Saturday, September 22, 2012

Discuss: Elton John


Doug:  Did you know that Elton John was the best-selling solo act of the 1970's, behind only the King of Rock 'n' Roll?  Elton John released 12 albums in the decade...



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17 comments:

Anonymous said...

I liked Elton John's 70s stuff...after 1980, not so much. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Don't Shoot me I'm Only the Piano Player are my favourite albums from him; lots of cool songs (and not just the ones that were released as singles).

Mike W.

September 22, 2012 at 2:16 PM
Fred W. Hill said...

I'm not surprised at all that Elton was the best-selling solo act of the '70s (I would be surprised to learn that Elvis Presley was even in the running as far as album or singles sales, despite remaining a big concert draw until his death; heck, the Rolling Stones could still sell out stadiums despite not having had a big hit in decades now).
As far as big hits in the '70s go, Elton's only serious competition was Paul McCartney, with or without Wings, and the Bee Gees, who I'm sure got the nod for best-selling group of the '70s.
Anyhow, although I loved many of Elton's songs, particularly Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, other than the first two hits collections until recent years I'd never bought any of his studio albums (by contrast, I never purchased the Red & Blue hits collections of the Beatles, mainly because within about a year or so of beginning my album collection in 1977, I'd already bought nearly all their studio albums as well as the Yesterday & Today and Hey Jude albums that collected most of their non-album singles. Still, now I do have Elton's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road lp, as well as Tumbleweed Connection and Madman Across the Water -- lot of great tracks on all of them.

September 22, 2012 at 2:24 PM
Doug said...

Mike and Fred --

Thanks for commenting! I was beginning to get an inferiority complex (a), and (b) wondering how so many of our BABers could stay clammed up on a guy who dominated AM radio during most of our childhoods!

Anyway, I was listening to some of Elton John's late '70's/early '80's stuff, and it really took me back to his HBO special that was a film of his concert in Central Park. Many great live renditions of his hits, with "Little Jeannie" being particularly fun.

Matt, some of his album tracks are among my favorites. Of his hits, I cannot stand "Benny and the Jets", but never seem to tire of "Tiny Dancer", "Rocket Man", "Someone Saved My Life Tonight", and "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting".

And what a showman...

Doug

September 22, 2012 at 2:36 PM
William said...

Doug, I don't really have a comment about Sir Elton, because I was never really that into his music. More of Neil Young, Bob Dylan kind of guy myself.

But, if no one had commented by tonight I was going post...

"Chirp, Chirp, Chirp" (sound of crickets).

September 22, 2012 at 3:12 PM
Doug said...

Well, William, I'd have appreciated those faux-cricket sounds. It's an early-autumn day here in Chicagoland, and even the crickets aren't making any noise!

And to like Elton John doesn't mean one cannot like Dylan and Neil Young, or Barry Manilow, or the Who, or Led Zeppelin, or the Carpenters. Bring it all on!! I'm pretty easily won over, if it's quality music. I'll find something I like about it.

Doug

September 22, 2012 at 3:26 PM
Garett said...

At band practice last night, our drummer sat down at the piano and busted out Your Song by Elton. Great tune!

My childhood friend Debbie was an Elton fan, and she'd play us his songs on her record player in her room.

I found myself humming Don't Go Breakin' My Heart a few days ago. Ah, just looked it up, and here's a vid on the creation of the duet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPIb2Yt_cXQ

September 22, 2012 at 3:47 PM
Steve Does Comics said...

I think it's all but impossible not to like Elton's 1970s output. There's a whole slew of classics, seemingly churned out at a ridiculously prolific rate.

After the late 70s, the quality became uneven but he still produced some great tracks like Nikita and Sacrifice, both of which I'd say rank up there with his best.

I'm trying to think who the biggest selling solo artist in Britain would have been in the 70s. I would assume ABBA have the group crown sewn-up, as they were almost as big in Britain as the Beatles had been in the 1960s but I'm not sure about solo artist.

I do know that Shaking Stevens was Britain's biggest selling solo act of the 1980s. I suspect Shaking Stevens is totally unknown in America, in which case you are very very lucky people. Frankly, he was no Elton John.

September 22, 2012 at 4:06 PM
david_b said...

I'll comment more later (currently on my Blackberry, while my wife's drving us back to Milwaukee from our TX vacation...).

I'l always like a good showman with clever tunes.. ABBA was super for ridiculously great melodies and a clean, polished pop approach. I loved Elton's 'Yellow Brick' album immensely during the 80s, ALL the great tunes like 'Roy Rogers', 'Harmony and Me',etc...

"I'm Still Standing" was SUCH a great tune as well.

September 22, 2012 at 4:44 PM
david_b said...

Oh, and Doug, again we have very similar tastes..

I could never stand 'Benny' either.

September 22, 2012 at 4:59 PM
Garett said...

Hmm my comment disappeared! Well the songs that come to mind are Your Song and Don't Go Breakin' My Heart. Interesting video of the making of the last song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPIb2Yt_cXQ

Hey Steve, I do remember Shakin Stevens, and his song You Drive Me Crazy was played here in Canada.

September 22, 2012 at 5:52 PM
Doug said...

Garret --

Thanks for following up; for some reason your original comment went into the spam folder. As Karen and I see all comments via email, we don't know that it's not published unless we log into the blog. It should be showing now.

Of course, I cannot explain why a perfectly fine comment like yours gets "spammed", while sometimes people selling Viagra slips through...

Doug

September 22, 2012 at 7:55 PM
Edo Bosnar said...

Don't have many thoughts on Elton John. I liked a number of his tunes when I was really little, because as you noted, he ruled A.M. top 40 radio. However, I don't really like any of his post-70s output. I guess he kind of falls in the same category as Rod Stewart for me.

September 23, 2012 at 12:27 AM
humanbelly said...


In 7th-10th grades, in my immediate social circle, there was one young lady who was considered a trifle "square", as it were (although we totally loved her, make no mistake-- she wasn't an outsider or anything), and her frenzied devotion to Elton John was truly Beatlemaniac in scope. Aaaaaaaand ridiculous as it may sound, that rather put us off of him. Really, we all liked him just fine on the radio at the time-- but I distinctly remember the whole pack mentality where no one would say "Hey, I love Elton! His albums are GREAT!"-- because, well, he was idol, and one daren't ever risk looking less than cool in front of the pack.

And that's how the stupidity of early teen-hood can cause one to not fully appreciate something great, eh? Possibly a universal experience? But still, his bazillion terrific pop hits over the decade always made listen and sing along.

Now later in the 70's (and maybe early 80's?) when his obvious battles w/ drugs and alcohol were brought out into the open, it diminished my appreciation of him more seriously. I think CREAM magazine may have done a big piece on him right around the time of his wedding ("Is Elton Human?"-- and there was a 60-minutes-like television interview where he talked about not remembering entire concerts because he was so high-wired-up. Recently, we watched his guest appearance on the Muppet Show. . . and there's a distinct impression that he's operating in a rather altered state. (And that-*ahem* he could have worn a pair of briefs under those unfortunately tight trousers*ahem*).

I LOVE the fact that he's had such a happy, positive life as an elder rock/pop statesman, gotten married, adopted a child, and is such a beloved and decorated openly gay man in Britain. I also have to say (and this is embarrassing) that it's his tunes that have always grabbed me-- I am a hopeless mangler/misser of lyrics, and Bernie Taupin's own genius was sadly wasted on m clumsy ears. . .

HB

September 23, 2012 at 6:42 AM
humanbelly said...

Oh good grief-- how does one use the html tags? Please mentally insert the word "her" between "was" and "idol" above, eh?

(so sorry)

HB

September 23, 2012 at 6:44 AM
Redartz said...

Was not a big fan of Elton's in the 70's, although he eventually grew on me. I did love "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", and his cover of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" equals the original(imho).

September 23, 2012 at 8:01 AM
William said...

Wow! This became quite a popular topic since yesterday.

Oh and Doug, I didn't necessarily mean I don't like Elton John's music, I'm just not that "into" it. I really wouldn't be able to make a comment much beyond , "Yeah, I really like a lot of his songs, such as 'Daniel', 'Candle In The Wind', etc. Huh, that's about it." :)

Whereas if we were talking about Neil Young, I could probably come up with a paragraph or three about the times of my life where his music played a big part. That is all.

September 23, 2012 at 9:51 AM
Tony said...

My older sister was a huge Elton fan in the 70's. She had every album, posters on her bedroom wall, the whole nine yards. So I grew up listening to his music. I saw him perform in the early 90's and it was a great show, and I do have my favorite songs from the 70's, but they tend to be more of the "album cuts" than mainstream songs like "Benny and the Jets" et al.

October 10, 2012 at 11:19 PM

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