Mama Can't Buy You Love: The Official ILM Track-By-Track ELTON JOHN 1978-1988 Listening Thread

We're back to the tone and approach of 'Religion" but not it smerits. Brisky strummed acoustic guitars and EJ's cocktail piano anchor a just-another-day-in-the-burbs scenario about a guy gettin' high on "apple juice and cocaine" while his mate makes PCP in the basement.

points given: a fairly fresh sound, with the acoustic guitars and piano, and a mix so airy (at least in the verses) it sounds like Neu! by comparison to some of the gunked-up tracks on this album; one line sounds like EJ's muttering "Paul McCartney". points taken: Bernie Taupin using '80s TV movies as pointers as to what "kids these days" are up to; chorus singers wouldn't make the cut for a Lloyd Webber show

it's a better "We Didn't Start the Fire."

"Poor Cow"

http://youtu.be/14ageaewAMs

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/4/24/1366818866351/Terence-Stamp-in-Poor-Cow-008.jpg

(had to break the Elton-photo rule, given the title)

"Since God Invented Girls"

http://youtu.be/R-L3wpisJOM

http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/ultimateclassicrock.com/files/2012/06/51147134.jpg

John Broadbent4 years ago

This song gives me a boner. ....Shaped it like an hourglass, and made the angels moan. Oh, here's a little heat boys, to straighten out them curls. Now there ain't been no angels 'round since God invented girls!

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn

What the bloody hell is this garbage?

what a way to go out, Elton. Nicely encapsulates the worst of his '80s, though: desperate affirmations of heterosexuality, blustery singing, fretless bass, Taupin too bored to even be cryptic.

forget to say something on "Poor Cow": not bad, esp compared to today's turkey. sounds like EJ trying to be Squeeze in places

Well, Babylon & On-era Squeeze.

more like Babylon & On-era outtakes, to be fair

one more song to go?

Two, if you can find the live "Medley" that was on some editions of the 12" of A Word In Spanish. Includes Elton covering a bit of Leon Russell's A Song For You ("an American classic" per EJ). Then goes into a couple of classics we've already featured itt. Would be nice to finish on an upbeat note... if that's in the spirit of the thread?

I want to review the Aretha collab "Through The Storm."

"Rope Around a Fool"

http://youtu.be/kzD6hHzKkBQ

Elton listen to "Dixie Chicken" before cutting this one? Chorus is a bit ungainly but this is better than at least half of Reg

well, couldn't find the medley Jeff was talking about, so here's The End, a last duet w/Aretha:

"Through the Storm"

http://youtu.be/M44suQXkucQ

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/86/Through_the_Storm.jpg/220px-Through_the_Storm.jpg

an apt title summation

alright, Pearls From Elton's Lost Years (a guide to people who don't want to slog through this whole thread):

Part Time Love
It Ain't Gonna Be Easy
Mama Can't Buy You Love
Chasing the Crown
Breaking Down Barriers
Blue Eyes
Dear John
Ball and Chain
I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues
I'm Still Standing
Too Low For Zero
Religion
Breaking Hearts
Nikita
Lord of the Flies (hey it stuck in my head)

what else?

This was illuminating -- like the Eagles thread it confirmed what I knew. The surprises: the so-called late seventies minor singles like "Part Time Love"; learning that Jump Up! has almost as many good to great songs as TLFZ.

My list, longer than yours (and hey -- where's "I Don't Wanna..." on yours?)

Ego
Part Time Love
It Ain't Gonna Be Easy
Chasing the Crown
Breaking Down Barriers
Elton's Song
White Lady White Powder
Ball and Chain
Dear John
I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues
I'm Still Standing
Too Low For Zero
Religion
Breaking Hearts
Nikita
I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That
Goodbye Marlon Brando

i would add:

shooting star
cold as christmas

and maybe:

passengers

oh right! "Cold as Christmas" def

my list got lopped off: meant to include "Marlon Brando" and "Don't Wanna Go On."

spotif'ied playlist: http://open.spotify.com/user/judgeparker/playlist/5KzQRGivsutcFZYnr8FFIG

Missing you already. Thanks for doing this.

I'm down with A,LS's list, but would also add fcc's picks + most of the Thom Bell sessions + "Nobody Wins" + "Belgium".

Elton in the wild: "Nikita" at Office Max.

Cold War epilogue

i think i would do a paul mccartney one of these if you guys did one! i couldn't do elton. ugh. it just occurred to me that i've probably only heard like 2 or 3 mccartney albums all the way through. i don't know why he had to put out so many records though.

PLEASE DO

Pretty sure col would be. Turrican, Tim Ellison, Doctor Casino for sure.

Might be best to circumscribe a time period though.

i don't want to be in charge of it. i would listen and chime in though...

I've done EJ and Don 'n' Glenn. I'm done.

macca yes!!!!! he's perfect for one of these.

'Venus and Mars' thru 'Press to Play' would work (11-12 years' worth)

no pressure or anything. i just saw this yesterday and i was like man i don't even remember some of these coming out:

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/paul-mccartney-albums-ranked/

now see that's the kind of eccentricity I can get with: Back to the Egg and Flaming Pie in the top ten!

jesus, he's made some bad album covers hasn't he?

you'd think someone in his position would be more....careful? like, if his discography were 6 or 7 really great records of the best tunes he could come up with spaced out over a period of decades...he could be scott walker.

i dunno, i guess he can't help himself. and he can do whatever the hell he wants and that can be a problem sometimes.

He likes to work. Says he takes the tube to his office every morning.

i respect quantity. artists should be ... making art!

plus, i take that back about scott. he's made like 15 albums.

i don't know if i respect quantity. you can be making stuff and not presenting it all to the public. but i guess if you're happy with it, why not? just seems like he's made a lot of records that aren't remembered by a lot of people beyond hardcore beatle/paul people.

i've always believed that the very act of making music and actually releasing it, which is to say forcing yourself not only to make it but to complete it, tends to make your music better. i'm sure there are plenty of exceptions, but in general i've found that the artists i like the most tend to do their best work when they're working fastest.

I ranked top forty hits from a dark time.

Has anyone dipped into the Jewel Box yet?

And a related question: does anyone know what the hell is going on with the ever-changing digital track list for the jewel box? If he was just adding tracks to it, fair enough. But it seems like things get added then lost again (unless you’ve liked/saved the previous version on Spotify) and other tracks are just released as one-offs (like the jazz version of “Come Down In Time”) and not put in the box at all. I’d say “Classic Neil” but wrong thread obv.

AND REACH OUT
FOR HER HEALLLLLLIIING HANDSSSS

^^^ otm