The Elton John Style Parody Mystery

Questions & Answers with the one and only Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz, Weird Al's drummer since 1980!

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weird_el
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Re: The Elton John Style Parody Mystery

Post by weird_el »

Take Me To The Pilot was never a single and got played live a lot, but I can't think of an Al song that even remotely reminds me of it.

I'm discounting Candle In The Wind because that was a single -- a live version in 1986. I would count it if Al's style parody idea came before that.
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mrmeadows
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Re: The Elton John Style Parody Mystery

Post by mrmeadows »

Hmmm....I think this song was actually a single, but it was released in 1983 right before IN-3D came out, and the opening and chorus sound suspiciously similar to "Midnight Star"....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbDAp0lKolc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Genius in Maine
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Re: The Elton John Style Parody Mystery

Post by Genius in Maine »

While I love both "Kiss The Bride" and "Midnight Star", it had never once occurred to me that the Al song might have been inspired by the Elton song. If that's in fact the answer, great detective work, Mr. Meadows!
Last edited by Genius in Maine on Fri May 16, 2014 6:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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mrmeadows
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Re: The Elton John Style Parody Mystery

Post by mrmeadows »

Well, I'm a little skeptical because KTB WAS released as a single, but I do hear a similarity. (Also, KTB was released on the Too Low for Zero album in May of 1983, and MS was recorded in October of 1983...so while they cut close, the timelines seem to jive.)

We'll see what Bermuda says. :)
weird_el
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Re: The Elton John Style Parody Mystery

Post by weird_el »

Kiss The Bride was a hit single , #25 was its peak position. Tiny Dancer is a fan favorite. It's played at nearly every show. It was released as a single though , #42 was its peak position. I don't have a guess as to which Al song it may have inspired.
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Re: The Elton John Style Parody Mystery

Post by bermuda »

FWIW, I stopped listening to Elton around 1976 and never heard Kiss The Bride before following the YT link, and Midnight Star is not the song anyway.

I re-read the other thread where I first mentioned this, and someone did name one of the two songs in question! Gotta name them both before I'll confirm it. :)

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mrmeadows
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Re: The Elton John Style Parody Mystery

Post by mrmeadows »

Darn! Thought I had it!

Well, I passingly mentioned in the original thread that my gut feeling was "Cable TV" was the song Al intended for the style spoof. . .but I'm having trouble marrying it to a specific EJ song. Back to the detective work!
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Kevbo1987
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Re: The Elton John Style Parody Mystery

Post by Kevbo1987 »

Nature Trail to Hell? I know that was mentioned in the first thread.
Oh by the way, I've cracked the code.
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Re: The Elton John Style Parody Mystery

Post by bermuda »

The reason it's hard is because Al's song didn't end up with the vibe of the Elton song. You have to approach it like 'this song sounded like it wanted to be that song, but didn't even come close.' So finding two songs that sound similar is actually wrong. On the other hand, finding two songs that don't sound similar is probably also wrong. :)
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Re: The Elton John Style Parody Mystery

Post by mrmeadows »

bermuda wrote:So finding two songs that sound similar is actually wrong. On the other hand, finding two songs that don't sound similar is probably also wrong. :)
Thanks for narrowing it down. :lol:

Can I ask if this song has since been popularly identified as being a style parody of a different artist? Or no more clues?
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