The one question Tom Jones avoided asking Prince
Throughout his career, Tom Jones has tackled songs by several of the biggest names in music and made them his own, including the Prince classic ‘Kiss’, which the Welsh singer covered in 1988. Producing his own version of a beloved creation like ‘Kiss’ is a monumental task, but one that Jones rose to with aplomb.
At the time, Jones was going through somewhat of a career rebirth after a stagnate period. Before the release of ‘A Boy From Nowhere’ in 1987, Jones was viewed as yesterday’s hero and deemed as a figurehead from the distant past of pop music, who would see out the rest of his days in Las Vegas, out of the eye of relevancy.
It was almost 20 years since Jones had been viewed as a current act before ‘A Boy From Nowhere’ provided him with a second bite of the cherry. Following the success of his comeback, Jones was recruited by synth-pop band Art of Noise for a collaboration after they were impressed with his performance on television.
The group believed Jones would be the perfect vocalist for a cover of the Prince song ‘Kiss’, and he didn’t take a great deal of convincing. Their vision proved to be a recipe for success, with the video gaining regular rotation on MTV, leading to the cover charting at five in the United Kingdom, further cementing Jones’ return to prominence.
In his 2015 autobiography, Over the Top and Back, Jones said of his initial reaction to hearing the finished mix: “If this isn’t a hit, then I may as well pack up and leave”. However, despite his immense pride in the collaboration, Jones couldn’t bear to find out Prince’s opinion when they came face-to-face in a glitzy London nightclub.
In the same book, Jones recalled how Prince “was dressed like some kind of 18th-century fop – braided coat, teetering heels, huge frilled sleeves, silk handkerchief waving”.
The singer recalled: “I paused to shake his hand and said, ‘Thanks for the song’. He replied, ‘Thanks for recording it’ – surprising me with his voice, which was by no means falsetto. It turns out the guy has a fathoms-deep speaking voice. And then I excused myself and walked on into the party as rapidly as I possibly could – not having anything at all against the thought of hanging out with Prince.”
Although Jones would have adored spending more time in the company of Prince, the small chance of hearing the acerbic pop star criticise his cover was enough to make the Welshman flee the scene. It simply wasn’t worth taking the risk.
“It would have devastated me to hear that he didn’t like my version of ‘Kiss’. The best approach in the circumstances seemed to be: right-turn and into the room. Don’t give him the option,” he added.
While Prince was initially positive about the cover of ‘Kiss’, the late singer was a famously unpredictable character who could easily turn, and Jones likely made the right decision to get away before the moment potentially soured.
