Here’s to the Next Time
Remember last summer when Elton played BST Hyde Park in London, England? The singer teamed up with Vodafone for a live augmented (AR) reality performance dedicated to frontline workers.
This is now nominated for a MusicWeek award: for Music Consumer Innovation.
Music Week‘s Radio Show category should also be of interest to fans as it includes Elton’s Rocket Hour on Apple Music 1. Meanwhile, Manager of the Year contenders include Rocket Entertainment‘s David Furnish and Rachael Paley. The trophies will be handed out on 24 May.
Talking of Rocket Hour, Elton is honouring International Women’s Day, which falls on 8 March. He played songs from his favourite female artists on the last episode. For International-Women’s Day last year, the Urgent Action Fund was on Elton’s mind. This organisation supports women, trans, and nonbinary activists in and around Ukraine. Elton also played songs from women, Arlo Parks and Chaka Khan among them.
Some folks have been blasting Glastonbury for only having one female–Lizzo–listed as a headliner. The others are Elton, the Arctic Monkeys, and Guns ‘N’ Roses. We think this is rather silly as there are numerous other women performing, even if they aren’t the main acts. How about Blondie, fronted by Debbie Harry; Carly Rae Jepsen; Kelis; Rina Sawayama; Maggie Rogers; Becky Hill; and, although she’s said to be reconsidering, Lana Del Rey? And there are still more names yet to be announced, which could be male or female, for the June festival.
The nominees for next month’s OlivierAwards have been announced. Among the Best New Musical contenders is Elton and Jake Shears‘ Tammy Faye, which played the Almeida Theatre in London, England. Three Tammy Faye performers have been recognised as well. Katie Brayben and Andrew Rannels are up for Best Actress and Best Actor in a Musical, and Zubin Varla has been nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical.
The nominees for @MastercardUK Best New Musical are: #TheBandsVisit at @DonmarWarehouse@SkysEdgeMusical at @NationalTheatre – Olivier#OVSylvia at @oldvictheatre
Tammy Faye at @AlmeidaTheatre#OlivierAwards pic.twitter.com/38XgrTzDtQ— Olivier Awards (@OlivierAwards) February 28, 2023
Over half a century ago, Elton john’s Honky Chateau album came out, and to mark the anniversary, an expanded release will be available on 24 March. Two of the tracks, Rocket Man as performed at Royal Festival Hall in 1972 and a session demo of Mellow, have already been previewed. Now there’s two more: Honky-Cat in concert at London’s Royal Festival Hall in ’72, and a session-demo of Honky Cat.
Just over 55 years ago (1 March 1968), Elton’s debut single was released. It was called I’ve-Been-Loving-You and the B-side was Here’s to the Next Time. They were part of the Rare Masters box set, which came out in 1992.
”Here’s to the Next Time” sounds like a toast, doesn’t it? Ahead of the 12 March Academy Awards, the Architectural-Digest has offered a sort of toast to Oscar winners–their residences, anyway–starting with Elton. While they’ve toured several of his homes, their favourite is his place in Atlanta, Georgia, with its mirror-backed lounge showcasing Elton’s Lalique and Baccarat collection.
Across the pond, London’s Lightroom, a four-storey-high space with the latest digital and audio technology, has opened with Bigger & Closer. This is David Hockney‘s immersive experience taking in 60 years of the artist’s work, and attracting visitors like Elton, Jools.Holland, Paul McCartney, and Tom Hanks.
You will recall that last week, we told you about a new edition of Specials featuring two composers who collaborated with Bernie Taupin, Melissa Manchester and Martin Page. There’s another one now–an interview with Cidny Bullens, who used to tour and record with Elton. And if you haven’t checked out the latest podcast, this episode is about Phil Greenfield, a road manager who has become known as ”the man who turned down Elton John’s job offer.”
