Mama Can't Buy You Love: The Official ILM Track-By-Track ELTON JOHN 1978-1988 Listening Thread

The first twenty seconds reminded me of early eighties intro music to a PBS documentary.

Peter Minagro
3 years ago

Notice how this song seems like its going to end like 5 times and keeps going. Well that is in reference to this war because as everyone at the time thought this war was going to end on 4 or 5 different occations but kept going. Just thought that was a brillient thought by Elton to end the song that way.

Peter Minagro OTM

from the bio: "In a rare editorial mode, Elton demanded one deletion from Bernie's lyric. "There was one line that said 'thin white men in stinking tents'. And I said, "Bernie, I can't sing 'thin white men in stinking tents.' It's not an attractive line to sing. So we changed it."

this is flat-out awful, an unwelcome return of The Fox. What is with that intro? yeah, '80s PBS documentary incidental music about sums it up. Why are there jingle bells and cathedral organ fills on this thing? (One assumes we'll get a "choir" at some point and we do.) EJ sounds like a dying seal at the start of the chorus; Porcaro sounds like he's performing CPR on the track a half-dozen time.

Still, lop this dud off the end and Jump Up! is the best thing EJ did since Rock of the Westies

Jump Up! B side:

"Hey Papa Legba"

http://youtu.be/npQZfJtE__Y

http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/PA-7165446.jpg

"The Retreat"

http://youtu.be/yB-_GI-Z7WA

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/fEvQ7wKKRko/0.jpg

Aptly named b-side of "Princess." A Fox outtake.

Tomorrow: the full Elton comeback.

one more! "Take Me Down to the Ocean," B-side of "Empty Garden"

http://youtu.be/c_DaEm6mfIs

have we encountered one good EJ B-side yet? Still, I'd probably put "Papa Legba" in place of "Western Front" on Jump Up

"Papa Legba" and "The Retreat" aren't bad, even if the latter sounds like "Harmony" w/out the beautiful chorus.

"the retreat" could've worked on desperado! if only he'd ditched that synth raveup at the end and brought in bernie leadon instead.

I'm holding out some hope that "Strangers", which we missed, is a classic.

Lolling hard at the cover of this b-sides comp (a bootleg?) btw:
http://d3cvzp1meg27xm.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/elton_john_flip_it_over.jpg

...neatly, it encompasses the non-LP story to date in this thread.

http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-5203186-1387358142-3931.jpeg

Too Low For Zero!

"Cold As Christmas"

http://youtu.be/hohf6KUndBM

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/312yE9oEmAL.jpg

an album cover that screams "1983"

The weak link in the EJ "Christmas" quadrilogy (or pentalogy if you count the medley he played for a '73 Peel Session).

If you have an "I'm Still Standing," how do you not lead off your album with it? So I admire the sequencing gall here.

Whatever, guys. A lovely ballad – and what a hook. He remembered to write some!

a solid ballad that someone in nashville should be covering right now. agreed that it's an odd/ballsy choice to open the album. but the segue into tomorrow's song works quite well! nice, pleasing contrast there.

a low-key album opener for his best '80s album that (again, following the pattern here) isn't really an xmas song.

Missed a few selections over the weekend. "Blue Eyes" my fave of his non-Bernie tracks, with lead vocals that roll deeply into the piano's left-hand zone in the chorus, highlighting the interesting key changes that surround them (often with jazzy licks from above!) with mixed time signatures further accenting the song's jazzy appeal that is anything but 'smooth' or 'lite'. V well done.

"I'm Still Standing"

http://youtu.be/ZHwVBirqD2s

http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/0hh0xWKPrf0/hqdefault.jpg

so, this one: hooks on top of hooks, chased by hooks. A verse that's catchier than any refrain on EJ's complete oeuvre, 1976-1981, then a knockout chorus that's then topped by a refrain that quotes the Beatles, ffs. And it's nicely tricky--the opening suggests it's in A minor, with an A major bass & then, whammo, the verse leaps into bright A major---introspection kicked aside for bravado.

anecdote from the video shoot in Cannes: Elton's dutifully trying to learn the choreography, then Simon LeBon shows up. Eight vodka martinis later, EJ trashes his hotel room, breaks his manager's nose and demands to be filmed while he does elaborate stripteases w/his various costumes.

One of the advantages of composing lyrics first: the composer can match tonal shifts in the verses.

Andy Taylor:

There were lots of celebrities around in Cannes and one day we discovered that Elton John was in town, filming the video for his song I'm Still Standing. This was before Elton became teetotal, so he was still a steaming party animal; we went up to see him at his hotel and spent the afternoon getting blasted on Martinis. We decided it would be a laugh to get him drunk and we were slinging the drinks down him 'Ooh, you are lovely boys,' he screeched, loving every minute of it. We got him so drunk that eventually he went upstairs and threw a wobbler in his suite. It caused all sorts of chaos - but it was a great party

I can't remember when I first heard this song; it's always been around, part of the ether. A fabulous song to karaoke, I must say.

This was the only Elton John song I knew for a while. Growing up, my mom had an audio tape containing some MTV best-of-the-80's countdown recorded off TV (I think "I Need You Tonight" by INXS was #1). That tape got a LOT of play on car trips, and ended up starting my love for a few different bands. I was at the age when a switch from a major verse to a minor chorus blew my mind, so I loved this song (but even nowadays, I appreciate how seamless that switch is). I never saw a picture of him until years later but it pretty much matched the mental picture I had constructed based on this song.

One of the advantages of composing lyrics first: the composer can match tonal shifts in the verses.

Well the interesting thing about this song is how it goes counterintuitive to expectations, maybe even counter to what Bernie had in mind. The major key verse details the broken past, and the minor chorus is the triumphant part. The music undercuts the message to me, makes him seem desperate to convince himself, and I don't think there's anything in the lyrics that suggests desperation otherwise.

And part of the desperation comes from his super over-the-top vocal too, of course

One of the few survivor gestures that works because the artist embraces what made him a comer in the first place.

again, this only got to #12 in the US?, like "Blue Eyes." I was certain this was top 10, at least.

he'll have plenty of top tens from this point on

One of only a handfew of albums I heard most often originally on 8 track cartridge

he'll have plenty of top tens from this point on

yeah, that's the weird thing: some of the upcoming singles charted really high but don't seem as omnipresent as "I'm Still Standing" or even "Little Jeannie". It might simply be that I wasn't listening to pop radio as much in '85 or '88, though

"i'm still standing" was huge on mtv which billboard never factored into their charts so it probably was bigger than some other hits. i'd always viewed this as the big comeback but he'd actually started to manage that somewhat already and it makes sense - this isn't the song that gets you yr old job/old girl back, this is the song about the night on the town after you get yr old job/girl back. i know i'd heard elton songs before this (remember 'empty garden' esp) but this was the first one where i was aware of 'elton john' as phenomenon, i can remember my parents and their friends talking about it and his comeback (the costumes esp) alot at this time. i'm not sure if it bites a specific motown hook but it definitely seems of a piece w/ the other motown copping brit hits of the 80s - "wake me up before you go-go", "this charming man", "when smokey sings", etc.

The album's biggest hit and Elton standard is a couple days away. In my mind I smush "I Guess..." and "Sad Songs (Say So Much)" together, and it makes sense: I thought "I Guess" peaked in '83 but actually it was Jan. '84 while "Sad Songs" peaked summer '84. He was cranking them out again like the old days.

In my mind I smush "I Guess..." and "Sad Songs (Say So Much)" together - i do this too, it doesn't help that they're both vaguely meta w/o actually being either blues or a sad song

"Too Low for Zero"

http://youtu.be/qYMdGUiuVA4

http://davidmcgough.com/photos/thumbs/1984-%20Elton%20John,%20Liza%20Minelli,%20NYC.jpg

in which Elton discovers New Pop, as Marcello might say. Lots of ILXors love this tune.

If "Ball and Chain" was a tribute to Lindsey Buckingham, this is like EJ providing a template for B's '80s solo works and even Tango in the Night. An all-but-solo recording (all the synths are Elton, and he even allegedly programmed the drum machine), it ebbs and flows, never quite resolving, just content to exist as this glittering mesh of sound. As an occasional insomniac, I'll just say "Zero" captures the bleary feel of a 3 AM where sleep is an elusive promise and waking life exists as a blur. Just marvelous stuff.

I'm late to this, but while I don't quite think it's marvelous it does work up a fairly strong head of steam: Elton, lost in a cloud of technology he's just mastered, distilling the self-pity of the last five albums into momentum and clusters of notes.

"too low for zero" suggests elton is, at least for a moment, following a similar course to his contemporary robert palmer. would like to hear more like this.

"Religion"

http://youtu.be/CIAYTU7QhAk

http://www.bobgruen.com/files/Rockers/Rockers_bw/R-206_Stones_KRichards,TTurner,DBowie1983_Gruen.jpg

I put this song on a CD-R a few years ago. EJ and Taupin are back to writing (semi-)coherent story-songs. The generous vocal doesn't condescend to its subject; I particularly love those bits when it jumps an octave ("somebody up there likes MEEEEEEE"). Phil Johnstone doesn't overplay the fills or solos. A near perfect album track. How John-Taupin couldn't keep cranking these things out is one of the mysteries of songwriting and chemistry.

has a country artist ever done an LP of Elton compositions? It's overdue if not.

Another good one: it's nice to see Taupin actually managing to be witty. It's telling that while another big '83 comeback by a '70s Brit rock star was 3 singles and then some outrageous filler, Too Low for Zero has a real consistency all the way through, its quality-to-dud ratio up there with like ...Piano Player's.

"I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6KYAVn8ons‎

http://www.the80sman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/elton_john_i_guess_thats_why_they_call_it_the_blues_1-e1330968332280.jpg

THE BIG ONE

My favorite EJ song. He's right: the melody is such that he can play it as fast or as slow as he wants, in any arrangement he wants. I love his controlled dread -- falling in love is dangerous. Dig where the stresses fall ("Just stare into SPACE/Picture my FAAACCE/In your HANDS").

your favorite, eh? I took a while: 11-yr-old me, though vaguely scandalized by the "rolling like thunder under the covers" line, resented it for taking up space on the chart from the Fixx and Duran Duran, but time schooled me. The melody's as sturdy as an iron bridge & his singing is amazing (as you said, those wonderful stresses!: another run's the way he drags out "cryy in the niiight if it heeelps" and then compresses "but more than ever" as a quick aside). Or the way he backs into establishing the key, not reaching "home" until he hits "forever" in the verse.

as a kid "rolling like thunder under the covers" amazed me! Sex in an EJ song!

i'm suprised to find this having become my fave EJ song over the decades. Wonderfully un-oblique Bernie lyric, in striking contrast to his work from a decade earlier. "While i'm away, dust out the demons inside, and it won't be long/before you and me run, to the place in our hearts, where we hide". Just gorgeous. Like the melody, the easy, loping rhythm, the cleanly-produced mix of piano, guitar, drums, backing vocals, and Stevie's harmonica. A deserved classic.