What's the Deal with Elton and Rod?

[Hot Ptah]

I know why I lack respect for them. They both started out as humble seeming artists who tried to put out understated albums of nuance and high quality. Then they both became bombastic, clownish buffoons, and their albums were filled with cheesy schlock. Other than that, no problem.

[Scott Dolan]

Yeah, but those bands Elton John had backing him in the early 70's were fucking water tight!!!

[WD45]

Yeah, but those bands Elton John had backing him in the early 70's were fucking water tight!!!

word

[RDK]

I know why I lack respect for them. They both started out as humble seeming artists who tried to put out understated albums of nuance and high quality. Then they both became bombastic, clownish buffoons, and their albums were filled with cheesy schlock. Other than that, no problem.

Well, that describes about 90% of all successful artists in any genre!

[Hot Ptah]

I know why I lack respect for them. They both started out as humble seeming artists who tried to put out understated albums of nuance and high quality. Then they both became bombastic, clownish buffoons, and their albums were filled with cheesy schlock. Other than that, no problem.

Well, that describes about 90% of all successful artists in any genre!

Not John Coltrane.

[JSngry]

Can't say that I ever heard Elton as "humble", other than as one layer of his veneer.

Never could get into Elton John,

Now, James Taylor, that's a differnt story...

[Scott Dolan]

James is the man!

[chris olivarez]

Can't say that I ever heard Elton as "humble", other than as one layer of his veneer.

Never could get into Elton John,

Now, James Taylor, that's a differnt story...

I remember one day I was on the air during a remote and I needed a song quick and I put on a live copy of James Taylor doing "Steamroller Blues". I thought -James Taylor-family friendly-right?-wrong!!!-defintely not a family friendly version of the tune. Needless to say it didn't happen again. Luckily no complaints and no I didn't get canned but just one of several reasons I don't care for James.

[chris olivarez]

Like earlier posters I liked Rod Stewart during the Beck,Faces and earlier solo albums but after "Do You Think I'm Sexy?" -I bailed. I never did care for Elton John.

[Quincy]

I remember one day I was on the air during a remote and I needed a song quick and I put on a live copy of James Taylor doing "Steamroller Blues". I thought -James Taylor-family friendly-right?-wrong!!!-defintely not a family friendly version of the tune. Needless to say it didn't happen again. Luckily no complaints and no I didn't get canned but just one of several reasons I don't care for James.

The same thing happened to me as a college DJ. I had to do a lunchtime "soft rock" shift. I hated the idea so brought my out records (as usual for most shifts, 'cept the Canadian opera.) This was around '84, so I brought along R.E.M., played a slow X song, symphonic version of a Sex Pistols song (stick it to the program manager!), and assorted other "college radio" songs & such that weren't overly aggressive but not traditional "soft rock." I ended up being about 5 minutes short, so I look through the station's LPs. "Okay, I'll throw the concept a bone and play some James Taylor. Let's see, oh gawd not 'Fire & Rain"...hmm, maybe this 'Steamroller' cut."

Boy was I surprised. Never imagined he had such a potty mouth.

Edited January 27, 2007 by Quincy

[chris olivarez]

I remember one day I was on the air during a remote and I needed a song quick and I put on a live copy of James Taylor doing "Steamroller Blues". I thought -James Taylor-family friendly-right?-wrong!!!-defintely not a family friendly version of the tune. Needless to say it didn't happen again. Luckily no complaints and no I didn't get canned but just one of several reasons I don't care for James.

The same thing happened to me as a college DJ. I had to do a lunchtime "soft rock" shift. I hated the idea so brought my out records (as usual for most shifts, 'cept the Canadian opera.) This was around '84, so I brought along R.E.M., played a slow X song, symphonic version of a Sex Pistols song (stick it to the program manager!), and assorted other "college radio" songs & such that weren't overly aggressive but not traditional "soft rock." I ended up being about 5 minutes short, so I look through the station's LPs. "Okay, I'll throw the concept a bone and play some James Taylor. Let's see, oh gawd not 'Fire & Rain"...hmm, maybe this 'Steamroller' cut."

Boy was I surprised. Never imagined he had such a potty mouth.

It was definitely a revelation!!!!!

[GA Russell]

Didn't Rod Stewart play harmonica on My Boy Lollipop?

[catesta]

The only Elton cd I own is Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, it really seemed like it was something back in the day, now I can't really get into it all that much.

My oldest sister was a huge Elton John fan.

For me, he's done as much more crap than good.

My lady though, she likes him.

I own no Rod Stewart and never have, however I dig him some when I hear it on the radio. Lots of catchy tunes from that guy. Good memories from the 70s.

Stevie Wonder has more memorable stuff from the earlier days and a lot of shit in the latter, but I still give him props.

[Soulstation1]

JT's steamroller blues is over on youtube......

[neveronfriday]

The only Elton cd I own is Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, it really seemed like it was something back in the day, now I can't really get into it all that much.

Hold it, hold it.

That one's got my old theme song from way back when ...

Social Disease

Music by Elton John

Lyrics by Bernie Taupin

Available on the album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

My bulldog is barking in the backyard

Enough to raise a dead man from his grave

And I can't concentrate on what I'm doing

Disturbance going to crucify my days

And the days they get longer and longer

And the nighttime is a time of little use

For I just get ugly and older

I get juiced on Mateus and just hang loose

And I get bombed for breakfast in the morning

I get bombed for dinner time and tea

I dress in rags, smell a lot, and have a real good time

I'm a genuine example of a social disease

My landlady lives in a caravan

Well that is when she isn't in my arms

And it seems I pay the rent in human kindness

But my liquor also helps to grease her palms

And the ladies are all getting wrinkles

And they're falling apart at the seams

Well I just get high on tequila

And see visions of vineyards in my dreams

Edited January 27, 2007 by neveronfriday

[RDK]

Like earlier posters I liked Rod Stewart during the Beck,Faces and earlier solo albums but after "Do You Think I'm Sexy?" -I bailed.

Yeah, but even a number of jazz artists made that disco mistep. Can't kick 'em all out of bed just for that.

[Guy Berger]

Otherwise just get Greatest Hits vol. 1. It goes downhill from there.

Greatest Hits 2 has some great stuff as well. That's where you'll find "Levon," "Tiny Dancer," Elton's versions of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Pinball Wizard," "Island Girl," "I Feel Like A Bullet From The Gun Of Robert Ford," and "Philadelphia Freedom."

Or you could just get the albums from that era. They really are great.

Most of those songs (w/the exception of "Levon" and "Tiny Dancer") make me want to barf. Maybe J Larsen can pass the bucket.

Guy

Edited January 27, 2007 by Guy

[Dan Gould]

Can't say that I ever heard Elton as "humble", other than as one layer of his veneer.

Never could get into Elton John,

Now, James Taylor, that's a differnt story...

I remember one day I was on the air during a remote and I needed a song quick and I put on a live copy of James Taylor doing "Steamroller Blues". I thought -James Taylor-family friendly-right?-wrong!!!-defintely not a family friendly version of the tune.

At first I read this as "needed a quick song" and I was thinking ... that's one of the longest songs in his catalog.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

if theres anything worse than ECM, its going to a jeff beck concert- one of the most dissapointing concerts ive ever seen- he is like the #1 rock musican whos talent does not match his output

[Sundog]

if theres anything worse than ECM, its going to a jeff beck concert- one of the most dissapointing concerts ive ever seen- he is like the #1 rock musican whos talent does not match his output

Don't you mean output doesn't match talent? I've seen him a few times, the last time being in support of the album There & Back (eons ago). He was always excellent. I remember him closing one of those shows with a jaw-dropping version of Rice Pudding. One of my favorite fist-pumping metal moments.

Regarding Elton & Rod, I can't get past about 1980 with either one. I still listen to Tumble Weed Connection & Honky Chateau and assorted early Rod/Faces every once in a while. Didn't Rod and Elton somehow both get their starts with/through the efforts of Long John Baldry?

[skeith]

Never liked Elton that much, but Rod I have loved, until he went over to the disco side.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Never liked Elton that much, but Rod I have loved, until he went over to the disco side.

I don't like either but I'm intrigued - what's wrong with Rod's disco records?

MG

[JSngry]

Well, some people are opposed to Disco just on principal...

For my tastes, "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" was not at all a bad record. Empty as hell, but shit, it's Rod Stewart doing Disco. Anything more than empty would be dishonest!

Seriously, there was so much trash done in the name of Disco, that it's easy to lump it all together. But if you got a taste for slink, you can tell what's got it and what doesn't. And this one had it more than most, albeit techno-slink (which to some might be an oxymoron, but count me as a fan of the whole Donna Summer/Georgio Moroder bag, at least while it stayed fresh), and no, it wasn't truly slinky. But again, look at who was doing it, how bad it easily could have been, and yeah, it ain't too bad. But I don't go out of my way to hear it, if you know what I mean...

What was slimy (much more than the to-varying-degrees studio-stunted-slink of the grooves) on those mid/late-70s things was the lyrics. Pure smarm, and everybody concerned ought to be ashamed when they come up for air from counting the money. I mean, "Tonight's The Night"? "Spread your wings, my virgin child"? GACK. Millie Jackson did the same type song a few years earlier and made it real. This is just the faux-sensitive boasting bullshit of a cockhound cherrypopper, and fuck that.

"Hot Legs", otoh, I throughly despised until I saw him doing it w/Tina Turner on SNL. Then it made sense, and it was good. But that was a one-off, wasn' it...

Edited January 28, 2007 by JSngry

[Dan Gould]

"Hot Legs", otoh, I throughly despised until I saw him doing it w/Tina Turner on SNL. Then it made sense, and it was good. But that was a one-off, wasn' it...

Before he made it big as "Crocodile Dundee", Paul Hogan had a TV show in Australia (think Benny Hill) and my father's company, Gould Entertainment, had distribution rights in the US, and that was his first attempt to make an impact in the biggest entertainment market. One of the best segments I remember (and it was a very funny show) was a video vignette of Hogan doing pratfalls, while the main eye candy on the show, a stunning blonde with a killer body, strutted through the scenes in her Daisy Dukes, all to the sounds of "Hot Legs". Ah, I remember it like it was yesterday.

(to complete the story of my Dad's involvement with Paul Hogan, after the movie became such a huge hit, my father's phone rang off the hook with TV stations that now wanted to run the Paul Hogan Show. And just when Dad was positioned to make a killing, Hogan's management pulled the plug. Said they didn't want to allow his old, sometimes risque show, to get a lot of attention. Something about a different image.

[catesta]

Well, some people are opposed to Disco just on principal...

For my tastes, "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" was not at all a bad record. Empty as hell, but shit, it's Rod Stewart doing Disco. Anything more than empty would be dishonest!

Very true, and the tune itself is quite catchy.