Tom Waits

I hvae never understood the appeal of Tom Waits.

I have understood hte appeal since my older brother, Doug, broght home a double lp in the late 70’s with “Better off without a Wife” and its promise of sleeping in to the crack of noon, midnight howling at the moon, go to bed when I want to, come home whenever I please, don’t have to ask permission, when I go fishin’, never have to ask for the keys…

In 1983 I heard “The Piano Must Be Drinking” on CBC radio. It was so wonderfully unlike anything I had ever heard before in my life that, the next day, I rushed out to Sam the Record Man to buy the LP. No Tom Waits in sight in that store. Rather than ordering, I waited til the next time I was in Halifax, and bought “The Asylum Years”. (yay for the immediacy of internet downloading) I’ve bought every album/cassette/cd of his since and much of his earlier stuff too. Songs just don’t get any better than “Johnsburg, Illinois” from Swordfishtrombones. A while after my initial purchase, I told a friend (whose musical taste I really respected) about Tom Waits. He scoffed at me and said he was surprised I went for that John Waite “Missing You” kind of crap. I explained the difference (feeling somewhat superior) and I believe he’s since bought every Tom Waits album. Coincidentally, I believe one could readily purchase a John Waite album at the Charlottetown Sam the Record Man.

sorry don’t know who Tom is. But have to respond to Alan on the “Better off without a wife line”

I was talking to Urban Carmichael the other day. We were talking about large families and privacy.

His line “I never slept alone until I got married”

I should point out that it is merely the whistful piano counterpoint to the lyric that makes that particular tune fix in my mind…

Tom Waits melancholy is cathartic, you can actually hear his heart bleed. Another dark poet/singer is William S. Burroughs who is just as disturbing but not as cheerful.

For more fun with Tom Waits, I rented the Fishing With John DVD from That’s Entertainment. It was this crazy little “fishing show” hosted by actor/musician John Lurie. In each episode he goes fishin’ with a different guy… Jim Jarmusch, Willem Dafoe, Dennis Hopper… and in one episode Tom Waits. It’s fun and boring just like real fishing… with the bonus of hearing Tom makes up fishing songs as they go along

Sounds like SCTV “Disco Roller Fishin’ ” with The Tubes.

Disco Roller Fishin’ that was hilarious, was that a special on Mel’s Rock Pile? Why isn’t there TV like that now, instead of the Holmes Show which is painful to watch.

Wasn’t Mel’s Rock Pile. It was The Fishin’ Musician, with Gil Fisher (John Candy) at the Scuttlebut Lodge. Gil was a great guy who liked fishin’ but didn’t like fish. Besides The Tubes, other fishin’ musicians appearing at the lodge were: The Plasmatics, Third World, Carl Perkins, Jimmy Buffett, and Joe Walsh (who, with his band, actually went hunting snipes).

Rob MacDaddy you got it - I remember Wendy O’Williams and the Plasmatics!

The Tom Waits album to start you off is Foreign Affairs. The duet “I Never Talk to Strangers” (with Bette Midler) is magic; just now thinking about “Sight for Sore Eyes” will have it haunting me for a day.

LQ

i just saw video from a band called Alphaville. the song’s name was “Big in Japan.” This is an odd coincidence…or is it?

The album to start out with is Raindogs. It is his best album, although all of them are great..

Raindogs is great, but my favourite Tom albums are “Mule Variations” and “Bone Machine”. He has a new album coming out next month. He’s my all time favourite.