Signing a record is a strange thing, its an imaginative task and one not to be taken lightly and on the other hand it cannot be taken too seriously. The music industry is like some weird betting shop where every one is trying to predict the allusive and disparate forces of public taste . Really the whole game is up for grabs because subversive forces are at work (Please God this is the Music Biz after all!) Anonymous executives are seemingly falling on their own knives and offering themselves up as media sacrifices in a desperate bid to get attention and thus secure their investment.
Genius or genuine 'leek' who knows, but as the national emblem of my homeland Wales (and this being a Tom Jones record) there is some random magical force at work here. I can imagine the soon to be promoted junior Island pr assistant/tea person chipping something in about 'leeks' and it all snowballing from there. Wales + Tom Jones + Leeks + having a Leek + leading to an 'embarrassing pr leek' and there you have lateral PR genius in its most direct form. Eureka, light up the National grid with that one baby cakes. Alternatively have a quick read of the latest Tom Jones 'scandal' in today's suitably animated Daily Telegraph so you have an overview of where I am coming from.
There is one line quoting the incredulous 'Island Records Executive' that just makes me howl with laughter " what are you thinking when he went all spiritual?".
If only we could all control the workings of an artist and the Lord! It's the age old industry dilemma. How revealing and how very odd to phrase it in that way but it just adds gravitas to the leek. You have the artist and God on one side and the record label 'banker' being 'direct' (according to Tom's people) on the other. Hmmmmm.
I think this is a bit of genius pr myself which makes Tom look rebellious and relevant rallying against those evil 'execs' in the name of spirituality and artistic integrity. As a PR type myself I take my hat off to a card well played.
It may have been a sincere comment by the 'Exec' but to suggest that the A & R department at Island have not communicated prior to signing, recording and most importantly 'paying' for this album is blatantly ridiculous.
They would have agonized over which direction to take the 'Jones' in. Entire committees of Universal/Island types would have spoken to focus groups picked randomly to represent 'public taste'. It would have been planned like a military operation. The oft quoted 'Johnny Cash' reference is the context they are cultivating for our 'Tom' because they want to 'Johnny Cash In' to be frank. Get middle America to see the 'Jones' as a defender of Christ and you have mobilized an incredible force. I think they were keen to shed the 'Sex Bomb' glitz myself as that does not quite tally with the 'new spiritual' Tom. This bladder bursting and well timed leek has done its job beautifully. The Internet is alive with the 'scandal'. They are looking for Grammy award winning status and going back to the Gospel was a deliberate choice.
Oddly enough I signed the license for an album today by Atalanta (a Brighton based act) for an album called '1000 Days'. Here is a link to a sample of the musical delights to come. It's a different thing when you sign a body of work completed by an artist in the relatively 'pure space' of their own creative world. I am happy to engage with that.
I will never have to bemoan the vehicle that has been sent to me as I know which car I am getting into. Universal/Island if your complaint is genuine (which I doubt) perhaps you should 'try before you buy' in future. It's the way ahead and some. If you were sent a 'hearse' you did order it and you are driving it in the wake of the late great Johnny Cash, even that reference is transparent.
