14 Feb: Sir Tom says again he wants to work with Duffy

Sir Tom says he’d like to sing with Duffy

Feb 14 2009 by James McCarthy, Western Mail


HE IS the 68-year-old Voice of the Valleys. She is the 24-year-old rising superstar from the tiny Gwynedd town of Nefyn.

And if singing legend Tom Jones has his way North and South Wales will be brought together by a duet that could lead to two big Welsh voices dominating the number one spot.

Sir Tom, who has already scored a hit with another Welsh female star – Cerys Matthews on the 1999 hit Baby It’s Cold Outside – yesterday revealed he wanted to share a stage with the artist behind last year’s top-selling UK album.

Sporting his new natural white-haired look he added: “At the moment the girls have better voices than the men that are around – the new ones like Amy Winehouse and Duffy, and she’s Welsh as well.”

The proposed move was yesterday welcomed by record industry insiders.

Gordon Mills – the son of the songwriter (also called Gordon Mills) who wrote Sir Tom’s breakthrough number one It’s Not Unusual – said: “That would be great. I don’t know what we’d be hearing from them but they are both kind of soul-type singers.

“He made a record with Cerys Matthews so he probably will duet with her at one time or another.

“He’s Tom Jones so he’ll always sell records.”

Pablo Janczur promoted five sell-out Duffy dates around Wales last year. Mr Janczur, who works for Push4 in Barry, said: “That would be a good marriage. I think she is very ’60s influenced and that is when his biggest hits were.

“She was one of the biggest selling artists last year and he is one of the biggest stars in the world.

“It depends on who writes it, but I imagine that would be a hit if they went with good producers.”

HMV’s Gennaro Castaldo said: “That would be number one I think. I bet she would be thrilled to work with him. Any new artist would be thrilled to work with him.

“But it would work for him by keeping him relevant. It worked for him in the past by working with Cerys and Robbie Williams.

“I could see it coming about in a surprise guest appearance on something like Later with Jools Holland or maybe an appearance at a festival.”


Duffy was unavailable for comment about the suggested duet yesterday. But the Mercy singer, nominated for four Brit awards, has revealed she will perform a special song at the awards ceremony on Wednesday.

She said: “It’s going to be a real moment. It’s a really special arrangement and I’ve taken lots of care preparing it. It’s a solo performance, a different recording of something you will know.”