The Heart of Saturday Night

Let's celebrate a real 'Round Midnighter this weekend. The one and only Tom Waits is 58 years old today!

I first was aware of him when I listened to his extremely idiosyncratic version of Cole Porter's "It's All Right with Me" on the 1990 tribute "Red, Hot, and Blue". I picked up Raindogs in college and then my life was forever changed. Those myriad clangs and bizarre shouts with orchestral instrumentation sounded like a lot like the cacophony that's usually inside my head. His work from the early 80s on was more experimental, and that's where I jumped in. Later, I explored his earlier catalog from the 1970s.

If you put Sinatra, Kerouac, and, say, Cookie Monster into a blender with a lot of booze, turned it on and left the top off while it grinded, whatever ended up on the wall dripping down would probably be similar to the bouillabaisse cabaret comprising Waits' albums and concerts.

Seriously, Tom Waits is like good whiskey. An acquired taste, definitely, and a little goes a long way. Too much of either, and you usually end with a chaotic mess of regrets on at least a couple of different levels. (A few years ago, I burned a copy of Raindogs for a curious co-worker who wanted to check out what the fuss was all about. On his morning drive to our office, he made it through the first minute and a half of "Singapore" before ejecting the disc and giving me an earful when he arrived at work. "What in the hell was that, Mike?" he said. An acquired taste, as I said.)

Here's Waits somewhat uneasy and a little punchy on the Mike Douglas Show back in 1976. On the couch next to him is none other than Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony, and Pulitzer Prize winner Marvin Hamlisch , whom I met in passing a few years back. (As accomplished as Hamlisch is, I just thought it was awesome to meet the guy who scored "Bananas," one of my favorite movies.)

On the cult favorite Fernwood 2 Nite, Waits fared a little better, as he is playing along with the satire here. And how cool is it to see Tom Waits and the great Fred Willard together? (More namedropping: I met Fred Willard in Canada last year at the Toronto Film Festival.)



Here's a short animated clip also from the 1970s..."The One That Got Away"



Here is he on Late Night with David Letterman in 1986 or so. He's much more comfortable now in the guest's chair, equally cryptic and vaudevillian. It helps that Dave is obviously a real fan, too.



A bizarre and hilarious appearance on the sadly defunct "Night Flight" circa 1991:



I was supposed to see Tom's old flame from the 70s Rickie Lee Jones last February at the 930 Club, but an ice storm unfortunately kept me from going. Here's her biggest hit about Tom and Rickie's good friend Chuck E. Weiss.



Finally, let's go out with Tom's performance (that's him on the keyboard stage right) in the all-star tribute to Roy Orbison - A Black and White Night. If I could way-back machine myself to any concert, this one would be on my shortlist, definitely. Look at that line-up. Wow! (Buy this DVD immediately if you don't already own it. It has my personal guarantee to amaze and beguile you.)

As he sings, you're innocent when you dream. Happy Birthday, Tom, and sweet dreams, folks...