There's too much history regarding Elton John for me to sit here and spew it all to you. Further, I wouldn't do it any justice in doing so. I know little to nothing about him overall. In fact, I dare say the only reason I know what I know is from his 80's material, which would lead to me recognizing some of his more popular 70's stuff. Basically, I'm a casual fan. I know the hits, they're okay.
As I often find myself doing, I compiled a list of said hits, and began putting my CD collection together over the past several years. Along with this came a slew of Elton John albums, carefully picked for the songs which I was after. This was fine. I was happy, though never really got around to playing through all of them. In fact, as of this post, I've only heard two full albums from him...Maybe three. There might be one from the 70's in there somewhere.
The point being, I have a ton of Elton John albums, and need to start listening to them.
Here's where things went off track. Rather than simply start going through them, I got a bug in my butt. One that kept nagging at me. For some reason, I suddenly needed every Elton John album from the 80's. This was probably driven by the fact that of the nine released between 1980 and 1989, I already had six. So, what was three more?
Anyway, this all comes to a head with the launching point for today's Retro Spins, which is John's 1980 release, 21 At 33. This is one of the latter clean up purchases I made, and perusing the back track listing, this is because there's nothing on here I know.
Sadly, after listening to it, there's also nothing on here memorable. This is one of the issues I've kind of had with Elton since first looking at his massive discography. He's thrown so many albums together over his storied decades long career, yet the footnote of those efforts are what, ten, maybe twelve "good" songs out of hundreds, possibly thousands? It's quantity over quality being shoveled in mass on the public. In retrospect, it's baffling that he's achieved the status he has.
If 21 At 33 were my introduction to him, I would certainly not be a fan of Elton John, well, not that I necessarily am anyway. Nor would I bother seeking out any other music from him. Considering his follow-up albums, 1981's The Fox, and 1982's Jump Up! also had no hits on them I know, and subsequently were the other two aforementioned albums I was missing, I don't have high hopes or positive expectations. Though, I will gladly accept being proven wrong if they deliver.
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Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS June 6, 1981 |
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS June 6, 1987 |
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