After hearing his new album, “Wonderful Crazy Night”, executives at Capitol Records his longtime label dumped Elton John.
Elton John was floored by the decision. He was really proud of the “upbeat” songs on his first new album since 2013′s “The Diving Board” and felt sure the record executives would too but they didn’t hear enough commercial potential, and dropped the star.
Elton told Rolling Stone magazine, “I was gutted, I have to say, I knew it was a fucking good record.”
Elton eventually signed with Island Records and was thrilled when label bosses there seemed thrilled about the album, which is scheduled for release in February. “I can ask for no more,” he adds.
He is realistic about “Wonderful Crazy Night” and where it will stack up in todays record sales, “I follow the charts and know everything about this business. I’m not expecting to sell a million records.”
Elton’s longtime songwriting partner Bernie Taupin insists that Elton will never retire or quit making new music, like pal Billy Joel, no matter how much an album flops. “You can be Billy Joel and stop making records, but if you have that drive and passion, you’re going to do it whether it sells or not. It’s there inside of you, and if you don’t get it out, you’re going to explode.”
Taupin, who has provided lyrics to Elton’s melodies for decades, admits he was thrilled by the new project when his partner came to him with an idea about an album full of uplifting new songs. “I think he felt there’s enough pain and suffering in the world without my contributing to it’.”
Here is the link to our original story about the release of Elton’s album.
