Elton John: My Top Ten Singles

I first became aware of Elton John in the early seventies when he appeared on a light entertainment show as a guest - something like Morecambe & Wise or Mike Yarwood - and my father, who hated pop music, seemed not to object to him, liking his bespectacled, studious look. As a fan of the rebellious Rolling Stones image, that instantly made me hate Elton John. Such contempt was soon blown away, however, as Elton soon became a platform-booted preposterous glam rocker and I lapped it up, all the way down the yellow brick road. 

I bought lots of his singles, plus Don't Shoot Me, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Captain Fantastic, also familiarising myself with Honky Château and Tumbleweed Connection via my friends' record collections. Even as a punk in 1978, I still couldn't help but warm to A Single Man. 

Elton became part of my DNA in the seventies and has remained so ever since, despite his elevation to the status of "national treasure". Even though he seems a notoriously temperamental and unpredictable, even petulant, character I cannot help but have a bucketload of affection for the pudgy-fingered old so-and-so. That affection is given equally to Bernie Taupin, by the way, his quiet, unassuming lyrical muse.

Enough of that - let's get back to the howling old owl in the woods, then.....

⑩ MADE IN ENGLAND (1995)

Made In England is an absolute Elton rock classic - upbeat, riffy and catchy. One of the great forgotten Elton John classics. For me, it is almost up there with Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting) and The Bitch Is Back, hence its appearance here in my list. There are some wry, vaguely amusing lyrics on it too. In England, according to Elton, "you can still say "homo" and everybody laughs". Well, you certainly could in 1995, still. I remember being at a football match once and one set of supporters, Elton's Watford FC's opposition, Crystal Palace it was, I think, sang "Elton John is a homosexual" for 45 minutes, non-stop. Oh, the good old days....

⑨ GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD (1973)

Well, Bernie's timeless and image-packed bucolic reverie for his rural Lincolnshire upbringing is just wonderful, isn't it? - "back to the howling old owl in the woods, hunting the horny back toad...". He should have listened to his old man and stayed on the farm, he ruminates. No, Bernie, just write about it instead. This was great, atmospheric stuff. It is another Elton/Bernie song that I have just never had enough of. Ever. Whenever I hear it I always remember a boy called Paul Rogers in my class at school giving an ad hoc hammed-up rendition of it (the first verse at least) back in 1973, howling like that owl. Funny the things you recall that have stuck with you, isn't it? I can't listen to the first line without seeing him giving it his worst.

⑧ YOUR SONG (1970)

Oh, go on then. It's in there at number eight. Your Song is such an iconic song that really needs no introduction or description from me, does it? Apart from that, all these years later, I still seriously love the little laugh Elton gives after his "if I was a sculptor..." line. I like the confusion over the song's subject's eye colours too. Cleverly written lines, Bernie. It is also quite apparent when listening to this in comparison with the material on the previous album, 1969's Empty Sky, that Elton, Bernie and everyone involved with the album's deliverance and production have upped their game tremendously. The song itself, of course is possibly his all-time best one, although with so many to choose from, that is a regularly-changing thing, for me, at least. That's why it has somehow only come in here at number eight!

⑦ SARTORIAL ELOQUENCE (1980)

You may think this is a bit of a left-field choice, and indeed, this is more of a deep cut, I guess. It is my personal favourite on the 21 At 33 album and is a big, beautiful dramatic ballad which has an excellent build up to a very catchy chorus. I remember buying it as a single upon its release. I loved it and I still do. It was co-written with Tom Robinson during one of Elton periods when he broke with Bernie for a while. They came up with a thoroughly fine song here. It's a pity it has gone under so many people's radars. The picture shown here is the label as it was on the release I had. Furthermore, someone once said the song's title could easily refer to me, so I guess it had to be in here, so I can get all sartorially eloquent. Yeah right, Panther - eloquent my arse!

⑥ DANIEL (1973)

The Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only The Piano Player album's second big hit, after Crocodile Rock, was this moving song, which although a slow number, had an irresistible hook that made it a perfect single. It serves as a real piece of nostalgia for me. Every time I hear it, it reminds me of lying in bed stricken down with a cold as a teenager, listening to Radio One all day long. They must have played it every hour or so. Apart from that it is simply a great song. I can indeed see those tail lights heading for Spain every time I hear it. So many memories are being conjured up with each choice I make for this list. What is also notable, however, is just how many wonderful singles I am having to leave off. For artists like Elton, top tens are incredibly difficult. 

⑤ SOMEONE SAVED MY LIFE TONIGHT (1975)

This was an extended, moving, dramatic and atmospheric number, which tells of Elton being given a late night pep-talk by late 60s blues singer and old mate Long John Baldry. It is just simply wonderful, it has to be reiterated. That iconic piano intro, the plaintive, soulful vocals, the despairing yet ultimately hopeful lyrics. The marvellous harmonies at the end - up there with the best songs they ever came up with. It would not have seemed to be the ideal choice for a single and duly only got to number twenty-two, but, in true perverse Panther style, it's number five in my top ten. I have to say, though, that it screams "album track" really, doesn't it? That doesn't stop it barnstorming its way up my chart though.

④ NIKITA (1985)

The gorgeous Nikita is a song that rode high above the eighties fog and It still remains one of my favourite Elton songs. It is supremely evocative and atmospheric, always making me so nostalgic for those October-November days of 1985. Certain songs just do that, this is one of them. Incidentally, that killer bass line was played by David Paton, once of seventies group Pilot. The bassline was similar to that in Ideal World, by The Christians, from 1988. The single was released at the height of MTV's popularity and it had a memorable accompanying video, featuring a sparklingly blue-eyed girl dressed as a Russian soldier. It is another single whose picture sleeve takes me right back to when I bought it.

③ CANDLE IN THE WIND (1973)

The lovely and now iconic tribute to Marilyn Monroe, Candle In The Wind, is at number three. I have never tired of it, even now, and the last verse, where Elton sings "goodbye Norma Jean, from the young man in the twenty-second row..." his voice and cadence rising just a bit always gives me the tingles. He saw her as something more than sexual. What a great line that was too. The reputation of the song got a bit tarnished with Elton's somewhat cheesy but understandable 1997 re-working of it for the funeral of Diana, Princess Of Wales. That was a shame, because it's a superb song. The single in its DJM label sleeve as you see to the left was exactly as my original purchase of it back in early 1974 looked. Some of these labels are so nostalgic - just looking at it brings back affectionate memories. I wish I hadn't sold all these singles years ago.

② THE BITCH IS BACK (1974)

The Bitch Is Back was an absolutely exhilarating, in-your-face rocker of a single, one of Elton's best ever brassy riffers, up there with Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting). From Davey Johnstone's first guitar notes it kicks serious ass and Elton's enthusiastically pugnacious vocal just does it for me, every time. "I was justified, when I was five, raising Cain I spit in your eye...:." . I haven't got a clue what it means but it sure sounds the business. I love it when Elton rocks and, on the top two in this list, he seriously does, his pudgy fingers pounding the ivories, matching the songs' peerless riffage. I saw him do this live a while back and he was loving it, even doing on of those little flip-jumps with his hands on the piano that he used to do in his younger, fitter days. Actually, I'm never sure old Elton was ever that fit!

① SATURDAY NIGHT'S ALRIGHT (FOR FIGHTING) (1973)

Nigel Olsson's rat-a-tat drum intro, Davey Johnstone's classic, stunning and timeless riff and Dee Murray's beautifully rumbling bassline launch us into one of my favourite Elton songs of all time - Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting). It is a titanic riffy assault that is based on Bernie’s Lincolnshire upbringing and nights out in towns like Spalding and Market Rasen -  

"it's seven o'clock and I wanna rock, wanna get a belly full of beer....my sister looks cute in her braces and boots, a handful of grease in her hair...". 

Taupin has stated that the lyrics were observational as opposed to autobiographical. Incidentally, the excellent picture sleeve was one of the first of its kind at the time (certainly in the UK). Actually, Rocket Man had one too but it is this one I remember, from buying it at the time. 

Bubbling under - Just Like Belgium, Crocodile Rock, Island Girl, Honky Cat, Part Time Love, Sacrifice, Club At The End Of The Street, I Guess That's Why They Call It Blues.....