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11. Blue Moves (1976) Album Review
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Dominic & Anthony's eleventh podcast is certainly not out of the blue, as they continue their search for Elton John's best studio album; can Blue Moves become an idol and top the Elton v Elton charts, or will it be someone's final song?
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Welcome to Elton v Elton: The Album Battle! This is the podcast where two pals (Anthony & Dominic) & Elton fans rage over which of Elton's albums we think is the best. We'll be keeping score as we go, as we delve into each of Elton's solo studio albums, discussing the tracks individually, the musicians involved, the album art, random trivia, cover versions & anything else in between!
We'd love to hear from you with your ratings, opinions and any other insights into Elton's work you have. Drop us an email via eltonveltonpod@gmail.com
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Thanks go to everyone involved in bringing Elton's work to the bigger stage, James Cook (http://www.jamescookcomedian.com/) & Paul Savage (https://www.instagram.com/savagecomics_/) who inspired the format of this show and Zapsplat.com for the SFX. Research for the show was done using songfacts.com, , eltonchords.com, https://www.eltonography.com/ and Elton’s autobiography 'Me'.
You can find Dominic on https://www.facebook.com/dominicberry/ and on his poetry website https://dominicberry.net/
You can find Anthony on two other podcasts: Enough of the Falafel (featuring the Vegan Week & Vegan Talk shows) and The Brambling Along Podcast
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Until next time it’s goodbye from Captain Dom-tastic & the Brown Dirt Ant-boy!
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Elton vs Elton: The Album Battle'
00:00:00
Speaker
It is the 22nd of October 1976. Gerald Ford is about to be defeated in the US presidential election and Elton John is about to lose his seven album streak of topping the US s album charts with his second double album. This is Blue Moves.
00:00:18
Speaker
I'm Dominic. And I'm Anthony and you are listening to Elton vs Elton the Album Battle.
00:00:43
Speaker
Welcome everyone, this is episode 11 of Elton vs Elton, the album battle, the podcast where two pals, Anthony and Dominic, who both love the music of Elton John, rage over which of his albums we love the best.
00:00:57
Speaker
and the least best. So we're obviously indebted to everyone who's been involved in bringing Elton's music to the masses, as well as shout out to James Cook and Paul Savage for giving us the inspo for this show's format. Thanks chaps. if you want to hear a bit more about myself and Dominic, why we're doing this show, we have got a trailer podcast that you'll be able to find in exactly the same place you're listening to this episode. Plus there's all previous 10 episodes because we've been doing these in order. Yeah, we have
The Original Duet Choice for 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart'
00:01:27
Speaker
indeed. We have indeed. Now, we asked you last time if you knew who was the original duet partner planned for Don't Go Breaking My Heart because Kiki D was not the original choice. Anthony, who was it? Do you know, Dominic, have you found out since we last featured this? I have read your show notes and I was shocked. He's someone of whom i ah I am a massive fan. I had many of her albums as a teenager. Her stuff with Pet Shop Boys is stuff that I love.
00:01:58
Speaker
It is the backing singer of The Bitch Is Back. Who is Antony? Dusty Springfield. Bonus point for you there, Dominic. Yes. um Yeah. So um Dusty's partner, Sue Cameron, has reported retrospectively that that Dusty was ill at the time, too ill. to do it. So we're in step Kiki D and there we have a UK number one. Fantastic stuff.
Cultural and Personal Milestones in 1976
00:02:24
Speaker
um We asked that at the end of our previous episode, our previous episode where we reviewed Rock of the Westies. That came out on the 24th of October 1975. So almost exactly a year before Blue Moves that we're reviewing this time.
00:02:40
Speaker
Rock the Westies came number one in the US and it came number five in the UK and and Island Girl is probably the track that is best known from it. Although if you listen back to that episode, you'll hear that there are many tracks that Dominic and i preferred to Island Girl.
00:02:57
Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
00:03:04
Speaker
So a lot was going on in the world in 1976. Steve Jobs was one of the founders of Apple Computer Company. There was a massive heatwave and drought across the UK. And VHS, the Video Home System ah Cassettes for Recording Stuff off the telly, was released in Japan on September the 9th.
00:03:27
Speaker
When this album was released, Mississippi by Pussycat was the US number one. And in the UK, it went, oh, that's completely wrong. It was Mississippi by Pussycat in the UK. The US s number one was Chicago, If You Leave Me Now.
00:03:42
Speaker
Indeed, indeed. So we always all cover what's going on in Elton's life at the time. And since the last episode, so 1975 sort of time, his romantic relationship with John Reed has ended.
00:03:57
Speaker
However, interestingly... John Reid is still Elton's manager and will continue to be so for another 20 years. Very significantly, in October 1976, so just as this album is being released, Rolling Stone magazine have a cover story. Elton told the writer Cliff Jarr that he was bisexual, stating, I think everybody's bisexual to a certain degree. This was a groundbreaking episode. admission for a major rock star at the time. It's worth listening to Elton's autobiography, Me, and because he talks about this at some length. And I think it's fair to say he was going into this interview deciding he was going to just say this, you know, I'm i'm bisexual. Now's the time to tell everybody. um And I think the journalist thought he was getting a scoop. He was going into the interview thinking, oh I've heard this rumor. about Elton's sexuality. I'm going to try and worm it out of him. And Elton just came out and said it before he did any hard hitting questioning or anything like that. I'm i'm paraphrasing that terribly.
00:05:06
Speaker
Also mentioned in his autobiography, um in August of 1976, Elton met Elvis Presley in New York, um a meeting that highlighted the intense, often self-destructive nature of fame, which Elton later references when discussing his own struggles. um And it's around about this time, August the 17th of 1976, where Elton announces a temporary retirement from live performances citing exhaustion and a desire to put his energies elsewhere. Also, the thing that I'm most excited about at this time in Elton's life is this is where he buys Watford Football Club becomes the chairman becomes a director and takes a pretty active role in the team's management. And this is not the podcast for me to talk about football. However, it's fair to say that the next 10 years of Watford Football Club, it completely changed with his ownership, changed for the better. So hooray Elton, thanks very much.
00:06:10
Speaker
Dominic, wea we always talk about who's on this album. There's 18
Contributors and Impact of 'Blue Moves'
00:06:14
Speaker
tracks. You would think there is a big long list. And indeed there is a big long list. There is indeed, there is indeed. So, you know, we've got Elton John playing ah various keys. We've got the wonderful Ray Cooper on glockenspiel, marimba, gong, tambourine, vibraphone, congas, all that stuff. We've got so, so many people on brass instruments. We've got Paul Buckmaster doing the string arrangements. ah some brass arrangements too so many different backing vocalists there's quite a few different choirs there's bruce johnson of the beach boys on backing vocals of quite a few songs david crosby of crosby stills and nash on backing vocals on track six We have got James Newton Howard on synthesizer and Hammond organ. We've got Roger Pope still on drums.
00:07:09
Speaker
Caleb Quay is not only playing guitar, but he only goes and gets a writing in credit on track one. Yay, Caleb Quay! Woo-hoo!
00:07:20
Speaker
Producing is Gus Studgeon. And yeah, there's some that. Yeah, it's not a short list of contributors, not a short list at all. No, it's not. and And sadly, I think it's notable to say that the lyrics are still being produced by Bernie Taupin.
00:07:37
Speaker
And we will not be saying that in the next episode. oh No, I know. Do you know what? Do you know what, Anthony? If you told me that it wasn't Bernie Taupin on this record, I think I'd believe you. I think lyrically it's quite a different kettle of fish as we will come on to when we speak about each song in detail.
00:07:58
Speaker
Yeah, indeed. But as we said at the top of the show, this is the album that breaks the winning streak for Elton in terms of consecutive US number ones. It came number three at its peak in the album charts in the UK.
00:08:17
Speaker
In the US, it also peaked at number three in the UK. um And those were the two countries where it it featured the highest. It did not come any higher than number three anywhere in the world. Three's still good though, isn't it? Oh, absolutely.
00:08:33
Speaker
Absolutely. But um yeah, off the back of seven in a row in the US, it's, some yeah, it'll be interesting for us to reflect on why we might think that would be. um It was also, I think it's worth saying that this one was recorded across a series of studios. um So it's credited as being recorded in London, Santa Monica in California, LA and Toronto between March and June, 1976.
00:09:01
Speaker
nineteen seventy six So quite different to, you know, if we go back to say Caribou or Great ah Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, where the band is spending, you know, a week in in a studio and they're recording the whole thing. That doesn't seem to be how this one was put together. Dominic, had you come across this album before this podcast project or or like me, is is this the first time you've been listening to Blue Moves? Well, you know, immediately some people are going to listen to this and go, what? When I say I'm really not a fan of the one song that tends to be on all the greatest hits. Sorry seems to be the hardest word. It's always song that just hasn't connected with me and therefore put me off of the album as a whole so I've only listened to this for the first time in preparation for this and I do so knowing that just like how I fervently defended Rock of the West is there are people for whom this is their favorite Elton John and I can't see why i can't see why because it's different good on Elton John for each step like Rock of the West is ah like hard guitar it's a change and this is a change I'll be honest
00:10:13
Speaker
it's It's been an album that I've had to listen to a few times because it it didn't, I found it difficult to get get into this. I really, in fact, I even asked Anthony if we could delay this recording of this podcast because I was just like, you know, I'm not ready to talk about Blue Moves fairly. I'm not ready. What about you, Anthony? Did you have anything ah beyond ah sorry seems to be the hardest word?
00:10:36
Speaker
um so i was aware of the song tonight um i think i'd seen the album possibly in my local library like when i was a teenager and i you know i'd i'd flick through the the music section and i i saw it there but i'd not properly listened to it until preparing for this podcast so yeah i i think i was interested in it i mean i you know I've had times in my life where I've been into jazz and blues and things like that. So hearing something that's a bit different, like like you say, Dominic, this was preceded by Rock of the Westies, which was preceded by Captain Fantastic.
00:11:14
Speaker
So we've got three very different albums. Yeah. being released consecutively. And um sometimes change is a good thing and sometimes change is not a good thing, but we'll we'll get into it and and see what we think. that The first thing we always review is the artwork. And I have to say, when I saw this, I thought just at a glance, it was that famous um painting that's ah done with the technique called pointillism where the artist does lots of dots of paint. um George Surat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.
00:11:49
Speaker
I thought it was that but actually it's ah a painting titled The Guardian Readers by a British artist Patrick Proctor um which Elton owned before being before this was used. It's sort of, from well, as the title suggests, Blue Moves. It's got a lot of blue in it and it's load of folk chilling out in the park, would you say, Dominic? I would say that if a person was being harsh, they would say it's a pretentious cover for a pretentious album. LAUGHTER If they were being harsh, if they were being harsh, I think the album artwork matches the content. I will say that. I'm going to count how many British euphemisms you use over the course of this. If one was to have a critical opinion of this song, one might say, a load of old balls. Yeah, yeah. I'm not averse to the album art, but it's not my favourite.
00:12:54
Speaker
As a kid, I thought it looked boring. You know, when you've got, I mean, I'm not the biggest fan of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, but the artwork is brilliant. Then you open it up and every song's got a drawing. It's really vibrant. I mentioned Greatest Hits Volume 2 with the the cricket playing cover. That again had a little booklet and this is, oh, this is like all change of tone. And you know, to be fair, yeah, it is a more serious stance, isn't it? there There's some some silliness on albums like Caribou and and you get, but for all the danceyness of songs like Bite Your Lip, there there's there's also a fair amount of earnestness to come.
00:13:32
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Well, you mentioned Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. I thought that was the longest album in the collection at 17 tracks. However, Blue Moves, if nothing else, has got quantity. 18 tracks we need to get on and review them. And the first one, as you said, Dominic, written by Caleb Quay..
00:14:11
Speaker
Your starter four, dot, dot, dot. It's the first of several instrumental tracks. It's the first of several quite short, punchy, game show feel, TV show, inspired tunes. What what did you think of it, Dom?
00:14:27
Speaker
I love it. I really, really love it. I think that it is a not accurate setup for what we're going to get in track two or indeed most of the other tracks. I think that maybe it shouldn't be on this album for all of its... bre I mean, good as an isolated track,
00:14:46
Speaker
I'm going to give it a high score because I think it's great. Good on Caleb. It's awesome. I love it. I don't think it belongs on this record, in my opinion. I think it it it sets you up at a kind of a false start. Yeah, it's it's it's really interesting, isn't it? Because it's called Your Star to Fall and it does have that upbeat kind of... did did it did did did it it did did it did it good um And then what follows it is is bizarrely different. It's like the other end of the spectrum. yeah um But then we we do dot back to other tracks that that have this feel. i don't I would say of the upbeat, short instrumental tracks in Blue Moves, this one is my favourite, the first one. It's great. It's really good. What I will say, and this is going to be ah an ongoing theme for our our episode here, regular listeners will have heard my opinions on the harpsichord. I'm going to say bring back the harpsichord because in terms of like vibraphones, glockenspiels, xylophones, metallophones, goodness me, there's a lot of that in this album. And yeah, I think it's using your starter four.
00:15:58
Speaker
um I think fair enough, but by about track five, I'm thinking, will somebody please burn or melt? I'm all right with that. I'm less keen on the instrumental beginning of the song.
00:16:14
Speaker
tonight now i did actually hear tonight as the george michael cover on the two rooms it's the final uh track on that compilation and i just kept forgetting it existed i'm such a fan of george michael but that song never resonated with me and i think if you do like tonight and a lot of people do it's got a song with its fans then maybe you're going to be in for a good ride with this album it's it's a litmus test if you think oh tonight is a song which is long and pretentious with bland lyrics and over-the-top instrumentation then well
00:16:53
Speaker
It's not alone. It's not alone. I'm going to defend it, Dominic. Go on, go on. Yeah. Okay. What I'm not going to defend is the needless two minutes before there's any vocal, because I don't think it adds anything. To my mind, there's nothing original. in the orchestral bit at the start and actually is very repetitive. It's a lot of repeating the same phrase in different octaves and things like that. It doesn't really go anywhere and you get the same at the end. However, I said I'd defend it. The middle bit where he's singing, I think the musical composition of it is decent. and mean we we could the words aren't great we could criticize the words being for being simple on the nose or what have you but i mean there's an audience for it and you know i picked up the sentiment from it i i
00:17:47
Speaker
I thought it conveyed that that thing of, I mean, I i am the person Elton's singing about, I will say, particularly in my teens. I'm the person that says, no, no, no, no we can't we can't go to bed until we've so we've talked this out
Track-by-Track Analysis and Debates
00:18:00
Speaker
or what have you. Oh, same here, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And maybe it's just because I related to it, but I really felt that. And I i kind of felt the anguish in his singing, the the kind of tired person, i just saying, oh can't we just go to bed i've had enough of this i i think i think it does something effectively there but um it's so long it's so needlessly long goodness me in the wonderful uh say good morning to the night penau remix the weakest bit of it is when it samples a bit from tonight like the whole song is dancey and then it says down tonight and you're like oh no It's a sample, but this is just get back to the dancey bit.
00:18:40
Speaker
But yeah, it's got fans, hasn't it? It's got its fans. What do you make of One Horse Town, Anthony? Can I, before we move on to One Horse Town, that the lyrics are simple for for tonight, but i I think there's a few phrases in there that are are reasonably poetic. Like, with are you going to pull apart? I see the storm approaching long before the rain starts falling. That's all right, isn't it? Yeah, if I was teaching poetry and a year seven kid wrote that, I'd go, all right. If the same person who wrote, you know, Better Off Dead and Writing and all the Captain Van Damme, you know, he's trying something different, isn't he? And and differences. But I'm saying that, is he trying some reference or is Bernie Taupin just tired from the sheer volume of words that he's had to do?
00:19:30
Speaker
I don't think it's the best. I don't. Yeah, oh, it's definitely not the best. I think i think there's a there's an audience for it and it's, yeah, I think it's all right. You asked me about One Horse Town.
00:19:44
Speaker
Okay, again, ridiculous intro. What's going... It's like there's an orchestra tuning up for about a minute before this one starts. However, once they sort themselves out, I really like the music in this. I think it's i think it's upbeat. I think um it's got rock sort of feel to it it it. It almost reminds me of, say, ah Grimsby, that we have in Caribou, or that there's there's several tracks that it's it's got that same sound, despite it being a completely different band. And yeah, it's dramatic. i think I think this is a decent track, other than the fact that it's six minutes long. If you if you got rid of the naff opening minute, and actually the the the lively bit of music goes on for a good minute before the vocal kicks in as well. And you could argue that that...
00:20:37
Speaker
That doesn't have to be as long, particularly when we've had so much instrumental stuff in tonight and the opening track is purely instrumental. I think they need to get on with it and let Elton start singing, which his vocal is very good in this one, isn't it? In One Horse Town. he I think so. I'm not a fan of the falsetto on all of Blue Moves, but the the higher notes here, I really like. I love his singing. I love the guitar on it as well. Mm-hmm. And we get a writing credit, we should say, for James Newton Howard, who Dominic said at the top is doing a lot of the electric piano synthesizer sort of stuff. Ray Cooper really gets stuck into this one. He's on gong, tambourine vibes and tubular bells. Like, oh, fantastic stuff, Ray. This one has real nice riffs on the strings. It is accredited to an actual orchestra. I wondered whether it was like a synthetic strings. thing it sounds a little bit like a yamaha keyboard but they do that ah sort of like did a little lo on the strings which is i mean technically it's going to be very difficult but it's yeah it's it's got an up upbeat feel to it dominic you're the you're the lyricist you're the poet um out of the two of us like what what do you make of the the lyrics is it is it painting a picture for you there
00:21:53
Speaker
Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, it's not 100 miles away from Tumbleweed Connection. it's ah It's great. You know, it's good detail. It's back Bernie doing what he's familiar with doing. It's it's lovely. Yeah, I really like it.
00:22:08
Speaker
I like it more than Chameleon. Oh, gosh. I mean, we'll we'll come on to Chameleon. I'd be interested in your opinion for One Horse Town. So it's always interesting breaking down Elton and Bernie's composition together.
00:22:22
Speaker
technique. So they they famously work in separate rooms. They don't communicate with one another about what's going on. This lyric, if you just take the first stanza, the first verse, saw a Cadillac for the first time yesterday. I'd always seen horses, buggies, bales of hay, because progress here don't move with modern times. There's nothing to steal, so there's not a great deal of crime. I think that's a really nice Nice lyric. I'm quite trust interested that Elton's chosen to put that to a frantically paced tempo.
00:22:53
Speaker
you know what mean? Like, I could imagine you you you're writing that in in quite a slow, wistful way. i but You know, maybe ah suggesting longing, a frantic desire for getting out, perhaps.
00:23:12
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, it's it's interesting, though, because it goes when you just read the lyrics... It feels like it could, met maybe not Tumbleweed Connection, because that really does feel like it's set in the 19th century. So you wouldn't have ah a speaker saying they they saw a Cadillac for the first time yesterday. But it it's evocative of songs that we've seen on like, Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player. or Do you know what I mean? like It could be done in ah in a different way. But yeah, I think it's i think it's decent. Dominic's definitely a favorite favorite track so far.
00:23:47
Speaker
It would seem. Well, no, Starter is my favourite track so far. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Chameleon. There's a compilation called Jewel Box by Elton John that came out in the early 2020s. And Chameleon's on it, which really surprised me. Anthony was so harsh when we were listening to Rock of the Westies because the excellent Billy Bones, which I scored 10 out of 10, says check it out several times. And I hadn't even realised that it says check out because I love him saying it. I'm not keen on saying the word chameleon.
00:24:23
Speaker
I think he says chameleon 1,786 times. I mean, this is a valid critique, I think, for for the album as a whole. Very often, the crux of a track gets covered, and then they go on improvising for another, like, two, three minutes, and very often, Elton is just riffing off the same word over and over again. It's not even a a phrase or a few words that he alternates between. And yeah, this one, he's just going, chameleon!
00:25:00
Speaker
like, like 53 times. I mean, we're sticking the knife in here, but this song was written for the Beach Boys. Elton wrote this, hoping that the Beach Boys would use it, um but they rejected it. Though I did note that we have got backing vocals...
00:25:17
Speaker
including a beach boy, i think. Bruce Johnston? i I think I've got that right. But it's... Oh, gosh. i'm i'm so I'm sorry if you're a fan of this song. I find it so pedestrian and just, like... the I thought he was going to rhyme Mediterranean with chameleon at one point because that that the second line, the way he sings Mediterranean really sounds like he's teeing it up to rhyme with chameleon. But he swerves that, but it's, oh gosh. it's what What is it about it that you really dislike, Dominic? Because I think I've got beyond the point of being able to discuss it. It's Yeah, it's made its point and then it goes on and on with an instrumental. And I mean, the words kind of feel, you know, a bit like I've seen that movie too, country which is less my personal preference anyway. So it's already a harder sell for me. Yeah, there's there's one overall critique you could apply it of the whole album is that most songs outstay their welcome.
00:26:18
Speaker
um I could imagine a song called Chameleon doing well. not I'm not playing on the fact that there is obviously a very well-known song featuring the word the word chameleon. But actually, when you when you listen to the lyrics, like I don't understand why a chameleon is is featuring. it's It's almost like you're talking to your mate about this character.
00:26:40
Speaker
the the chameleon and everyone knows why they're called the chameleon, but it's not actually referenced in this song. Like like the fact that they blend in or what whatever, you know, it's just a word, isn't it? It's just a word. Yeah. It's, it's mad. And, and yeah, it's again, it's so slow and I i don't think there's anything,
00:27:02
Speaker
to like about it other than the fact there's no racism or you know when i was scoring it i was like well i'm not going to give it one out of ten because it's not really sexist or racist but i think that's that's all i can say about it i'm really sorry if you like this and i'd i'd love to hear the the reasoning from whoever put it jewel box like what why are you choosing another song on jewel box another one is
00:27:33
Speaker
Boogie Pilgrim. And I'll tell you what I'm going to compare. but Oh, Anthony's shaking his head, people. Anthony's shaking his head. Do you know, a really adored Elton album, which I dislike, a really adored, and I bought this album when it came out, the album I'm about to say, and it's not for me.
00:27:50
Speaker
Loads of people love it. Loads people rate it. the best. The Leon Russell album, the Leon Russell album, for me, that's a bit... long and, you know, great that there's, you know, a kind of groove to it. But yeah, this sort of reminded me a bit that I love the falsetto on Boogie Pilgrim. I do really like his voice. Again, for me, I felt found it a bit like, oh, Anthony's not keen on that. I thought it a bit Scissor Sister-y. I said that about a song ah ah from Rock the West is too. But yeah, it's, it's, if this song had been three minutes,
00:28:25
Speaker
I'd have been more into it. but Anthony hates this song. Go on, lay into it, Anthony. Rip it to shreds. So I i think that there's a... Near where I used to live, there is a a very well-known or very well-celebrated blues festival. And I imagine there... you would get a lot of people who might enjoy Boogie Pilgrim. Perhaps they wouldn't. Perhaps they would say, no, this is too affected. Like it's, you know, you're being inauthentic and this doesn't work. I think that's what I dislike about it the most. I think if you said, oh, listen to Elton John, he's this really well-known musician.
00:29:06
Speaker
And then you played Boogie Pilgrim and it it was like this, you know, this is his kind of music. Then I'd be like, oh, OK, it's not my jam, but fair enough. Like crack crack on, mate. Because musically, it's not awful, but I just think it's so far away from everything that I love about Elton.
00:29:29
Speaker
yeah and and And don't get me wrong, I like the different versions of Elton then the different kinds of music he can do. But this to me just feels so try hard. And ah don't really think it's about anything. And i i don't know, am I being too harsh? Because that the album is called Blue Moves. So should we be expecting lots of bluesy and you know jazzy numbers in there? Well, yes, we probably should. But I...
00:29:58
Speaker
I don't relate to any of it and it's it's six minutes long and it's just repetitive. i you know I play the trumpet amongst other instruments and I just feel like even the sax and the trumpet in here, it's just it's just someone sampling it. I mean, I know they're not, but it's played like it's being sampled and that there's so much more that you could do in ah in a bluesy way. If you think of Hey Jude in Empty Sky, Elton's debut album, There is, at the end of the final track, two minutes of free jazz. And there, the the musicians are, ah you know, it for me joyful for me, it doesn't fit the album, but it is joyful and it's expressive and it's improvised and everything like that. Whereas this, it it sounds like someone's just sampling it or or playing it on a... Do you know It sounds like the demo button on a Yamaha keyboard. That is harsh critique. agree. I agree. Yeah. Yeah.
00:30:57
Speaker
I'd love to hear a defense of this. and And Dominic and I are not going to be the two people to provide that. And I will say of the 18 tracks, there are tracks I really like on this album. So maybe maybe I've lost a couple of listeners already. Well, you know what? I love, I love Cage the Songbird and I did not think I would. Now, it's been well documented. I'm a massive Kiki D fan.
00:31:23
Speaker
After um her early success with Amoreuse and I've Got the Music in Me, she recorded an album, Kiki D, called Cage the Songbird and it was unreleased and it only came out a few years ago, fairly recently, and I bought it and I think it's not great. I think the album's not great and I think Kiki's version of Cage the Songbird, which is the first version of that song I heard, it's not great. I think Kiki's version is really earnest. There's a lot of strings on it and hearing Elton's, oh, it's a different beast. Like Elton's, I really like it. I love the harmonies. I love the percussion.
00:32:07
Speaker
It's not quite candle in the wind, is it? It's not as good as that, but there's great guitar. Yeah. It's, um, it's a brilliant lyric. I really love Cage the Songbird. That said, I didn't really listen to it first listen, you know, because I was so bogged down by Boogie Pilgrim. It was one of them where it was like, all right, let's listen to this in isolation. Cause again, I was a bit biased against it because as much as I adore Kiki D, I didn't like her version. And, uh,
00:32:36
Speaker
When I listened to it, I thought, now, if this had been a single instead of Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word, you know, I'd be like, yeah, great song. I really like Cage. what What's your view of this one?
00:32:47
Speaker
So, i if I can revisit something you just said in terms of being bogged down by previous tracks, I mean, I would genuinely, in defence of some of the content on Blue Moves, say that that is my biggest criticism of it as an album in that because there's 18 tracks and frankly, because so many of them are not great it it it does bog you down if you're listening to it all the way through, which Dominic and I are, for this project to to review them. It means when ah a better track comes out, you're feeling quite exhausted. And the ones on Jewelbox are the worst ones. so Isn't that weird? They've hand-picked the worst songs to put on Jewelbox. It's bonkers, bonkers.
00:33:32
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's interesting. I mean, something we didn't say about Chameleon is that Elton performed it at the Midsummer Music concert at Wembley 1975, along with the whole Captain Fantastic set. i mean I guess that was when it was in its infancy, though. It was like a new song trying it out, I guess. Oh yeah, it still seems a bit odd that surely there'd be other ones. Anyway, anyway, Cage the Songbird.
00:33:58
Speaker
I'm a really big fan of Edith Piaf, who this song is about. And I think that colours my judgment of it. I think if I didn't know that, um I did know that before before listening to this. I think if I didn't know that,
00:34:13
Speaker
I would still be so-so about this song. thats there's There's parts of the melody where, I mean, i can I think I can see what they're doing, but like the end of the chorus, you've got the, but she'll dive like an eagle when she dies, but it's performed like, dive like an eagle when she dies. And they sing it much better than that. But,
00:34:35
Speaker
that for me doesn't quite work. And ah I mean, Edith Piaf's singing voice is is just sublime. And so I think that puts a like a really critical lens through which to to listen to this. Nonetheless, like the lyrics are are lovely.
00:34:50
Speaker
like I think this is a song where you can see that this is Bernie's lyrics. With all due respect to Gary Osborne, whose work we will discuss in the next couple of um episodes. Yeah, I think the lyrics really strong. i wondered whether like, oh, are they just kind of trying to repeat Candle in the Wind? Let's find another female singer who's who's died and see if we can cash in on that. I think that's a cynical opinion. i i don't I don't think that is the case. Could be wrong. Yeah, and and there are there are parts of the lyric that are a bit blunt. So promises of no more lies fell flat upon an empty stage. ah I don't know, when you're talking about someone just dying, that saying something like falling flat on the stage seems seems a bit pointed.
00:35:36
Speaker
Yeah. mus I'm rambling a bit. Musically, I i think it's all right. I think the fact that it follows Boogie Pilgrim and Chameleon, in a way, does it a favour because musically, it's not an abomination. So you're kind of like, oh, yeah, it's all right. It's only three three and a half minutes long, which again...
00:35:56
Speaker
I really like it. I keep thinking, what if one of these songs followed I Feel Like a Bullet and The Gun of Robert Ford on Rock of the West is, what would I score it then? I've been trying to think that with every song.
00:36:08
Speaker
Yeah. yeah, yeah. Crazy water, Anthony. Crazy water. Right. OK, I'm going to say that the music, the instrumentation and the build up of crazy water, I quite like. I think if you get rid of the if you get rid of the lyrics,
00:36:31
Speaker
I think, a again, could like One Horse Town, it's it's really lively. Like the the way you've got, it's it's a very repetitive bass. When it is a bass guitarist playing, it's just like the same. du du du du And then I think it's the guitar is doing this. deoo do did it di did it de did it de um I think that's quite catchy. he great yeah love Yeah. And then Elton comes in and his way of singing is is, yeah, that's, that's really nice. I like, I like the the tone and the the way that he's, he's singing. But for me, I i don't, I don't really get the lyrics. I don't, i I don't understand how it fits this, this driving, this driving feel to the music. And then we have the god-awful synthetic bass machine that is very similar to, criticised it in Rock the Westies, the opening track, at the very end of Ugly, the three the third of the the tunes in the medley. There's this... hair here It's the sort thing that David Brent does his notorious dance to in the yeah UK office. And we have that going on. And and then it nosedives for me. But I think there's potential in Crazy Water.
00:37:54
Speaker
But I mean, from from a poetic point of view, can you can you pull apart those things? lyrics because it I think that similar to from goodbye yellow brick road I wasn't keen on the matching of music and words on this song has no title just words in a tune I would love to hear that with different music a lot of the time It's a perfect mix of words and music. You know, your song, Rocket Man, perfect, perfect. There's words I love here. You looked so vacant, like an empty shell whose life had passed upon the ocean. That's a wistful lyric. Do you know what I mean? It's, yeah, I'm not sure this is the best combination. I do like the funkiness of the funky songs. It's my favourite one so far. It's a bit long.
00:38:45
Speaker
But yeah, I really like Jocelyn Brown. I really like her 70s stuff and I also like her kind of 90s club stuff. And it's it's that end of town for me that that is a little bit different. to This album, the album's funkiest stuff is a little bit different to, you know, anything Elton's done before. And it indeed, you know, if you listen to like, you know, George Clinton or Prince's sort of funky stuff, or even James Brown, you know, but they go on forever, don't they? They go on forever. And that's kind of par for the course with the genre. But I've always liked these seven-inch edits of like, you know, those kinds of things. So, yeah, it's not my least favourite song, but I concur with you. I don't think it's the best mixing of of words and music.
00:39:33
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. i'm on I'm on the fence with Crazy Water. I think it's got potential and there are bits that I'm not sure about. I'm less on the fence about Shoulder Holster. Ooh, go on. I can't stand it, Dominic. Right, so...
00:39:51
Speaker
I'm trying to find the words to to explain this this. This is the set. I feel the same thing about Boogie Pilgrim. I just don't believe Elton singing and and performing this and writing it.
00:40:05
Speaker
I just don't believe it. And like I say, I think... How's it just Plumperweed connection? Okay, i think I think there's several several differences. and And if, you know, listeners who've not heard our Tumbleweed Connection episode, that was my biggest point of contention with Tumbleweed Connection in in that when I'm listening to that as ah an English boy in my teens for the first time, I'm like, well, I don't, I have no frame of reference for this 19th century Americana stuff that you taught that you're writing about, Bernie, and that you're singing about Elton. And i i did have a little bit of like, well, why is this this singer in his early 20s from just down the road from me? Why is he singing in this American accent? i did You know, the I genuinely do have a bit of an issue with the authenticity, but the whole album is so compelling and consistent with it that you can buy it.
00:41:00
Speaker
Whereas I don't think Blue Moves is consistently... portraying this bluesy New Orleans sound. It's not the first time there's been a random tumbleweed one. We had Dixie Lily on Caribou. I mean, he does tend to just chuck in a tumbleweed throwback every now and again, doesn't he? But i but i are you saying shoulder holster is ah ah a tumbleweed?
00:41:27
Speaker
yeah think it is yeah i think oh no it's lyrically okay maybe but but musically like this is something out of the procession at the at the at the jazz festival at new orleans yeah and and don't get me wrong i i absolutely love like do look up listeners mr wilson and the second liners Oh yeah, I know them well. I know them well. yeah Fantastic. Like they, they have sort of, they rove around at festivals and in town centres generally from Dominic's neck of the woods and in the north of England. And they just bring such a ah carnival party feel to things. They do like New Orleans jazz versions of 1990s dance music and trance music. They're fantastic.
00:42:16
Speaker
musically, it it fits in there. And if if the whole album was like that, I think I could get behind it. But you've kind of got game show music in there and you've got Tonight in there and you've got Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word in there and and other ones, which...
00:42:33
Speaker
individually can work and perhaps this kind of like i say this new orleans feel if the whole album was like that i might be able to get behind it but i'm not sure what it's trying to do or or where it's come from or where it's going and that really saddens me because i love elton and i love trumpets and banging horn sections but they just don't seem to be working here what what's your feeling on this one dom Well, I do quite like the words. It tells the story. It's got detail in it. You know, it's got a ah that level of, you attention to to to the small things that that make it come to life. It's got a narrative and threat and excitement. Yeah, ah there's songs that I like a lot less than that. I don't have the the visceral reaction then than than you that the you do.
00:43:26
Speaker
I don't love it. um I love it more than sorry seems to be the saddest word. No, i really dislike it. Go on, you praise that. You dislike it so much that you've remembered the title of it wrong. It's the hardest word, Dominic, the hardest word.
00:43:42
Speaker
Sorry seems to be the saddest longest most boring word okay okay well it's only three minutes 48 which I would say for for some of the tripe on this album it's like it's six minutes long it's not inflicting itself on you for too long lyrically is very basic it's very simple and it's interestingly um I didn't know this until I researched it Elton started the lyric for this. Bernie did most of the work on it and finished it off, but Elton came up with the What Have I Got to Do to Make You Love Me opening line, matching it to the the piano musings he was having at the time.
00:44:22
Speaker
I don't think this song is trying to be anything other than a pop song, and I think it does it very well. It's not going to be... the music I listened to on repeat, but I think for a pop song that is singing about a breakup, a relationship that's not going well. I i think it it does it really nice. It's so bland. It could be a Gary Osborne lyric. Well, perhaps. love, so sad. I love that. yeah But that is sampled on the Pinau song, Sad. The only good bit of this is so you can just listen to that bit on track two of Say Good Morning to the Night. And you've got that. You can just not listen to the rest.
00:45:06
Speaker
yeah that's great the backing vocals are wonderful it makes the chorus pop a bit but it it's it's not music video is so dull as well just elton being so earnest like just staring really earnestly you know give me give me comedy elton in the music video for ego give me that give me that yeah yeah like i I will occasionally like to listen to just a straightforward, either a cheesy pop song or just something that's...
00:45:39
Speaker
you know, lyrically, on the nose, it, you know, it's not per pretending to be anything else. And I think, I mean, I'll give credit to Elton for how he's, how he's composed this and probably Gus Duggen as well, because it's, it's really crisp. And I would say flawless in terms of the arrangement of it. I really love, you've got, um you've got an instrumental solo. I think it's an accordion. that is being played. I was really, really, yeah it is, Carl Fortina. I was really sad that the only other time an accordion's been played on an Elton song was Razorface and I didn't think it it was done justice. it it sounds like I'm saying I play every instrument and under the sun but i do play ah at the accordion as well as the trumpet and the piano and I think that solo is really nice But what works even better is later on in the track, Elton is singing the chorus again, but the instrumental solo comes back in again. So you have that accordion playing and it's kind of like a A counter melody. I think it's really clever. it it is I think there you can tell that Elton wasn't classically trained, but received classical training in his teens. I think musically it's really good. And yeah, it's not going to win any lyric prizes. Listeners might know this was covered by the band Blue. in the early noughties, which also gives it a special place in my heart because I was a little bit coy about the fact I was such a big Elton fan when I was 13, 14, 15.
00:47:17
Speaker
thirteen fourteen fifteen So the fact that Blue, who were massive at the time, did this with him and it was a chart-busting single at the time, made it okay for me to say that I i liked Elton John. So hooray for that. It's it's had other covers too. So Elton does it with Ray Charles. In 2004, Ray Charles had a duet album, Genius Loves Company. And that would turn out to be the last recording that Ray Charles made before his death later that year. um It was nominated for a Grammy for Best Collaboration with Vocals later on that year. So... Yeah, it's definitely it's definitely done the rounds ah and is well well received, but not by Dominic, which is fine.
00:48:10
Speaker
We promise listeners that we're going to rage over what we love and dislike the most. And I'm really ready to rage about... out of the blue because Anthony, Anthony, I love it. Do you really? Yeah, I really do. Anthony flailed at me saying that. Go on, you say your views first. No, no, no. I think we've had lots of, I think we would both say justifiable critique for this album. I think we need to hear the positives for this song before I start moaning about it.
00:48:46
Speaker
um I think that the instrumentation is really clear, really clean. You can really hear the drums. And yes, it's long. But, you know, I'm a kid of the 90s. I mentioned Jocelyn Brown's 90s. I love club music. And I could really get into this. I tell you, for fear of... them Talking about a later song, um I'll hint at I'm less keen on Bite Your Lip. I'll even go as far as say that hearing Bite Your Lip was one of my biggest Elton John disappointments. You know, I wish that Bite Your Lip had the production that Out of the Blue has. I can dance to it. It makes me feel good. I think like Caribou, we said Caribou is an album of...
00:49:35
Speaker
Abrasive songs, you know, Stinker, ah Gammon, it's ah abrasive songs. ah You could argue Bitch's Back is abrasive. And then like really like songs like Pinky and Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me and and Ticking are like a different album. I would be interested in, a you know, Panao, I keep singing the praise Panao. Half an hour that album is, half an hour. I would love to hear Blue Moves, the half an hour long dance record.
00:50:06
Speaker
No sorry seems to be the hardest word, just out the blue and the songs that make me want to dance around to it. Have you start for as the top as the opening track?
00:50:17
Speaker
Yeah, just a little bit of um dancing around, half an hour of Dancy Elton. I'm for that. So back in my teens, I would generally find a song that I liked and I'd buy the album of it. This was in the days before streaming. So you you had to take a punt with your music, as as was the case you know before then as well. And I bought an album by the band Pig Bag. Now, Pig Bag are the experimental outfits that produce the song Papa's Got a Brand New Pig Bag that goes... do do do do
00:50:53
Speaker
did do do do Okay, so I really like that song. I was a football fan. That got played at the football. okay I bought the album and it is all like out of the blue. Papa's got a brand new pig bag. So you've got that track. But the rest of it is like people playing trumpets with ah bicycle tires put in there, people screaming into the microphone, like all sorts of experimental things. And I will say, ah Dominic, once every couple of years...
00:51:25
Speaker
I might think to myself, ah do you know what? I'll have listen to that Pigbag album again. Because it's such an experimental dissonant sound, then actually it's it's kind of like, okay, I can get myself into a bit of a trance-like state with where I don't mind just random vibraphone loops going on over and over again. And i've what I've done with Out of the Blue is six minutes, 14 long. is I've just picked random points in the music and like, right, start streaming from there. Start streaming from two minutes in, six minutes in, three and a half minutes in. It's all the same. It's all the same. It doesn't change, which is fine if you're wanting to get into that trance like state. So what I would say is, in a sense, this is out of the blue. I mean, it's six minutes long and we've heard quite a bit of experimental instrumental nonsense in this album. Yeah. as well as sorry seems to be the hardest word and they are and supposing tracks yeah positioning tracks yeah they really are and i'd be really interested to hear an album i mean we can do it dominic like you did your um correct order of honky chateau um you know we can create our own little elton playlist that is experimental instrumental stuff And probably once every couple years, I'd want to listen to it. But just in in an album that you're... When two albums ago, we've had Captain Fantastic that you listen to start to finish everything so carefully done to hear this, I bet they only did one take, you know? And it's just like, right, that'll do next. Let's get onto track 17.
00:53:03
Speaker
You know, i think it just disappoints me a little bit. and And without artistic experimentation, we don't get brilliant things. So I'm not cross at them for trying, but um I shan't be listening to Out of the Blue ever again. I've been i've been critical of some lyrics and I think the lyrics of...
00:53:23
Speaker
between 17 and 20 are really really poor i'm a i'm a fan of the melody but you know words like i'm blue tonight i'm red when i'm mad i'm green when i'm jealous yellow when i'm sad i mean i'd be critical i mentioned i i bring poetry into schools if like a primary school kid wrote that i'd be like oh we can develop this can't So I listened to this song this morning and I thought to myself, I bet Dominic's going to pull that, that stanza out. and there yeah And this is yet another one where, when I first heard it, I thought this song is
00:54:06
Speaker
mid-tempo blandness and then ah just uh about half an hour before starting this podcast it was one of the songs I chose to listen to again a bit like Cage's Songbird and yeah it's it's it's great it's great as a as a melody it's a it's a poor lyric I just think you know Bernie Taupin was burned out you know and It is, it's it's not the best. It picks up about two minutes in. It really kind of like um starts to build, I think. And I think, again, on a different album, on a different album with different surroundings, it would fare more favourably on a first listen.
00:54:48
Speaker
But following out the blue, is ah its like it's another tonal shift, isn't it? Yeah, and and I think as well it's another one where it's five minutes 17 long. I don't mind listening to an album and there being what you would call an album track in spirit. I don't mean literally like it not being a hit single, it's just featured on the album. I just mean like, we know this song is not as good as the others.
00:55:17
Speaker
And it's fine. It's just keeping us entertained until the next hit single that we get to, you know, in a couple tracks time. I think this song could be that if it was a bit shorter. And yeah, if the lyrics were a bit more developed, they do read very simplistic and very tired.
00:55:33
Speaker
would In a way, it seems unfair to hold Bernie up to the standards that he set earlier on, you know? But if you know that he can do that, I don't know. Like, is it is it, Dominic, is it too critical to say they're putting out an album every year in this album where, what,
00:55:53
Speaker
four of the tracks are instrumental. He's got to write 14 lyrics in 12 months. He can do better than between 17 and 20. Is that too harsh to say? Maybe he couldn't. I mean, yeah, just like I had that thought say, just again, it's so often said, so often said, but I just looked at the amount of high quality stuff in the early seventies from Elton and Bernie. And i just thought, wow,
00:56:18
Speaker
Wow. And, you know, I do, you know, I was very harsh of Caribou and people love Caribou. I think Caribou is a real dip. And then they raise it up again for, you know, Captain Fantastic. And I would argue Rock of the West is. um yeah Can I say that I think that musically this one,
00:56:37
Speaker
it's It's got real potential. Yeah, I do. Yeah, long though. But yeah, it is great. yeah However, i think part of why i think it's got such great musical potential is because it appears between Out of the Blue...
00:56:52
Speaker
And The Wide-Eyed and Laughing, which I think are possibly, out of a run of three Elton songs, the first and the third one there, Out of the Blue and The Wide-Eyed Laughing, possibly my my least favourite Elton sandwich of all time. I dislike Wide-Eyed and, you know, I'm a huge fan of Latter-day Kiki D. I've spoken on past shows about how Kiki D sings about the world and the rivers and the mountains and is a bit mystical. It's a billion times better than what Wide-Eyed is aiming to do. Elton isn't unique. for aiming for this sound, you know, the Beatles of tracks like this. It's ah it's a poor example, in my opinion, of what it's going for. And again, just tonally inconsistent, like, oh, you know, I guess it's consistent in that it's really earnest. It's kind of, oh, have you ever thought what it's like to be so way out, man? And it's like, nah,
00:57:51
Speaker
Well, yeah, and and I mean, if we take the Beatles as that kind of epitome of that, that was like eight years ago. Yeah. Doing stuff like that. You know, and and and it's not even like...
00:58:06
Speaker
Davey Johnston's got been bought a sitar for Christmas and he's like, oh, I'd quite like to work that into one of these tracks. Like he's done that several albums ago to really good effect. Yeah. Like I only wrote a couple of notes for this one and one of them was, put the sitar away, Davey. You're better than this, you know? Because he's he's a great musician. It's, yeah, it's it's a real shame. is that Is there anything to be salvaged just from the lyrics? Yeah. I mean, for my money, the the music is is awful on this track, and I rarely say that about an Elton track. But are the lyrics by themselves? Is there some hope there or not? Yeah, again, i think, no, I do think they're good. Yeah.
00:58:47
Speaker
I never condemned you. I only consoled you when candlelight made me a king for the wide-eyed and laughing past like a season, erasing a passion to sin.
00:58:58
Speaker
For no one knew better than the tea leaves and the taros that the wide eyed and laughing were just one step ahead of the wind. Yeah, no, that I like the words. I do like the words. Yeah, much better as a poem than as as a song. I'm going to say, Dominic, credit to, ah I mean, maybe maybe listeners enjoy hearing us deconstruct things after, you know, 10 previous albums of broadly being positive about stuff. But I'm going to say, if you if you're looking for something positive, I think for me, I've got stuff, I've got positive stuff to say for the next few tracks. These next few tracks for me are the best of that album, starting with...
00:59:44
Speaker
someone's final song it's a shame we've had to wait till track 13 for something of this quality well no i I would say sorry seems to be the hardest word is of a similar quality you know exactly but but what's your feeling on someone's final song Dominic are you a fan of this one On a first listen, I hated it.
01:00:04
Speaker
I just thought, yeah, it's a funeral. This is just like the Diana version, a candle in the wind. Rubbish. Hate it. And then yesterday, i i mean, this album this album, I find it so hard to like as an entire record. But what I've been doing, because i didn't want to be unfair, I picked out this song. and just played this song and think no bias from anything that's gone before just listen to this and i thought no it's great isn't it it's really great it's just that it follows wide-eyed and that drags it down but yeah you know start off listening to this
01:00:46
Speaker
It is really good. It's really heartfelt. it's It's great. It's a real great example of Elton's ability to to write a song based on the piano. And I'm not just going for the sound here, but the way that he's doing the the chord progressions in quite a, I mean, it's not too complicated, but it's,
01:01:09
Speaker
It's also not the Beatles, you know, there is complexity to it and it has that progressive base that goes down a key, down a key, down a key, down a key. It it really makes it flow. And for me, it does something guttural. I think it's a great talent that he's got.
01:01:24
Speaker
And yeah, I think it's fabulous. And it begs the question, Why have we got Boogie Pilgrim on this album? Why have we got, you know what mean? ah Out of the blue, why are these tracks, these new experimental things going on in this album? If you're still going to put out someone's final song, because that's the kind of music that Elton does really well. I don't understand why they're appearing on the same album.
01:01:53
Speaker
as one another don't don't get me wrong i'm grateful that this is here and it it gives something positive to talk about but i don't understand why this is like a couple of tracks after out of the blue it's it's mad it's mad i think there'll be people that don't like someone's final song well as you said dominic on first listening some you know most people with with popular music will be quite fickle, you know, they'll give it a listen, no, it didn't like it, and that'll be it, you won't return to it. I could understand how folk might say it's too mushy, it's too slow, but I think there's a lot to be said for it, so hooray for that one. So you're going to say that you love a song that I dislike, go on, you do the positive first. For where's the charade?
01:02:37
Speaker
Okay, so what you just said about someone's final song, you said, oh, initially I didn't like it, and then i came round to it. Where's the Shirah? I reckon I've it've played about 10 times And the first eight times I was just like, oh God, no, don't like it. And I think, I think it's the introduction.
01:02:59
Speaker
There's this quite falsetto with quite an ethereal sound with a choir backing as well. And they're just going, shuah and it's like, oh God, what what's this? What's this?
01:03:12
Speaker
But when I looked up what a shirah is, and it's sort of like a ah a Hebrew verse, often said at like a wedding or like a big occasion, and then I listened to it again, was like, oh, do you know what? I can really... I can really feel this. And like musically, it it builds. I mean, you've got to you've got to enjoy choirs, I would say, to enjoy this track. If you're if you're someone that when there's a choir singing the back the backing vocals, you go, oh God, not a choir, then you're not going to like this song. But for me, i
01:03:46
Speaker
really think it's an earnest attempt at like describing, yeah, it's describing a romantic partner. I love the line, she's all girl, woman and mother. I just think, oh I can picture this person that's that's fulfilling all of these roles and and is adored. And there and the the the narrator, the singer's mother is, I mean, not correct me if I'm wrong, Dominic, but My interpretation is the the singer's mother saying, well, come on then, when when are we having a big day? when are When are you announcing to the world that you love this person? When are we having a big celebration? If this person is so perfect, they're all these things to you.
01:04:28
Speaker
I love it. I think it's great. What what is it about it you dislike, Dominic? I don't know. It's just not, I find it long and boring. It goes on and on. And yeah, the I do like some choirs, but the choir here, the gospel kind of just didn't, resonate with me. i don't know. It's two minutes shorter than Out of the Blue, I will point out.
01:04:47
Speaker
Yes, I can dance to Out the Blue. I think that... Yeah, I do struggle. So you say... Does Bernie have the experience to write so much about what he writes about on Tumbleweed Connection? And indeed, I've i've questioned some of the things he's chosen. Are they the right people to speak about Jamaica Jerk Off? You know, we've we've questioned that. And I just think, oh, why?
01:05:15
Speaker
Why Shara? Why this really specific religious phrase? Why? I just say it just just doesn't doesn't quite connect with me. You know, when you compare that to Leonard Cohen singing Who by Fire with his ah deep Jewish phrase.
01:05:32
Speaker
faith and connection to spirituality. I don't believe it. I don't believe it. Especially again, like when the next song goes left turn and it's a little bit like anti-religion, you know, like, I mean, Elton, there's a song called Religion on ah Too Low for Zero that again is a bit like, he's not, or I just don't believe, I don't believe Chirat. I don't, I don't buy it. I don't buy it. So one of the bits I really like is the tight harmony in Elton singing, no, no, no, no no And the the harmony is really tight. And it's not that dissimilar to Boogie Pilgrim, where you really liked the tight harmonies and the falsettos. I know a song is more than that, but I think it's...
01:06:25
Speaker
Maybe I was more favourable on Boogie Pilgrim because it was earlier on the record. Maybe I'd be harsher on Boogie Pilgrim, perhaps. You've ground down, yeah.
01:06:37
Speaker
I mean, you mentioned the next track, If There's a God in Heaven, What's He Waiting For? I will say that the lyric there, if we put the inconsistency aside and just look at the the lyric by itself, I think it's a commendable sentence. And I think... Well, teenage Dominic would have loved this. If teenage Dominic had heard this album, I'd be going, yeah, Elton, you tell them, Elton, you tell them. Yeah. know And...
01:07:04
Speaker
Don't misunderstand me. I am not saying it's commendable because religion's a load of old rubbish. I think it's commendable to ask the question of those who believe in a God. Well, how come he's standing by whilst all of these things happening? It's a low lyric. It's not a Captain Fantastic. Oh, absolutely. It's like really... You could argue it's as... I'm going to be really critical here. You could argue that it's, like, as plain as the lyric, like, between 17 and 20. Like, it is... It's doing what it does. It's rhyming anger and finger-pointing. That's what it is, you know? Yeah.
01:07:45
Speaker
I mean, is it a clever thing to put... this song with the context of the lyrics to a very gospel sounding organ backing, is is that deliberate or is it accidental that that's there and in a sense that's really not very fitting? Do you know what mean?
01:08:05
Speaker
In that like, I think the song, i think I'm going to kill myself from Honky Chateau, I quite like the jauntiness. i I think that that does something quite clever. Whereas if that I think I'm going to kill myself lyric was done in a really grungy, slow, depressing way, that wouldn't be quite as effective. Maybe that's a deliberate move that is telling that I've said it's an interesting idea. It's a good idea. But actually, as a fully executed package, I don't quite believe it
01:08:39
Speaker
I like his voice on it. we We've spoken so much about his falsetto, but the start of the second verse where he says, like, dying for causes they don't understand, he really sings in a very deep tone there. and And yet, you know, there is some falsetto on the word God. And, yeah, I think that he is going for it. It's, um yeah, that there are worse songs and on the record. Yeah.
01:09:07
Speaker
like the next one
01:09:11
Speaker
i i really don't like idol wow okay and i'll i'll tell you for why he says in his best uncle brin uh rob bryden impression again i don't believe the tone and the the setup musically the lyrics i think are fantastic oh yeah i really like the lyrics However, like he's singing like ah like a jazz singer. that's that You know, you've got the drums playing with the brushes um on on the snare. It's it's like a smoky jazz club. It's just like, Elton, make your mind up. What is the musical sound for this album? I ah can't keep up. And for me, it's such a distraction how how much it jumps around. And I don't i don't particularly think it it executes it.
01:10:00
Speaker
that well you know what are you aware of the george michael cover version of this song no yeah it was like one of his later recordings uh and he clearly thinks highly of the blue moves album to be honest uh george michael is an artist who i really like you know give me club tropicana Or later in the career, like Too Funky. Or you know what, even Shoot the Dog. you know I kind of like that end. And some of them, you know even the really, really popular ones, like Praying for Time, they just they just go on a bit for me. And George Michael clearly, you know he does a Terence Trent Derby cover. And of all the Terence Trent Derby, does the most earnest Terence Trent Derby, like Letter Down Easy. you know when
01:10:49
Speaker
Terence has got so much kind of you know funky, vibrant stuff. So yeah, um but I prefer George Michael's Idol to Elton's. But the lyrics are stunning, like really, really good. I've been so harsh on Bernie for his contribution. But um yeah, they there's songs ah songs I like less.
01:11:09
Speaker
There's songs I like less. You could put together a 10-track Blue Moves that has got, you know, maybe a couple of instrumental songs in there.
01:11:20
Speaker
that's That's fine. Some, you know, solid, dependable, or, ah you know, you although you've critiqued, ah sorry seems to be the hardest word, if that appeared on a 10-track album, Yeah. You wouldn't say, this is appalling. What's what's this doing? you say that on our The Very Best of Elton John, it was a song where i was like, oh, and it dipped a bit. And he did play it on the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour. And...
01:11:46
Speaker
It was my least favourite song. yeah I wasn't familiar with Tumbleweed Connection and Burn Down the Mission isn't the most accessible when you're not overly familiar, but I preferred that. i mean, I love it now. I love it. Now, i but but on a first listen, you know, but yeah, even on a first listen of a quite heavy song, I preferred that. So sorry seems to be the hardest word. or my i don't know I don't know if there are 10 tracks that I would put on a edited version, but I would put Idle on it. I would put someone's final song and I would put Idle on my edited version. yeah I think in a way, what part of what I was saying or meaning by it was, if you had a 10 track version, and then you had Idle on there. In a sense, there's less divergence into all these different musical avenues that they've done, that that when you hear the smoky jazz club,
01:12:39
Speaker
sound of idle it's less jarring because it's like oh okay this song's a little bit different whereas with this is like the 13th different sound that we've gone for this album um and i just think by by track 16 unless you're like oh my god what's he going to come up with next by this point you're just exhausted yeah no i'm i'm exhausted yeah yeah I do like the theme. I do. I do like it. A lot of people don't. Even people who praise this album, a lot of people are like, oh, it's all great, but themes from a non-existent TV series, what is that nonsense? And I mean, I'm a guy who likes Pixies. I like Buddy Holly. You know, I like, I think that it does what it does. And it's really, again, like taking it, it is from the same school as your starter for, isn't it? You know, and, uh,
01:13:33
Speaker
yeah i'm i'm on board with it i'm really on board i really like theme i really like it again on a different album it would be yeah ideal so again just running with this concept of like a 10-track version of this album if we remove out of the blue and we remove your starter four, so the other two instrumentals, I think this one is great and its it stands alone by itself.
01:14:03
Speaker
By track 17 and having had the other two instrumentals that are different, I mean, this is quite similar to your starter four, isn't it? It's lively and it's short. By this point, i'm I'm just a bit fed up of it and it's just like, oh god what's like what so we're following the smoky jazz club with theme from a non-existent tv series and then we're going on to a nearly seven minute disco track at the end like i i don't understand what's going on i've it to me almost feels arrogant of them like we we can play any music in any order and and you will love it even if it it's incongruent arrogant is a good word for the entire record though i really do i really do i think that goodbye yellow brick road i dislike the variety on that but it worked commercially and they're they're aiming for the same thing aren't they they're trying to have lightning strike in the same place twice that's what they're they're wanting isn't it they're wanting
01:15:06
Speaker
you know, and and the record buying public didn't follow in the same way that they did for Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. and Yeah. Yeah, don't don't get don't get me wrong. Fourth theme from a non-existent TV series. I do think standone I love it. It's it's great. it's It's got the... dooo did la dooo didoooo did do i i Yeah, there's any number of TV series it would actually work really nicely for in the late 70s, but just in this album. ah The only note I wrote down was, it's getting a bit much now.
01:15:40
Speaker
Because just by this point, was like, oh, stop it. Stop stop playing with this. and bite your lip get up and dance seems to have taken the um the end of rock of the westies with uh billy bones and the check it out for 53 seconds and said do you know what let's try and take her a phrase and sing it on loop for even more than 53 seconds. I think it's like three minutes or so that they're they're just going, bite your lip. So Kiki D has a song called Chicago, which here in the UK, it was a double A side, Kiki D, Chicago, and Elton's Bite Your Lip. To my knowledge, there is not a single Elton John Best Of that features Bite Your Lip.
01:16:35
Speaker
None of them. Although he himself has resurrected it in concert a few times, and there's some notable live performances of this, it's fair to say it's not the most celebrated Elton John song, whereas Chicago by Kiki D is one of her biggest hits. And it's sad for the wonderful Kiki D that her...
01:16:59
Speaker
One of her biggest hits is only a hit because it was dragged up by one of Elton's worst performing singles. And I used to own a book called um the British.
01:17:11
Speaker
ah What's it called? now the get The Guinness but ah British hit singles. It was like basically an encyclopedia of statistics. about And so I saw that Chicago by Kiki D was the double A side and I longed to hear it. I longed to hear Bite Your Lip because it wasn't on any records. I hadn't seen Blue Moves. We didn't own it as a family. And i was like, what is this song, Bite Your Lip? What is this song? I can't wait to hear it. I can't wait to hear it. and It did put me off listening to the rest of Blue Moves because when I did finally gain access to YouTube many, many, many years later, I listened to it and i was like, oh i think the production is poor. I think the drums, there's really muddy sound to the drums, whereas Out the Blue, i can dance to it. It is just chaotic by your lip. I wondered, would an instrumental be better? I mean, it is a kitchen sink kind of song and just everything's thrown out. Everything and nothing. Everything and nothing because there isn't a lot of melody to it. There isn't. And I'm a fan of 90s dance music where there isn't a lot of melody. But there isn't a strong enough beat. At least Out the Blue has got a beat. But the drums on this are just...
01:18:27
Speaker
oh they're just so dull so dull for a dance song with poor drumming this is a dance song with poor drumming that's what it is and it just goes on and on and yeah it is my biggest disappointment from elton john to finally hear bite your lip and be like oh this is what it is oh Yeah, it I think the promise of the track is many fold and the first 30 seconds of it, I think are really strong and you're like, oh wow, this is brilliant. What what a great end to this to this album. And um yeah, then it's six minutes of of of not a lot really. um I think if you do like this track,
01:19:14
Speaker
you might like a couple of episodes times album, Victim of Love. It it it reminded me of that. I've not yet listened to it. I've not yet listened to it. I've asked Anthony again for extra time in our recording because...
01:19:31
Speaker
Whenever you look at Elton John albums ranked, Victim of Love is always last place. And that kind of makes me want to support the underdog. It's like, I'm not just going to go. So at the time of recording, I've not heard Victim of Love. I know a single man very well, because we had that when I was growing up. We had that on vinyl. But Victim of Love...
01:19:49
Speaker
I'm holding out on that. my dad What i did buy this week, you've spoken before about loving the Fox and there's the ah Carla Etude on there, which I think is a far more successful version of what ah Blue Moves is is going for with the instrumental. I think that it's, I mean, it's it's not a popular record, the Fox, is it? I mean, we'll go on and talk about that at a time. but But that little moment, it's like, oh, so this is Blue Moves done well. That's my take on it. Blue Moves done well. Yeah, possibly, possibly.
01:20:25
Speaker
Well, it will be no surprise to hear that there wasn't a subsequent re-release of this album with bonus tracks. I think that there is not a musical medium before streaming that would have supported bonus tracks. So, yeah, that these 18 tracks are the only 18 that have been attributed to this album.
01:20:46
Speaker
ever if you like so Dominic we need to assign some scores and we're going to need to get a move on because there's 18 of them to get through so from the top seems such a long time ago that we were talking about your starter four what are you going to give that I adore it. I'm giving it a 10 out of 10.
01:21:07
Speaker
Woo-hoo! I often give track one 10 out 10, you know. You often do. You often do. i I've got to say, one of the only times that you didn't was Funeral for a Friend. Love that was pleading.
01:21:22
Speaker
goodness i've given it i've given it a six dominic i've given it a six i think it's decent if i give something a six it means i enjoy listening to it and not much more so yeah i've given it a six i have improved upon that for tonight despite the huge build-up that does nothing there's everything and nothing as you say dominic and the same at the end i quite like the bit when he's singing um so i've given it a seven you're not going to give it that I don't know. I'm going to give it six.
01:21:53
Speaker
Which for Dominic, if this is your first episode, a six from Dominic is a low score. And that is what I have given One Horse Town. I think it's on a different album. Maybe I would have given it even more. But the naff intro brings it down.
01:22:09
Speaker
So six from me. What about you, going give it a seven. Now, Chameleon. I did say it's saving grace as it's not racist or sexist, so it's getting two out of ten for me. What about you? I don't hate it as much as you, you know. I don't hate it. I'm going to give it a five.
01:22:25
Speaker
What about Boogie Pilgrim? I think I like... you've You've really laid into Boogie Pilgrim. I think I like it a bit more. than I'm going to give it a six. I've given it a two. For me, Boogie Pilgrim, but fans of The Simpsons, it's arty Ziff. LAUGHTER White man with an afro wearing a Hawaii shirt thinking he's cool, which good for him.
01:22:46
Speaker
Good for thinking you're cool, but I disagree. Caged Songbird, I'm giving a six.
Scoring and Personal Reflections on 'Blue Moves'
01:22:51
Speaker
I think it's all right. Love it. Nine. Nine. It's not candle in the wind, but it's it's nine.
01:22:58
Speaker
Crazy Water. I'm giving it a six because I think musically it's great. I just don't get the lyrics. I'm going give it an eight. Shoulder holster.
01:23:10
Speaker
I'm not quite sure why I've written down slightly more than Chameleon and Moogie Pilgrim because they're in the same wheelhouse for me. But at some point I clearly thought it was worth three out of ten. So that's my score. Not quite sure why. What about you, Dominic?
01:23:23
Speaker
I don't dislike it as much as you. I'm giving it a six. This is one of those episodes where we're we're mirroring one another quite a lot because the next track, sorry, seems to be the hardest word. I'm giving a nine out of 10. What about you, Dominic?
01:23:38
Speaker
I mean, i yeah i've been I've been so harsh on it. you know, he played it live, you know. I didn't get up and leave. I didn't use it as an excuse to have wig, did I? did listen. And I'm like, so sad. That's great. I'm giving it a five.
01:23:54
Speaker
And I think that's yeah Wow. Wow. That's one of your lowest scores. I'm giving out the blue nine out of ten. I love it. Nine out ten throughout the blue. What? Yeah, i love it. Don't put it on. Put the disco track on. Woo-hoo.
01:24:10
Speaker
Absolute trash. I've given it two. Between 17 and 20, I've given it a five, which is all because of the music. not Yeah, the music's great. It's really good. And is this is this one? Let me let me check because we've got, um I think it was written by more than Bernie and Elton, I think. I think that David Johnson and Caleb Quake join in on this. And, you know, I'm a big Caleb fan, so I'm giving it more points for that alone. So I'm giving it a seven. Okay, wide-eyed and laughing, I'm back down to a two, which is our baseline for this album.
01:24:52
Speaker
That was me recreating the song there. I'm gonna give it a four. That's actually quite realistic. Yeah, put it up a cup a couple of octaves and you've got yourself Davy Johnson on the sitter. Okay, let's get more positive. Someone's final song, I'm giving that nine out of ten. I think it's a great track.
01:25:12
Speaker
Do you know what? On a first listening, I was so bogged down by Wide-Eyed. On a first listening, I gave this four. I'm not giving it a four. I'm going to give it an eight, not a nine. I am giving it an eight.
01:25:23
Speaker
Where's the charade? I i so sung its praises. i'm I'm only giving it a seven because I think there are bits in it where, you know, it is slow and there's a few bits where I just kind of think, you're not really adding much there. So I'm giving it seven, by Do you know what? I think it's a song I'm going to go back to and and listen to quite frequently because I i love the imagery of this this person who's girl, woman and mother all in one.
01:25:50
Speaker
I love it. Yeah, a lot of people like this one. ah I have listened to it many times and it it has it I like it less than Sorry. So I'm going to give it a four.
01:26:03
Speaker
Wow. Wow. If there's a God in heaven, I've given it five. got What did I give tonight? Six. gave tonight six. I'm going to give this a seven.
01:26:16
Speaker
Idle, I'm sticking it five. going to give that seven as well. Okay. The last two. Theme from a non-existent TV series. Okay, i I might be being harsh here, but I'm scoring this on the context of where it appears in the album. So I'm giving it a three. It's so hard knowing, isn't it? Do you know what? i'm gonna ah You're giving it three. I'm giving it a 10 out of 10. Honestly, honestly. it's ah I love it. I love it. You know you say this is you know track five on a Pixies album or or even a B-52s album and I'm there. I'm with it.
01:26:53
Speaker
Should I score it less because of where it is? Maybe. um yeah Bite a lip, I'm giving Yeah, five is what I've given it to. So overall, our scores for the tracks, my average comes out at exactly five.
01:27:09
Speaker
Dominic's comes out at 6.83. For both of us, that makes it the lowest scoring album so far, but we've still got several albums to come. So who knows whether it will stay at the bottom of the table. However...
01:27:26
Speaker
We rank more than just the tracks. So the album name, I don't hate it. I don't think it's particularly clever. I'll give it a six. What about you, Dominic?
01:27:39
Speaker
There's that sitar again. ah Four. Four. Not a fan. And I reckon you might be giving a similar score to the artwork. Oh, less. and I really dislike the artwork. I'm sorry. yeah I'm going to give it a two. It's a bit different. It's a real piece of art. I like the title of the piece of art, The Guardian Readers.
01:28:01
Speaker
I'll give it a six, and that's as high as I'll go. Cover versions. I'm not fan. I really dislike... george michaels tonight just like darling kiki's cage songbird yeah i i dislike blue yeah i do like idol by george michael not loads so i'm gonna give it a one but idol being all right Well, in that case, I have to give it a zero. who What? no do you know no Do you know what? I'll give it a one as well. I gave Rock of the Westies one based on there being basically no cover versions of anything. So I'll give it the same because I don't think any of the cover versions add anything at all. Lyrics.
01:28:43
Speaker
Do you know what? I'm going to give a seven for the lyrics because there are some that are pants, but there are some that are really strong and are still vintage Bernie. So seven out of ten. I gave both Caribou and the mighty Goodbye Yellow Bick Road only five out ten for lyrics because amongst the excellence, and there is excellence, there was so much I thought was awful. So going to give it the same score, five, meaning like half brilliant, half pants.
01:29:11
Speaker
And when I'm remembering on... the the problematic nature of some of the goodbye yellow brick road lyrics i think that that says what uh blue moves is is unknown but i gave i gave a 10 out of 10 to ireland girl and i i've really wrestled with that decision and thought oh gosh dominic what you know but yeah there we go yeah there we go but music wise oh gosh you know what i'll I'll give it a three.
01:29:40
Speaker
Wow! Because i i think there's I think there's worse. I'm going to give it a five because similarly, like, you know, off, you know, strong. I love Cage the Songbird, you know. I love i love the music too to Between 17. So, yeah.
01:29:58
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. Our next category is Flop Dodge. This definitely doesn't dodge flops. There's lots of flops in here. I'm just wondering... do i give it like two out of ten because not every track is a flop i think you know what i'll i'll give it a three for flop no that's no i can't do that i can't do that that's why i gave goodbye yellow brick road i'll give it a two i'm gonna also give it a two because i feel i should give it less than i gave to caribou and goodbye yellow brick road which i was pretty harsh upon both of them
01:30:29
Speaker
Yeah. And our final category is hits. Dominic hits and Anthony hits. I'm going to say that someone's final song and sorry seem to be the hardest word are both Anthony hits and where's the shirrah I predict in five years time is going to be an Anthony hit too. So I'm going to give it five for hits because i think there's two to three real strong ones in there. In definition, in Dominic definition of hits, your starter four is a hit.
01:30:59
Speaker
Cage the songbird is a hit. I'm Crazy Water is a hit. Out the Blue is a hit. Between 17 is a hit. Someone's Final Song is a hit. Maybe If There's a God, maybe Idol theme. Yeah, I'm going give it a 5 too.
01:31:14
Speaker
Okay, so... All the scores are in now for Blue Moves. It won't be a surprise to regular listeners that this is currently sitting at the bottom of our listings. It's come out at 48.08%. For context, the next highest one is Caribou at 59%. So it's about 11% lower than Caribou. Dominic, I think Blue Moves can be pleased with that. It's only 11%. I really know that some people love this album and good on them for, you know, with all their stress and anxiety and, oh my word, I mean, you know, how awful to of read of and and listen to accounts of Elton John's suicide attempts. My word, my word. I mean, it's, you know, commendable that it's not just like, oh, let's churn out another one that sounds like your song.
01:32:11
Speaker
It's really, really commendable. We could do a whole album of Take Me to the Pilot and it isn't that. And I really hear why it's some people's favourite. A Single Man has also got its fans. Also, you know, I feel a lot more confident in scoring a single man when we get to that because we have that as a as ah as a family growing up. But yeah, I'm OK with Blue Moves being the lowest scoring so far. I stand by that. I've not scored single man yet, but we'll get to that when we get to it. Well, I will reveal a spoiler then. um
01:32:48
Speaker
I'm a fan of a single man. It's not going to be my high scoring one for sure, but I've got lots of really nice things to say about lots of the tracks on it. You know, I've learned Gary Osborne, but you know, he wrote the lyrics for Amoreurs, for Kiki Dee. He wrote the lyrics for Forever Autumn from War of the Worlds. Do I think that a single man is Gary Osborne's finest hour as a lyricist?
01:33:12
Speaker
Well, you'll find that out when we do the podcast. Indeed. But before then, we are going to leave you with a teaser bit of trivia, as we always do, and we'll reveal the answer at the top of the next show.
Trivia and Closing Remarks
01:33:25
Speaker
So it might not surprise you to hear that when Blue Moves was first released on a CD in 1988, various iterations of the running order changed because they couldn't fit all the tracks on. It was too long. So which track was?
01:33:43
Speaker
was omitted, i will say that there are there is more than one answer. There have been different versions of this on CD and different tracks were omitted. So I think off the top of my head, there's three different answers. So which tracks were omitted in different times it it was only ever one track emitted at once but different versions of the cd emitted different tracks we will tell you at the start of the next show for sure thank you everyone for listening if you want to send us an email please do we are at elton the elton pod at gmail.com If you want to know more about me, my website is dominicberry.net and you can find Anthony on two other podcasts, Enough of the Falafel. and There's a vegan week and vegan talk show on which I sometimes feature.
01:34:28
Speaker
And Anthony's also on the Brambling Along podcast. Until next time is goodbye from Captain Domtastic and the brown dirt ant boy. Goodbye.
01:34:39
Speaker
Goodbye.
01:34:46
Speaker
This podcast is hosted by Zencaster. We've used some sound effects from zapsplat.com. We've taken information from songfacts.com as well as eltonjohn.fandom.com, the wiki. And I'd also really personally recommend you read Elton's autobiography, which is called Me. I listened to the audio version. It's narrated by Taron Egerton, which is excellent. We're indebted to all those who've helped create and share Elton's music. And thanks again to James Cook and Paul Savage, who inspired the format of this show.