Waits: Oh well you know, most of my songs are kinda travel logs. It's difficult to say exactly where they come from. I kinda sleep with one eye open. Uhh, this is a song here, it's titled On The Nickel. In downtown Los Angelas, there's a place called 5th street. And that's where all the Hobos are. And they call it on the Nickel. And there's a uhh, motion picture entitled On The Nickel, it was written by Ralph Waite. And so, this is a story. Kinda a little wino's lullaby. Cheers.
UA-cam is like working down a mine, you keep digging away and digging away at the same old but if your really lucky you find a pure 22 carot rough diamond like this one :)
I don't understand why all of you are giving the host a hard time. Maybe you don't understand the Australian humour but the host was clearly are huge fan of Tom and thought very highly of his talent and in the earlier interview was just having fun with him, played along with the way Tom acted. Which is in no way an insult, if you think so, you take yourself too seriously.
Agree, and I don't even think he had a specific sense of humor. Just funnying around and talking to a person, he admires. He very well knew the concept of laughter and tears.
I agree. Tom may be drunk, but he is acting to. Nobody can perform at the level of drunkenness he is showing. And, he has a hard time to hide his laugh.
Oh, I think most people know exactly what was happening here and can see the host was doing a fine job while having a lot of fun with a guest he clearly liked very much. In fact, if the host had not liked Tom so much, it could have gone really bad, But as it is - it's a great piece of film, both parts I & II. And, I might add, one of Tom's best performances of his all-time classic song 'On the Nickel'. Great clip -
Don Lane --- Wikipedia sez: " Lane was born Morton Donald Isaacson at the Manhattan "Flower Hospital" in New York City to a Jewish father (Jacob) and a Catholic mother (Dolly), who later converted to Judaism. Jacob "Jack" Isaacson was a sergeant in the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and Dolly was a homemaker. He was raised in The Bronx, where he attended DeWitt Clinton High School and was classmates with Judd Hirsch and Garry Marshall."
I really like this interview and performance. Tom amused the audience with eccentricity in the interview portion and then the room fell silent when he turned on the magic in the performance. Television gold.
I haven't seen this since I saw it live to air in 1979. At that time I was totally blown away by this performance and it has stayed with me ever since as one of the more emotionally significant moments of TV I've ever seen. Seeing it now 38 years later was extremely moving. Thank God for UA-cam.
Tom Waits is such an enigmatic and intriguing person. His music is so deep and soulful, yet he has such a great sense of humor. I think him mentioning his influences being some performers plays a big part in that. Also, his acting is incredible! I just put two and two together recently. He's truly an inspiration.
Thanks! His compassion for homeless guys "sleepin' in the rain...." "....'What becomes of little boys/who never say their prayers...And what becomes of little boys/who run away from home/The world keeps gettin' bigger/Once you get out on your own...."
All these years....I just never understood..the appeal...I was so very wrong. This is genius, this is torture, this is soul. This is just so incredible and personal, I almost feel like a voyeur.
My Lord, the interviewer (Don Lane?) is just fantastic...even makes Tom laugh a few times. One of the few interviews I've seen with Waits where the interviewer is such an organic part of the humor. If you haven't seen it, check out "The best interview ever" with "The Piano Has Been Drinking" and some of the David Letterman interviews--full length one of "one Last Look" with George Clooney is hilarious and also touching. Sometimes called "Free the Glutens." How the interviewer calls him the ultimate set up (comedian) is so very accurate. I wonder sometimes what Tom Waits is like when he isn't playing his character. His choice to play a drunken broke down piano bar quasi-bum is so brilliant. He can make just about any political comment he wants if he so chooses.
Watch any interview with Tom prior to meeting Kathleen and he's a nervous wreck. Watch any interview post marriage and sobriety the nerves are all gone. Thankfully, Tom met his guardian angel and married her post haste!
Just came back for another listen to this. I do it once or twice a year. There is something about this Waits performance I find incredibly poignant and moving. Don't know why...it always struck me that here was a strange man in a strange land playing for an audience that didn't know what to make of him. And yet they were slowly but surely captivated by this gnome-like fellow.
I watched the Don lane show as a kid. He was the David Letterman of Australia. He had his moments but this was the first time Tom had been on tv here in Australia and he wasn't the well known legend he was around the world and unfortunately he was looked down on but success is the best revenge. And he certainly got that in spades
I love how he blends Waltzing Matilda into the end of the song. Despite how agitated and fidgety he seems in the interview, as soon as he gets on the piano he completely changes
Joel McIntosh You mean “how he blends Ice Cream Man into the end of the song” because that tune has nothing to do with Waltzing Matilda. Check it yourself
@@pierpi5240 your totally wrong.. American artist in the 70s and 80s would add waltzing Matilda in there songs at concert as a salute to Australia... check out canned heat live at broadford 83..
I saw that show in Sydney,Don Lane told the viewers that He is not stoned,he simply is like that.We were fascinated to watch it and listen to his play,odd but wonderful.I have liked him and his music ever since. Like Waltzing Matilda.
There is something about Tom Waits delivery of a song that is so raw and so real that it transports you into places that music seldom does. Not since Louie Armstrong have we heard a voice like that, a deep gravelly growl of a voice that comes right from the heart and doesn't try to be pretty but just tells a story about life and humanity and love and sadness and sorrow. Tom Waits is unique. There is no one else out there like him and probably never will be again.
This is one bit of television I'll never forget. I was a teen at the time of this and was enthralled by this shy, gravelly voiced chain smoking man that blew me away. My best mate of the time gave me a better education of his music a few months later, and I've purchased everything he has released since. Don Lane handled him beautifully too, a stand-out interview.
I think Don did a great job of interviewing Tom. It was a fun interview and they were totally having a blast and riffing off each other. Tom looked very shy and the host made him laugh. And then at the end he really did his best to get people to attend Tom's shows and even gave him an open invite to appear on his show whenever he wanted.
I love the fact that if you watch the first part you can tell the audience aren't sure if he's serious or not, especially when they show the short video footage him performing and you can hear the audience chuckling... And then he comes out and blows them away with a performance like this, he's nothing short of brilliant!
quality man, singer and musician as well as actor especially in Bram Stokers Dracula as Renfield lol Master, Master you Promised to make me Immortal :)
You get it, many don't understand Tom Waits. When I hear one of his songs it pulls out demons from deep within me. Demons and sadness I'd thought I had overcome but really I was just burying them. Last night I played a couple of tracks from Mule Variations and I'm still weeping, his music is so cathartic. God bless him.
Man, I'm fairly new to Waits, but listening to his music and seeing him here I can't help but think that he was (and is) just one of the most truly incredible and unique and wonderful and sincere people ever- like Bowie, just like an angel or an alien that almost doesn't belong here. Am I making this up? Can someone who really knows Waits and his career and life confirm or deny this?
I don't know the man personally but I've loved his work all my life and I totally agree with you. Waits' talent is beyond precocious; like Bowie's, it's so beyond "good", it hardly seems possible.
PLEASE ANYBODY put subtitles. I am Italian I need to understand the things Tom says at the beginning. Can someone reply to me and tell me what he says before the song...Please and thank you.
Watching the first part of this and seeing how interviewers treated Tom back in the day, and made sport of him, makes this performance all the better... on the nickel
Tom Waits has got to be one of the most unusual people on the planet. When you see him like this, awkwardness personified during the interview, you wonder what he's all about. But then he sits down at that piano and something magical occurs. He starts to sing in that gravelly voiced rasp, piano keys tinkling, and you get the feeling that he is penetrating into some fundamental realities, tapping into things we know and feel but can barely touch, and pulling them out for us to see.
Aos 45 segundos, quando o apresentador olha a câmara, percebe-se que ele tem a noção de estar perante um talento excepcional. É impressionante como, no final, Tom Waits parece querer fechar-se sobre si próprio; como se não existisse para além da sua música. Around 0:45, when he looks to the camera, you can notice that the host knows he´s in front of a truly talented man.
does anyone else notice how rock solid and soothingly rhythmic tom's playing on the piano is, esp. given he's singing too? put another star up next to his name.
omg... thanks for posting this! I felt that! How much pathos can one man fit into a song?! How could you possibly not connect with this?? I believe it, every word rings true..
Never knew about this perfromance until I read about it in the Innocent When You Dream - The Collected Interviews, which just said it brought the house down. It didn't dissapoint. Thanks so much for the upload.
Waits: Oh well you know, most of my songs are kinda travel logs. It's difficult to say exactly where they come from. I kinda sleep with one eye open. Uhh, this is a song here, it's titled On The Nickel. In downtown Los Angelas, there's a place called 5th street. And that's where all the Hobos are. And they call it on the Nickel. And there's a uhh, motion picture entitled On The Nickel, it was written by Ralph Waite. And so, this is a story. Kinda a little wino's lullaby.
Cheers.
Thank you, man!
I feel like he sings for people who don’t have a voice
UA-cam is like working down a mine, you keep digging away and digging away at the same old but if your really lucky you find a pure 22 carot rough diamond like this one :)
_Quite_ a *gem*
Indeed! What an incredible version of that song.
I don't understand why all of you are giving the host a hard time. Maybe you don't understand the Australian humour but the host was clearly are huge fan of Tom and thought very highly of his talent and in the earlier interview was just having fun with him, played along with the way Tom acted. Which is in no way an insult, if you think so, you take yourself too seriously.
Agree, and I don't even think he had a specific sense of humor. Just funnying around and talking to a person, he admires. He very well knew the concept of laughter and tears.
Some people just can't stand to see their idols get ribbed. I thought the host was pretty damned funny, and Waits seemed to enjoy it.
I agree. Tom may be drunk, but he is acting to. Nobody can perform at the level of drunkenness he is showing.
And, he has a hard time to hide his laugh.
Oh, I think most people know exactly what was happening here and can see the host was doing a fine job while having a lot of fun with a guest he clearly liked very much. In fact, if the host had not liked Tom so much, it could have gone really bad, But as it is - it's a great piece of film, both parts I & II. And, I might add, one of Tom's best performances of his all-time classic song 'On the Nickel'. Great clip -
Tom Waits is a National Treasure.
Today's world needs more hosts like the interviewer.
Pahadi Stoner I truly do miss hosts like this.
Todays world doesn't need more interviewers but artists. Real, true artists
Now all we got is god damn Jimmy kimmel
Don Lane --- Wikipedia sez: " Lane was born Morton Donald Isaacson at the Manhattan "Flower Hospital" in New York City to a Jewish father (Jacob) and a Catholic mother (Dolly), who later converted to Judaism. Jacob "Jack" Isaacson was a sergeant in the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and Dolly was a homemaker. He was raised in The Bronx, where he attended DeWitt Clinton High School and was classmates with Judd Hirsch and Garry Marshall."
@@autodidacticartisan that made me lol thanks
I really like this interview and performance. Tom amused the audience with eccentricity in the interview portion and then the room fell silent when he turned on the magic in the performance. Television gold.
+IAmThePumaMan "Eccentricity" meaning "fucking high."
+bobbygnosis WRONG! Tom hasn't changed a bit to this day. A true original!
IAmThePumaMan words couldn't be wiser!
Wow! The host is a true gentleman.
Seriously. That kind of sincerity is rare now days.
Don Lane
Yes sir
Host did a good job but you could tell at the end it almost got uncomfortable when he touched Waits a little too long lol
Love you, Tom.
I haven't seen this since I saw it live to air in 1979. At that time I was totally blown away by this performance and it has stayed with me ever since as one of the more emotionally significant moments of TV I've ever seen. Seeing it now 38 years later was extremely moving. Thank God for UA-cam.
Amazing how he totally changes when he sit down at the piano and starts singing..
Tom Waits is such an enigmatic and intriguing person. His music is so deep and soulful, yet he has such a great sense of humor. I think him mentioning his influences being some performers plays a big part in that. Also, his acting is incredible! I just put two and two together recently. He's truly an inspiration.
Probably one of the best interviews ever seen on TV.
The host, light, the crew, Tom...
And "Waltzing Matilda" in the end...
Pure poetry...
Brought a tear to my eye.
Don Lane was incredibly brave bringing Tom live like this in Australia. It blew our collective minds and Tom filled our worlds.
Thanks! His compassion for homeless guys "sleepin' in the rain...." "....'What becomes of little boys/who never say their prayers...And what becomes of little boys/who run away from home/The world keeps gettin' bigger/Once you get out on your own...."
never heard this guy before, glad I did its rare to find unique music these days.
His voice evokes such emotion and imagery. Great storyteller.
His voice is shit. #iknowthasrite
All these years....I just never understood..the appeal...I was so very wrong. This is genius, this is torture, this is soul. This is just so incredible and personal, I almost feel like a voyeur.
when tv had some class..
ben brown indeed
More like class clowns(:
Oh Tom, when you played 'Waltzing Matilda' you held them all, it was from the heart, thank you Tom
Pierpi that’s Waltzing Matilda
Tim fitz I did a better research, and I see what you mean, thanks for insisting
Just sitting here with tears in my eyes. Never knew I could love a guy as much as I do Tom. I'd take a bullet for the man.
My Lord, the interviewer (Don Lane?) is just fantastic...even makes Tom laugh a few times. One of the few interviews I've seen with Waits where the interviewer is such an organic part of the humor. If you haven't seen it, check out "The best interview ever" with "The Piano Has Been Drinking" and some of the David Letterman interviews--full length one of "one Last Look" with George Clooney is hilarious and also touching. Sometimes called "Free the Glutens." How the interviewer calls him the ultimate set up (comedian) is so very accurate. I wonder sometimes what Tom Waits is like when he isn't playing his character. His choice to play a drunken broke down piano bar quasi-bum is so brilliant. He can make just about any political comment he wants if he so chooses.
oh i thought he was just a wierdo. this was an act?
That's who he was, it wasn't an act, he changed alot when he met Kathleen Brennan.
Watch any interview with Tom prior to meeting Kathleen and he's a nervous wreck. Watch any interview post marriage and sobriety the nerves are all gone. Thankfully, Tom met his guardian angel and married her post haste!
Just came back for another listen to this. I do it once or twice a year. There is something about this Waits performance I find incredibly poignant and moving. Don't know why...it always struck me that here was a strange man in a strange land playing for an audience that didn't know what to make of him. And yet they were slowly but surely captivated by this gnome-like fellow.
I watched the Don lane show as a kid.
He was the David Letterman of Australia. He had his moments but this was the first time Tom had been on tv here in Australia and he wasn't the well known legend he was around the world and unfortunately he was looked down on but success is the best revenge.
And he certainly got that in spades
One of my favourite performance of all time, gets me everytime , 👐🏾
better than beautiful, makes you laugh, makes you sad, makes you think, an extraordinary human, thanks for posting
Well said..
His spoken introduction to the song is really beautiful
Saw this live to air in '79 and have been a huge fan ever since. Gorgeous.
I’m in my late 60’s. Of course I saw this guy in the past. Until today I didn’t realise what kind of genius he was. Amazing.
I love Tom Waits music, but find it hard to listen to a lot of it. Literally brings tears to my eyes. Such a beautiful thing.
I love how he blends Waltzing Matilda into the end of the song. Despite how agitated and fidgety he seems in the interview, as soon as he gets on the piano he completely changes
Mate, how amazing!
Joel McIntosh
You mean “how he blends Ice Cream Man into the end of the song” because that tune has nothing to do with Waltzing Matilda. Check it yourself
@@pierpi5240 your totally wrong.. American artist in the 70s and 80s would add waltzing Matilda in there songs at concert as a salute to Australia... check out canned heat live at broadford 83..
@@keithmcparland6397 thanks, that was really instructive
I have heard that an waltzing mathilda was an Australian backpack from the Australian Army. Witch was waltzing on the back during walking.
I saw that show in Sydney,Don Lane told the viewers that He is not stoned,he simply is like that.We were fascinated to watch it and listen to his play,odd but wonderful.I have liked him and his music ever since. Like Waltzing Matilda.
Just brilliant.Nothing else like him!
One of the few artists who never sold out to flash, money, or fame.
Lots of respect for Don Lane here
I was far from beeing born in 1979 but this has to be one of my favourite moments on live TV ever.
There is something about Tom Waits delivery of a song that is so raw and so real that it transports you into places that music seldom does. Not since Louie Armstrong have we heard a voice like that, a deep gravelly growl of a voice that comes right from the heart and doesn't try to be pretty but just tells a story about life and humanity and love and sadness and sorrow. Tom Waits is unique. There is no one else out there like him and probably never will be again.
Beautiful
This is one bit of television I'll never forget. I was a teen at the time of this and was enthralled by this shy, gravelly voiced chain smoking man that blew me away. My best mate of the time gave me a better education of his music a few months later, and I've purchased everything he has released since. Don Lane handled him beautifully too, a stand-out interview.
Love this song so much and ignoring the cruddy quality, this is my favorite recording ever
"Don't blush now on me - my God!" - a truly humble man (at least at that time)...I love him...
I think Don did a great job of interviewing Tom. It was a fun interview and they were totally having a blast and riffing off each other. Tom looked very shy and the host made him laugh. And then at the end he really did his best to get people to attend Tom's shows and even gave him an open invite to appear on his show whenever he wanted.
This song is so deep and awesome. There is no one like Tom. What a wonderful profound soul.
A great singer and poet.
This man is a legend. Perfection just pours out of him. Very touching song.
I think both the interviewer and the guest were great. Brings back memories and warm hearts for both.
That a man who looks, acts, and sounds like Tom, can write tunes that make one cry......
I just love how it makes me feel
I love the fact that if you watch the first part you can tell the audience aren't sure if he's serious or not, especially when they show the short video footage him performing and you can hear the audience chuckling... And then he comes out and blows them away with a performance like this, he's nothing short of brilliant!
Something about this version that just makes you weep
Interesting man. And brave in his own right. He dares to tell the stories that never get told.
Wow what a beautiful piece of music 😢
Remember this man and all he said with music.
Beautiful Song over there.
Oh my god this performance is incredibly good
quality man, singer and musician as well as actor especially in Bram Stokers Dracula as Renfield lol Master, Master you Promised to make me Immortal :)
It's 2020 and I can't stop watching this
I honestly cannot stop watching this. It is simply just too beautiful. Thanks for posting!
I honestly love this man. I haven't got words to express how beautiful his music is... and that shy little grin.
Took me years to get Tom's pre-Beefheart-inspired stuff, but this has reduced me to tears. Again.
An extraordinary man, voice, poet. Pure love. Perhaps the key is to fully let go of self.
You get it, many don't understand Tom Waits. When I hear one of his songs it pulls out demons from deep within me. Demons and sadness I'd thought I had overcome but really I was just burying them. Last night I played a couple of tracks from Mule Variations and I'm still weeping, his music is so cathartic. God bless him.
I just love how human he is.
I remember this performance and the preceding chaotic interview on live telly, changed my world
Wow. Talk about an original. I don’t even want to imagine a world without Tom Waits in it.
he's so cute man wow
True musicians can only appreciate a talent like that
came back...had to see it again.
I’ll listen to him over half these musicians today, the start was on point
Wow Tom is just. AMAZING!
Man, I'm fairly new to Waits, but listening to his music and seeing him here I can't help but think that he was (and is) just one of the most truly incredible and unique and wonderful and sincere people ever- like Bowie, just like an angel or an alien that almost doesn't belong here. Am I making this up? Can someone who really knows Waits and his career and life confirm or deny this?
I don't know the man personally but I've loved his work all my life and I totally agree with you. Waits' talent is beyond precocious; like Bowie's, it's so beyond "good", it hardly seems possible.
Badass - stoked I found this.
Man o man o man...gets better every time.
well his voice is out of this world
Wonderfully moments in history!!
PLEASE ANYBODY put subtitles. I am Italian I need to understand the things Tom says at the beginning.
Can someone reply to me and tell me what he says before the song...Please and thank you.
I know it's been 2 years but do you still need it mate?
There will never be another. Love the waltzing matilda finish, Just for the aussie audience.
Watching the first part of this and seeing how interviewers treated Tom back in the day, and made sport of him, makes this performance all the better... on the nickel
True artist,I luv classics thanx for sharing!!
Geweldig, we hebben dezelfde smaak !
Great dude, we have the same taste!
Martin.
Brilliant and one of a kind!!
this song deserves more views ! ! ! !
I wish i was alive to have gone to these gigs...
Tom Waits is the Bob Dylan that Bob Dylan wishes he always was
Tom Waits has got to be one of the most unusual people on the planet. When you see him like this, awkwardness personified during the interview, you wonder what he's all about. But then he sits down at that piano and something magical occurs. He starts to sing in that gravelly voiced rasp, piano keys tinkling, and you get the feeling that he is penetrating into some fundamental realities, tapping into things we know and feel but can barely touch, and pulling them out for us to see.
That explanation was extraordinarie
this man is a true legend!!
Beautiful! 👏👏
Aos 45 segundos, quando o apresentador olha a câmara, percebe-se que ele tem a noção de estar perante um talento excepcional.
É impressionante como, no final, Tom Waits parece querer fechar-se sobre si próprio; como se não existisse para além da sua música.
Around 0:45, when he looks to the camera, you can notice that the host knows he´s in front of a truly talented man.
Along with his many excellent works, he has been featured in 119 soundtracks and acted in 31 films to date.
What a lovely comment. Cheers.
First time I've seen it coming as I do from Liverpool we know a bit about music but this is really real stuff the kinda stuff you cant bottle.
I tip my hat to you sir... Beautifully phrased... You hit it right on the nickel :)
does anyone else notice how rock solid and soothingly rhythmic tom's playing on the piano is, esp. given he's singing too? put another star up next to his name.
omg... thanks for posting this!
I felt that!
How much pathos can one man fit into a song?!
How could you possibly not connect with this??
I believe it, every word rings true..
Tom Waits is an inspriational human being. Love him. Oh, and he had cool-ass hair, too.
So beautiful.
I love Tom Waits
Never knew about this perfromance until I read about it in the Innocent When You Dream - The Collected Interviews, which just said it brought the house down. It didn't dissapoint. Thanks so much for the upload.
You summed him up pretty good, I got goosebumps just watching him perform.
amazing !!!
I couldn't agree more.