Mojo - The Music Magazine

Tom Waits' (aka our current guest editor) finest webvids, as selected by MOJO's Ross Bennett...

The Piano Has Been Drinking + Interview
(Fernwood 2 Night, 1977)

Short-lived US comedy chat show Fernwood 2 Night plays host to a Tom Waits at the peak of his Hollywood hobo-prince phase. Stay tuned for the hilarious interview after the song. ________________________________________________________________________

Glitter & Doom Press Conference
(Tomwaits.com, 2008)

Here's MOJO's guest editor at his playful best addressing an empty room full of reporters (you'll see what we mean). "Indulge me"...

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Coffee And Cigarettes - Somewhere In California
(dir: Jim Jarmusch, 1993)

What better way to spend 10 minutes than in the company of an excitable Iggy Pop and a laconic Tom Waits celebrating giving up smoking. Check out Waits' reaction to Iggy's first offer of coffee or their discussion of what's on the jukebox for wincingly great comedy moments. Jarmusch's mostly-improvised short would go on to win the Short Film Palme d'Or in Cannes. ________________________________________________________________________

On The Nickel
(Live, 1978)

One of the finest cuts from 1980's Heartattack & Vine. A ballad aptly described by the man himself as "a little wino's nursery rhyme". ________________________________________________________________________

Australian TV Interview
(1979)

Having just stepped off a plane from Paris, Waits enters the TV studio through a haze of cigarette smoke before crumpling into his seat and slipping a burnt match into his jacket pocket. "It was a choice between entertainment and a career in refrigeration and air-conditioning". ________________________________________________________________________

Tango Till They're Sore + Interview
(The Late Show, 1986)

One of Waits' regular appearances on Letterman, this pair of clips from 1986 sees him premiering material from Rain Dogs. Here's the accompanying interview. ________________________________________________________________________

Shore Leave
(Big Time, 1988)

Terrifyingly brilliant live performance of Swordfishtrombones' demented letter home filmed on 1987's Big Time tour - a live show that's still to be released on DVD... ________________________________________________________________________

All The World Is Green + Interview
(The Late Show, 2002)

In New York to promote the double-whammy of Alice and Blood Money, Waits swung by the Ed Sullivan Theater to have a chat with his old pal Dave. The result? Vintage Waits shenanigans including his tale of becoming a driver on his children's school field trips. ________________________________________________________________________

Eggs And Sausages + Interview
(The Mike Douglas Show, November 19, 1976)

"He's kind of a combination poet, jazz singer and vagrant with a surprising amount of personal charm," says host Mike Douglas. Quite why that mix wouldn't offer any "personal charm" is beyond us, but then Douglas may have been struggling to pin down a man who calls himself "a curator" and "an unemployed service station attendant". ________________________________________________________________________

Tom Waits For No One
(dir: John Lamb, 1979)

Thanks to the wonder of YouTube we can now enjoy John Lamb's rotoscoped short film from 1979. Very Theme Time Radio Hour... ________________________________________________________________________

Tom Traubert's Blues
(The Old Grey Whistle Test, 1977)

Arguably his finest song, Tom Traubert's Blues opens his first masterpiece LP Small Change. The Old Grey Whistle Test had broadcast its fair share of the weird and wonderful by this stage, but this performance remains one of the programme's undeniable highlights. Two years later, he'd return with this. ________________________________________________________________________

God's Away On Business
(promo video, 2000)

MOJO's Sylvie Simmons describes this cut from Blood Money "as Waits' death metal vocal set against Germanic oompah music". Perhaps the accompanying video is best summed up by a recent YouTube user: "First time I saw this I was tripping... it was profound." ________________________________________________________________________

Goin' Out West
(promo video, 1992)

Coming on like a demented Link Wray with bug eyes, a smoke machine and a toy guitar, Waits brings the cover of Bone Machine to life in this slice of monochrome video madness. ________________________________________________________________________

Interview
(The Late Show, 2007)

Another trip to David Letterman's place served up another classic Waits encounter. Featuring... shooting television sets! The plight of the Turkey Vultures! And the origin of the phrase 'Dead Ringer'. ________________________________________________________________________

Closing Time
(US TV, 1979)

MOJO's guest editor enters alone with a broom, sweeps the floor, rifles through the trash and finds buried treasure. Here's the heart-wrenching final track on his 1973 debut as delivered to a US studio audience in 1979.

Tom Waits edits MOJO 200! Check out details of this very special issue of MOJO magazine here!