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What's the Deal with Elton and Rod?


Alexander

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"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. :wub::wub:

(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. :excited::angry:

We had the Paul Hogan show, but I don't think I remember "Hot legs". And I think I SHOULD! Still, it was a very funny show with quite a bit of that stuff; maybe it didn't stand out for me because of the music. (Well, that's my excuse.)

MG

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

Not me, of course

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.

Well, you should listen to the stuff on David Newman's "Scratch my back" - the finest album Orrin Keepnews ever produced and the greatest disco album ever - which DOESN'T have slush words. I wanted to put some on the BFT but the best tracks segue into one another and make up a 13 min marathon - I just couldn't do it to y'all :g

MG

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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.

"Hold me close now Tony Danza"

danza.jpg

I had no idea that other people were making that joke...

Early Rod's aiight. I think he's excellent on Truth, fwiw.

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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

Jeff would like to have a word with you...

jeff-beck.jpg

Seriously though--my first guitar teacher used to run into Jeff Beck from time to time. Supposedly, he's unremittingly self-involved and egotistical. Surprised? :mellow:

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Here's AMG's review of Rod's "Blondes Have More Fun." I surprisingly agree with it, especially since I've always thought "Ain't love a Bitch" one of his best songs.

In its simplest terms, Blondes Have More Fun is Rod Stewart's disco album, filled with pulsating rhythms and slick, synthesized textures. It's also his trashiest, most disposable album, filled with cheap come-ons and bad double entendres. Of course, that makes Blondes Have More Fun one of his most enjoyable records, even if all the pleasures are guilty. With its swirling strings and nagging chorus, "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" was the reason the record hit number one, and decades later, the song stands as one of the best rock-disco fusions. The rest of the record isn't as engaging, but he throws out a handful of winning tracks in the same mold, including "Ain't Love a Bitch," "Attractive Female Wanted," and the title track.

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

No but giving Rod the boot was no problem-not after that.

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

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! :g

Very true, and the tune itself is quite catchy.

Didn't he lose all the royalties on that song to Jorge Ben after being sued for lifting the main riff?

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

Why can't kick them in the ass for that? I think it's a great idea, instead.

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

You may add that Disco is against my religious principles, the only good thing of it was the fact that you could find a lot of girls in one place and you didn't need to talk to them before... :crazy:

Yeah, I know I was a bit sexist at those times, but what do you expect from a fourteen y.o. boy that just discovered sex? :cool:

Edited by porcy62
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Well, some people are opposed to Disco just on principal... :g

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! :g

The main objection I had to that song was its sheer, overbearing obnoxiousness. Plus for a while you couldn't exist in Western society without hearing it about 15 time a day...

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I was a bigger fan of Rod's than Elton back in the day but I think Elton's actually aged better (could hardly be worse), never woulda guessed...

Musically, or physically?

I don't think either one's musical output has aged that well. Their earlier stuff is much better. Elton is one hell of a musician, but you can hardly tell these days with all the overly electronic pap he has released in the past 10-15 years.

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If I can remeber waaaay back, I seem to remember that Rod had a pretty fine eye for good songs to cover, Bobby Bland, Tim Hardin, Danny Whitten spring to mind. His second album Gasoline Alley had a great review in Rollin Stone. Then he hit the big time-and for awhile was very entertaining, live him and the Faces were always a good , fun gig, especially if you were after a little puddin! Chickedees loved Rod then!

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  • 3 weeks later...

guilty pleasure! :blush:

B000H7JDVI.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

A pleasure, but not a guilty one as far as I'm concerned. It hardly compares to his classic work of the early-70s, but it's quite good in its own right. In fact, Elton's last three albums (all co-written with Bernie) have been quite strong. For me, the thing that lets him down these days isn't his writing but his singing. His voice isn't what it used to be. Very few people's voices go unchanged after a long career, but it seems that Elton suffers more for it than some other people. Costello still sounds pretty much the same today as he did in 1977, for example. Bono still sounds good, as does Prince. Dylan's voice changes with age, but it never sounds bad (same with Neil Young). There was a quality to Elton's voice circa 1970 that was very appealing, although it's hard for me to pin down. He doesn't quite have it anymore, but he makes up for it with strong playing and writing...

Edited by Alexander
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  • 1 month later...

Rod Stewart was never anything more than a voice, never wrote anything, never played anything, and after Maggie May 35 years ago, I completely lost interest in him. Mostly because he stopped singing great songs and started singing a lot of vapid pop crap. Even his Songbook stuff has him singing great songs very poorly.

Elton: after 1972, much sound and fury, but mostly empty, noisy pop music with no depth at all.

If that sort of shallow music floats your boat, you're entitled to it.

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Rod Stewart was never anything more than a voice, never wrote anything, never played anything, and after Maggie May 35 years ago, I completely lost interest in him. Mostly because he stopped singing great songs and started singing a lot of vapid pop crap. Even his Songbook stuff has him singing great songs very poorly.

Elton: after 1972, much sound and fury, but mostly empty, noisy pop music with no depth at all.

If that sort of shallow music floats your boat, you're entitled to it.

Thanks. I needed your approval to get on with my life. That's a load off my mind!

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