Tom Jones would've quit recording if he wasn't given It's Not Unusual

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Sir Tom Jones threatened to go back to Wales if he wasn't allowed to sing 'It's Not Unusual'.

The legendary star admitted that although he recorded the demo for the 1694 hit, the song was originally intended for Sandie Shaw.

However, the 78-year-old musician threatened to leave London and quit recording if he wasn't given the song for himself.

Speaking on the 'George Ezra and Friends' podcast, he said: "We did 'It's Not Unusual' and when I heard it back I said I gotta have this song and I mean Gordon [Mills] was going, well he wasn't fussed about it, but Les [Reed] was going 'Well Sandie Shaw you know she's had these number one records who the hell are you to get hold of this song'.

"I said 'Well I gotta have this song if I don't get this song I'm going back to Wales'. That's how strong I felt about this song. "

The 'Delilah' hitmaker went on to explain that although he was serious about his threat, Sandie didn't take much convincing to give him the track as she decided immediately upon hearing the demo that the song belonged to Tom.

He said: "I meant it oh yeah; I mean what else could I threaten them with? What could I threaten Gordon with? Than saying I'm going back and do some shows in his worker men clubs which I was doing alright with.

"So they played it to Sandie Shaw and she said 'Whoever's singing this song that's his song, I couldn't sing it like that'."

Tom added that the song which Sandie heard wasn't the final version, and originally featured the voices of his manager and songwriter acting as the band.

He said: "We re-recorded it, it was just the rhythm section and Les and Gordon doing the background it was like voices...but it was like a milder version."