I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Elton John Podcast

Episode 42 - Jewel Box Companion 1: Bernie's Letter

The first of six 'Jewel Box Companion' episodes. It's taken me a while to get to grips with all of the extra new material and versions that we have been treated to. I've

Episode 41 - Old Friends

It's the 50th Frenniversary! Elton's 4th album was a pick-and-mix, with three pastoral pop songs from the same mould as the Elton John Album, two spiky rock songs that k

Episode 40 - Tumbleweed Connection at 50 (part 2) with John Higgins and Peter Thomas

Here we are at last! This is the concluding part of the Tumbleweed Conversation I had with John Higgins, Elton's Legacy Consultant and Feature Writer at eltonjohn.com, an

Episode 39 - Tumbleweed Connection at 50 with John Higgins and Peter Thomas

I am very thankful to John Higgins,  Elton's Legacy Consultant and Feature Writer at eltonjohn.com, and Peter Thomas, founder of pmc-speakers.com and Elton audio expert,

Episode 38 - Tumbleweed Connection Covered

It's all go in Eltonland! The label have marked the 50th anniversary of Tumbleweed with a reissue of the album on green vinyl, plus an entirely unexpected companion 10" s

Episode 37 - 'Elton John' at 50 (Part 2) with John Higgins and Skaila Kanga

  Here's the rest of my track by track breakdown with John Higgins of the 'Elton John' album. The album lit a fuse. Four and a half months later, Elton exploded at the T

Episode 36 - Jewel Box Joy

Well it's finally happened. I've got pretty much everything I've ever asked for, and probably a bit more. In this quickie episode, I dip into the mind-bending rarities tr

Episode 35 - 'Elton John' at 50 with John Higgins

Enormous thanks to John Higgins - Feature Writer for the eltonjohn.com website - who came onto the podcast to share his love for the 'Black Album', and to tell me some of

Episode 34 - Fantasy Residency and More Songs They Gave Away

In this episode I apologise for my absence; make some excuses; review the autobiography, in a limited sense; talk about the way that the book, the film and reality intera

Episode 33 - Anett Murray Interview

This episode starts off with a Rocketman competition, courtesy of Paramount Home Media (here is the prize pack that's up for grabs) before the main event, an interview wi

Episode 32 - Mysteries of Elton

Welcome aboard the Mystery Machine, as we take a Flight of Fancy into the unknown corners of Elton's musical world. In this episode, I investigate the spookiest, dustiest

Episode 31 - Empty Sky at 50

Empty Sky, Elton’s debut album, and also his most honest, laid-back sounding set of songs, hit the shelves 50 years ago this month. It didn’t make much impact at the time

Episode 30 - Listening Session with Peter Thomas

You are invited to a very special listening session and conversation with Peter Thomas, the preeminent Elton John collector and archivist. Peter Thomas, in his role as f

Episode 29 - Top of the Charts with a ROCKET, ft. The Lambrettas

This episode counts down the 15 biggest non-Elton singles on Rocket, and in the process, tells the story of the label, attempts to define the Rocket sound (spoiler - ther

Episode 28 - Alternate Versions, Mixes and Edits

This episode revels in the obscure, picking up the curios in the discography, studying them, and making an attempt at explaining them. Here are the early versions, the er

Episode 27 - Breaking Down 'Passengers'

This is the story of Elton's personal redemption, through the prism of the song 'Passengers', the UK top 5 hit single with the unique songwriting credit - Elton, Bernie,

Episode 26 - Rare Masters Vol. 2 (Part 2)

In this episode, I finish going through the imaginary box-set. First, I detail all of the non-album tracks that were released between 1984 and 1990 (CD3 of the collection

Episode 25 - Rare Masters Vol. 2 (Part 1)

The Elton John Podcast with the unwieldy name goes where the record company dare not go - Rare Masters Vol. 2. We all loved the first volume when it came out, and many of

Episode 24 - David Larkham Interview

Another treat - an interview with David Larkham – the man who controlled the visual element of the classic albums, liaising with Steve Brown, Bernie, Elton and others to

Episode 23 - Bernie's Auction - What We've Learned

In this episode, I attempt to play (and sing in one case) the three ‘new’ songs from 1967 that have come to light via Bernie’s upcoming auction. I also go through the wor