Angel Tree
Just like Elton, Radio Elton is taking a break. You might hear some nuggets as the podcast celebrates its first birthday this month, but the next guest episode will be in September.
Meanwhile, Eltonjohn.world appreciates the positive feedback generated by the Fan Roundtable episode in July, and continued interest in our shows. If you feel there’s someone we should interview next, please email radio@eltonjohnworld.com.
Here’s a bit more to anticipate in September. . . .
The first of the month is the deadline for Goodbye Yellow Brick Road contest entries. As it is almost 50 years since the double set’s release (5 October, to be precise), Elton-John admirers have been invited to submit original art and literature which pertains to the album. Winners, to be determined at the Watford Museum, at the end of September, will receive cash prizes. It was hoped that the Watford Fringe Festival, opening at 11 different venues in Watford, England, on the 22nd of September, would include related performances. We recently heard from organisers, though, who say there have been no such applications.
Across the pond will be an event feting the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California. Elton attended the opening in 1973, and later played the white piano at the club’s lounge, On The Rox. That instrument, also used by John Lennon and Harry Nilsson, will be part of the Grammy Museum‘s display, The Roxy: 50 Years On The Sunset Strip, from the 15th of September through 7 January 2024.
In Beverly Hills, California (as well as online), Julien’s Auctions is holding its Legends: Hollywood & Royalty sale on the 6th, 7th, and 8th of September. Lot 1008 consists of a pair of Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation t-shirts. They are from the star-studded concert to benefit the charity at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on 11 October 1992. Elton, who performed Jumping-Jack-Flash in black leather pants, is pictured on one of the shirts, alongside Elizabeth. The second shirt offers a more abstract design, with a heart and hands reaching out toward each other.
Elton has said he’d like to ”get his hands dirty again” with Watford FC after finishing his tour. He wasn’t kidding, as Watford Chief Executive Scott Duxbury says Elton has been calling ”if not daily, every other day.” He also told the Watford Observer that once Elton returns to England from France, he will start coming more regularly to the training ground.
In 2021, Elton presented Ismaila Sarr with the Player of the Year award. When he came to the dressing room, Elton got to meet other Watford stars, including Joao Pedro. Pedro, who has since been signed by Brighton, wasn’t impressed, as he prefers Brazilian music.
Ruby Mazur, who created the cover for Elton’s Friends soundtrack album in 1971, has loved pop and rock music for as long as he can remember. The artist also designed the mouth and tongue logo for the Rolling Stones‘ Tumbling Dice record sleeve. More recently, he told ABC News that his ”life-long work of painting rock stars” is gone. He was about to open a new studio on the Hawaiian island of Maui, which has been devastated by a wildfire. Ruby, who lost that studio as well as his home, has been sleeping in a U-Haul van with his family. Cezanne, one of his sons, set up a Go Fund Me campaign, which has raised thousands of dollars.
In Overland Park, Kansas, the Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens hopes to raise $3 million to create and install Growing Kindness. The sculpture is to honour Jeffrey Owen Hanson, a visually impaired artist. It is also inspired by his poppy paintings. According to Fox 4, the late artist generated $7 million for the Elton-John-AIDS-Foundation and other charities. Since Jeffrey hoped to earn three million more, his parents and fans have created replica paintings to attain that goal for him.
Growing Kindness brings to mind Elton’s last birthday–when David Furnish gave him sprigs from acorns off one of their older trees. Elton loved the gift, and said that they would eventually wind up with a hundred oak trees!
