This amazing space-age Tom Jones-Tony Bennett rendition of 'Fly Me to the Moon' really aired on network TV

Tom Jones performs "Fly Me to the Moon" in 1969, in a space suit

(Image credit: This Is Tom Jones/YouTube)

last updated 5 January 2016

If you're only familiar with Frank Sinatra's famous version of the Bart Howard song "Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)," the 1969 rendition by Tom Jones — shifting seamlessly between a Latin beat and hard swing — might come as something of a shock. But listening to Jones belt out the song is one thing; watching him sing it in a shiny blue space suit, dancing around a spaceship with sliver-clad space dancers, is a whole other experience entirely:

Tony Bennett sang the seldom-performed opening verse of "Fly Me to the Moon" with Jones on that Oct. 9, 1969, episode of This Is Tom Jones, a British variety show that aired in the U.S. on ABC. Other guests during the two-year run included Janis Joplin, Peter Sellers, Ella Fitzgerald, Stevie Wonder, Johnny Cash, George Carlin, and just about everybody else big in show business at the time. Nancy Sinatra was also a guest on the third and final season, but Frank Sinatra never appeared, probably not because of that version of "Fly Me to the Moon." If watching Jones dance around in a tight blue space suit is too distracting, you should still listen to his version — the man's got pipes, and they're in top form on this song.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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