In the 1950s he was popular in the Detroit area on WJBK-AM both as a DJ, and for his on-air comic characterizations; he became a local celebrity. In the mid 50's Tom moved to Cincinnati and was a smash hit. He was considered by many the best DJ in town and had a huge following on WSAI's night show. He used music and records to build a radio "image", and signed off with a signature "That's All".
He was caught up in the payola scandal of late 50s, and openly admitted to having accepted thousands of dollars for playing certain records. After being fired from WJBK, Clay worked at short-lived Detroit Top 40 station WQTE (now WRDT) only to be fired again when the station changed format to easy listening music in 1961. After moving to Los Angeles and becoming a popular personality on KRLA, Clay returned to the Detroit area and found work at CKLW in neighboring Windsor, Ontario, at the time one of the foremost Top 40 AM stations in North America.
According to the book Rockin' Down the Dial, a history of Detroit Top 40 radio of the 1950s and 1960s by David Carson, Tom Clay became friendly with Marilyn Monroe during his time in Los Angeles working for KRLA. Clay's daughter, Kimberly, told Carson that her father never revealed much about his friendship with Monroe, but would only say that she seemed very lonely.
Riding the wave of early Beatlemania he again rose in popularity, met and interviewed The Beatles, but was once again the victim of his own avarice. This time, he was fired over a scheme in which he invited listeners to send in one dollar for membership in a "Beatles Booster Club", an essentially non-existent organization which had no benefits beyond a promised membership card or decal. According to fellow CKLW DJ Dave Shafer (also now deceased), Clay also promised each listener who sent in a dollar a personal item used by one of the Beatles; these "personal items" turned out to be disgusting items like cigarette butts and used tissues, and other listeners claimed to have received nothing. However, since over 80,000 fans responded, Clay was able to live comfortably for a time on the cash that appeared in his personal post office box, the equivalent of almost half a million dollars today. Dave Shafer told David Carson in Rockin' Down the Dial that Clay skipped town in the wake of the Beatles Booster fiasco, leading to Shafer's being briefly jailed on charges of international fraud. Clay eventually returned to work at other Detroit area radio stations, including WWWW-FM, and also worked at WCBS-FM in New York.
The cover to the 1971 LP What The World Needs Now.
To national audiences, Tom Clay is perhaps best remembered today for his single record on Motown's Mo-west label "What the World Needs Now Is Love/Abraham, Martin and John" (Mo-west MW5002F), a compilation of clips from the two popular records, interviews, and speeches of Jack and Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King emphasizing tolerance and civil rights. Inexplicably, the record shot to number eight on the charts. A follow-up album had respectable sales, but another single, "Whatever Happened To Love" (Mo-west MW5007F), flopped, and Clay found himself on unemployment. Both songs were featured on the Mo-west album What The World Needs Now (MS 103-L - released August 1971).
Clay finished his career doing voiceover work. He died of stomach and lung cancer at age 66 in Los Angeles (Valley Village), California in 1995.
What the World Needs Now
Tom Clay Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
kid: I don't know what segration is.
man: What is bigotry?
kid: I don't know what bigotry is.
man: What does hatred mean?
kid: I don't know what that is.
man: What is prejudice?
kid: Mmm, I think that is when someone is sick.
[Military clip/What The World Needs Now singing in the background.]
Anybody here seen my old friend John
Can you tell me where he's gone.
[John F. Kennedy shooting documentary]
Anybody here seen my old friend Martin
Can you tell me where he's gone.
He freed lotta people
But it seems the good they die young
[Martin Luther King speech]
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby
Can you tell me where he's gone.
[Robert Kennedy shooting documentary]
What the world needs now
Is love sweet love
No not for some
But for everyone.
man: What is segration?
kid: I don't know what segration is.
man: What is bigotry?
kid: I don't know what bigotry is.
man: What does hatred mean?
kid: I don't know what that is.
man: What is prejudice?
kid: Mmm, I think that is when someone is sick.
The lyrics of Tom Clay's song "What The World Needs Now Is Love" talk about the need for love in the world and highlight the ignorance of children towards the negative aspects of society like segregation, bigotry, hatred, and prejudice. The conversation between the man and the kid in the beginning of the song shows that children are unaware of these negative aspects of society, which means that they are not born with hatred in their hearts. The song uses the children's innocence as a contrast to the violence and chaos that follows in the rest of the lyrics. The song then references John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert Kennedy, who are known for their work towards equality and justice, asking if anyone has seen where they have gone, implying their tragic deaths. The song ends with the repetition of the chorus, emphasizing the need for love in this world.
Line by Line Meaning
Anybody here seen my old friend John
The singer is asking if anyone has seen his friend John, who he has lost touch with.
Can you tell me where he's gone.
The singer is asking for help in finding his friend John.
Anybody here seen my old friend Martin
The singer is asking if anyone has seen his friend Martin, who he has lost touch with.
Can you tell me where he's gone.
The singer is asking for help in finding his friend Martin.
He freed lotta people
Referring to Martin Luther King Jr., who was instrumental in the African American Civil Rights Movement and the end of segregation.
But it seems the good they die young
Martin Luther King Jr. died young, despite his good deeds and the positive impact he had on the world.
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby
The singer is asking if anyone has seen his friend Bobby, who he has lost touch with.
Can you tell me where he's gone.
The singer is asking for help in finding his friend Bobby, who was Robert Kennedy.
What the world needs now
The world needs love, the sentiment expressed in the song.
Is love sweet love
The love that the world needs should be sweet and caring.
No not for some
The love that the world needs should not be restricted to a select few.
But for everyone.
The love that the world needs should be available to all individuals without exception.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Hal David, Burt Bacharach
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@tonyfigs8148
You must have a mouse in your pocket, Clem. Because "we" in America most certainly DON'T have racial equality. Quoting from an article entitled: 3 AREAS THAT SHOW AMERICA’S RACIAL INEQUALITY,"
"Housing, employment, and health are three domains with 'profound racial and ethnic inequalities' in the United States, report researchers.
"Less than half of black families (41 percent) and Hispanic families (45 percent) live in owner-occupied housing, as of 2014. For white families, that figure is 71 percent. ...
"Roughly 1 in 6 black and Hispanic households spend more than 50 percent of their income on housing, leaving them with fewer resources to devote to their children’s education, health care, and other basic needs.
"The persisting earnings gap has made it even more difficult for African Americans and Hispanics to catch up. In 2010, median earnings for black males were 32 percent lower than median earnings for their white counterparts.
"The earnings gap between white and Hispanic men grew from 29 to 42 percent between 1970 and 2010.
"The earnings gap between black and white males has narrowed by only 7 percentage points in four decades. ...
"Since 1980, racial and ethnic disparities in poverty in the US have remained largely unchanged, resulting in what the researchers characterize as “two Americas.”
"Whereas blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans are more likely to experience the high-poverty America, Asians and whites are more likely to experience the low-poverty America. One in four blacks, one in four Native Americans, and one in five Hispanics are classified as poor. By contrast, only 1 in 10 whites and 1 in 10 Asians are poor. ...
"There are also profound racial disparities in illness and death. For example, blacks are two to three times more likely than whites to suffer from hypertension and diabetes, leading in turn to higher rates of cardiovascular disease. ...
"The deck is stacked against blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans because they are dealt, as the report states, an immediate “one-two punch” at the very moment of birth. They are not just more likely to be born into families with less wealth, education, and income, but they are also more likely to live in poor neighborhoods where high-quality schools are more difficult to find, crime is high, and other amenities are unavailable."
It's a simple thing, Clem, just go to Google and type in -- "Is there racial equality in America?" There are plenty of articles on it.
@isivest
I turned 62 this year. My mother gave me and my 3 brothers each a 45 record of this song , produced by Rainbow Records, when we were just little children. We played it over and over. The words in the song are the reason I believe none of us ever grew up to be racist. No videos back then. This video for the song is one of the most masterful pieces of art ever produced. I cry every time I see it. "This Song/Video Should Be Play Over And Over To Every Teenager And Every Child In Every School At Every Opportunity!!"
@jayneanthony5652
Your mother was a beautiful person and a great parent ❤️
@mariacristinatavares5930
Tambem choro ao assistir meu amigo. A america carece de herois movidos pelo amor de Deus. Cresci vendo e escutando no brasil a historia americana e hoje pergunto:
Onde estao estes homens ? Onde anda a justica que predominou nos EUA ? Estamos perdendo a identidade porque deixamos que eles nos escravizassem. A aguia na america hoje e apenas um simbolo do passado. E choro por nossos filhos.
@tygoldizen7042
As someone who's 25 I'm thankful to be able to spread this to another generation with the thanks of my father in law.
@bbbunny66
My daddy served in that war. I thank the military for all they have done and do for this country. I'm not from that era but this song would always choke me up. So sad about JFK then about Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. these men changed a lot of lives and someone to look up to forever. If anyone reads this, and served or now serving. I want to thank you and proud of you whoever you are. God bless
@shedmanx3640
I’m an Australian in my 60’s and can clearly remember JFK’s assassination even as young as I was. The moon landing, Bobby Kennedy’s assassination, the Vietnam war on the nightly news. This song never fails to bring me to tears. JFK’s assassination was the world’s loss of innocence; for me anyway. Older people lived through two world wars, infinitely worse.
Children are innocent. They are taught to hate. 😥
@kevinwilliams8784
I too am Australia,the war in vietnam on the news.Friends brother was killed in vietnam.One of 2 men from my home town killed in vietnam.
@Mustang00007
Yes mate, the wife doesn't like it, but i, like tear up when i play it. These were the days when news took 24hrs to reach us from America. The only drug we had here was marihuana.
@zapkvr
You need help son. I hope you get it. Theres a lot of people here who want to bang on about the good old days. They need a reality check.
@zapkvr
@KEVIN WILLIAMS Maybe he should have stayed home. Just a thought. Turns out it was the good guys who stayed home.