Remember The Elton John Disco Album?

[garrybcoston]

He made a couple but I remember buying the "Victim of Love" Disco Album in 1979 that Pete Belotte (who helped Donna Summer to fame and fortune) produced. Here is a quote from an online source regarding Elton's quest to put out a disco record:

"As disco was gaining momentum Elton was eager to cash in on it's sound which appealed to his flambouyant nature. In 1977, he attempted to make a soul/disco album using producer Thom Bell, known for his work with Philadelphia International Records, but it didn't work out. In 1979, John remixed three of the tracks and issued them on the album "The Complete Thom Bell Sessions." A 12" single of "Mama Can't Buy You Love," went to #9 on the pop charts. They didn't sound half-bad but Elton was still not charting on the club playlists.
A chance re-acquaintance between Elton John and producer Pete Bellotte led to his next album in late 1979. When Bellotte approached John to record a full-length disco album, he took him up on the offer. This was providing that John's contributions would be limited to providing vocals only. Bellotte, who had scored a slew of disco classics, would not only produce but do all the writing (except for a one track) and much of the instrumentation as well. The resulting album "Victim Of Love" would be Elton's first real taste of disco success. The title 12" single did quite well in the clubs and a second 12" single of the old Chuck Berry classic "Johnny B. Goode" did nearly as well. The album alienated John from his rock purist fans but endeared him to the club set, most notably his fellow gay dancers. His, and MCA Records, commitment to the album was proven when they released a special promo-only boxed set of 12" singles of the entire album to club jocks. The limited edition numbered boxes, (mine's #-0062), are extremely rare and highly sought after.

Well, that's the scoop on Elton's disco pursuit(s).

Garry

[Marcio**]

Unfortunately the Elton John's marriage with experienced disco producer Pete Bellotte was a commercial and musical disaster.


from mp3.com:


Throughout the mid-'70s, John's concerts were enormously popular, as were his singles and albums, and he continued to record and perform at a rapid pace until 1976. That year, he revealed in an interview in Rolling Stone that he was bisexual; he would later admit that the confession was a compromise, since he was afraid to reveal that he was homosexual. Many fans reacted negatively to John's bisexuality, and his audience began to shrink somewhat in the late '70s. The decline in his record sales was also due to his exhaustion. After 1976, John cut his performance schedule drastically, announcing that he was retiring from live performances in 1977 and started recording only one album a year. His relationship with Taupin became strained following the release of 1976's double album Blue Moves, and the lyricist began working with other musicians. John returned in 1978 with A Single Man, which was written with Gary Osborne; the record produced no Top 20 singles. That year, he returned to live performances, first by jamming at the Live Stiffs package tour, then by launching a comeback tour in 1979 accompanied only by percussionist Ray Cooper. "Mama Can't Buy You Love," a song he recorded with Philly soul producer Thom Bell in 1977, returned him to the Top Ten in 1979, but that year's Victim of Love was a commercial disappointment.



:)

[garrybcoston]

Being an avid disco fan, "back in the day," I wouldn't say it was a disaster, but more of a disappointment for Elton; compared to his earlier success, it might be called a disaster.

I can't even remember the album or song, "Victim of Love," ever being played in the clubs. I bumped into the album about a year later, 1980, when record stores were frantically trying to sell disco albums (they were marked as low as $1.00 an album), and I was one of the ones buying up.

Anyhoo, we do know that he jumped on the disco bandwagon just like so many other rockers, etc. during that era; at its peak, disco robbed all other music genres whose artists and producers virtually had no choice but to "jump ship."

I kind of liked the album, especially the title song.

Garry

[neonlights]

I remember checking this out after hearing how awful it was but I honestly kinda liked it, too.. I just had to hear it for myself after finding out that Pete Bellotte and the Munich Machine guys were on it..

Not a masterpiece by any stretch, but not entirely bad either.. I thought "Thunder In The Night" was one of Bellotte's better productions..

Anyway, I recall reading recently that, to this day, Elton still regrets doing this album...

[kdavid13]

I'm also one of the few who really enjoys this album.

Being a huge DONNA SUMMER fan made me buy this one whether I liked it or not. In 78-79 ; I pretty much bought at least 3 to 5 albums a-week.

I recently bought it again on CD and although it is not earth-shattering ; I quite enjoy putting in the CD player and relive the good ol' days.

[Mr.Ree]

I thought it was a good idea for Elton John to experiment with different styles of music because he seemed to be moving too close to Manilow style schmaltz. I enjoyed his flirtations with folk/pop ("Pinky"), funk ("Yell Help!") blues ("Heart in the Right Place", "Stinker") electronica ("Too Low for Zero") and early flirtation with dance on "Wrap Her Up" and "True Love" (a duet with k.d. Lang). Maybe a few more listens to "Victim of Love" will change my mind but it sounds stiff and sterile to me, and John's singing sounds very uninspired....but give him credit for trying. I suspect his heart wasn't in the Thom Bell sessions either, but Bell drowned him in strings, horns and the Spinners to disguise that.

[johnnyd1788]

That's too bad it didn't flop; I really enjoyed it enough to buy it twice. lol

[Mr.Ree]

the couple of times I've TRIED listening to "Victim of Love", I couldn't help wondering if it might have turned out differently if Moroder had produced it, or Moroder and Bellotte co-produced it instead of Bellotte alone. My guess is that it probably would not have been different if the same songs were used (I sure can't imagine Moroder trying to re-do "Johnny B. Good". In case you didn't know, Moroder DID produce Elton before, on a remake of "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", this time done as a duet with RuPaul.

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

Originally Posted by Mr.Ree

the couple of times I've TRIED listening to "Victim of Love", I couldn't help wondering if it might have turned out differently if Moroder had produced it, or Moroder and Bellotte co-produced it instead of Bellotte alone.

I am a BIG Pete Bellotte fan! I believe he put-the-pretty into the Moroder/Bellotte productions. From studying his work, it seems his influence is most apparent on certain tracks. (ie: 3 Degrees "Falling In Love (with love again)", Roberta Kelly's "Innocent" and the "Zodiacs" medley, Donna's "Come With Me", "I Remember Yesterday"...) The more melodic, or richly orchestrated pieces, strike me as being more Bellotte, than Moroder.

Anyway... I'll admit, when it comes to his non-Giorgio involved productions, it's hit-or-miss. I didn't even keep my copies of the Elton stuff. The TRAX LPs were part-great, part-yaaawnn. Stainless Steel was probably a good idea, but when he got to the 10 minute mark on "Can Can" someone should have told him to "step away from the console"!. But the Marsha Hunt LP was brilliant from start to finish. (Listen to "I Know That He Knows" and you'll hear the seeds for Marathon's "I Wanna Dance", from TGIF.) The Keith Forsey influence was similar to Giorgio's, so that probably helped those projects.

[Mr.Ree]

Originally Posted by STEPHEN L FREEMAN

I am a BIG Pete Bellotte fan! I believe he put-the-pretty into the Moroder/Bellotte productions. From studying his work, it seems his influence is most apparent on certain tracks. (ie: 3 Degrees "Falling In Love (with love again)", Roberta Kelly's "Innocent" and the "Zodiacs" medley, Donna's "Come With Me", "I Remember Yesterday"...) The more melodic, or richly orchestrated pieces, strike me as being more Bellotte, than Moroder.

Anyway... I'll admit, when it comes to his non-Giorgio involved productions, it's hit-or-miss. I didn't even keep my copies of the Elton stuff. The TRAX LPs were part-great, part-yaaawnn. Stainless Steel was probably a good idea, but when he got to the 10 minute mark on "Can Can" someone should have told him to "step away from the console"!. But the Marsha Hunt LP was brilliant from start to finish. (Listen to "I Know That He Knows" and you'll hear the seeds for Marathon's "I Wanna Dance", from TGIF.) The Keith Forsey influence was similar to Giorgio's, so that probably helped those projects.

Stephen: I also thought that the album Bellotte produced for Sue Ann Carwell was outstanding. But I just haven't heard many of Bellotte's other solo productions....the album I mentioned, the "Love to Love You Baby" and Elton John albums are the only ones I've heard. And I once saw an album by the disco group Gonzalez that credited Bellotte as producer but I haven't actually heard it. But it appears the albums I've heard that he produced alone aren't as bold musically as the ones he did with Moroder.