ELTON JOHN

A journey through the music business - from the mid sixties through to the end of seventies - as seen through Elton John's career.

The seventies saw the music publishing world of the sixties give way to charts and records. Tin Pan Alley songwriters replaced by singer songwriters, writing for themselves. It was a time where radio DJ's were as big, if not bigger, than the singers and bands whose records they were playing. Music producers were as important as the songwriters and musicians who created the music. The small family publisher who frequented the small street in London was gradually replaced by the independent record label that did everything from publishing to selling records.

Towards the end of the seventies all were swallowed up by the large corporate companies who saw music as commodity to be traded on the stock exchange. Elton John was just one of the artists that crossed the divide from the sixties to the seventies alongside David Bowie, Marc Bolan, Sandy Denny, John Martyn to name a few who all followed the lead of Lennon and McCartney and Jagger and Richards. It was, arguably one of the most exciting times in the history of the music business where change was a way of life.

Includes contributions from many people who played a big part in Elton's career including his manager John Reid, John Higgins, Rocket Records and Elton John's archivist) and Kiki Dee.