Jack Jones

Jones's biggest pop hit was "Wives and Lovers" by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Today, the lyrics may seem chauvinistic to some, but this song was a kind of anthem for the urban male of the Kennedy era, hauntingly, since it was climbing the national charts when Kennedy was assassinated. The imagery seems to come from the pages of an early 1960s Playboy Magazine, and a good-looking, smooth-sounding Jack was the perfect vocalist to deliver this classic hit, though many others, male and female, covered it as well. Singer Bobbi Martin could be considered Jones's counterpart, echoing much the same message in "For the Love of Him" more than six years later from an agreeing female perspective.

In the Kapp years, Jones recorded almost twenty albums, including Shall We Dance, This Was My Love, She Loves Me, Call Me Irresponsible, I´ve Got a Lot of Living To Do!, Bewitched, Wives and Lovers, Dear Heart, Where Love Has Gone, The Jack Jones Christmas Album, My Kind of Town, The Impossible Dream, The In Crowd, Jack Jones Sings, Lady, and Our Song Young, handsome, and well-groomed, Jack Jones was an anomaly in the sixties, eschewing rock and roll trends and opting for the big band sound, lush romantic ballads and the Great American Songbook, although sometimes he recorded something more pop, country, or bossa nova-oriented. For example: one of his biggest hits was "The Race Is On", by country music legend George Jones (no relation). Read Less

He also released an album featuring new renderings of some of his original hits entitled Love Ballad.

Jones made his movie debut in Juke Box Rhythm (1959), playing Riff Manton, a young singer who is involved romantically with a princess (Jo Morrow). He sings three songs. Jones acted in such minor films as The Comeback and Cruise of the Gods. He had a humorous cameo in the film parody Airplane II: The Sequel (1982) as Robert Hays avoids searchlights while escaping captivity, the beams become a spotlight on Jones, performing a verse from The Love Boat theme.

He became a staple on '60s and '70s variety shows, performing on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Andy Williams Show, The Dick Cavett Show, The Hollywood Palace, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The Jerry Lewis Show, American Bandstand, This is Tom Jones, The Dean Martin Show, The Judy Garland Show, Playboy After Dark, The Jack Benny Program, The Steve Allen Show, and The Morecambe and Wise Show in Britain. He twice hosted NBC's top rated rock and roll series Hullabaloo, and was featured in two prime-time specials, Jack Jones on the Move (1966) and The Jack Jones Special (1974). Jones provided the famous opening theme for the television series The Love Boat from 1977 through 1985, and also made several guest appearances on the show, including one with his father Allan. Read Less