Original article by George Matlock – 12 May 2002
Would you believe some people haven’t heard of Elton–one young woman in China, at any rate!
Ej.w co-founder George Matlock visited the country, and noted that Elton rarely did . . . other than stopping at the Great Wall of China with some members of the Watford Football Club.
This Archive of the Month also features a picture of a ‘Songs From The West Coastal’ Chinese pirate copy of Elton’s album, along with ”a gem.” That’s when we used to award points for special items. While no longer the case, ej.w still values your contributions.
If the media are to be believed, or rather if the media believe too well what they reported earlier in the year, Elton John could be about to retire at the end of the year. After saying he was through with album recording, the media reckon Elton will hang up his Pinball Wizzard platform shoes.
We don’t subscribe to that point of view. However, if there is a place on the planet he should enquire, a place which is a bastion of ignorance about Elton, a place hungry for all things western civilization, a place representing one-sixth of the entire EltonJohnWorld’s population, it must be the good people of vast China.
In February, I was able to sample the work to be done to infuse an Elton fandom out there. On a fact-finding mission, I was amazed, when I asked a 28-year Beijing girl had she heard of Elton: “Elton who?”. I went on: “Er, the one who sang at Diana’s funeral.” The reply: “Ah yes, we know of her, it was terribly sad. Yes, someone played the piano but we didn’t get live coverage of the funeral, it was only highlights.”
Well, I quipped: “Some highlights!”
Could I be imagining it? People who have never heard of Elton nor his songs? I had met and befriended a lady whose name in English translates into Spring Crystal. My visit to communist China took place during their extended public holiday, a 12-day mammoth Spring Festival for the Chinese New Year.
Ok, she was not totally representative of the locals – a number of her contemporaries had heard of Elton. But this was still significant. Having been an Elton fan for decades, I was confronted for the first time in my life with a truly amazing discovery.
All told, Elton has neglected China. He may have been the first western pop star to perform in Moscow and Leningrad in May 1979, and that same month, about May 1 to be precise, Elton also became the first western rocker to perform in Israel.
But, apart from a brief appearance at the Great Wall of China with the Watford Football team in 1984, Elton has never performed on the mainland of China.
About 1.2 billion people have yet to hear the tones of fine classical piano, thumping rock and roll, and soothing ballads (which are a local staple of musical interest). Give them the Sad Songs and be sure the locals will lap it up!
China is a fascinating place. I asked for a silk Ming jacket to be made for me in a tailors. Well, when we went to find it, the place had been turned to rubble. A new tower block was to be hoisted into its space. I was told the tailors was here only three months ago. Well, that is typical of the pace with which the Peoples’ Republic of China is awakening from 50 years of socialism and embracing capitalism.
There is no shortage of people interested to fill auditoriums, and some plush places for artists to perform a gig.
One of the more amusing events of my stay in China was this little find. It is Songs from the West Coast. And herein lies perhaps the main obstacle to Elton and other artists tied to major record labels like Universal from performing in China. The recording is easily a pirate copy. The packaging was unconventional, but check out the title of the album. If it said Coastal, at least that would be spelled right. But no, it says Coastl – simply not a word in the English dictionary!
But then, I made use of the Johns, I mean washroom, in the Beijing Summer Palace grounds, and there found a sign which read: “Disabled for the Disabled”. Does that mean it is trashed?
Many record labels refuse to let their artists perform in China because the authorities are believed not to take seriously the issue of bootlegs and pirate CDs. China’s black economy is believed to produce an illiegal stock worth upwards of £1 billion a year.
While it is uncertain what Elton’s view is about performing in China, he doubtless would not deny a hungry audience. After all, Elton is an artist and thrives on adulation from audiences.
So, assuming it is the record company holding him back, things may be about to change.
China became a member of the World Trade Organisation early in 2002, after a 15-year campaign to earn commercial respect as something more than an easy location for cheap labour production. And with WTO status, China must now prove itself adept at dealing with dark practices such as commercial piracy.
If China is able to thwart the pirate trade, countering organised crime rather than bedsit type operations, it will make the possibility of artists such as Elton performing to a massive market of the 21st century. Let’s hope the great people of China get to see Elton before he really does retire!
Talking of the album Songs from the West Coast, ejw.com member and gem squirrel Cheryl Herman has just earned another Elton Gem for this contribution. Cheryl writes: “Oh, it’s carnival night. Original Sin begins with a carnival reference. But there is a real-life connection. Chippenham, an old Wiltshire market town between Bristol and Roman city of Bath in England, holds a carnival forever short of funds. In 1995, the organiser had a bright idea. Mr Savage wrote to as many big names as he could think of, asking them to contribute to an auction benefitting the festival.
“Few replied. But Elton did. With an autographed photograph from album The One and a short note. He and the HM Queen Mother were two who contributed to its success – it netted £20,000 for good causes.”
Reading this article again for the first time in 23 years, I reflected on what has followed. And this allows me to clarify a few things in the article itself.
I visited Beijing in February 2002 for the Chinese New Year.
I poked fun at the poor quality of English in a Chinese pirate copy of Songs from the West Coast and referenced a toilet which was in full working service but was called “Disabled for the Disabled”. It showed the inability of officials to get the English right in 2002.
I also pondered today on the sad fact Elton never appeared in China or Hong Kong for the Farewell Tour. Elton had played in Hong Kong many times, and for the handover ceremony concert in 1997 his management were asked to respect noise pollution laws and all audience must wear headphones! You call that a live audio experience?
Time Out magazine got excited that Elton would play the Farewell Tour in Hong Kong, according to a 2018 article. Yet the pandemic and pro-democracy protests probably put paid to that.
Elton had actually played mainland China in 1983 and again in 2012. But the second time probably also put paid to him ever being admitted again. In 2012, Elton dedicated a concert in Beijing to Ai Weiwei, a Chinese artist and dissident. The performance caused controversy and embarrassment for the Chinese government.
So it is a sad reality that Elton missed about 1/6 of the world’s population in the Farewell Tour. Sure, only 100K could have watched him in Beijing and Shanghai but over a billion could have watched him on TV at home with a 5-minute censor delay. Music piracy aside, this was a key moment to say farewell.