I found a great DVD treasure the other day, and was compelled to buy it (I knew that if I didn't, Brent would divorce me). It's called Tom Jones: Classic RnB & Funk, and it is both wonderful and horrifying all at once. Since it's a fairly shoddy, piecemeal sort of release, I'm having to do a lot of guessing - it has no original dates on it and each song appears to be cobbled from a different show - perhaps his NBC variety series? There are giant stylised 'TJ' banners everywhere, anyway. The songlist is great, and weird, and cool. A disco funk version of 'We Can Work it Out' with Chaka Khan? Whew. Plus some nifty package mislabelling - track 11 says it's Bowie's 'Fame' (!!!), but naturally the actual song is Irene Cara's 'Theme from Fame'. Most bizarre duet: Isaac Hayes, wearing a relaxed mini-kimono, singing 'Don't Let Go' with Tom, who is outlandishly garbed in one of many sequinned bolero jackets and tiny *tiny* doubleknit polyester trousers. This is clearly at the height of Square Middle America's Disco Obsession, circa 1980, and it doesn't have much to do with the obnoxious elitism of Studio 54. The most wondrous element, however, is Tom's wee band of backup dancers, who are totally Solid Gold - their entire repertoire consists of high kicks and back bends and the 'here are our butts' twirl, and some deeply foolish person told them to pretend to be the back-up *singers* too. Now, I am fairly certain that there are not many skinny white professional disco dancers with Farrah flips who can also sing just like Martha Wash as they bop around the stage. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I'm willing to bet that some large African-American sistah backstage was doing the *real* 'rolling on the river' during 'Proud Mary'. Tom should be ashamed of himself! Well, mainly for those bolero jackets and the poodle hair, actually. That's the *real*, quite glorious crime...