Martinex1: Follow the Leader has been running on our BitBA site for a full seven months now. We appreciate all of the great suggestions. Obviously you help out our team by giving us a weekly break on topics, and we hope to continue that trend. So today, whip up another subject and we will get started. But before you do, here is the running list of our guest topics over the last 28 weeks.
1) Television Theme Songs and Alien Movies.
2) Best and Worst Movies.
3) Jim Shooter - Editor.
4) Kirby's Art and Michael Jackson's Songs.
5) Building and Changing Comic Universes.
6) Foods We Dislike.
7) Falling Out of Love with a Comic Creator.
8) Comic Collecting - Stops and Starts.
9) Favorite Newspaper Comic Strips.
10) Musicals.
11) Country Music.
12) Favorite Comic Arcs.
13) First Comic Acquisition.
14) The Munsters or The Addams Family.
15) Classical Music.
16) Hammer Films.
17) Misheard Song Lyrics.
18) Reading Comics Today.
19) Arnold Schwarzenegger.
20) Great Comic Issues that Aren't the First Issue.
21) Departure of a Comic Creative Team.
22) Bad Beatles Recordings.
23) Characters that Bore You.
24) Additional Income and Summer Reading.
25) Secret Identities.
26) Five Beatles Questions.
27) Comic Reviews of Recommended Arcs.
28) Comic Book Annuals.
That is quite a wide and varied list. Perhaps at the end of the year we will have to hold an online award ceremony (The BITBAS) for the best and most revered topic. Keep 'em comin' and we will keep on reading and commenting. Cheers.
18 comments:
Discuss Elton John. Love him ? Loathe him ? Don't care ? What are your favorite or least-favorite Elton John songs or albums ?
Love him or hate him, I'm not sure anyone reading this blog could separate the Bronze Age from Elton. From 1973-76 you simply could not get away from his presence.
Yoyo
I can't say I'm a huge fan but I do like a few of his songs such as "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", "Candle In The Wind" (the original, not the embarrassing 1997 Princess Diana version), "I'm Still Standing" and "Sad Songs Say So Much".
In the 1980's Elton John became kind of notorious for the fact that he had never achieved a solo UK #1 hit - his duet with Kiki Dee had been a big UK #1 hit in 1976 but he had never managed a solo #1 hit. But that drought finally came to an end in 1990 when "Sacrifice" went to #1 for five weeks. That's another of his songs that I like.
Oh, I like him fine-- and his songs are still pleasing to my ear, although I don't own any of his albums. His fans in my circle of friends at school were such over-the-top cliches of rabid, adolescent fan-girl early-teeny-bopper obsession that it honestly put a lot of us off of him at the time simply by association.
Boy, check out his appearance in either the first or second season of The Muppet Show. Watch him with the question in the back of your head- "Is he tripping on something? Mildly stoned?"-- it's sort of a dark way to view his appearance, sadly, but man-- I think he may have been. . .
HB
I sometimes buy a magazine called BBC MUSIC which is mostly about classical music. A few years ago the magazine had an article about gay composers including Elton John. The following month there was a letter in the magazine which said: " I don't mind Elton John being gay but how can you include somebody of such minor talent alongside gay musical geniuses like Tchaikovsky and Benjamin Britten ?" (!)
Another Elton John song I like is "Rocket Man" and I also loved Kate Bush's version from 1991 - in fact, I bought it :)
I really got into his 'Yellow Brick Road' album for a few years in the '80s, all the songs were real gems; but like Bowie's Ziggy Stardust, it didn't hold up decades later when I went to re-listen and recapture the enjoyment again.
Love his singles, like 'I'm Still Standing' and 'That's Why They Call It the Blues'. I'm really glad to see he found a strong resurgence in the '80s, like singing with Dionne Warwick and others on the 'That's What Friends Are For' -- it's schmaltz, but still a catchy, feel-good tune.
One things my friends know about me, I can't stand Elton John.
Benny and the Jets!!!
Or was it "penny on the jacks" to my 12 year old ears lol!
Love his '70s songs! Your Song, Rocket Man, Honky Cat, Crocodile Rock, Philadelphia Freedom, Island Girl, Don't Go Breakin' My Heart, and more. Great playful music! After 1980 I'm not as big a fan, as it seems like his high vocal range disappeared.
I just recently learned that he wrote the soundtrack to a 1971 film called Friends. Also recently heard this one on the radio, with backing vocals from Elton John: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTTVx--i3m0
With Taylor's Swift's Bad Blood being a #1 hit, it's interesting to hear this 1975 Bad Blood that went to #1 for 3 weeks.
I like Elton John okay, but never bought any of this albums. I didn't need to, since his songs were ubiquitous when I was growing up. I like most of his classic singles from the 70s, and "I'm Still Standing" is decent, but I don't see myself delving into his albums anytime soon.
Not to derail the conversation with something irrelevant to the topic, but since I don't have much positive to say about Elton John, I thought I'd share a link to the first installment of my series on Omega the Unknown, called "Alpha & Omega."
You can check it out and comment here: Alpha & Omega #1: Into the Unknown
^ when I wrote "comment here," clearly I meant "comment there." Sigh.
I'd say that, in the mid 1970s, he was phenomenal, churning out great song after great song. After that period, he went into decline but still knocked out the odd good single here and there. My personal favourite is probably the above mentioned, "Sacrifice," which came way after his peak era but showed he still had some fuel in his tank.
I like Elton John's 70s stuff for the most part, but after 1980 he went downhill for me. My favourite albums are probably Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Don't Shoot Me I'm only the Piano Player; they have some good non-single songs (Elderberry Wine, Your Sister Can't Twist, Texan Love Song).
I like Elton John just fine. I can put on an album of his while working, or get into a greatest hits playlist. I believe he was the top selling solo artist in America in the 70s?
How many of you saw his Concert in Central Park on HBO before the 70s became the 80s? Surely you've seen him dressed as Donald Duck performing Your Song?
Doug
I started out disliking him, but grew to enjoy him. Mainly on the strength of "Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road", and his scintillating cover of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". I may actually prefer his version to the original.
And speaking of Elton/Beatles intersections- Elton's tribute to John, "Empty Garden", was beautiful; and still brings a lump to my throat.
I enjoyed his music in the 70's, but I sort of moved on to other musical styles as I got older. He really managed to stay relevant for a very long time, so he was obviously able to change with the times. I think Bernie Taupin was absolutely essential to his longevity, but he brought plenty to the partnership himself.
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