Tony Joe White A GLOBAL IMAGE
Internationally-it all began on August 1, 1968, when the very alert Monument Licensee in France, Disques Barclay, and their ever-energetic Bernard de Bosson cabled our office requesting that we rush tapes, photo and bio material on Tony Joe White as a result of "TREMENDOUS REACTION" to his "Soul Francisco" record sample they had been playing for the local radio DJ's and retailers in Paris!
Once the record was issued, Barclay's Sales Promotion Manager Philippe Rault reported enthusiaslically that... "within 30 minutes after 'Soul Francisco' had been played on Radio Monte-Carlo, more than 100 telephone requests poured into the station asking for repeat plays, etc!!" There began a Monument-al wave of Tony Joe White happenings troughout France - Belgium in particular, where discotheques, TV, etc., began clamoring for local appearances by this Houston-based Soul singer/composer.
The newly-launched French trade paper, JOURNAL DU SHOW BUSINESS - via Frank Lipsik, reported the following: "One of the best records of the week - and it will bring joy to all the clubs in France and to all those who appreciate the U.S. variety and quality.
An extraordinary sound, a remarkable voice! Should be a hit!" - This is the way they described Tony Joe's "Soul Francisco".
This was followed by a most unusual event - Tony Joe received a request from one of the foremost disk jockies in France - a top radio personality, Pierre Lattes - to call him (Pierre) collect (are you listening Monsieur DeGaulle?!) - with the result that France-Inter (the national French radio network) aired a 30-minute live, Houston-to-Paris interwiew!!
Bobby Weiss,
Vice President & Director
International Division,
Monument Record Corporation,
1968.
The rest is now - history - as Germany, Spain, Japan, the Philippines, etc., etc., all began to "follow the French leader" - and the hopped on the Tony Joe White guitar - and now, Monument's newest singing-composing talent will be playing to audiences around-the-world as a result of hefty schedule of personal appearances.
It appears that internationally our friends across the oceans may have discovered Tony Joe White long before the American neighbors have - but this doesn't bother Tony Joe... he figures it will all happen... "in time".
You know something - we agree.




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