snag presents by the bunch this time of year) and the soundtrack was playing a dynamite version of Shirley Bassey singing I, Who Have Nothing.
Our dear friend Kebbin has long claimed this as his signature song should he ever be forced into doing drag in public, which I think is a brilliant choice. I was thinking about that and smiling to myself when the shopboy, who I assume was in his 20s, but looked like he should have been in junior high, asked if I liked Dame Bassey. Of course, I said yes, and then asked if he knew the Tom Jones cover of this. "Tom Jones?" he responded blankly. I was going to explain, but I figured I didn't have time.
For those of you who remember a galaxy long ago and far away.
Oh, my mother had such the hots for him. (Tom, I mean, not Shirley)
ReplyDeleteI'd still throw my knickers at him....
ReplyDeleteCertainly his circa 1970 version. His current aspect is looking pretty grizzly.
ReplyDelete"a very gay shop in the Castro"
ReplyDeleteIs there any other kind?
Oh honey, most of the Castro has turned into places to eat or places to buy adorable sweaters for your adorable dog. It's like a food court in a kennel.
ReplyDeleteThe Tom Jones galaxy? That's not so far from the Burt Reynolds galaxy is it?
ReplyDeletePoor Shirl's let her lip syncing go...
ReplyDeleteHow can I forget you? When there is always something there to remind me. (dee, dee, deedee, dee, dee, de, dee dee)
ReplyDeletethat's the nice thing about tom. if you've ever
ReplyDeleteseen him, that sausage never leaves your memory.
Y'know, I've always preferred Tom's version of "Kiss" more than the original by Prince.
ReplyDeleteAnd I empathize over the age-gap thing: Over the holidays, I learned my youngest nephew (age 10) has no idea who Rocky & Bullwinkle are, and that an 18-year-old niece had no idea who Col. Potter was.
Even worse, I learned a 40-something brother-in-law didn't know what a Klingon is! I was outraged!!!! (He got a half-hour rant on the lasting impact of "Star Trek" on today's technology, culture, and society. Before you mock, look at a Bluetooth earpiece, and compare it to Uhura's. Discuss.)
Tom Jones.
ReplyDeleteOf the Tight Pants Joneses?
Ah yes, i remember him well.
As Aretha Franklin once sang, "Knew you'd be a vision in white. How'd you get your pants so tight?"
ReplyDeleteI love both versions. The song is so extreme---I can totally relate!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Tom Jones, this.
Thombeau, you evil b****!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Star Trek, check out the hairdos on the female dancers!
And I want the drugs the male dancers were on. Especially if they'd make me look good in skin-tight pants. . .;-)!
I have both versions & those Welsh people sure know how to sing...
ReplyDeleteone of the original hotties. for me. and so many others.
ReplyDeleteParty bois and tweakers are like kittens. They like disco balls and anything else that sparkles.
ReplyDeleteThey only love the things that they deem FABULOUS! Or worse yet the things that they discover as if they are the first person on earth to lay their eyes upon something that all of us have known about for years.
Trust me, shop boy will hear about Tom Jones a couple times, or ask his mama and one day he'll swoop up to his friends and announce that HE just DISCOVERED Tom Jones. No one else has, only HE, and now that he has, Tom Jones is FABULOUS.
Mark my words...
actually dame shirley and tom have a lot in common...both welsh...
ReplyDeleteand not only did they both have hits with I (who have nothing) but also "with these hands"....must be something in the water in pontypridd