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Re: Elton John
Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2024 3:30 am
by tonyballzee
Those folks who weren't around may not understand how omnipresent Elton John was in the early to mid 1970s. Everyone owned at least a couple of his records. Between 1970-1975 Elton and co. cranked out nearly a dozen LPs (lavishly packaged with lyrics, photos, illustrations and booklets) and nearly two dozen singles, most of which had non-album B-sides. He was all over AM and FM radio. His schlocky MOR ballads and lightweight pop were more than balanced out with gems like Bennie And The Jets, Take Me To The Pilot, Burn Down The Mission, Rotten Peaches, Grey Seal, Someone Saved My Life Tonight (one of the most bizarre #1 singles ever), Philadelphia Freedom (a perfect 1970s AM hit) and many more. The weak material was far outweighed by the good stuff. Bernie Taupin's lyrics may have been crap but who cares, with music as strong as Elton was providing it didn't matter. NC.
Re: Elton John
Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2024 3:57 am
by matttkkkk
Every molecule of his 1973 Greatest Hits is engraved in my brain, untouchable, classic, Not Crap. "Daniel" is probably in my lifetime top ten.
Re: Elton John
Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2024 11:33 am
by iembalm
tonyballzee wrote: Fri Aug 02, 2024 3:30 am
Those folks who weren't around may not understand how omnipresent Elton John was in the early to mid 1970s. Everyone owned at least a couple of his records. Between 1970-1975 Elton and co. cranked out nearly a dozen LPs (lavishly packaged with lyrics, photos, illustrations and booklets) and nearly two dozen singles, most of which had non-album B-sides. He was all over AM and FM radio. His schlocky MOR ballads and lightweight pop were more than balanced out with gems like Bennie And The Jets, Take Me To The Pilot, Burn Down The Mission, Rotten Peaches, Grey Seal, Someone Saved My Life Tonight (one of the most bizarre #1 singles ever), Philadelphia Freedom (a perfect 1970s AM hit) and many more. The weak material was far outweighed by the good stuff. Bernie Taupin's lyrics may have been crap but who cares, with music as strong as Elton was providing it didn't matter. NC.
I was around.
One of my earliest musical memories is having used a cassette recorder to tape songs off the radio and then obsessively re-playing the first three songs on that tape.
Those songs were:
The Cantina Band theme from Star Wars
A Fifth of Beethoven from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
The timeline for all of those being played back-to-back on AM radio in 1977 or 1978 seems weird, but I had the tape until about ten years ago, so it's not just a misremembered thing. Elton, at least, did have real staying power and omnipresence, it's true.
Re: Elton John
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2024 5:39 am
by emmanuelle cunt
Ok PRF, I know the radio singles (some of them are rather obnoxious) and exactly zero of his records. No vote for now, what should I check out first?
Re: Elton John
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2024 7:17 am
by jfv
emmanuelle cunt wrote: Wed Sep 04, 2024 5:39 am
Ok PRF, I know the radio singles (some of them are rather obnoxious) and exactly zero of his records. No vote for now, what should I check out first?
Sort of depends on which of his singles you favor, but I'd start with
Honky Chateau, the first of his albums fully backed by a rock band. It ends with what are probably my two favorite non-single/album cuts of his, "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" and "Hercules".