When Tom Jones recorded “It’s Not Unusual” in November 1964 he was still an unknown singer. The song was written by Les Reed and Gordon Mills, and Tom Jones was used to record a demo of it with the intent of having Sandie Shaw later do a proper record. Shaw was impressed with Jones’ demo and recommended that he release his version instead.
A then-unknown teenage keyboard player named Reginald Dwight was brought in to play for the one day recording session as Jones’ regular keyboard player was absent. You may be familiar with “Reg” because he is now better known as Elton John!
Released in early 1965, “It’s Not Unusual” became the first hit for Jones, reaching number one in the UK, and peaking at #10 in the US.
The single was used as the theme song for This Is Tom Jones, his late ’60s-early ’70s variety TV series.
