Elton John In Concert

A child prodigy on the piano, John was awarded a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music at 11. Gravitating toward pop after discovering rhythm and blues, he joined Bluesology, later John Baldry’s backing band, in the mid-1960s. He met his major songwriting collaborator, Bernie Taupin (b. May 22, 1950, Sleaford, Lincolnshire), after both responded to an advertisement in a trade magazine, and his first British recording success was with “Lady Samantha” in 1968. His first American album, Elton John, was released in 1970 and immediately established him as a major international star. Throughout his career John demonstrated a supreme talent for assimilating and blending diverse pop and rock styles into a propulsive, streamlined sound that was extroverted, energetic, and somewhat impersonal. His recordings were among the first to homogenize electric guitar and acoustic piano with synthesized instrumentation. His vocal style, with its Southern accent and gospel inflections, was strongly American-influenced, as was his pianism, an ornate, gospel-flavoured elaboration of the stylings of Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis. His first American hit, “Your Song,” in 1970, was a love ballad that combined the introspective mood of the era’s singer-songwriters with a more traditional pop craftsmanship. John’s early 1970s recordings paid homage to country rock and folk rock models such as the Band and Crosby, Stills and Nash. By 1973 John was one of the world’s best-selling pop performers. His typical compositions, written with Taupin, were affectionate parodies and pastiches of everything from the Rolling Stones (“The Bitch Is Back” [1974]) to Frank Sinatra ballads (“Blue Eyes” [1982]) to 1950s rock and roll (“Crocodile Rock” [1972]) to Philadelphia soul (“Philadelphia Freedom” [1975]). He also demonstrated deeper musical ambitions in longer works such as “Burn Down the Mission” on Tumbleweed Connection (1971) and “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding” on Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973). Other notable songs from this period included “Rocket Man” on Honky Château (1972) and “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” on Caribou (1974). Beginning in 1976 with the album Blue Moves, his rock influences became less pronounced, and a more churchlike English pop style emerged in ballads like “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” (1976), which typified the staid declamatory aura of his mature ballads. In the late 1970s and ’80s, as he experimented with other collaborators, his music lost some of its freshness and his popularity dipped a bit, but he remained an extremely popular mainstream entertainer who brought into the pop arena an old-fashioned gaudily costumed flamboyance reminiscent of the Las Vegas piano legend Liberace. In the 1990s John was the first male pop star to declare his homosexuality, suffering no noticeable career damage. With lyricist Tim Rice he also wrote songs for the film The Lion King (1994), and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” won the Academy Award for best original song; the movie was adapted into a Broadway musical in 1997. The same year, a new version of his 1973 song “Candle in the Wind,” revised by Taupin to mourn the death of Diana, princess of Wales, became the most successful pop single in history, selling more than 30 million copies.

Seventies Music Chart Top Ten: January 1979

Here are the pop charts of the week ending 6th January 1979 (BBC)

Seventies Music Charts No1s of 1975 (US) APRIL

Here are all the No1 records from the year 1975 from the US charts of that year. It really is a who's who of 70s music, and turn it up really loud and enjoy. We continue with April of that year.

Philadelphia Freedom by Elton John


Sir Elton John (Reg Dwight) with a huge worldwide hit here. This single was taken from the best selling album "Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy", and the single was written by Elton and Bernie Taupin. The song was written about a Tennis team called Philadelphia Freedom, and was written as a favour to its main member the tennis star Billie Jean King.

Seventies Music Chart No1's From 1975 October

We continue looking at the big No. 1 songs of the year 1975. We now move into the month of October, and the U.S. singles looked like this.

Seventies Music Charts No.1's from 1975 October (US)

Here are all the No1 records from the year 1975 from the US charts of that year. It really is a who's who of  the 1970s, SO turn it up really loud and enjoy the  music. We continue with October of that year.

Bad Blood by Neil Sedaka

Not a hit in the UK, but a big No. 1 in the U.S. for Neil along with Elton John, who joins him on this single. The record was written by Neil and Phil Cody.

Lyrics to Bad Blood

Island Girl by Elton John

Elton stayed at No. 1 again with this great single  from his album "Rock of the Westies". Amazingly the lyrics are about a man trying to take a prostitute (could even be a gay prostitute) back to Jamaica. Elton himself did not "come out" until many years later.

Lyrics to Island Girl

GREATEST HITS OF THE 70'S : 8

Volume 8 of the Greatest Hits of the 70's is a NON-STOP PLAYLIST of 25 of the biggest hits of the decade, featuring tracks by Wings, Blondie, Roxy Music, Elton John, Pilot, Elvis Presley, T Rex, Carole King, Donna Summer, and many more.

US TOP 40: 07 JULY 1979

This non-stop playlist features the TOP 40 singles in the USA for the week of 7th July 1979. It features tracks by Donna Summer, Supertramp, Anita Ward, Sister Sledge, Peter Frampton, Cheap Trick, Kenny Rogers, Earth Wind & Fire & The Emotions, Chic, Bette Midler, Elton John, Joe Jackson, Gerry Rafferty, and many more.

Pick of the Pops: The Best Songs of the 1970s

This week, Patrick Teoh takes you on another foot stomping, hand clapping ride down memory lane as he blows dust off his vinyl collection to bring you a selection of the biggest hits from the 1970s. Featuring Steely Dan, Kool & The Gang, Elton John, The Rolling Stones and more.

Seventies Music Chart No1s of 1975 (US) JAN/FEB

Here are all the No1 records from the year 1975 from the US charts of that year. It really is a who's who of 70s music, and turn it up really loud and enjoy.

THE SEVENTIES

A non-stop playlist of 25 hits from the 1970's,

You can find all of the previous shows in this series, and other 70's shows that I've done here...
https://www.mixcloud.com/kickup80s/playlists/1970s/

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Slade, Showaddywaddy, John Travolta, Abba, Elton John and more.

GREATEST HITS : 1975

The greatest hits of 1975 featuring hits by Queen, Bay City Rollers, Glitter Band, Sweet, David Bowie, ABBA, David Essex, Hot Chocolate, John Lennon, Elton John, Tammy Wynette, Barry Manilow ... and many more! Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rpmmixcloud Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/15429... If you like this show then please click FAVOURITE, REPOST and FOLLOW me

UK Top 40: 28th October 1978

This upload features tracks from The Three Degrees, The Jam, Earth Wind & Fire, 10cc, Elton John and more.

Dire Straits in concert 1978

US Billboard Year End Top 40 Of 1979

Gloria Gaynor, Earth, Wind & Fire, Rod Stewart, Elton John, Gazeebo and more.

HISTORY OF POP 1979

Never A Hit in the 1970s

There are songs that we hear and are convinced that they were massive hits in the 1970s. However, as you will see this is just not the case. Here are some classic that never charted in the TOP 30 in the UK charts during the 1970s.

Carpenters
1974
I wont Last A Day Without You
1975
Solitaire


Bonnie Tyler
1979
Married men

Steely Dan
1975
Do It Again
1978
FM No Static At All
1979
Rikki Dont Lose That Number
Fleetwood Mac
1977
Go Your Own Way
Dont Stop
You Make Loving Fun
1978
Rhiannon
1979
Sara

ABBA
1974
Ring Ring
1975
I Do I Do I Do I Do

Diana Ross
1970
Reach Out And Touch Somebody's Hand
1974
Love Me
1976
I'm Still Waiting
1979
It's My House

Eagles
1978
Heartache Tonight
Dire Straits
1979
Lady Writer

Bay City Rollers
1977
You Made Me Believe In Magic

Elton John
1972
Honky Cat
1976
Bennie And The Jets

Marvin Gaye
1973
Let's Get It On