Buried Treasures & Opinions on Tom Jones

Buried Treasures: Jim and Greg dig up a new chest of lesser known musical gems you need to hear.

Treasure chest
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Fans have long been wondering when the Beatles will finally come to iTunes. Well, according to Yoko Ono, not anytime soon. John Lennon's widow recently said fans shouldn't hold their breath, adding "There's just an element that we're not very happy about, as people. We are holding out." But, rest assured, that when Apple Inc. and Apple Corps. do come to an agreement, digital sales will start flying. When the Beatles released their reissues last year, they sold 2.25 million copies in the first five days of release.

Lady Gaga has a record breaking 13 nominations for MTV Video Music Awards. But, ironically, her videos will no longer be available on MTV.com. Gaga's label Universal has decided to take all its content off the music channel's website and show them instead on the label-owned Vevo. Jim and Greg think it will be interesting to see what kind of industry influence MTV can sustain without much music content on its airwaves or website.

Sometimes life does imitate art. "If I Was President" singer Wyclef Jean is, in fact, running for president. The Haitian born former Fugee announced his official candidacy for president of the devastated nation last week. While Jean faces a number of barriers on his road to the office, including controversies regarding his charities and taxes and, of course, celebrity, this got Jim and Greg thinking about some other pop politicos including Sonny Bono, who served in Congress and as the mayor of Palm Springs, Peter Garrett of Midnight Oil, who is an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives and is the Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts, and The Doobie Brothers' Jeff "Skunk" Baxter who now serves as a defense consultant and chairs a Congressional Advisory Board on missile defense.

Buried Treasures

It's time for Jim and Greg to dig up another trove of Buried Treasures. These are lesser-known bands and albums that deserve your attention.

Greg

  • Harlem
  • Crystal Castles
  • Sweet Apple
  • Endless Boogie

Jim

  • Drivan
  • The Bewitched Hands On the Top of Our Heads
  • The Ruiners
  • David Singer

Praise and Blame Tom Jones

Praise & Blame

Tom Jones has been loosening knickers for half a century. Now he's back with a more "serious" album called Praise and Blame, but Jim and Greg wish he was still pushing the feel good hits. Following in the path of late career comebacks like Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond, Jones lends his baritone to classic blues and folk covers. The voice is still there, Jim admits, but with it none of the camp or smarm. Greg doesn't find these renditions authentic, and wishes Jones would just embrace his persona. Praise and Blame gets a double Trash It.

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