40 Year Itch: Checking in with the Pinner Pop Star

"I could fart and reach Number 1"
-Elton John

   At some point in 1974, probably when Elton's Greatest Hits, Caribou and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road were all riding high on the US charts, Elton John's records accounted for 2 percent of the world's record sales.
   He spent much of March touring Australia and New Zealand
   His concerts opened with "Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" and closed with "Crocodile Rock" and "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting". Elton also introduced fans to a new song called "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me".
 


  Elton and his spectacular costumes ( like the black Lurex jumpsuit decked out in fluroscent balls) drew record crowds: 14,500 in Perth. 19,000 in Melbourne. 25,000 at Sydney's Randwich Racecourse . That's twice what David Cassidy drew.
  In April , after cancelling his British and European tours, Elton recorded "Pinball Wizard" for the Tommy soundtrack. In 1975 the single would peak at #7 in the UK .