Tom Jones & Rock Hall

Well, this is news to me, if you believe Tom Jones' story.  In the Fall 2013 Beatles special edition of Goldmine, Jones states in an interview that he's been considered for the Hall, but never gets past the initial talking phase.

Here's his quote from a question about how to define his music:

"Sometimes that's a double-edged sword.  I'm not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, for instance.  I know the fellow that runs it in Cleveland and he tells me, "You know, your name is always put forward."  But you've got to have people in the business to second and third it.  So he says, "You get knocked back, and I think that the reason is people don't think of you as a rock singer, even though you've always sung rock tunes." But there are other people in there who don't sing rock-soul singers and artists who sing different types of thing.  That's an example of how, if you do a wide variety of music, and do it well, thank God, it's sometimes hard for people to say what kind of singer you are...if you're not doing the same things all the time."

Take his word or not on whether his name is a serious conversation.  As a Tom Jones fan, I'd have no problem with it, but yes, that Vegas image will be too much to overcome. And I just realized that I don't have him listed in my names of people I want inducted.  Even though Neil Diamond was able to overcome his Adult Contemporary years.  Diamond did Rock music early in his career, which was enough to overcome his AC image.