June 18, 2010

Pinball Wizard v. Pinhead Wizards..

I used to bag on him quite a bit and never really cared for his treacly/contrived music. But, of late, Elton John is being moved front and center in my own personal R'n'R hall of fame:

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) - A concert by Elton John has given Israelis a boost after a string of cancellations by other world-famous artists.

The British rocker performed late Thursday in front of a screaming crowd of nearly 50,000 fans at a Tel Aviv stadium.

John, who wore blue-tinted sunglasses, told the audience those cancellations "ain't gonna stop me from playing here, baby."

Recent cancellations by the Pixies and Elvis Costello, who cited Israeli government policies, have added to Israel's growing sense of isolation.

John swiped at those artists, saying, "We do not cherry-pick our consciences," before hitting the opening chords of his 1972 hit "Crocodile Rock."

Here's one of my favorites by Sir Elton:



..a damned sight better than this turd:

5 comments:

  1. I'm sure that The Pixies and Elvis Costello are more than happy to accept the royalties they get from CD sales in Israel, though.

    One of my first ever LP purchases was Elton John. (I think it was right after I got a Partridge Family album.)

    Of course, I quickly moved on to Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, and the like.

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  2. I was listening to Rush on Tuesday talk about having Elton playing at his wedding reception. When asked why he accepted the gig, Elton said something to the effect of "wanting to build bridges". I'm sure that, and the $1 million dollars for a 75 minute gig had something to do with it.

    Still, its unfortunate that Elton took so much grief from the GLBT community for "sleeping with the enemy". But yeah, if I had the money, I'd have him for a gig anytime - he's undoubtedly one of the great musicians and song-men of our lifetime.

    -LTB

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  3. And oh, BTW - two of the finest cover performances of all time are off this movie soundtrack. Elton's version of "Pinball Wizard" and Tina Turner's version of "Acid Queen." She will always own this song.

    -LTB

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  4. Lipton,

    As I said, I did not really become a fan of Elton John's and I am sure he has some pretty shockingly liberal views. But that he can park them at the door (especially when it comes to collecting a cool million). His latest defiant pronouncement vis a vis Isreal sure must have won him a lot of fans.

    Consider zonoids like Damon, Penn, Garafalo, and Princess Leia and one must appreciate him even more.

    ..and as you said, his rendition of Pinball Wizard leaves Daltry's version as a bit stodgy and down-tempo. His has some zip to it.

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  5. I concur, War Planner. Word-for-word what you said.
    I'm not an elton John Fan myself, but again, his stock went way up after he played for Rush and this Israel gig. Good on him all the way around, even if he sucks co*k

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