Three-Tune Tuesday: Elton John Impersonator

While on holiday in Zakynthos just two weeks ago, we were subjected to the nightly 'entertainment' at the all-inclusive hotel we stayed in.

It’s usually something I avoid but as this was an adult-only venue (no snivelling toddlers or screaming babies) we were subjected to a menagerie of singing impersonators, complete with accompanying garb.

No Elvis was comforting, Robbie Williams was passable, and some evenings there was a startling absence of anyone on the stage. Could it be there is a shortage of cheesy charlatans on the island?

...'as the sun sets the impersonators come out to play. Elton was down there... somewhere'...

The Elton John impersonator was not bad, with an obvious put-on voice that made me chuckle, and a barely audible terrible falsetto. I am quite a fan of Elton, especially his earlier work but most of that would not be performed.

“I am betting he daren’t have a crack at Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", I sneered at @bingbabe while waiting for our Irish whiskey nightcaps.

While 'Elton' promised 'Crocodile Rock' for part two we supped on alcoholic coffee, while looking out to sea and shivering a little. It was supposed to be hot but in June it can be chilly at night.

Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - 1973)

I never did find out whether Mr Impersonator attempted this but knowing there's a good amount of high notes and falsetto required I highly doubt it.

This is no 'Sacrifice' and requires some skill to sing, as well as play. I know..., I tried to play even the opening parts decades ago and it never sounded good.

As for the song, it’s probably my favourite Elton one, meandering up and down in the chorus with lyrics I could never decipher until the advent of the internet.

‘Where the dogs of society howl
You can't plant me in your penthouse
I'm going back to my plough’

I had a decent go at figuring out what Elton was chattering on about in the seventies and got most of it right. It sounds gibberish, but that fault lies strictly on Bernie Taupin.

Thank fuck Elton made some great music to go with the strange colourful lyrics.

Elton John – Song for Guy (A Single Man - 1978)

I did mention I prefer the earlier Elton content, particularly that of the seventies. While our impersonator could have chosen this one, it would have left him little to do as lyrically this track has barely any to speak of.

It did rather well in the UK charts, gaining a respectable #4 in the UK charts but was largely ignored in the US.

I remember this well, as I could almost perfectly play the intro which begins with the chord of D minor (the saddest key). Many a time I would walk into my local music store, crammed with pianos, sit down and start playing this.

Unfortunately, I would quickly run out of steam when the intro finished, and it was just as well that some large audience had not yet arrived for the rest.

…’talk about a pretend piano player’…

As we were sitting far away from the Elton Impersonator, I wasn't sure if he was playing the piano or simply using some backing track and merely singing.

Big kudos to him if he was a keyboard player; I know how difficult playing and singing can be, at least to start with.

Elton John – Philadelphia Freedom (Elton John's Greatest Hits Volume II - 1975)

Could this have been a single only? According to Wikipedia, it hails from a Greatest Hits compilation and 'II' at that. They did NOT hold back with those greasy sell-out albums in the 70's.

Mr Impersonator could have pulled this one off, but it does contain a few high notes that would have been tough for him.

It was much later in my life that I came to appreciate this track which unsurprisingly did very well in the US, topping the charts. The UK pundits took a dimmer view but it still managed to be a minor hit.

The soaring chorus attracted me to this one, which crescendos upwards while falling a little flat at the end.

...‘shine a light, shine a light…’...

It was enough to catch my ear and I do like its build-up.

No Bennie and the Jets, as this was an American hit again, and although I do like it, it barely made an impact in the UK.

Rocket Man would have been hard work for Mr Impersonator, and he would need a tribe of backing singers for it to have sounded decent.

We never did ingest part two as ‘Elton’ fucked around too long in his break period (a little like the real one), and so retired for the evening.

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