Editing Tom Waits (section)

===''Small Change'' and ''Foreign Affairs'': 1976–1978===
In July 1976, Waits recorded [[Small Change (Tom Waits album)|''Small Change'']], again produced by Howe.{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1p=91|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2p=164}} He recalled it as a seminal episode in his development as a songwriter, the point when he became "completely confident in the craft".{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=164}} The album was critically well received and was his first release to break into the [[Billboard Hot 100|Billboard Top 100 Album List]], peaking at 89.{{sfn|Humphries|2007|pp=97–98}} Per Bowman, ''Small Change'' "made it clear that Waits had evolved into a master storyteller, reflecting the influence of crime-noir writers such as [[Dashiell Hammett]] and [[John D. MacDonald]]. Arguably his first masterpiece, the album featured exquisite piano ballads such as '[[Tom Traubert's Blues]]' and ‘[[The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me) (An Evening With Pete King)|The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)]],’ the word-jazz of ‘Pasties and a G-String,’ and the tour-de-force tenor-sax-accompanied hucksterism of ‘[[Step Right Up (Tom Waits song)|Step Right Up]].’”<ref name=Bowman/> He received growing press attention, being profiled in ''[[Newsweek]]'', ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]'' and ''[[The New Yorker]]'';{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=170}} he had begun to accrue a [[cult following]].{{sfn|Humphries|2007|p=99}} He went on tour to promote the new album, backed by the Nocturnal Emissions ([[Frank Vicari]], [[Chip White]] and Fitz Jenkins).{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1p=98|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2p=170}} In reference to "Pasties and a G-String", a female stripper joined him onstage.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|pp=172–173}} He began 1977 by touring [[Japan]] for the first time.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=179}}
[[File:Rickie-Lee-Jones.jpg|thumb|left|In 1977, Waits began a relationship with singer-songwriter [[Rickie Lee Jones]] (pictured here in 2008); their work and styles influenced each other.]]

Back in Los Angeles, he encountered various problems. One female fan, recently escaped from a mental health institution in [[Illinois]], began [[stalking]] him and lurking outside his Tropicana apartment.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=179}} In May 1977, Waits and close friend [[Chuck E. Weiss]] were arrested for fighting with police officers in a coffee shop. They were charged with two counts of disturbing the peace but were acquitted after the defense produced eight witnesses who refuted the police officers' account of the incident.{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1p=101|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2pp=177–178}} In response, Waits sued the [[Los Angeles Police Department]] and five years later was awarded $7,500 in damages.{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1p=101|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2p=178}}

In July and August 1977, he recorded his fourth studio album, ''[[Foreign Affairs (Tom Waits album)|Foreign Affairs]]'';{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=183}} [[Bob Alcivar]] had been employed as its [[Arrangement|arranger]].{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=181}} The album included "I Never Talk to Strangers", a duet with Midler, with whom he was still in an intermittent relationship.{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1p=103|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2pp=185–186}} She appeared with him at the Troubadour to sing the song; the next day he repaid the favor by performing at a [[gay rights]] benefit at the [[Hollywood Bowl]] that Midler was involved with.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=191}} ''Foreign Affairs'' was not as well received by critics as its predecessor, and unlike ''Small Change'' failed to make the Billboard Top 100 album chart.{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1p=106|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2p=189}} That year, he began a relationship with the singer-songwriter [[Rickie Lee Jones]]; their work and styles influenced each other.{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1p=69|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2pp=192–197}} In October 1977, he returned to touring with the Nocturnal Emissions; it was on this tour that he first began using props onstage, in this case a street lamp.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=198}} Again, he found the tour exhausting.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=199}} In March 1978, he embarked on his second tour of Japan.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|pp=202–203}}

During these years, Waits sought to broaden his career beyond music. He befriended actor and director [[Sylvester Stallone]] and made his film debut as a drunken piano player in Stallone's ''[[Paradise Alley]]'' (1978).{{sfnm|1a1=Humphries|1y=2007|1pp=111–112|2a1=Hoskyns|2y=2009|2pp=200–201}} With [[Paul Hampton]], Waits also began writing a movie musical, although this project never came to fruition.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=204}} Another project he began at this time was a book about entertainers of the past whom he admired.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=204}}