February 13

I met Elton John because of Neil Sedaka. Sedaka tunes were all over the AM radio of my childhood and Sedaka himself seemed ubiquitous on the TV specials of the day. One day I saw Sedaka on some variety show singing the song Bad Blood.

Soon after, some elementary school friend had the Elton John’s Greatest Hits LP and was playing it on a school record player. “This is the guy singing with Neil Sedaka on that song Bad Blood.”  Oh? “Yup, he does that song Crocodile Rock.”

I’ve been collecting Elton John records ever since.

How nothing from Madman Across the Water made it on that first greatest hits record, I’ll never understand, but Madman has always been one of my favorite Elton John albums. I’d let it sit idle for quite a while, but a (kind of) recent release of a remastered Tumbleweed Connection CD contains a killer extended version of the song Madman. Enjoy!