Elton John
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Overview
Elton John is a world-famous English pop pianist and singer, with over 50 Top 40 hits in the United States alone, and is one of the most successful musical artists of all time. His peak period was approximately 1970-1976, but he continued having hits into at least the 1990s (which is as recent as my source gets).
Elton has been openly gay since approximately the mid 1980s, and has been outspoken on a number of subjects.
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News
- 2007-08-01 Elton John Says We Must Shut Down the Net: sorry, Elton, but it's the only way some of us can get heard (or produce music) at all. I can't think that he has put much thought or research into this pronouncement, and that it is mainly a reaction against some genuine problems he perceives:
- "The internet has stopped people from going out and being with each other, creating stuff. Instead they sit at home and make their own records, which is sometimes OK but it doesn’t bode well for long-term artistic vision."
- Woozle says: This presumes that the internet prevents people from getting together physically; in my experience, the internet enhances and encourages "real-life" social contact. What is stopping people from getting together more is basically lack of resources (time, money for travel) and our lives being arranged in ways which increasingly discourage easy social contact.
- "In the early Seventies there were at least ten albums released every week that were fantastic. Now you’re lucky to find ten albums a year of that quality. And there are more albums released each week now than there were then."
- Woozle says: Seems to me that the problem there, to whatever extent it is real, is that the filtering mechanism which used to be in place – radio – has effectively been killed by media consolidation. The internet provides tremendously cheaper and more universal distribution, but the gold has a much harder time rising to the top -- or at least it has a harder time coming to Elton's attention. Does he listen to Internet radio any? (Also, hasn't every generation said that about the previous generation's music?)
- "The internet has stopped people from going out and being with each other, creating stuff. Instead they sit at home and make their own records, which is sometimes OK but it doesn’t bode well for long-term artistic vision."
- 2006-11-29 Sir Elton berates Australian PM: Elton John says "Up yours!" to John Howard for overturning a law allowing gay marriage
- 2006-11-12 Sir Elton: Ban organised religion: Elton John suggests a ban on organized religion, despite being an admirer of the teachings of Jesus Christ
- This solution isn't any better than "shutting down the internet".