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Hideyuki Mihashi ©Stars and StripesTokyo, February, 1973: Tom Jones gives a double thumbs-up during a press conference at the exclusive New Latin Quarter nightclub, where tickets for his upcoming performance were selling for a staggering 120,000 yen ($450, or more than $2,500 in 2020 dollars). "I don't make the decisions on what prices to charge, but when we found out that they were so expensive, I wanted to cancel the tour," Jones said. As a compromise, the club and the singer to agree to make donations to local charities. Tickets for his show at the Budokan Hall were available for a much more reasonable 3,000 yen. "I had a very good upbringing," said Jones, the son of a coal miner in South Wales. "I think that's one of the most important things in life. The way you're brought up as a child reflects on your adult life." Tom Jones, whose music is the subject of one of comedian John Mulaney's most popular routines, celebrates his 80th birthday on June 7, 2020.

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