Tom Jones was 'workshy'

2010-03-09 12:46

London - Tom Jones was branded workshy by job centre officials who recommended him for work "which wouldn't dirty his fingernails" before he became a worldwide superstar, documents said Tuesday.

Jones, then known as Thomas Woodward, did factory work while he was in a band trying to hit the big time in the early 1960s.

But officials at the labour exchange in his native south Wales thought his love of music was putting him off settling into a proper job.

"It would seem that Mr. Woodward's little hobby is highly lucrative and this would also account for his non-enthusiasm in securing employment.

"Consider and submit as soon as possible to anything which wouldn't dirty his fingernails!" they wrote in December 1963.

A year later, he was talking about signing a professional contract with record label Decca. But officials noted: "He is still signing the UR (unemployment register) and not autograph books.

Jones, whose early hits included Delilah, Green, Green Grass Of Home and It's Not Unusual - followed more recently by Sex Bomb and a version of Prince's Kiss - has sold millions of records worldwide and is now worth an estimated £130m.

The notes from the labour exchange are being sold by auction house Mullock's in Shropshire, western England, on April 15 and are expected to fetch thousands of pounds.

Richard Westwood-Brookes of Mullock's said officials "obviously didn't believe Tom Jones had any future".

"What it really shows is the clash of cultures that existed in the 1960s between the older generation who felt young people should be getting their hair cut and getting a proper job, and the young generation that wanted to get involved in rock n' roll," he added.

- AFP

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