Here’s the title track from Elton John’s 1983 album Too Low For Zero, a comeback record for him following a string of poorly received releases that spanned nearly a decade.
This album also marked a reunion with lyricist Bernie Taupin, who had been sidelined for other collaborators during that dry spell. There’s no question that Taupin is a crucial ingredient in Elton John’s best work.
While the world has self-quarantined to stave off the dreaded coronavirus, I figured now is as good a time as any to immerse myself in the more innocent world of the early 1980s.
Yes, it’s the latest installment of my ‘Decades’ series, where I feature the albums from a certain year across four decades (70s to 00s). Last time out I explored 1973, which brings us to 1983. I was 11 years old and hadn’t started up much of a music collection myself, but so many of the artists I’ll write about were very familiar even then.
Here’s where I admit that my Elton John deep dive become a lot more like dipping my toe in the pool once I got past 1974. John has released 22 albums since Caribou and only three of them are represented on my playlist.
Did I listen to all 22? No, I did not. Taking my cue from Rocketman, I stopped with ‘I’m Still Standing’ and the 1983 album Too Low For Zero on which it appears. If he found nothing in the 13 albums that followed worth putting on screen, who am I to argue?
I’m far from an Elton John completist. I own only a handful of his albums and I’m really familiar with just two of them — Honky Chateau and Madman Across the Water.
One album I’d like to know better is 1983’s Too Low For Zero. It comes highly recommended by my brother-in-law and features the excellent hit singles ‘I’m Still Standing’ and ‘I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues’ in addition to today’s SOTD and the title track. Continue reading
Meet Me In Montauk 