"Mars Attacks" scared me when I was a kid. Tom Jones didn't.
Who knew that someday they'd be linked?Jones sang "What's New, Pussycat?" just when I reached the age to snicker at the verses' transparent double entendres.
"Mars Attacks," a series of bubble-gum cards, told the story of a Martian invasion of Earth, complete with a narrative chapter on the back and graphic, gory scenes of destruction and death on the front.
Deep in my mind's eye, it was real. Hours after a teenage pal let me check out his nearly complete collection, we drove through New York, the scene of much of the cardly carnage, and I cowered in the rear of my parents' car.
Jones, calling in from Las Vegas, was surprised to find out I knew what "Mars Attacks" was. (I've tried, really, to blot it from my memory.)
You see, after the short tour that brings him and his eight-piece ensemble here and after recording a new album, Jones will work on his big-screen debut in the first movie to be adapted from bubble-gum cards, "Mars Attacks."
Oh no! Imagine his impeccable Vegas coolness melted into a smoking pool of protein by a Martian death ray!
That's not in the contract, Jones says.
"No, no! Actually, I play a bit of a hero in it. The Martians come into the showroom where I'm singing, and I lead people to safety."
Well, thank goodness!
Jones was invited by fan and director Tim Burton, who used some Jones tunes in "Edward Scissorhands," to play himself in the movie.
"I've read scripts through the years, but I never sought them out," Jones says.
So Jones remains focused on his singing career. At 55, he recognizes the dilemma of wanting to remain a contender while a huge chunk of his audience wants such old hits as "Pussycat," "It's Not Unusual" and "Delilah," just to name a few.
"Since I did `Kiss' (a Prince song) with Art of Noise (in 1988), a lot of younger people come to the shows," Jones says. "That's a problem because the young people want to stand and the older people want to sit, you know."
His most recent album, "The Lead and How to Swing It," released in 1994, continued his effort to reach the contemporary audience. "If I Only Knew," one of the album's singles, turned into a big hit in Australia.
He's trying a different approach on his next record - using a single producer and working on more old-style rhythm and blues, which is the style he started out singing in the pubs of Wales.
That was long before "Mars Attacks" cards.