Elton John General Discussion And Random Thoughts Thread

It's nice when people say that because it's not the usual Elton hit-strewn affair. It's takes a bit of time, love and care to reveal it's charms.

 

It takes.. Madness.. a kind of Madness.. that turns good men bad..!

 

It's hard to imagine Ego on any of his albums isn't it? Maybe ASM, as it's from the same sessions, with Tim Renwick, Steve Holly and all that lot?

Pretty sure the Ego demo I have is from 73.. there's a Chameleon demo from that time too.. some of the stuff that ended up on albums or as singles/B-sides between 76-78 was written a fair bit earlier from what I can gather. I guess they stockpiled it all for a rainy day or two..

Oh not that cow that diddled you out of Billy Joel!? Shame she didn't jump in a little river!

 

Yes, Glass Houses still smarts, but she did help me onto Elton. So to speak!

Ego would have fitted in on ASM, which is pretty eclectic. I suppose Elton cut it when the single didn't fare well? Such a fickle thing!

 

I know! It seems implausible with all the maudlin stuff already on it.. I know Elt likes a sad song but the likes of what was on Blue Moves must've been enough's enough! Sorry Seems To Be (enough said.. it's sad, so sad and it gets more absurd!).. Wide Eyed And Laughing ("are you still in control of the boat that you row.. or do you still cling to me when it's sinking?" Blimey it's bleak..!), Someone's Final Song ("you died when the house was empty, when the maid had gone, you put a pen to paper for one final song, he wrote hey babe, it's the only way, I know its wrong but I can't stand.. to go on living, living life this way.. and.. I've gathered dust like the dying flowers and I've drunk myself sober.." yikes! you don't get much darker than that where Elton's concerned!).. and I LOVE it!!

Oh those 2003 so-called remasters.. GRRR..!! Now that's a sad, sad situation if ever I saw one..!!

 

Re-the 2003 remasters. And they're still out there cluttering up record shops with their too-dark sleeve artwork!
Your run through Blue Moves is pretty telling. Idol isn't exactly YMCA either!

 

Good question.. I wasn't around but pretty sure Ego's flop presaged the album.. so maybe that's why it was left off? Or maybe it was never intended to be on ASM in the first place?

I'll have to check and see what the likes of Philip Norman or Claude Bernardin or Liz Rosenthal etc has to say, one of them is bound to mention in one of their Elton bibles why Ego didn't make the LP. Ah, them were the days we used to have to read books about this stuff.. now it's all on t'internet. Though I doubt all their stuff is, the kids don't care!

 

I'd have thought Ego would have been destined for ASM. It would've made a much more interesting lead single than Part-Time Love. Who knows, though? Elton was so productive then it could've have just been a one-off single...

 

Yes! "dark art" indeed! ..and those 2003 remasters even had little pix of the artwork for various singles associated with the albums in the liner booklets.. but not the tracks themselves as bonuses! The big teases! Or were they just idiotic!? I was livid!

Bite Your Lip was his YMCA I guess? Or so he thought. What a racket! Now there's one that goes on and on..

Oh but Idol.. Idol.. what a song!! Really the only jazzy song he ever did. He should've done more in that vein.

I particularly like Roger Pope on the pastry brush on that one.. and people say he wasn't a versatile drummer.. well he was damn good at brushing pie tops!

I jest of course.. lovely lovely bloke.. I met him a couple of times.. he looked back on his times with Elton with great fondness.. sad he's gone to the great drum kit in the sky..

..I secretly always hoped Elt might do a Westies/Blue Moves revival tour 40th anniversary thing with him, Caleb, JNH.. though I don't know if anyone camp Elton has talked to Kenny since 1977.. or if Davey and Caleb could work together again (apparently they did NOT get on back in the day!).

Maybe something's are best left in their little time capsule/pandora's box?

"He was tight-assed, walking on broken glass, highly prized in the wallet size.. the number one crush in a schoolgirl's eyes.."

pretty much set the template for every George Michael ballad didn't it..?

 

With you on that, it would've been interesting. I do have a soft spot for PTL tho..

.. tho apparently Elton HATES Part Time Love with a passion these days.. and will never play it, mention it or even have it on any hits compilation - again!

 

Back in the early 70s I used to work in a record shop in the UK and I acquired an original UK promotional poster for "Don't Shoot Me..."
http://www.rock-explosion.com/images/don'tshoot.jpg
I had this pinned to my bedroom wall for at least three years.

Fast forward umpteen years and in another continent I left it with a friend of mine to sell it on E-Bay on my behalf. He forgot to list it and when I enquired about it some years later he told me it's gone AWOL.

 

Don't know why he's took against PTL.. It's not his finest hour, but it's catchy and fun. Nothing to be ashamed of.

 

I think the 2003 re-releases were just chucked out when they were bored and wanted to make a bit of quick cash! The remastering isn't great (or even noticeable) but at least they haven't fiddled with the mixes on these. With an artist of Elton's stature, they could be doing something along the lines of the McCartney Archive collection. However, unless its GYBR, no one seems to want to put in the time.

 

Well I'm looking forward to A Single Man! I'm familiar with only a few songs. I have Song For Guy, Shine On Through and Return To Paradise on an old compilation LP called Love Songs. Something I bought when I was 15.

OK, can we talk about the period between Blue Moves and Jump Up? I have everything up to Blue Moves, and Jump Up is where I catch up because around 1982 I started to listen to EJ (for a brief period). Any good stuff from this period apart from A Single Man?

 

Very nice! There's always something out there you haven't seen!

 

Very Snazzy!

That drawing of him in top hat and tails was part of the art that was used on billboards for his infamous Hollywood Bowl '73 gig..

..where he was introduced by Linda Lovelace, no less..

.. dressed from head to toe in white marabou & feathers..

..for his entrance he came down a seemingly endless set of stairs, to the strains of the 20th Century Fox fanfare..

..flanked by pianos that spelt out E-L-T-O-N one by one as each of the lids were open..

..piano lids opened by people dressed up as Batman, Frankenstein, The Pope, I might add..

..whereupon white doves flew out of the pianos..!!

Ah, those were the days!

 

Well, Victim Of Love (1979) is one of Elton's most most disliked albums. Most of the songs were written/co-written by Pete Belotte, who was a hot producer and writer at this time. Mostly known for his work with Donna Summer. Sadly, Pete must have been having an off day when providing these songs for Elton. The title track is about the best, but the rest are weak and generic. Only 7 tracks long, it also features an 8 minute version of Johnny B Goode. This is not a plus point, BTW! I don't hate the album as much as some and my advice would be to get it. Just don't make it a priority or pay a lot for it!

21 At 33 (1980) is more like it. Elton, writing with Taupin and Gary Osbourne amongst others, is beginning to return to his hit-making form here. The big hit was Little Jeannie (an edited version of which is on your Love Songs comp, as you'll know), and Sartorial Eloquence was another smaller hit. Nice album. The country-ish Take Me Back is sweet and the Tom Robinson co-write Never Gonna Fall In Love Again is excellent. The Julie Tzuke co-write Give Me The Love is also enjoyable, but there's nothing bad here. Definitely pick it up.

The Fox (1981) is another goodie. No massive hits here, but Chloe, Just Like Belgium and Nobody Wins were all decent singles. I'm not over-keen on Heart In The Right Place or Fascist Faces, and the album has a bit of an all-over-the place feel, but it's still a must buy. Jump Up!, to my mind, was stronger, and Too Low For Zero was even better. And so on and so on!

 

Yes, you'd not get that from Sam Smith, would you?!

 

http://ppdub73.blogspot.ie/2014/07/million-dollar-piano-dvd-review.html

http://ppdub73.blogspot.ie/2014/07/elton-john-showbook-new-2014-tour.html

 

Yes of course!

1977 - Thom Bell Sessions ("Are You Ready For Love", "Mama Can't Buy You Love".. soul disco type stuff),

1978 - A Single Man (pretty much essential),

1979 - Victim Of Love (terrible disco album, no original EJ compositions, he plays no instruments on it either.. probably the worst thing he's ever done),

1980 - Lady Samantha (compilation of B-sides and outtakes from 70-73),

1980 - 21 At 33 (his 21st album, released when he was 33 years of age... big hit was "Little Jeannie", the usual eclectic mixture of styles for an EJ LP.. rock, pop, country, etc.. some weird & wonderful guest musicians including Richie Zito, Steve Lukather, Victor Feldman, Jim Horn, David Paitch, Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Timothy B.Schmitt, Bruce Johnston, Toni Tenille.. basically about half of Toto, half The Eagles and some of the Beach Boys! I love this album, its very much overlooked/underrated but at least half of it is excellent.. "Two Rooms At The End Of The World".. "White Lady, White Powder".. "Chasing The Crown".. "Don't You Wanna Play This Game No More?"),

1981 - The Fox (an album of two halves, with approx 50% of it being Chris Thomas' first Elton production work.. a very odd little album.. it's the aural equivalent of Marmite, you either love it or hate it! I love it.. at its core is a 10 minute epic combining 3 tracks into one "suite".. "Carla/Étude-Fanfare-Chloe".. there's a weird stab at Euro synth electronica "Nobody Wins", a re-write of a French hit of the time., there's lots of fun in amongst some slightly po-faced experimentation, most of which flops but at least he tried., highlights for me include "Just Like Belgium".. "Breaking Down Barriers".. "Heels Of The Wind" all solid little bright and breezy toe-tappers.. plus "Elton's Song" and some great piano licks on "Heart In The Right Place".).

Hope some of that's helpful?

In a nutshell, I'd say you'll probably want to hear it all eventually..
.. but I would prioritise 21 at 33..
and if you enjoy that, try The Fox..

then maybe sample some tracks off the Thom Bell and Victim Of Love projects.. they're very different from his usual stuff in their own relative ways..

and then maybe pick up the Lady Samantha set when you've exhausted the 70's albums but want more from that period.

 

Oh that pleb! The kids nowadays don't have any style or pizazz! He does look like he's had too many pizzas though..

 

Bit of a (non-drag) Boy George look about him... He's got what's technically a good voice, I suppose. It's one I couldn't take for long, though!

 

I totally forgot Thom Bell. An album I actually like.

 

Yes I can see that chubby pasty face thing.. Is there any other comparison.. George is full of charisma, that Sam kid has about as much charisma as a crisp packet.

George is looking very unwell at the moment (did you see him on the Commonwealth games thing?) he's lost a serious amount of weight and looked very pasty and grey.. plus his voice is shot, poor sod. He still pulled it out the bag though, that'll be the charisma

 

Interesting thought.. it was a 12" EP back in the day.. does the MCA '89 CD release (of the "TB Sessions") strictly qualify as an album? Its a shortie! Despite the version of "Are You Ready For Love" that goes on for about 3 weeks..