Brad's World

Hi, I'm really sorry that I haven't had any news on here since I started this blog, but this is my first one. There are lots I have to tell you about my most favourite interest of all - Music!

Well, where should I begin? I think I shall tell you about how I became a fan of who I think is one of the best singers in the world - Elton John! I became an Elton John fan back in 1995! It may be strange to think of, but I actually started my love of his music all because of one thing, an advertisement on TV for his Love Songs CD, which had just been released here in Australia! I listened to the bits of songs on the ad and I realised that I wanted the CD so badly! I got that CD that very Christmas and I was very happy!

It was very sad to hear that Princess Diana died in 1997, just two months after Gianni Versace, both were friends of Elton's. I think it was nice the way he did Candle In The Wind just for Diana, now called Candle In The Wind 1997. When they put the funeral on TV, I watched Elton as he sung the new words to Candle In The Wind, I also heard another sound going on along with the piano that sounded like strings, but wasn't, as you don't see any other instruments. I feel there must be something on the piano itself that Elton must use to make all those good accompanying sounds, Elton still does that in his solo performances today with the piano with different sounds.

I was very pleased to hear about the single being released of the song, but I didn't realise it was going to be put on the Something About The Way You Look Tonight single, which doesn't worry me as I love Elton's music anyway. I have to admit, even though I like the studio version with the string arrangement by George Martin, I do prefer the live funeral version, which when the single came out, I thought it would have the live version as well.

Being in Australia, we basically get Elton albums and singles that are exactly like the ones in the UK, even though we don't get some singles that the UK does, which really annoys me. When Peachtree Road got released, I read on the Elton fan club news section that the UK would get the single release of All That I'm Allowed while America got Answer In The Sky, Australia released no single from that album whatsoever. I had another disappointment when the single re-release of Are You Ready For Love came out. No music stores here could get it, and when I tried to order it from the UK, I found out it was deleted (no longer available).

All that proves to me that if you want to be a fan of Elton John; you are best living in either the USA or the UK. Another difference I've noted as well is the fact that in Australia and the UK, 12 of Elton's original albums made it into the remastered CD series called The Classic Years, Australia and the UK got the Classic Years CDs with light covers and a yellow strip down the side with The Classic Years in it. Rather than doing what we (Australia & UK) did, the US released all those albums with slightly darker covers and a nice gold strip down the side with The Classic Years in it. In some ways, I do prefer the US release of all those CDs, but I also like the UK & Australian release of those CDs, just not as much as the US ones. The Classic Years version of Rock Of The Westies was the only album that had different bonus tracks, Australia & the UK got one bonus track, the famous Don't Go Breaking My Heart, while the US got to rare bonus tracks, I don't know the name of them!

Well, I guess I'd better stop here, but I promise I will try and add more to my blog soon, rather than waiting a long time to do it. Next time, I will tell you about my very first Elton John concert I went to and how I got to go to it! Yes, it was exciting, but that will have to wait. Bye for now.