Some old television moments don’t just preserve a performance—they preserve an era. Tom Jones singing “My Funny Valentine” on This Is Tom Jones in 1970 is one of those moments: not a loud hit meant to shake the room, but a controlled, intimate pause that shows why he was more than a powerhouse voice. It’s the kind of performance that makes viewers lean in and think, for a second, Is he confessing something?
“This Is Tom Jones” — a prime-time gateway between the UK and the US
This Is Tom Jones was a British variety series hosted by Tom Jones, produced in the UK and broadcast on ITV, then exported to the United States by ITC Entertainment and aired on ABC. The show ran from February 7, 1969 to January 15, 1971, spanning three seasons, 65 color episodes, with a 60-minute format that mixed musical performances and comedy sketches with celebrity guest appearances.
That format mattered. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a variety hour was not background noise—it was a weekly event. It brought major performers into living rooms and made unexpected collaborations feel normal. Wikipedia’s overview of the series highlights the scale and the guest-star culture that defined it, and notes that Jones received a Golden Globe nomination connected to the show’s early impact.
Inside that world, a standard like “My Funny Valentine” becomes more than a song choice. It becomes a statement: Tom Jones wasn’t only there to deliver big vocals and recognizable hits—he was there to show range, taste, and emotional control.
“My Funny Valentine” — a love song built on imperfections
“My Funny Valentine” is a classic Rodgers & Hart show tune, written by Richard Rodgers (music) and Lorenz Hart (lyrics) for the 1937 Broadway musical Babes in Arms. It was first introduced onstage by Mitzi Green.
What makes the song timeless is its emotional angle. It’s affectionate, but not idealizing. It teases while it adores. And crucially, the lyric’s flexibility helped it travel across decades and genres: the Rodgers & Hammerstein site notes how its gender-neutral quality helped make it universal for many singers, and also describes its bittersweet melodic character—one reason it became a durable standard.
As the song migrated into jazz and traditional pop, it became one of the most-recorded pieces in the Great American Songbook. Commonly cited summaries describe it as appearing on 1,300+ albums by 600+ artists—a shorthand way of saying: this is not a “cover,” this is a rite of passage.
Why Tom Jones singing it on TV in 1970 lands differently
By 1970, Tom Jones’ public image was already well defined: an artist with unmistakable stage presence and vocal power—someone who could command a room. But a variety show isn’t built on one gear. A one-hour broadcast needs contrast: high-energy moments, playful segments, and then the quieter performances that prove an artist can hold attention without pushing.
“My Funny Valentine” is exactly that kind of test. It doesn’t reward volume. It rewards restraint—how you shape phrases, how you land a lyric, how you let the melody do its work. When a singer known for force chooses a song that asks for finesse, the audience naturally searches for meaning. That’s where the “misunderstanding” happens in the best way: people begin to watch it like a confession, even though it’s not autobiography.
Online re-uploads and playlists commonly identify the clip as Tom Jones performing “My Funny Valentine” on This Is Tom Jones (1970), keeping the context clear: this wasn’t a random TV appearance—it was a moment on his own cross-Atlantic variety platform.
A snapshot of the television era
Part of the magic, in hindsight, is the television language of the time: studio lighting, bandstand aesthetics, the camera staying with the singer long enough for micro-expressions to matter. Variety television often framed a song like a short scene—less like a music video, more like theater. This Is Tom Jones belonged to that tradition, where a performer could take a Broadway-born standard and make it feel personal to millions of viewers at once.
That’s the deeper reason this performance still circulates: it isn’t just “Tom Jones covering a standard.” It’s Tom Jones, at peak visibility, using a classic song to show a different kind of strength—the ability to slow down and still hold the room.
Closing
If you’ve only thought of Tom Jones as a singer built for explosive, full-throttle songs, revisit his 1970 “My Funny Valentine.” It’s a reminder that the most powerful moment is sometimes the quiet one—when a great voice chooses not to overwhelm, but to reveal.