Elton John Classic Concert Series Friday, July 3 at 9AM PT / 12PM ET / 5 PM UK

Elton to launch a special archival concert series streaming exclusively on YouTube

The Elton John: Classic Concert Series features some of Elton’s most monumental concerts. Beginning this Friday, July 3 at 9 AM (LA) / 12 PM (NY) / 5 PM (LDN) exclusively on YouTube, the series will premiere with Live at the Playhouse Theatre, Edinburgh from 1976 – available digitally for the first time ever only for 72 hours.

The Elton John: Classic Concert Series is running in support of the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s COVID-19 Emergency Fund to continue HIV prevention and care for the most vulnerable people around the globe during the COVID-19 pandemic. You can donate on YouTube whilst watching the show.

“My Foundation’s COVID-19 Emergency Fund helps frontline partners prepare for and respond to the pandemic and its effects on HIV prevention and care for the most marginalised communities. We cannot jeopardise HIV testing and care during this time or else the results could be disastrous for the 37.5 million people living with HIV. So, I’m really happy to connect this YouTube concert series to benefit our Foundation’s urgent COVID response.” – Elton John

Recorded as part of the Edinburgh Festival of Popular Music on 17th September 1976, Live at the Playhouse Theatre gives fans an exhilarating view of Elton at the height of his ‘70s popularity, having just enjoyed his first UK #1 single with Don’t Go Breaking My Heart. This electrifying solo performance kicks off with Skyline Pigeon (taken from Empty Sky) before ending with a riotous version of Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting). The setlist rips through classic after classic, including Rocket Man, Daniel and Bennie and the Jets. It was also the first time Elton performed Don’t Go Breaking My Heart solo. Climbing on his piano and stomping his way through this virtuoso performance, Elton leaves every ounce of himself on the stage, in a classic concert that was to be the last time he would perform a full show for another 7 months.

Friday 5/29/30 7pm ET: Rocketman Watch Party

#ROCKETMANWATCHPARTY

Join in as we watch Rocketman together on Amazon Prime
Rocketman is now available to stream for free on Amazon Prime, so to celebrate Elton is hosting a Watch Party on his official Twitter account!

This Friday, May 29th, join in the party by loading up Rocketman and hitting play at exactly 7pm ET (4pm PT). We’ll be running the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #RocketmanWatchParty, with Elton sharing his own thoughts and insights throughout the film. So make sure to follow Elton and add the hashtag to your tweets so we can all see what you’re saying. If you’re wearing your Rocketman merchandise, let us see!

Wednesday 2pm ET: Feature Year: 1976

January 5 – Former Beatles road manager Mal Evans is shot dead by Los Angeles police after refusing to drop what police only later find is an air rifle.
January 7 – Kenneth Moss, a former record company executive, is sentenced to 120 days in the Los Angeles County Jail and four years probation for involuntary manslaughter in the 1974 drug-induced death of Average White Band drummer Robbie McIntosh.
January 13 – A trial begins for seven Brunswick Records and Dakar Records employees. The record company employees are charged with stealing more than $184,000 in royalties from artists.
January 19 – Concert promoter Bill Sargent makes an offer of $30 million to the Beatles if they will reunite for a concert.
February 15 – Bette Midler bails seven members of her entourage out of jail after they are arrested on charges of cocaine and marijuana possession.
February 19 – Former Tower of Power lead singer Rick Stevens is arrested and charged with the drug-related murders of three men in San Jose, California.
February 20 – Kiss have their footprints added to the sidewalk outside Hollywood’s Grauman’s Chinese Theater. February 24 – Having been released one week before, The Eagles’ Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) compilation becomes the first album in history to be certified platinum by the RIAA. The new platinum certification represents sales of at least 1 million copies for albums and 2 million copies for singles.
March 4 – ABBA arrive at Sydney airport for a promotional tour in Australia.
March 6 – EMI Records reissues all 22 previously released British Beatles singles, plus a new single of the classic “Yesterday”. All 23 singles hit the UK charts at the same time.
March 7 – A wax likeness of Elton John is put on display in London’s Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum.
March 9 – The Who’s Keith Moon collapses onstage ten minutes into a performance at the Boston Garden.
March 15 – Members of The Plastic People of the Universe are arrested in communist Czechoslovakia. They were sentenced from 8 to 18 months in jail.
March 20 – Alice Cooper marries Sheryl Goddard in an Acapulco restaurant.
March 25 – Jackson Browne’s wife Phyllis commits suicide.
March 26 – In Paris, France, Wings guitarist Jimmy McCulloch breaks one of his fingers when he slips in his hotel bathroom after the final performance on the band’s European tour. The injury ended up delaying the band’s United States tour by three weeks.
April 3 – British pop group Brotherhood of Man win the 21st Eurovision Song Contest in The Hague, Netherlands, with the song “Save Your Kisses For Me”. It goes on to be the biggest selling Eurovision winner ever.
April 14 – Stevie Wonder announces that he has signed a “$13 million-plus” contract with Motown Records.
April 24 – Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels makes a semi-serious on-air offer to pay the Beatles $3000 to reunite live on the show. In a 1980 interview, John Lennon stated that he and Paul McCartney happened to be watching the show together at Lennon’s apartment in New York and considered walking down to the SNL studio “for a gag” but were “too tired”. On May 22, Michaels raises his offer from $3000 to $3,200.
April 28 – The Rolling Stones open their European tour in Frankfurt, Germany.
April 29 – When his tour stops in Memphis, Tennessee, Bruce Springsteen jumps the wall at Elvis Presley’s mansion, “Graceland”, in trying to see his idol. Security guards stop Springsteen and escort him off the grounds.
May 3 – Paul McCartney and Wings start their Wings over America Tour in Fort Worth, Texas. This is the first time McCartney has performed in the US since The Beatles’ last concert in 1966 at Candlestick Park. Paul Simon puts together a benefit show at Madison Square Garden to raise money for the New York Public Library. Phoebe Snow, Jimmy Cliff and the Brecker Brothers also perform. The concert brings in over $30,000 for the Library.
May 19 – Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards is involved in a car accident northwest of London. Cocaine is found in his wrecked car. Richards is given a court date of January 12, 1977. Rumor spread by German press: ABBA members killed in plane crash, only Anni-Frid survived.
May 25 – Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue tour ends.
June – Former Spring Canyon keyboardist Mark Cook joins Daniel Amos.
June 6 – Keith Richards and Anita Pallenberg suffer tragedy when their 10-week old son Tara dies of respiratory failure.
June 10 – Alice Cooper collapses and is rushed to UCLA Hospital in Los Angeles, three weeks before the Goes To Hell tour would begin. The tour is cancelled.
June 18 – ABBA perform “Dancing Queen” for the first time on Swedish television in Stockholm on the eve of the wedding of King Carl XVI Gustaf to Silvia Sommerlath.
June 25 – Uriah Heep performs its last show with David Byron as lead singer in Bilbao, Spain. Byron is sacked shortly afterward.
July 2 – Composer Benjamin Britten accepts a life peerage, only a few months before his death. Brian Wilson performs on stage with The Beach Boys for the first time in three years at a Day on the Green concert in Oakland, California.
July 4 – Many outdoor festivals and shows are held all over the United States as the country celebrates its bicentennial. Elton John performs for 62,000 at Shaffer Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, while The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac play for 36,000 at Tampa Stadium, and Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top draw 35,000 at Memphis Memorial Stadium.
July 7 – 50,000 fans brave the rain in New York to attend a free Jefferson Starship concert in Central Park.
July 27 – Tina Turner files for divorce from husband Ike.
August 5 – Eric Clapton provokes an uproar over comments he makes on stage at a Birmingham concert, voicing his opposition to immigration using multiple racial slurs while exhorting the audience to support Enoch Powell and to “keep Britain white”.
August 11 – Keith Moon is rushed to hospital for the second time in five months, collapsing after trashing his Miami hotel room.
August 13 – The official ABBA logo with the reversed ‘B’ is adopted.
August 16 – Cliff Richard becomes one of the first Western artists ever to perform in the Soviet Union when he gives a concert in Leningrad.
August 21 – An estimated 120,000 fans pack Knebworth House to see The Rolling Stones. Todd Rundgren, Lynyrd Skynyrd and 10cc also perform.
August 31 – a U.S. district court decision rules that George Harrison had “subconsciously” copied The Chiffons’ hit “He’s So Fine” when he wrote the song “My Sweet Lord”.
September 1 – Ode Records president Lou Adler is kidnapped at his Malibu home and released eight hours later after a $25,000 ransom is paid. Two suspects are soon arrested.
September 3 – Rory Gallagher joins the short list of Western popular musicians to perform behind the Iron Curtain with a show in Warsaw, Poland.
September 8 – In a candid interview appearing in the October 7 edition of Rolling Stone published today, Elton John publicly discloses his bisexuality for the first time.
September 14 – The one-hour Bob Dylan concert special Hard Rain airs on NBC, coinciding with the release of the live album of the same name.
September 18 – Queen performs a massive free concert at London’s Hyde Park for over 150,000 people. The second annual Rock Music Awards air on CBS. Peter Frampton wins Rock Personality of the Year, while Fleetwood Mac wins for Best Group and Best Album.
September 20 & September 21 – 100 Club Punk Festival, the first international punk festival is held in London. Siouxsie and the Banshees play their first concert.
September 25 – Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr form a band called Feedback in Dublin. The band would later be renamed U2.
October 2 – Joe Cocker performs a duet of “Feelin’ Alright” with himself (as portrayed by John Belushi) on Saturday Night Live.
October 8 – English punk rock group the Sex Pistols sign a contract with EMI Records.
October 11 – Irish singer Joe Dolan is banned for life by Aer Lingus after an air rage incident en route to Corfu from Dublin.
October 20 – The Led Zeppelin concert film The Song Remains the Same premieres at Cinema I in New York.
October 31 – George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic begin “The P-Funk/Rubber Band Earth Tour” in Houston, a national live series highlighting one of the biggest and revolutionary stage shows in the history of the music industry (the rock group Kiss would be the other group to do a similar act), relying on elaborate costumes, special lighting and effects, and extremely large props including “the Mothership”, which would arrive and land on stage, all of what this band is generally known for. This live set would vary in length (on average of 3 to 5 hours long) and at high volume.
November 18 – Former Tower of Power lead singer Rick Stevens and another person are found guilty on two counts of murder.
November 23 – Thin Lizzy are forced to cancel their U.S. tour when guitarist Brian Robertson injures his hand in a bar fight. Jerry Lee Lewis is arrested after showing up drunk outside Graceland at 3 a.m., waving a pistol and loudly demanding to see Elvis Presley. Presley denied his request.
November 25 – The Band gives its last public performance; Martin Scorsese is on hand to film it.
November 26 – The Sex Pistols’ debut single “Anarchy in the U.K.” is released by EMI.
December 1 – In the UK, the Sex Pistols cause a national outcry after swearing on Thames Television’s Today show.
December 2 – The Bee Gees perform at Madison Square Garden and give the proceeds to the Police Athletic League in New York. In January 1979, they will receive the Police Athletic League’s “Superstars of the Year” award.
December 3 – A Pink Floyd album cover shoot in South London goes awry when a large inflatable pig balloon being used for the shoot breaks free of its moorings and drifts out of sight.
Bob Marley and several others are injured when gunmen burst into his home in Kingston, Jamaica and open fire.
December 8 – The Carpenters air their “Very First Television Special” on ABC. The Eagles release Hotel California.
December 12 – Ace Frehley is shocked on stage during a Kiss concert in Lakeland, Florida after touching an ungrounded metal railing. The incident inspires the song “Shock Me”.
December 31 – The fifth annual New Year’s Rockin’ Eve special airs on ABC, with performances by Donna Summer, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, The Four Seasons, and KC and the Sunshine Band.

Also in 1976
– The last practitioner of the rekuhkara form of throat-singing dies, in Hokkaido, Japan.
– Tenor Franco Corelli retires from the stage at the age of 55.
– Cheryl Byron performs rapso in calypso tents for the first time, beginning the popularization of rapso.
– Peter Brown’s solo career begins.
– Peter Tosh’s solo career begins.
– Bunny Wailer’s solo career begins.
– Leif Garrett’s solo career begins.
– .38 Special’s musical career begins.
– Y&T (Yesterday & Today)’s musical career begins.
– Sergio Franchi becomes TV spokesman for Chrysler Corporation’s Plymouth “Volare” and media spokesman for Hills Brothers coffee.
– Steve Martin signs a contract with Warner Bros.
– Eddie Money signs a contract with CBS.
– “Ten Percent”, by Double Exposure, becomes the first 12-inch single commercially available to the public (as opposed to DJ-only promotional copies).
– The Chinese Music Society of North America is founded.
– Gabin Dabiré embarks on a tour of Italy.

 

Wednesday 9pm ET: Feature Artist – Paul Carrack

Paul Melvyn Carrack (born April 22, 1951) is an English singer, songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist who has recorded as both a solo artist and as a member of several popular bands. The BBC dubbed Carrack “The Man with the Golden Voice”, while Record Collector remarked: “If vocal talent equalled financial success, Paul Carrack would be a bigger name than legends such as Phil Collins or Elton John.”

Carrack rose to prominence in the mid-1970s as the frontman and principal songwriter of Ace, and gained further recognition for his work as a solo artist and for his tenures as a member of Roxy Music, Squeeze and Roger Waters’ backing band, The Bleeding Heart Band, intermittently handling lead vocals on Squeeze and Waters recordings. From the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, he enjoyed considerable success as the co-lead singer (with Paul Young) and a songwriter for Mike + The Mechanics; following Young’s death in 2000, Carrack served as the band’s sole lead vocalist until his departure in 2004. He maintains an active solo career to the present day.

Carrack sang some of his affiliated bands’ best-known hits, including Ace’s “How Long”; Squeeze’s “Tempted”; and Mike + The Mechanics’ “Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)”, “The Living Years” and “Over My Shoulder”. He also performed lead vocals on tracks from the Roger Waters albums Radio K.A.O.S. and The Wall – Live in Berlin, and achieved a major solo hit with “Don’t Shed a Tear”. Carrack’s songs have been recorded by artists such as Linda Ronstadt, the Eagles, Diana Ross, Tom Jones, Michael McDonald and Jools Holland, and he has served as a session and/or touring musician for Elton John, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, B.B. King, The Pretenders, The Smiths and Madness.

Thursday 12am ET: Feature LP: Elton John & Ray Cooper – Live From Moscow (1979)

2019 is the 40th anniversary of Elton John’s historic first tour of Russia – he was the first Western rock star to ever perform in the country. The show in Moscow on 28th May 1979 with Ray Cooper was broadcast on BBC radio in the UK. This release is taken from the original broadcast masters, which have been remastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering. Now available on 2CD with mini gatefold-style sleeve.

1 Daniel (Live From Moscow / 1979)
2 Skyline Pigeon (Live From Moscow / 1979)
3 Take Me To The Pilot (Live From Moscow / 1979)
4 Rocket Man (Live From Moscow / 1979)
5 Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me (Live From Moscow / 1979)
6 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Live From Moscow / 1979)
7 Candle In The Wind (Live From Moscow / 1979)
8 I Heard It Through The Grapevine (Live From Moscow / 1979)
9 Funeral For A Friend (Live From Moscow / 1979) Elton John & Ray Cooper
10 Tonight (Live From Moscow / 1979) Elton John & Ray Cooper
11 Better Off Dead (Live From Moscow / 1979) Elton John & Ray Cooper
12 Bennie And The Jets (Live From Moscow / 1979) Elton John & Ray Cooper
13 Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word (Live From Moscow / 1979) Elton John & Ray Cooper
14 Crazy Water (Live From Moscow / 1979) Elton John & Ray Cooper
15 Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting) / Pinball Wizard (Live From Moscow / 1979)
16 Crocodile Rock / Get Back / Back In The U.S.S.R. (Live From Moscow / 1979)

Wednesday 12:30am ET: Elton John Remixes and B Sides

We pulled all of the Elton John remixes and B sides together.

RadioMaxMusic 2: Classic Countdown Channel – Friday 10am / 1pm / 4pm ET – Elton John Top 100 with Ron Kovacs (Part 1 / 2 / 3)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click here to listen http://radiomaxmusic.com/classicpopup.html or here https://onlineradiobox.com/us/maxcountry/

Monday 12am ET: Feature LP: Elton John – Wonderful Crazy Night (2016)

Wonderful Crazy Night is the thirtieth studio album by British singer-songwriter Elton John. It was released on February 5, 2016. It is John’s first album since 2006’s The Captain & the Kid to feature the Elton John Band, and was written and recorded in 17 days. John’s long-standing percussionist, Ray Cooper, makes his first appearance on any of John’s albums since Made in England in 1995. This is Kim Bullard’s first appearance on keyboards replacing Guy Babylon, and Matt Bissonette replacing Bob Birch on bass.

1. “Wonderful Crazy Night” 3:13
2. “In the Name of You” 4:33
3. “Claw Hammer” 4:22
4. “Blue Wonderful” 3:37
5. “I’ve Got 2 Wings” 4:35
6. “A Good Heart” 4:50
7. “Looking Up” 4:06
8. “Guilty Pleasure” 3:38
9. “Tambourine” 4:17
10. “The Open Chord” 4:04
11. “Free and Easy” 3:55
12. “England and America” 3:51

 

Saturday 12am ET: Feature LP: Elton John – The Diving Board (2013)

The Diving Board is the twenty-ninth studio album by British singer-songwriter Elton John. It is the second of his studio releases since 1979’s Victim of Love without any of his regular band members. The album was released in the United Kingdom on September 13, 2013, and debuted at No. 3 on the UK album chart, his highest-charting studio album in that country since 2001’s Songs from the West Coast, and at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. It is also his highest-charting solo album in the United States since Blue Moves in 1976. However, after just eight weeks the album fell off the charts completely.

The album’s premiere single, “Home Again”, was released on June 24, 2013, the same day the album became available for pre-order. On August 28, 2013, a video for “Mexican Vacation (Kids in the Candlelight)” was released on YouTube.

1. “Oceans Away” 3:57
2. “Oscar Wilde Gets Out” 4:35
3. “A Town Called Jubilee” 4:29
4. “The Ballad of Blind Tom” 4:12
5. “Dream #1” (Instrumental interlude) 0:39
6. “My Quicksand” 4:46
7. “Can’t Stay Alone Tonight” 4:48
8. “Voyeur” 4:16
9. “Home Again” 5:01
10. “Take This Dirty Water” 4:24
11. “Dream #2” (Instrumental interlude) 0:43
12. “The New Fever Waltz” 4:38
13. “Mexican Vacation (Kids in the Candlelight)” 3:33
14. “Dream #3” (Instrumental interlude) 1:36
15. “The Diving Board” 5:55
16. “Candlelit Bedroom” 4:13
17. “Gauguin Gone Hollywood” 4:18
18. “5th Avenue” 4:22
19. “Home Again” (Live from Capitol Studios) 5:19
20. “Mexican Vacation (Kids in the Candlelight)” (Live from Capitol Studios) 4:27
21. “The New Fever Waltz” (Live from Capitol Studios) 4:42

Friday 12am ET: Feature LP: Elton John – Captain and The Kid (2006)

The Captain & the Kid is the twenty-eighth studio album by British singer-songwriter Elton John, released September 18, 2006. It is his second autobiographical album with lyricist Bernie Taupin, picking up where Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975) left off. The Captain & the Kid chronicles the events in their lives over the intervening three decades.

The Captain & the Kid reached No. 6 in the UK, a considerable improvement over the performance of John’s preceding Peachtree Road in 2004, which peaked at No. 21. Captain reached No. 18 in the US, before quickly falling off the charts. At concerts in early 2007, John made clear his dissatisfaction with Interscope Records’ promotion of the album, having threatened to terminate his contract with the label.

Interscope Records announced that there would be no physical single released from this album as the emphasis is on presenting the album as a body of work. However, a radio single would be released in “The Bridge”. The album’s booklet has photos of John and Taupin all throughout their career, and in the lyrics section, two songs are included, “Across the River Thames” and “12”, which do not appear on the album. “Across the River Thames” was available as a free download to anyone who played the CD on a computer. This is the first album created by John and Taupin to show them together on the cover. It was also the last studio album to feature Guy Babylon on keyboards; he died in 2009, and was replaced by Kim Bullard. This was also Bob Birch’s last appearance on any of John’s solo studio albums before his own death in August 2012 (Birch last appeared on the Gnomeo and Juliet soundtrack).

“Postcards from Richard Nixon” – 5:15
“Just Like Noah’s Ark” – 5:33
“Wouldn’t Have You Any Other Way (NYC)” – 4:38
“Tinderbox” – 4:25
“And the House Fell Down” – 4:48
“Blues Never Fade Away” – 4:45
“The Bridge” – 3:38
“I Must Have Lost It on the Wind” – 3:53
“Old ’67” – 4:01
“The Captain and the Kid” – 5:03
“Tell Me When the Whistle Blows” (live)
“(Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket” (live)
“Better Off Dead” (live)

Thursday 12am ET: Feature LP: Elton John – Peachtree Road (2004)

Peachtree Road is the twenty-seventh studio album by British singer-songwriter Elton John, released November 9, 2004. It was named after Peachtree Road, the northern part of Peachtree Street in Atlanta, where one of John’s four homes is located. This is the only album during his long career on which John has sole credit as producer, although on some previous projects he was listed as a co-producer, with Clive Franks (on A Single Man, 21 at 33 and parts of The Fox), or Greg Penny (on Duets and Made in England). It was recorded in January 2004.

“Weight of the World” – 3:58
“Porch Swing in Tupelo” – 4:38
“Answer in the Sky” – 4:03
“Turn the Lights Out When You Leave” – 5:02
“My Elusive Drug” – 4:12
“They Call Her the Cat” – 4:27
“Freaks in Love” – 4:32
“All That I’m Allowed” – 4:52
“I Stop and I Breathe” – 3:39
“Too Many Tears” – 4:14
“It’s Getting Dark in Here” – 3:50
“I Can’t Keep This from You” – 4:34
“The Letter” – 2:33
“Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher” – 3:38
“Electricity” – 3:29

Wednesday 12am ET: Feature LP: Elton John – Songs from The West Coast (2001)

Songs from the West Coast is the twenty-sixth studio album by British singer-songwriter Elton John, released worldwide on October 1,  2001. Many critics have said that this album brought him back to his piano-based musical roots.

Elton once again collaborated with long-time lyricist Bernie Taupin. Drummer Nigel Olsson returns to the band full-time. Tata Vega makes an early appearance as a backup vocalist and joined the EJ band later. This album marks the first time John and Taupin wrote together in person. From the album, “I Want Love” was a single and a Grammy nominated song, and “This Train Don’t Stop There Anymore” and “Original Sin” also became hits. None of the songs from this album hit the Billboard Hot 100, which froze John’s record of 31 years with at least one song in the Billboard Hot 100 (30 with at least one in the top 40). George Strait tied that record on the Country charts in 2011. Stevie Wonder, who previously worked with John for the songs “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues” and “That’s What Friends Are For”, played harmonica and clavinet on “Dark Diamond”.

“The Emperor’s New Clothes” – 4:28
“Dark Diamond” – 4:26
“Look Ma, No Hands” – 4:22
“American Triangle” – 4:49
“Original Sin” – 4:49
“Birds” – 3:51
“I Want Love” – 4:35
“The Wasteland” – 4:21
“Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes” – 4:52
“Love Her Like Me” – 3:58
“Mansfield” – 4:56
“This Train Don’t Stop There Anymore” – 4:39
“Your Song” (with Alessandro Safina) – 4:21
“Teardrops” (with Lulu) – 4:46
“The North Star” – 5:32
“Original Sin” (Junior’s Earth mix) (Edit) – 3:55
“Your Song” (with Alessandro Safina) (Almighty mix) (Edit) – 4:31

Tuesday 12am ET: Feature LP: Elton John – The Big Picture (1997)

The Big Picture is the twenty-fifth studio album by British singer-songwriter Elton John, released September 22, 1997. It includes four worldwide singles: “Live Like Horses” (a duet with Luciano Pavarotti only for the single version), “Something About the Way You Look Tonight” (released as a double A-side with “Candle in the Wind 1997”), “Recover Your Soul” and “If the River Can Bend”.

1. “Long Way from Happiness” 4:47
2. “Live Like Horses” 5:02
3. “The End Will Come” 4:53
4. “If the River Can Bend” 5:23
5. “Love’s Got a Lot to Answer For” 5:02
6. “Something About the Way You Look Tonight” 5:13
7. “The Big Picture” 3:45
8. “Recover Your Soul” 5:18
9. “January” 4:02
10. “I Can’t Steer My Heart Clear of You” 4:10
11. “Wicked Dreams” 4:39
12. “Big Man in a Little Suit”
13. “I Know Why I’m in Love”
14. “You Can Make History (Young Again)”
15. “No Valentines”

Monday 12am ET: Feature LP: Elton John – Made In England (1995)

Made in England is the twenty-fourth studio album by English singer-songwriter Elton John, released March 20, 1995 and produced by him and Greg Penny, the first time since Leather Jackets without Chris Thomas. It was dedicated to John’s boyfriend and future husband David Furnish. It was also dedicated to the memory of Denis Gauthier and Peter Williams. It was the last album to feature regular percussionist Ray Cooper until 2016’s Wonderful Crazy Night. Bob Birch became John’s full-time recording and touring bass player and continued that role until his death in 2012.

The song “Please” was covered by bluegrass queen Rhonda Vincent and country legend Dolly Parton for the 2018 tribute album Restoration: Re-imagining the Songs of Elton John and Bernie Taupin.

“Believe” – 4:55
“Made in England” – 5:09
“House” – 4:27
“Cold” – 5:37
“Pain” – 3:49
“Belfast” – 6:29
“Latitude” – 3:34
“Please” – 3:52
“Man” – 5:16
“Lies” – 4:25
“Blessed” – 5:01

Saturday 12am ET: Feature LP: Elton John – The One (1992)

The One is the twenty-third studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elton John, released on June 22, 1992. It was recorded at Studio Guillame Tell in Paris, produced by Chris Thomas and managed by John Reid. The album was dedicated to Vance Buck, and its cover artwork was designed by Gianni Versace.

The One spent three consecutive weeks at #2 without reaching #1 in the UK, being kept off the top spot by Lionel Richie’s Back to Front compilation. However, it was John’s biggest selling album in the US since 1975. The One was certified 2x platinum in the US by the RIAA.

Olle Romo collaborated with John and lyricist Bernie Taupin on one song, “Runaway Train”, on which Eric Clapton sings a duet with John. Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour makes an appearance playing guitar on “Understanding Women”. John’s long-standing drummer, Nigel Olsson and female backing vocalist Kiki Dee (who had duet with John on the hit song “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”) and longtime guitarist Davey Johnstone provided backing vocals on a few songs.

This was John’s first album project since his rehabilitation from drug and alcohol addictions and bulimia in 1990. This is the last studio album to feature his Roland RD-1000 digital piano. John started playing a Yamaha Disklavier piano shortly after.

“Simple Life” – 6:25
“The One” – 5:53
“Sweat It Out” – 6:38
“Runaway Train” – 5:23 (Duet with Eric Clapton)
“Whitewash County” – 5:30
“The North” – 5:15
“When a Woman Doesn’t Want You” – 4:56
“Emily” – 4:58
“On Dark Street” – 4:43
“Understanding Women” – 5:03
“The Last Song” – 3:21
“Suit of Wolves” – 5:37
“Fat Boys and Ugly Girls” – 4:13