^The Thom Bell sessions were somewhat fraught, it is said. Though he got a UK Number 1 out of 'Are You Ready For Love', some 25 years later!
The early 80s albums are patchy affairs- sort of the 'forgotten' period in a way. The best-ofs feature 'Little Jeannie' (not a UK hit) and 'Blue Eyes', that's about it. I don't think the Gary Osborne collaboration got anywhere near the work he did with Bernie Taupin. The latter was still contributing some lyrics and those songs tend to be the highlights (see 'Empty Garden').
I found out this week that Cain is married to a tub-thumping TV evangelist.
^ Paula White. Trump's main spiritual advisor. There are some hilarious videos on YouTube of the day after the 2020 election, of a prayer service where she calls on angels to fly over from Africa and deliver the election to Trump. "And strike, and strike, and strike..."
Yeah that and Kenneth Copeland's 'laughter' went viral. Being in the UK I'd never heard of either of them before that!
I caught the replay the next day.. I could have done without the first 20 minutes of well wishers etc.. but the show was wonderful. Sure he can't hit the high notes in Rocket Man but he did better than I thought.. Last I remember hearing any live shows from him his voice was suspect at best. Agree with others he's held up much better than most of his contemporaries.. Nice to see Davey and Nigel along for this tour. And Ray was off the charts as he always seems to be. Again, nice to see him go out on a high note.
"Blue Eyes' is written with Gary Osborne. Osbourne had a few more minor hits with EJ, like 'Chloe', 'Nobody Wins'. Elton and Taupin the early 80's hits included 'I'm Still Standing', 'Kiss the Bride' and I Guess Thats Why They Call It The Blues' plus a few minor hits too. I agree with you that the period is rather patchy and some of it is forgettable. As a whole, the early 80's Elton had uneven albums scattered with a few, mostly minor hits. Still hitting the Top 40 but rarely denting the Top 10.
Last edited by Tangram; 11-26-2022 at 09:26 AM.
Davey has been on all of Elton's tours since the late 80's as he is Elton's Musical Director. Nigel has been back in the 2000's. Ray comes and goes so its a treat that he's there. Elton's has had decades of singing in a lower key so he knows what he can and can't do. There are some pretty rough shows out on the web, so I am glad the consensus is he was in fine voice for this show. Considering Elton has played over 3,500 shows, it's amazing he can sing at all.
Last edited by Tangram; 11-26-2022 at 01:26 AM.
These were from Too Low For Zero, where Taupin returned full-time and (probably not coincidentally) was his biggest hit album since the mid 70s.
I still like some of the material on those early 80s albums, as piecemeal as they are. Tom Robinson was a good collaborator on 'Elton's Song' and (the clunkily-titled!) 'Sartorial Eloquence'.
I always considered those albums as 2/3 of albums. The rest was meh, not bad but nothing to write home about. His album tracks in the early 80's are weak, but on the whole are what makes Elton a top 3 music act for me. Some groups you just like a hit or 2, some it's an album or two, others a greatest hits album is all that's required. The only album of his that I don't play is Victim of Love.
'Sartorial Eloquence', 'White Powder, White Lady' and especially 'Chasing the Crown' are all real good tracks from 21 at 33. The same can be said for 'Breaking Down Barriers Heart in the Right Place' and 'Fascist Faces' from The Fox. Jump Up! has 'Spiteful Child', ' Ball and Chain' and the very underrated 'Legal Boys' that Elton wrote with Tim Rice, his collaborator on the two huge Lion King hits. Basically, I'm a huge fan of Elton John. Everybody's mileage varies.
The mid 80s was artistically worse. Ice On Fire and Leather Jackets...you could make a good album out of them but as they stand, there's some lousy things on both. And the latter album didn't even really produce a hit single. 'Angeline' makes me laugh, it's so awful.
I had a look at the set he played at Dodger Stadium...pretty good. I like that he's always played album tracks and not just the hit singles. But of the latter he played my two favourites- 'Philadelphia Freedom' and 'Someone Saved My Life Tonight'.
Also we're a few days from November 28th- 48 years ago, this was the date of the MSG John Lennon cameo mentioned upthread. Some amateur footage of that emerged about 10 years back.
Last edited by JJ88; 11-26-2022 at 01:51 PM.
I think my favorite Elton song from the 80s would be "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)," but there are a number that I like.
Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.
I always liked "Little Jeannie."
All of those '80's album have worthwhile tracks on them. Conversely, all of them have filler. Leather Jackets was a contract ending album. Both Elton and Bernie Taupin don't have anything good to say about it. I think of it as a fun album, "Paris", "I Fall Apart", "Slow Rivers", and "Heartache All Over the World" are redeemable. Fun facts, Queen members Deacon and Taylor play on "Angeline", and "Slow Rivers" would have been on the Live in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, but contract issues prevented it. Like most of The Fox was recorded during the 21 at 33 sessions, most of Leather Jackets was recorded at the Ice on Fire sessions. Seems like he was counting tracks, not the quality of the tracks.
I think Leather Jackets is not much different to Ice On Fire in quality terms, but it didn't have anything as strong as 'Nikita' on it. So it comes off worse. I haven't played it in years but I agree wth the ones you highlight. I remember liking 'Hoop Of Fire' as well.
The Australia album is interestingly entirely made up of 70s material, and largely album tracks at that- although the full concert was much longer.
Forgot about ‘Hoop of Fire’. It’s a pretty decent track. Agree those two albums are roughly the same in quality terms, with the exception of ‘Nikita’, but I feel that got a big boost from the video. Should have made one album out of the two of them.
Another problem with the two albums is the 80’s production. Both of the songwriters weren’t happy with it but it was of it’s time.
The Live in Australia would have been great if his voice was in better shape. He had vocal cord surgery shortly after the show.
Last edited by Tangram; 11-28-2022 at 11:21 PM.
Leather Jackets was the first Elton album that didn't have a single song I heard on the radio. (I'm a bit too young to remember the late 70's Victim Of Love era.) The back cover photo of Elton and his band trying to look like heavy metal dudes made it difficult to take the album seriously even before listening to it.
Did anyone catch the Beato interview with Steven Wilson? Essentially, Wilson said nobody in the history of rock has such an impressive run of 10 albums from his debut and onward. I absolutely adore the 70s material and consider myself very fortunate to see him live at his peak. I'd love a DVD of the final show. Is this happening?
What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)
I think he was a remarkably malleable songwriter- able to write convincingly in just about any style of pop music.
I listened to that album again yesterday. I would have preferred him on an acoustic piano but I've always enjoyed it. As you say, sometimes the vocal adds a bit of gravitas, particularly on 'Have Mercy On The Criminal' and arguably 'Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me' as well.
I remember one of the big record stores Virgin Megastore having a late 2000s clear-out, not long before they closed for good. Some sealed cut-out imports of this on record were there, twenty odd years later(Deep Purple's House Of Blue Lights was another)!
Last edited by JJ88; 11-29-2022 at 01:36 PM.
Bookmarks