The song to which we owe the thread title?
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 24 December 2013 18:03 (ten years ago) link
that's the one!
― col, Tuesday, 24 December 2013 19:55 (ten years ago) link
OK I can't find final ASM b-side "Strangers" anywhere, so let's go straight to:
"Mama Can't Buy You Love
http://youtu.be/fw1ulSbMBiw
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 25 December 2013 14:59 (ten years ago) link
http://eil.com/images/main/Elton+John+-+Mama+Can%27t+Buy+You+Love+-+12%22+RECORD%2FMAXI+SINGLE-69416.jpg
such a shame that the re-issued/remixed version of Are You Ready For Love was used as a freakin advert for Sky TV.
― piscesx, Thursday, 26 December 2013 11:26 (ten years ago) link
"Are You Ready For Love
http://youtu.be/4QSA7pSvh-o
I wish Dionne Warwick had sung this.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 26 December 2013 14:19 (ten years ago) link
catching up:
"Mama Can't Buy You Love": Didn't recall this one for a sec, then the chorus kicked in and bam: suddenly back in '79. Though it's not really "contemporary" sounding: it feels like an '73-'74 oldie that resurfaced at the peak of disco. Makes sense the track was cut a few years earlier, w/ EJ going for an early '70s Philly Soul sound.
"Ready for Love": agree Warwick (or the Three Degrees) could've done wonders with this. Again, bit of a throwback sound.
― col, Thursday, 26 December 2013 15:51 (ten years ago) link
"Three Way Love Affair" B-side of "Are You Ready for Love"?
http://youtu.be/9K9D8S3LhB0
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c57/djtaddia/45%20Lot%20Vol%20XXX/poasdfghj235.jpg
― col, Friday, 27 December 2013 14:43 (ten years ago) link
the sound of Philly Soul in its dotage. Chorus is okay, but repeated 434 times as here it becomes hateful
― col, Friday, 27 December 2013 14:46 (ten years ago) link
It's a mystery why EJ flopped with this material. Did he chose terrible songs?
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 27 December 2013 14:47 (ten years ago) link
think it was more timing: this stuff seems really old hat in the year of "Good Times" and "Rapper's Delight." If it had come out in 1975, maybe it's a bigger hit
― col, Friday, 27 December 2013 14:59 (ten years ago) link
"Johnny B. Goode"
http://youtu.be/0O2S5G0spr0
http://flaxmanrecords.com/wp-content/uploads/elton-john-victim-of-love.jpg
― col, Saturday, 28 December 2013 14:29 (ten years ago) link
this is just ghastly
― col, Saturday, 28 December 2013 14:32 (ten years ago) link
holy christ. This is "Victim of Love"-level terrible.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 28 December 2013 14:33 (ten years ago) link
who starts off their disco album with a cover of "johnny b goode" FFS? acc. to wiki there's an 8 minute version on the album, which i blessedly didn't find on youtube
― col, Saturday, 28 December 2013 14:36 (ten years ago) link
"Warm Love in a Cold World"
http://youtu.be/fXM-42um9No
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fYYp4hJi6dM/TwUb16gHtvI/AAAAAAAAZcE/kFfQ3-VDU18/s640/rock-superstar-sir-elton-john-in-concert-palladium-theatre-greenwich-village-ny-october-1979+%25281%2529.jpg
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 29 December 2013 15:52 (ten years ago) link
The slap bass and cowbell and backing vocals suggest energy.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 29 December 2013 15:53 (ten years ago) link
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn)
Eagles "Victim of Love," of course
well, "Born Bad" isn't found anywhere. Listened to it on Spotify: it's decent. Generic disco beat, popped bass, a hoarse-sounding Elton singing a vocal he probably cut after a heavy lunch, a "bad to the bone" lyric that its performer can't really sell.
― col, Monday, 30 December 2013 19:03 (ten years ago) link
oh, and guitar solo that sounds like it was lifted off an Aldo Nova record
― col, Monday, 30 December 2013 19:04 (ten years ago) link
21 at 33, I can see you from the opposite shore.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 30 December 2013 19:16 (ten years ago) link
Nah you gotta week at least til we get there. Don't forget the two France Gall duets.
― Jeff W, Monday, 30 December 2013 19:42 (ten years ago) link
"Born Bad" is on grooveshark: http://grooveshark.com/#!/s/Born+Bad/3Qj5p1?src=5
I'm so behind on these.
― Maintenance Engineer of Foolhardiness (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 30 December 2013 20:34 (ten years ago) link
aren't you lucky
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 30 December 2013 20:39 (ten years ago) link
"Thunder in the Night"
http://youtu.be/C_3gMWOqszI
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 31 December 2013 14:57 (ten years ago) link
I'll say this: if Hercules & Love Affair created the first minute in 2008 no one would blink.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 31 December 2013 14:58 (ten years ago) link
http://www.yarden-uriel.com/elton66.jpg
Oh, why did he have to start singing? was pretty great until then. "My woman says she ain't my woman!" The choruses on this record really are subpar: this like the sort of disco you'd hear in a nightclub scene in "Falcon Crest."
― col, Tuesday, 31 December 2013 15:34 (ten years ago) link
Those clavinets work.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 31 December 2013 16:13 (ten years ago) link
i'm way behind on this thread, but checking in to say this starts out sounding exactly how i would expect, and want, disco era elton to sound. but yeah that chorus is completely underwhelming. would it be asking too much to want early-'70s elton to flash forward for a minute and finish late-'70s elton's song?
― fact checking cuz, Tuesday, 31 December 2013 17:46 (ten years ago) link
as it turns out, Elton didn't write (or play) a note on this record. Blame due to the stellar composing team of Pete Bellotte, Stefan Wisnet, Gunther Moll and a few others
― col, Tuesday, 31 December 2013 18:13 (ten years ago) link
described in a bio as "German disco songsmiths." Other details: EJ flew to Munich and cut all his vocals for Victim in a single day, in about eight hours.
― col, Tuesday, 31 December 2013 18:16 (ten years ago) link
"Spotlight"
http://youtu.be/JTfGrExMw94
http://binaryapi.ap.org/7e3897b3eb2742d0a785f6c5415d0328/512x.jpg
― col, Wednesday, 1 January 2014 13:34 (ten years ago) link
Same formula as "thunder in the night": the first minute sounds like something that would get a Best New Music on P'fork, then Elton stumbles in.
― col, Wednesday, 1 January 2014 13:37 (ten years ago) link
cavecairo701 year ago Caribou is a masterpiece compared to this album!!
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 1 January 2014 13:41 (ten years ago) link
i'd bet EJ hasn't listened to this record since it was made, if he even listened to it then
― col, Wednesday, 1 January 2014 13:45 (ten years ago) link
didn't he go to Russia around this time? i recall that being a big deal. there was a TV special.
― piscesx, Wednesday, 1 January 2014 15:02 (ten years ago) link
"Street Boogie"
http://youtu.be/xHZdk0jtpd0
http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/xHZdk0jtpd0/hqdefault.jpg
― col, Thursday, 2 January 2014 12:40 (ten years ago) link
"Street boogie got a hold on me" eh
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 2 January 2014 13:04 (ten years ago) link
Chicago's "Street Player" is 100x better than this
― col, Thursday, 2 January 2014 14:34 (ten years ago) link
man, we're dying on the vine here. let's finish off this mess of an album:
"Victim of Love"
http://youtu.be/PkkhoCpvLZU
http://eil.com/images/main/Elton+John+-+Victim+Of+Love+-+7%22+RECORD-171661.jpg
― col, Saturday, 4 January 2014 14:18 (ten years ago) link
The single!
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 4 January 2014 14:21 (ten years ago) link
he sounds like Gary Numan singing over a France Joli track.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 4 January 2014 14:22 (ten years ago) link
What a weird, anonymous way to do a disco cash-in album. You feel that if EJ could've outsourced his vocals to some German soundalike, he would've.
― col, Saturday, 4 January 2014 14:43 (ten years ago) link
This farrago confirms my theory about "dated" as a pejorative: a track's dated if it uses the most obvious, recognizable patterns and sounds of the day without alteration (Donna Summer hasn't dated one jot).
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 4 January 2014 14:53 (ten years ago) link
B-side "Strangers" not available, so here we go into 21 at 33!
Chasing the Crown
http://youtu.be/KdLgZVSq0Fg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Elton_John_in_1980s.jpg
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 5 January 2014 13:00 (ten years ago) link
I swear, hearing those power chords was like walking out of a smoky bar into sunlight and air.
yeah, it's nice to hear the "Elderberry Wine"/"Bitch is Back" Elton return after that dismal exile in Munich. Guitar and backing vocals are garish, Taupin's lyric is Bernie trying to do "Sympathy for the Devil" on a budget, but this is the most awake EJ's sounded since the Ford Administration.
― col, Sunday, 5 January 2014 16:41 (ten years ago) link
Our first big hit!!
"Little Jeannie"
http://youtu.be/Wlz6mTyiMZc
http://cdn.pianosheetmusiconline.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Little-Jeannie-Elton-John.jpg
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 6 January 2014 13:11 (ten years ago) link
I gotta say: its success mystifies me. The electric piano part, the chorus horns – ick.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 6 January 2014 13:12 (ten years ago) link