Elton John

Elton and Bernie

Reggie Dwight has had quite the career.

Renamed Elton John, of course, he became an immortal musician in the annals of pop/rock music. Perfect melodies combined with the lyrics of musical partner Bernie Taupin create a catalog of indelible masterpieces.

John's eponymous second album truly launched the performer towards being, ahem, Rocket Man.

For a stretch, from 1970-1976, Elton John did literally nothing wrong. Have a look at his singles from 1971-1976. There are very few clunkers in there.

Why is Sir Elton on my mind tonight? Because my A-Team partner, Chris Erway, messaged me this morning and told me he had watched the movie Rocketman. Given our nature of discussing such things on the air, especially during blowouts, he wondered if I could pull a top five list together.

Yes. Yes I could.

In no order, I'll give you five (and a few more).

- "Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" The first song (or songs, as they're two songs that were merged into a suite) I thought of. Pure dark brilliance for over eleven minutes using music for a funeral to morph into a breakup. It opens Goodbye Yellow Brick Road in the most menacing way.

- "Harmony" The close to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road finds Taupin's words optimistic but John's music foreboding. "Gee, I really love you and I want to love you forever." Something's up there.

- "Honky Cat" Saturday night. Crompond Diner. A grilled cheese sandwich. The jukebox. The sounds pouring out of it. "When I look back, boy, I must have been green..." The "WOOO" at the end can still produce goosebumps.

- "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" New York City is awesome. It's also raw, gritty, and not altogether as glamorous as it might appear, especially in 1972. Taupin's lyrics are very direct. I think of it almost every time I'm in the subway. "Subway's no way for a good man to go down..."

- "Your Song" Sweet. Saccharine. And that's exactly the point. It's Susan's favorite song, and the line we've both talked about many times is his stumbling over her eyes, ending with "Anyway, the thing is, what I really mean...Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen." Some love songs just get to the point. This does.

Ah, but there's more beyond those five.

- "Grey Seal" Forget the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road version. Go check out the original version, which I got on the To Be Continued... box set is purely magical. The arrangement and beat are magnificent.

- "Madman Across the Water" This is the dark Elton John. The deep one of "Don't Let The Sun Go Down on Me." Oh sure there's brilliance in all of it but there's something crazed about this.

- "Sixty Years On" Religious references aside, I want to hear this on my sixtieth birthday. Just saying.

- "Tiny Dancer" I think I'm contractually obligated to mention it. I didn't need Almost Famous to teach me this, and don't forget "Levon" which I've always seen as a companion piece.

- "Philadelphia Freedom" There's so much I love about this song, from Elton and Taupin's writing of the song for Billie Jean King for a tennis team of the same name, to the song itself that so on point for the oncoming bicentennial when it was released in 1975.

- "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)" I was probably too cold to it when it came out in 1982. There was a run of John Lennon tributes, including "All Those Years Ago" from George Harrison and the tough emotion of "Here Today" from Paul McCartney. I get it now. I get all of them now.

We're all still knocking and no one is answering.

I realize I haven't even touched on "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" "Rocket Man" or "Crocodile Rock" or "Daniel" or "Bennie and the Jets" or "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues." I love every one of those and plenty of others.

Plus "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," which should somehow be a law that every couple should perform as a duet at least once. WOO HOO!

John's supernova dimmed a bit as the the late 70s went along and he'd have peaks and valleys in the 80s. I was probably done right after "I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues" but there were often glimpses from ol' Reg.

Still, as the past 30 years have come and gone, Elton John is still there, with a catalog of mind-blowing music.

I'm grateful to first Chris and then Susan for inspiring me to do this deep dive.