100 Greatest Songs of the 70’s #28 Elton John – Benny and the Jets

Released: 1973

The journey from rock to pop star and vice versa leaves scars alright – ask Bruce Springsteen – and for Elton John the process carried with it no less baggage. Produced by Gus Dudgeon and co-written with his muse Bernie Taupin, his seventh album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was an ambitious double that spoke to both sides of his would-be character, from the truculent hard rock of Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting to kitsch oddities like All The Young Girls Love Alice and Jamaica Jerk Off.

It seemed however at this point that the singer could do no wrong, a feeling only underlined by his pirouette a few weeks after the album’s release into festive hit mode, Step Into Christmas making a first Yuletide appearance before subsequently turning into the perennial fodder of a million singalongs.

In terms of legacy however Goodbye Yellow Brick Road will always be marked out by Candle in the Wind, a ballad dedicated to Marylin Monroe which walked the line between schmaltz and sincerity. It’s b-side (and standalone American release) Benny and the Jets was a less ambiguous parody, John and Taupin swiping at the noxious culture which pervaded the music industry of the era. Dudgeon added in the odd swatch grafted from concerts to make it sound like it was live; John in falsetto presented his fantasy band like it was draped around a yacht, pounding out a piano muster that could have had it’s own dressing room. After that the destination became anywhere, because sometimes – just sometimes – as a star you get to have it both ways.