Artist of the week: Elton John

Yeah, it was Dave.

 

He was only glitter rock in the sense of his image and costimes.

But musically, I can't think of a single Elton John that sounds like glam rock as defined by Bowie, T-Rex, Mott The Hoople, Sweet, etc.

 

There was no one bigger in the 70s. No one.

I remember the hype around an upcoming album release being absolutely monstrous and all encompassing for two releases in that era: Boston's 2nd album and Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy.

 

Why all the love for Elton John on a journalism site?

Dude sued a paper for millions for reporting that his hetero marriage was a sham. And he won. And as best I can tell, he never gave any of that money back after he married his current husband.

 

Oh, no question, just a massive star, a prolific hitmaker for most of the decade. I mean, who didn't own Elton's first Greatest Hits album?

The only non-compilation Elton album I own is Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, but can't remember the last time I listened to it in its entirety. To me he was always a singles guy and I lost interest in his career in the late-70s when he released shitty albums like A Single Man and Victim Of Love. If you think of how his career dipped around that time it's amazing to see how he has remade his career in the 30-odd years since.

My fave songs are all old ones and change from time to time. Sometimes, it's "Funeral For A Friend" or "Someone Saved My Life Tonight", "Levon" or "Rocket Man" or "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me" (love the version George Michael did of this) or "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" or "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" or "Tiny Dancer", which I wouldn't listen to for years after Almost Famous made every classic rock radio station beat it to death.

Fave semi-obscure Reg Dwight songs, "Burn Down The Mission" and "Empty Garden".

Never seen him live although an old neighbour often raved about a show he saw in the late 70s when Elton was only touring with percussionist Ray Cooper.

This is a great topic idea, BTW.

 

Does that make his music any worse?

 

Not a single, but I've always loved "I've Seen that Movie Too"

Really good later tune no one appears to have mentioned: 'This Train Don't stop there Anymore"

 

Madman Across the Water.

 

Madman Across the Water is one of my favorite albums. "Indian Sunset" inevitably finds its way onto almost every compilation I put together these days.

Also, and I have no idea why this is, but "I Guess That's Why the Call It The Blues" is the first song I ever memorized all the words to. I remember it being a relief because I couldn't for the life of me memorize an entire song for the first year or so I started listening to music. My nephew, the same age, was memorizing all the songs we really liked at the time (how was it possible I couldn't remember the lyrics to the Romantics' "Talking In Your Sleep?!), and I legitimately thought something was wrong with me because none of them stuck with me.

 

Elton John was definitely the strength of the John/Taupin combo. Heck, Elton's two best songs may have been covers: Lucky in the Sky With Diamonds and Pinball Wizard. He took originals that were kind of thin and added lots of texture and mood (kinda psychedelic with Lucy, kinda competitive in Pinball). Beyond those two, I think most of the other songs by him that I liked were ballads: Someone Saved My Life Tonight, Empty Garden, Levon, Tiny Dancer, Feel Like a Bullet. A lot of his faster songs were gimmicky and/or could quickly get on one's nerves: Crocodile Rock, Grow Some Funk of Your Own, Don't Go Breaking My Heart, Ball and Chain, Part Time Love, etc.

A footnote: on his boutique record label, Elton tried to update Neil Sedaka for the disco age. Fittingly, the faster song he had Neil do, Bad Blood, sucked ass, while the slow one, Laughter in the Rain, became a slow dance classic.

 

Just a matter of taste, but I can't stand his version of Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds. Pinball Wizard is OK, but The Who's version is better.

 

I think his versions of both are better than the originals, which I guess you could guess from context. How can you bust on Dr. Winston O'Boogie?