Top singer who fell foul of political campaigners

May 6 2008 by David Whetstone, The Journal

Singer Jack Jones tells David Whetstone about a spot of bother in Newcastle.

THERE were two prominent Jack Joneses around in the 1970s. One was the leader of the British transport workers, the other was an American singer who numbered Frank Sinatra among his fans.

No prizes for guessing which one is due at The Sage Gateshead tonight for a wallow in nostalgia.

It’s Jack the double Grammy-winning singer who has entertained in the White House, has a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame and who was the best jazz singer in the world, according to Judy Garland.

An Evening with Jack Jones and His Big Band is also billed as The 50th Anniversary Tour.

So for “was” in the opening paragraph of this article, read “is”.

The American Jack is still doing pretty much what he has always done, entertaining big audiences with songs that become more famous as the years pass – songs like Wives and Lovers (one of the Grammy winners), The Impossible Dream and Lollipops and Roses (the other one).

But there’s no escaping the passing years, as that concert billing makes clear. Jack turned 70 earlier this year. Instinctively I ask him how he is.

“Very well,” he replies. “But that’s the difference. I’ve reached the age where people start asking that question.”

There’s a photo of Jack dating from 1972 when he had just arrived in Britain for his first major tour and was relaxing in London’s Savoy Hotel.

He was to record a special programme for the BBC, appear on The Engelbert Humperdinck Show and perform in places including Newcastle.

Jack recalls the slog of touring in those days. “You were on the road for six to eight weeks and the buses we used weren’t so great then. There were no double-deckers with state rooms and high-definition TV. I used to write silly songs to pass the time. I remember writing one called Rotting in Nottingham.”

He also recalls a spot of bother in Newcastle arising out of the fact that he, like a lot of other singers, had performed at Sun City, the resort in Bophuthatswana, South Africa, frequented by the rich.

Because the apartheid government had declared Bophuthatswana an independent state, Sun City could offer entertainment such as gambling and topless revues that were considered immoral in South Africa itself.

The trouble was, no other country recognised Bophuthatswana and anti-apartheid campaigners condemned it as an instrument of an evil regime.

Jack fell foul of the campaigners and was blacklisted. But it was only in Newcastle, he recalls, that they refused to let him on stage at the City Hall.

Looking back, he insists: “I didn’t realise I was performing in an apartheid state. I thought I was doing the right thing. It wasn’t only white people that I saw in the audience.”

Having realised his mistake, he says he turned down subsequent invitations to perform at Sun City and did his best to make amends. “I called the anti-apartheid committee and said, ‘What do I have to do to get off this list?’

“They said, ‘You’ve got to come in this office and apologise’. I said, ‘My record is such that I don’t need to be doing something like that’, so I never did. But I wrote a letter of apology.”

Jack says on one of his early British tours he was accompanied by celebrated British jazz musician Ronnie Scott and his band. His own career has always embraced both genres. So what can tonight’s audience expect?

“Songs I know my British fans will want to hear,” says Jack enigmatically.

With the aid of another singer with a talent for impressions, he will also duet with other admired figures in 20th Century music – Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Johnny Matthis, Andy Williams and Tom Jones, to name but a few.

If touring’s still tough, Jack has a pretty enviable pad to return to. He lives in the resort of La Quinta, near Palm Springs, California. “It’s desert,” he explains. “People go there to get warmed up.”

:: If tonight’s concert matches its billing, people in Hall One at The Sage will get warmed up too. There are still tickets available. Box office: (0191) 443-4661.