With this post, we inaugurate a new running series in the Halls of Rock Town, in which we collectively examine a single, stand-out performance, to focus on and assess its “mach schau” factor. To kick things off, I bring you Tom Jones in 1969, doing what he did best: moovin’, groovin’ and making women get all twitchy *down there*.
I once read an insightful comment comparing Elvis to Tom Jones, suggesting that Elvis had all the talent he needed to be a great soul singer, but all he ever wanted was to achieve whitebread success on the stage in Vegas. Tom Jones is/was the opposite: someone who clearly yearned to be a soul shouter, but was blessed with a God-given knack for Vegas-style entertainment excellence. Sometimes I agree with this assessment. When I watch things like this, though, I’m not so sure — and I’m not sure I care!
So join me, won’t you? Watch Tom Jones doing his thing, then tell me: did he or did he not MACH SCHAU?
I look forward to your responses,
HVB
thanks for an enjoyable friday afternoon larf hvb!
of course tommy knew how to mach schau! you need rth confirmation?
I was more sorta hoping this series would prompt people to don the lab coats and detail exactly *how* the schau is being mach’ed.
For example, the hip swivel at 0:58 is pretty key. As is the serious boogie-ing (including a powerful leg flail, just barely captured on camera) that takes place after the bridge.
gotcha.
that wasn’t clear from your thread starter comments.
great idea.
i think even before he starts moving, the manner in which he holds the mic — with pinky and ring fingers only casually and occasionally gripping the mic, and yet still managing to suggest that the mic has some weight to it…that it is not a thing for anyone to handle…that this is not child’s play we’re about to engage in — is a schau macher foreplay extraordinaire.
the move at :10…my goodness, what a honky he is. but it’s so entertaining.
:36 (right after the words “ya get me OUT!”contains a duck bob…that is about as precious as it gets where this sort of thing is concerned.
can we do Mick next?
Sat, you’re right — that Duck Bob is *crucial* show-making! Well spotted!
At 1:45 he does a complex, artistically dangerous and rarely performed move. Done without nets. After reaching up and then down he reaches out to the audience and then wiggles hips. Suggestive and he nails it…female frenzy ensues.
Steve D.
First of all, I like how he keeps his center of gravity low – the guy’s not going to be easy to take down.
The head bob has already been pointed out, but you’ll notice at the 00:38 mark that his butt bobs in synch with his head. Nice touch.
The guy does a lot of snapping, which is cool. There’s a great sequence around 1:05 in which he’s snapping, bobbing from high to low, and then caps it off at 1:10 with a hunched over yet elegant “swan” gesture with his right hand fanned out. A wide-swinging butt gyration then sends a woman in the audience into ecstacy.
How about the “glo-stick” move he does with his finger at 1:24? The likes of Mariah Carey would try this without the same degree of mach schau.
Underthefloat’s right about that move at 1:45.
Around the 2:00 mark Jones is working up a healthy, manly sweat. He celebrates it with that outstanding leg kick and then celebrates THAT with his dance at 2:15. A performer sincerely celebrating his or her own performance while performing is a thing to behold.
All I can say is, this clip makes me proud to be part Welsh.
Mod, you’re on *fire*. I’d missed his excellent glo-stick move. And you’re right about Jones’ supreme confidence in himself — and celebration *of* himself — in this performance.
There’s a bit more to be found, and celebrated, in here. I for one applaud Tom for his attitudinal shift at mile marker 2:23. He’s just finished his conquest of the ladies after the bridge, he knows it, and — after a moment to wipe the sweat from his brow (he doesn’t need to sweat anymore) — he locks the gearbox in overdrive, mashes his foot to the floor, an cruises to the finish line, employing an almost disdainful “blessing hand” to keep the ladies simultaneously attached to him, yet distant enough to desire more.
Bravo, Tom!
Further good break downs from Mr. Moderator. I would have missed the “glo-stick” and he clearly stuck that move!
Right now my stream isn’t working well but it did allow me the unintended benefit of some stop action moments.
One that really stucks out is at .513 seconds. It’s hard for me now to freeze it exactly so you may have to train your eye to catch it. At this moment he pulls off what I would think would be a mach schau standard. Yes, the Elvis curl lip snear! If you blink you may miss it but then there in lies the artisty. He offers it but doesn’t let it overstay it’s welcome. Is it a homage to Elvis? Or perhaps a claim to the king’s thrown? Like the baboon snearing at his rival who’s mate he’s just secured. Hard to say which interpretation is correct but either way he delivers it quick, confidently and moves on to complete the full program.
underthefloat, you’ve broken new boundaries here by going three places past the decimal point in your analysis. Bravo!
All the Mach Schau would be for naught if he didn’t have those blue-eyed soul chops down, and he does. Excellent high note at the climax there. No wonder I liked this show as a kid, I hadn’t thought of it for years.
Funny, the first person I thought of listening to him wail was that list member who fronts the Mod’s own band.
I too thought of The Velvet Foghorn, db!
I meant to add, not only did I think of The Velvet Foghorn, Andyr, but I thought of a specific performance in his career. Another band I was in with one other Head member, E. Pluribus Gergely, and two other guys some of you know was playing a show at Swarthmore College, at some Graduate Student Women’s Event. The place was swarming with very clean, 100% unbleached cotton, progressive women, who were digging our loving parodies of 3rd-rate British Invasion sounds. After our first set, Andyr showed up as part of a trip back home from Evanston, where he was living at the time. We decided he’d jam with us on the second set, which especially psyched up E. Pluribus, who’d long admired the man’s dynamic stage presence. We figured out maybe a dozen stock covers – “The Midnight Hour.” “One After 909,” “Bad Boy,” and the like – and got to work. Andyr was in his full, Mach Schau glory. The (mostly) women in attendance were transfixed. One vegetarian in the crowd asked EPG for a piece of his beef jerky that he was snacking on between sets. There were feelings in the crowd probably not felt since the days of riding school.
I’ve played maybe 1000 shows with The Velvet Foghorn, but that impromptu performance of worn-out covers may have been his greatest ever.
It’s great that after the bridge instead of a guitar solo, you get his dance solo. Notice he doesn’t get much height on the karate kick. The downside of the too tight trousers.
Thanks for the props! I’ll tell you, I never had panties thrown at me (or the chicken)
It’s an excellent performance and he definitely Mach Schau but what I find interesting is that TJ is doing the same dance Davy Jones did in “Daydream Believer”