Oh, but the freaky is so wonderful.
I honestly don’t own very many cds, and certain artists find themselves over-represented in this collection. Mr Waits is one.
The sense of humour is also what I find appealing. Black humour is sexy. Lunch chat goes something like:
“So who would you sleep with?”
“Viggo Mortenson.”
“Jack White”
“No, that guy who plays Frodo.”
“Tom Waits.”
Co-workers proceed to say growly, lewd things.
AL
Tom Waits has been one of my favorites for many years. His boozy / bloozy work gets more playtime than the later although I’m very fond of “Alice”.
Some of my favorite cuts include:
Christmas card from a hooker in Minneapolis
Jack and Neal: California Here I Come
I never talk to strangers
Warm Beer and Cold Women
Jitterbug Boy
I wish I was in New Orleans
The piano has been drinking
Any way he comes. Having a very similar growly, basso voice, it’s nice to be able to roar along with “God’s away on Buisness”, or to moan along with “alice”. I’m compiling a collection as quickly as my finanaces allow.
My boyfriend and one of my closest friends turned me on to Tom Waits a little over a year ago. I’m still wading through his music, but I’ve gotten the opportunity to hear bits and pieces from most of his albums, if not the whole album. Right now, I own Rain Dogs, Swordfishtrombones, and a few random mix cds with a lot of songs to which albums they belong I haven’t a clue. I got my boyfriend the Blood Money cd back in October, and every time I go to visit him, it gets a bit of play. In general, I rather like everything I’ve heard from Tom Waits, but each song has a different mood apropriate for its playing.
“Never trust a man in a blue trenchcoat; never drive a car when you’re dead…”
I’m looking forward to eventually having in my possession a copy of every album.
I first started listening to Tom Waits a few years ago; I can’t remember why, but damn am I ever glad I did. I now have most of his albums since swordfishtrombones, all of which (except for Mule Variations) occupy a section on my shelf of favorite cds. Never listened to pre-swordfishtrombones Waits, though. I’ll get there soon enough.
“Never could stand that dog…”
Slight hijack…
Is there anyone else who does anything similar to Tom Waits’ newer stuff? Or, to put it another way, if I like Tom Waits, are there any other similar artists I might like?
Tom Waits is truly unique. I’ve never heard anyone with his qualities.
One artist I know that has kind of a “dotted-line” connection to Waits is Andrew Bird. Like Waits’ recent work, he also draws from early 20th century Kurt Weill and Bertold Brecht, but instead of the darker tone of Waits’ music, Bird’s is much more upbeat and swing-oriented (he was an associate of the Squirrel Nut Zippers.)
Waits is also closely associated with Captain Beefheart, but I don’t know his music yet.
And as I mentioned earlier in the thread, there is always the “Insomniac” theme song. 
Someone started a thread asking about music similar to Waits’ a month or so ago…I’ll pass along what I said then. Check out the album Helium by Tin Hat Trio. It’s like travelling to Prague and sitting down in a funhouse and listening to a wind-up toy band that was made 90 years ago and is on the verge of falling apart. It’s really cool stuff. Waits does vocals on the last track, too.
I was first turned on to Waits in the mid-80s when I saw him on Letterman.
He was at the piano with two other guys behind him playing a gong and perhaps some sort of wind instrument. I was hooked immediately.
Although, I must say, the straightforward ballads “Grapefruit Moon” and “Tom Traubert’s Blues (Four Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen)” leave me near tears every time I hear them, and I can’t say that about many pieces of music.
As with previous posters, any way I can get him
I like the acting Tom Waits… The Fisher King, Mystery Men & his best role… Renfield in Coppolla’s Dracula. I wanna see the unused footage!!!
Jim Jarmusch’s “Down by Law” and “Mystery Train” are required viewing for any Tom Waits fans.
I first was turned onto Tom waits when I heard Hang on St. Christopher on a college radio station. I ran out and started buying CD’s until I had them all. I honestly can say I love them all as well, but I do have a very slight preference for the later stuff as that was what first turned me onto him.
If I had to pick my favorites they would be:
Rain Dogs
Bone Machine
Swordfishtrombone
Frank’s Wild Years
Nighthawks at the Diner
Closing Time
As for bands with a similar “feel” to Waits (I don’t think anyone can really sound like him) I’d go with the band Firewater, especially the CDs Get Off the Cross (We Need the Wood for the Fire) and Man on the Burning Tightrope.
My favorite Tom quote was from when he was on Latterman circa Rain Dogs.
When asked whether he preferred New York to Los Angeles,
“I love New York it’s so confrontational. It’s like a cruise ship, and the water’s on fire.”
All Waits is good Waits.
That being said, the albums I listen to the most are probably Rain Dogs, Small Change, and Mule Variations. This probably gives boom boom clang clang a slight edge over boozy and bluesy. A very slight edge.
Although it would be tough if you forced me to choose between the song about the anthropomorphized bar and the one about the gigantic sentient eyeball.
Sorry to bump up this old thread, but I’m a bigger Tom Waits fan than when I first posted here in February. I picked up Blue Valentine today, and also recently bought Closing Time, The Heart Of Saturday Night, and Heartattack and Vine. Of course I love them all. The boozy and bluesy stuff really works for me, although I appreciate the “boom boom clang clang” material I’ve heard too. I also rented Down By Law, so I could see more of Waits’ acting. Excellent movie, by the way.
A friend of mine recently told me that knowing what he knows of my personality, my interests, and my other musical tastes, that Tom Waits should be the quintessential artist for me–the artist who typifies everything I love about music. And upon further thought, he was totally right. Any other Tom Waits fans want to contribute to this thread, or any new thoughts from the older fans who already posted?
Sure, why not resurrect Tom Waits? I think with the passing of Johnny Cash, Tom Waits now probably ranks as the most widely respected musical artist. Thoughts?
To address the OP… I like boozy and clangy.
In reply to some of the discussion about similar artists to Tom Waits, I would direct interested people to both Johnny Dowd and David P. Smith.
That’s great to hear. His earliest albums I have kind of a nostalgic feel for, but his songwriting wasn’t quite as seasoned then, and some of the songs drift into cornball territory too easily. His ballads stayed maudlin to a degree right into the 80’s, but brilliant, badass stuff like “Romeo is Bleeding” and “Wrong Side of the Road” only came after he strengthened somewhat as a songwriter.
Lou, the soundtrack he did for the film One from the Heart was just re-released on CD with bonus tracks. It’s his last batch of songs in the jazzy/bluesy vein before headin for Tin Can Alley. (Hey, Tin Can Alley- that’s not bad!) 
I just wanted to say that I sought out Tin Hat Trio online due to mouthbreather’s brilliant description. I enjoyed the samples I downloaded from their web page, but it’s hard to live up to a fantastic description like that!