Forgot to mention I saw Elton in concert in May 2001. Crappy seats, but he was marvelous. I will stand in line to see him again any day.
D’oh! Sorry, DavidB and Libertarian. If I’d linked to the article like I planned I would have noticed that and not made the misattribution. That’ll teach me to be lazy.
My husband and I saw him a concert a few years ago, too. Just Elton John and his piano, no other accompaniment. He was fantastic.
I can’t imagine there are very many current pop stars who could pull that off now, let alone in their 50s.
I have been a fan of EJ’s and BJ’s for decades but have never seen either one in concert. But this May 3 in Auburn Hills Michigan I will see them both! From section 219 excellent seats with my lil sis too! E X C I T E D !!!
I love those guys!
I’m a fan of BJ’s too.
What?
No, really. My wife and I saw the Face-to-Face show a year or two ago. Great, just great. I loved when the big monitors went to dueling closeups of their hands doing crazy solos on their respective ivories.
Wow. I wish I could have seen that.
I’m not a great big Elton John fan, but did at one point own his Life in Australia album - piano and full orchestra…
What I am a big fan of, though, are Bernie Taupin’s lyrics for Elton John. Songs like The Greatest Discovery, or 60 Years On… especially with the full orchestral score? Booyeah. Taupin’s lyrics have… content. Something most modern music lacks. Let’s not even get into the non-lyrics of boy bands and dime a dozen pop stars. Elton John is unique. He’s different. He’s not one of those cookie cutter singers the world seems to be line-producing lately.
You may like him, you may dislike him, you may loathe or adore… truth of the matter is, he blazed many new trails in his career. Respect him for his accomplishments, for they are numerous, even if you don’t like the music.
E.
I don’t have anything against Elton John, but that Bennie and the Jets song makes me want to go on a murderous rampage everytime I hear it. I hate that song. :mad:
Quite the post Lib.
I don’t hate Elton John, although he’s certainly not a favorite either. Pay a hundred bucks to see him? Umm, never, but my problem isn’t so much with EJ, but with the local radio stations that only play the same tired songs: * Bennie and the Jets, Tiny Dancer, Rocketman, Levon, Candle in the Wind, I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues, Daniel, and Crocodile Rock*. If I heard something different once in awhile I might not immediately change the channel.
What I appreciate is that unlike Liberace Elton came out of the closet LONG before it was fashionable.
I’m not a huge fan. I haven’t heard a lot of his stuff, though; only what gets played on the radio. Now I have “Bennie and the Jets” running through my head – ARRRRRGH!
I’ll give him this – he can write melody. The man knows more than four notes. Many pop singers seemingly don’t.
It might help to know that Bennie and the Jets is a parody.
Elton and Bernie have several such parody songs, like I Think I’m Going To Kill Myself, I’m Going To Be A Teenage Idol, Texan Love Song, Crocodile Rock, Solar Prestige A Gammon, and others.
With Bennie, the parody is of Ziggy-inspired anthems from the period, especially those of Jonathan Rhys Meyers (David Bowie/Ziggy Stardust) and Ewan McGregor (Iggy Pop).
I guess… count me as a fan. I agree with the sentiment, that you should at least be able to see the talent behind the music, even if you detest the music.
I’ve never been a big fan of Tool for example… but I do think they are talented musicians. (FYI, I pulled Tool out of the hat. No specific reason for picking on them.)
I also saw Elton in concert several years ago. This is when he really won me over. Being a veteran hard rock concert goer… I liked his music, but I thought the show would be tepid. It was amazing. I had so much fun. He’s such a good performer, so much energy. The place was alive! I wish I could have seen Billy and Elton (Billy is one of my top 3 fave artists) when they were in Portland, but I was broke broke broke at the time. 
I was thinking the same thing, myself!
What really galled me about this talentless cliche of a flamboyant washed up little creep is that, when called upon to write a tribute to the late, lovely Princess, he pulls out of mothballs a tune originally composed for a glitzed-up Hollywood floozie, throws in a few new words, and everyone says what a genius. It seems to me, that if one of the most lovely creatures in the world was actually a fan of mine (I will forgive you this one flaw, dear lady), I would knock myself out trying to create for her something so perfect, so unique and unforgettable, that it would become synonymous with her very name. What a lazy shit!
I’m not going to search out the cite for you but it was Bernie that rewrote the lyrics to that song for Elton based on a miscommunication. Still, not bad for the best selling single in music history (again find your own cite)
I’ve been at Straight Dope for more than three years, and yours is the stupidest post I’ve ever seen. It is sub-Neanderthal. It is a rhetorical enema, an incredibly vast confession of ignorance about everything it mentions — from Marilyn Monroe, to Diana, to Elton John. It’s too late to salvage anything from your brain, so here is what you are to do: grab a sledge hammer and smash your computer with it. Do it now.
** Lion King ** and ** AIDA ** for starters.
Would those who keep saying Elton John has written some great songs please at least get their facts right? He’s seldom written a song in his life. He’s co-written some very good pop music, though.
I agree that his consistency and longevity in the business is remarkable, and a good indication of his talent.
However, why on earth should I have any respect for a man who, blessed with success and wealth, chose to waste hundreds of thousands of dollars that could have been put to some good use on illegal drugs that rendered him sick and unable to function? Are we are so cool and hip and trendy round here, in a juvenile sense, that near-enough snorting yourself into oblivion is just something to have a laugh at? That pouring this much cash into the cocaine trade - with all that that entails in terms of crime, exploitation and cruelty - is just something to be filed away under ‘we all make mistakes’ while we admire the fact that he wrote some good tunes and gives good concerts?
If a man with that much talent and success can’t think of something better to do with a few hundred thousand dollars, then frankly I think I can find other people to admire.
You’re number two. Find an entertainer who has spent more on charity than Elton John in the past ten years. His brief flirtation with cocaine was induced by depression. He got better. He’s been better for a long, long time.
With respect to his writing songs, he writes the songs. Bernie will be the first to tell you that. Bernie writes poems. He sends them to Elton. Elton puts music to the poems. He is classically trained. His music is highly sophisticated and complex.
You can go back to sleep now.