Popdose - Latest Comments in Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

Aisu — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 21:59:39 -0000

The first single released from Victim of Love (at least in the USA) was the title track and it hit the Top 40 on Billboard. Johnny B. Goode was the second release and it did not chart.

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

mfeldman — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 12:24:06 -0000

Just came across this, and even though very few people will read this 3 years after the "trial," I wanted to lend my support to the defense. I'll be the first to agree that 1970-76 was Elton John's artistic peak, but even that period had a few clunkers (Jamaica Jerk-Off, Solar Prestige a Gammon, anyone?). In addition to all the obvious classics Elton has had in the three decades since (I Guess That's Why..., Blue Eyes, most of Songs From the West Coast - btw I LOVE "Birds", I'd probably call it his best four minutes recorded since the '70s) I'd like to mention a few more of my favorites I don't see anywhere in the comments: "Two Rooms at the End of the World" (from 21 at 33), "Spiteful Child" (from Jump Up), "Blue Avenue" (from Sleeping With the Past), "Belfast" (from Made in England), and "All That I'm Allowed" (from Peachtree Road).

And this could perhaps invalidate my entire post, but I actually like one song from that mostly-execrable 1979 disco album: "Born Bad" isn't high art, but it's really quite catchy and is more complex muscially than much late '70s disco. The rest of the album is a pox on Elton's career, I agree, but geez, Prince had "Batman," Neil Young had "Landing On Water," Stevie Wonder had "The Woman in Red," Dylan had "Saved," the Stones had "Dirty Work," etc...

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

Geoff — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:44:46 -0000

Yeah, put "70srocked" on retainer as an Elton expert witness!

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

70srocked — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:47:07 -0000

Thanks! Yes, I find the website to be a lot of fun and I hope to post on other topics as well. This one, as you can tell though, really pushes my button because, without going into it again, I have a hard time accepting the argument that Elton has collasped into substandard material since the hey day (and I also realize this is in fun as well).

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

jasonhare — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 23:52:59 -0000

Damn, I should have had you write the defense argument! Thanks for a great comment, hope you stick around and read more of Popdose.

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

Elaine — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:15:26 -0000

Billy Elliott confuses me. The one time I saw those three kids perform (on a morning TV show) they kind of stunk. I'm no expert but I can tell when three dancers aren't in sync and are exhibiting bad technique. Maybe they were just having an off morning.

Incidentally, Billly Elliott won 10 of the 15 Tonys for which it was nominated last night. Best Score by Sir Elton was not one of them.

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

Brian — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:39:00 -0000

Made in England = chock full of classics with a couple of clunkers.
Songs from the West Coast = Modern Classic
Billy Elliott = redemption of Lion King
2009 = still doing it full on live

case closed

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

Geoff — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 15:50:43 -0000

"A Word In Spanish" is a great piece of evidence for the defense, as are "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again", "Little Jeannie", "Moma Can't Buy You Love" (outstanding!), "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues", "I'm Still Standing" (very good), "Blue Eyes", "Empty Garden", "Sad Songs" (barely makes the cut), and almost everything on "Songs from the West Coast". All and all enough to cast a shadow of a doubt on the prosecution's case.

As soon as he released "Rock of the Westies" Elton was on a "show me" basis with me. Now THAT LP was worthy of a rock court case all by itself, taking advantage of his then peerless reputation to foist a clunker off on the public. It entered the LP charts at #1 -- I think only "Captain Fantastic" had accomplished that feat previously -- well before that became routine for big name releases with lots of advanced publicity.

Getting back to the subject at hand: After "Westies" Elton was just another big name has-been until he proved otherwise. Sadly, he never has proved it. But he has come out with plenty of listenable and even good songs, as listed above. I ignore the many of his songs I do not like, e.g., the bombastic "Lion King" soundtrack songs.

If pop/rock stars could be convicted of being over the hill the rock court jails would be full. If they could be convicted of trading on their reputation or celebrity to overcome a deficiency of talent, many a legend and upcoming teen fave would never release another song. Elton just does not have the talent any more to fill up his releases. Too bad. That is what buying MP3's a song at a time is good for.

p.s. Notwithstanding all of the above, if you had caught me after the release of the 1997/Princess Di version of "Candle in the Wind" I might well of voted to convict. Only time and not having heard it in a decade have erased that abomination enough from my memory to leave psychic room for forgiveness.

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

Elaine — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 13:28:25 -0000

Club at the end of the Street: I swear that "keyboard" riff sounds like it was played on a Casio in someone's living room. "Lord have mercy, can't sit still?" Yes we can. Wiki says it's considered to be a LGBT anthem since the sexes of the lovers in the song are never mentioned. Oh, brother.

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

nix — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 02:56:44 -0000

Elton was always great, but some fuckfaces really think that only good music is those with "rock" in itself. :p
The truth is that Elton was never really a rock artists. He is classical musician with many different elements and flavors in his music- rock, pop, blues, gospel, country, etc.
IMHO, Elton was better and better every year and I would put songs like IGTWTCIT Blues, The One and Believe together with Rocket Man, Your Song and Philadelphia Freedom.
Sure, there were some weak albums like Leather Jackets and 21 At 33, but even those would be consider masterpieces if they were by someone else- Prince, Madonna or Michael Jackson for example. You can also find weak albums in "classic era" like Rock Of The Westies for example.
The true strength of Elton's music lies in his ability to compose a song and bring those songs to life. Anybody who is only capable for rewriting stupid reviews and repetiting cliches like "only Elton's 1970-1976 era is good) does not deserve to talk or listen to Elton's music. Thank You!

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

Cat — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 23:14:38 -0000

I propose we change the name of this web site to www.tastelessand insensitivebunch.com. For once in your life, please go to an intelligent web site en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elton... and learn about this man who devoted his entire life to music. He is a perfectionist, overachiever genius, who has never stopped growing. He has developed into a complete artist, he can play, write, and compose it all, classical, jazz, folk, rock, pop, and all the rest. He writes extremely successful musicals, the new series “Spectacle” on Sundance channel is a breath of fresh air. He loves, knows to appreciate, and is interested all aspects of art, including dance, photography, painting, sculpture, and probably more. He is constantly searching for new young artists with real talent, and helps promote them.
Furthermore, he is a philanthropist, giving and generous. He sure does not belong in this dumb court. He certainly is not stuck in the 1970’s, he keeps moving forward in all directions, because he is full of ideas, talent, eager to try new things, his energy is unbelievable. May be it is his incredible success which is bothering you all.

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

ShalimarBojangles — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 03:05:49 -0000

Agreed, Jason - I've always loved that chord change, and this is one of Elton's most under-rated 80s tyoones.

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

70srocked — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:16:19 -0000

Being introduced to the site and seeing this post, I had to comment and subscribe because your site is great. With that said, Jason wins this hands down. An Elton fan since the early '70s, I've been a fan through the years...the mid-'70s peak through today. It's without a doubt that Jeff makes some often funny arguments but they are mis-guided wrong.

Any artist, who has a deep catalog such as Elton will have peaks and valleys. The point is that it is...deep. He and Taupin have never regarded the early material as anything more than pop songs, much of it disposable. And due to Taupin's usually incredible and thoughtful lyrics, the superb production of Gus Dudgeon and a top notch band (not to mention Paul Buckmaster's arrangements on the early releases), the perception is that Elton is in the "heavy weight" division of singer songwriters. It's only since he got sober that his songwriting has matched early years ('70-'75) and consider maturing and realizing that he has to be more focused on the songwriting craft than in the early days when everything was so easy and free flowing.

It's simply not fair to compare '70-'76 to anything after that because nothing stayed the same. Different lyricists, band members and producers will produce different results. Which is why Too Low For Zero remains such a high point in his early '80s output because everything returned to the team that produced the classic sounds san Gus Dudgeon.

The late '70s produced his worst album of the decade with Victim of Love. Thankfully, he only sang on it and not responsible for the songwriting, etc. Yet, he sanctioned it and well, everybody else had disco hits so why not try it!

The '80s kicked off with one of his best songs to ever recall the mid-'70s sound with Little Jeannie. That could have come off 1972's Don't Shoot Me. Most of what was leftover from that album, 21 AT 33 will hardly be listed in the canons of great EJ songs but Sartorial Eloquence and Chasing The Crown at least shows he was really trying.

The rest of that decade continued with a mix of traditional pop/rock efforts that, like anyone else, had hits and misses. Restless from 1984's Breaking Hearts was great as well as In Neon from that same album. Yes, I can live without Did He Shoot Her but the song has a nice groove.

Ice On Fire/Leather Jackets do leave a lot to be desired and to put in context, he wasn't doing all that well mentally. But there are some moments not to be entirely dismissed...say This Town or Slow Rivers or Paris or dare I say it, Nikita!

The later efforts, Reg Strikes Back and particularly Sleeping With The Past showed brilliant determination to get somewhat serious about his songwriting and not just toss off another album to meet a recording contract. He tried to change his sound to match the times and had he stayed making the same sounding album over and over, he would have been washed up a long time ago. Can you really admit that I Don't Wanna, as dated as it sounds now, isn't a terrrific pop single...for the Summer of '88? Can you?

The '90s produced three proper studio albums, The One, Made In England and The Big Picture. Now it's clear that he's aging a bit and things are settling down into a mid-tempo feel. And Chris Thomas, who has been his longest serving producer since Dudgeon, really likes to muddy the water and give each song a wall of sound aura that didn't serve them to well. Sure, the title track for The One benefits from this high gloss/tech production, but the rest of the album couldn't get out from under it's own weight. But there are some very well written songs....including The Last Song...one of his most heartfelt and gut wrenching efforts of his career.

The Big Picture suffered from the same prescription as The One, make everything sound BIG. Here, the lyrics were the biggest obstacle - Taupin seemed to have run out of ideas and most of the songs are full of platitiudes and cliches. Though the title track and If the River Can Bend were fantastic.

That leaves Made In England as the other album of the '90s that really did try to capture that classic sound thanks to Greg Penny's masterful and stripped down production. This one has many gems.

So that leaves the millenium, of which he's released three studio albums and two of them are instant classics, Songs from the West Coast from 2001 and 2006's The Captain and The Kid. Elton and Taupin are back in the saddle determined more than ever to treat each new project with care and set high standards for their efforts instead of settling for whatever came out.

Hmmm...let's see...throw in four Broadway musicals, each of completely different styles and storylines, to add to the already rich catalog and we've come to an artist who has clearly stayed within his element and is not trying to keep up with the Joneses. And thank God for that!

Elton John remains a passionate artist and gifted songwriter. Who cares that he's never written another Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding...but he's maintained a career in which his approach has pretty much stayed the same: give him the lyrics and he'll put a tune around it. Sure, it may not be as inventive as before but hell, after 30 years, who is? The times are indeed a changing and he's not the hungry rock artist he once was but the passion to craft great pop songs is still there. His aforementioned Broadway shows demonstrates that perfectly...yes, even the Lion King.

Also, let's remember that Elton's British and he going to do some goofy things just for the sake of doing goofy things once in a while (anyone recall Solar Prestige A Gammon or Big Dipper?)...sure, Candy By The Pound may sound like he wrote it in his sleep but if we're honest with ourselves, so does Island Girl and probably others that are great and written very quickly as well.

I rest my case.

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

Curt Shannon — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:20:30 -0000

...Pulling out the guillotine...

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

John — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:33:37 -0000

Guess that's why they call it the blues, i want love, this train don't stop, are the only good songs he's done since 75/76. Dare i say the end came with don't go breaking my heart? No i'd better not, but it's still a good song

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

forwardgirl — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:06:06 -0000

Ah, Jefito, we're just a bunch of sentimental dopes...

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

RoyBatty — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:30:38 -0000

Not sure how one can blame Reg for that one. But I love that cover. So blame me...

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

jasonhare — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:29:56 -0000

Insulting the jury is a great way to get them to side with you, counsel.

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

jefito — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 07:09:44 -0000

Not enough, apparently. Stupid jury.

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

dslifton — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:10:35 -0000

By the way, how much does Elton's credibility suffer because of Sinead O'Connor's cover of Sacrifice?

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

dslifton — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:07:54 -0000

I was looking for the Sassoon commercial on YouTube when Jeff was tweeting his pain, but I couldn't find it. That means that even YouTube is siding with the prosecution here.

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

Jonathan — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:16:31 -0000

I grew up buying Elton's 80's output, not having heard much of his 70's work at first. Am I unusual in thinking that The Fox and Too Low For Zero are good pretty much all the way through? Will I become a co-defendant if I admit that the songs "Chloe" and "One More Arrow" still make me cry when I listen to those albums?

A few songs stand out after those albums. "Stone's Throw From Hurtin'" from Sleeping with the Past is one of my all-time favorite Elton tracks--a totally addictive melody that I rank alongside his best work from the 70's. (Hmm, I seem to really like Elton's falsetto.) I also put "Sad Songs (Say So Much)" in that class. Other favorites are "Breaking Hearts (Ain't What It Used to Be)", "Whitewash County", and "Postcards from Richard Nixon". I think there's enough evidence for an acquittal here.

Unfortunately, I'll probably go to prison alongside the defendant for loving "Satellite" from Ice On Fire.

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

Old_Davy — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:54:46 -0000

Point for the prosecution: Elton's toupee.

Point for the defense: Elton's sense of humor about his toupee.

I vote to acquit based solely on "Blessed" from the "Made In England" album, one of his most beautiful songs ever.

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

Eric S. — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:40:46 -0000

Let's get that conviction...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/pr...

Re: Rock Court: The People vs. Elton John

EightE1 — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:42:48 -0000

The One was the last record of his I bought (the title track is over-the-top awesome). Really, it's the last one I had to buy, cuz the wife just loves him. I haven't heard anything since '91 or '92 that has really moved me. I do have a playlist of about 30 of those 70s songs that I go back to repeatedly, and Madman, Tumbleweed, and the one with "Your Song" get spins at least once a year.

I side with the prosecution.

Rob
EightE1