The 20th of February 1973
Official U.K. Albums Chart results from Sunday the 18th to Saturday the 24th of February 1973
Cut-off for sales figures was up to the end of Saturday the 17th of February
Results counted from Sunday the 18th,
announced on Tuesday the 20th,
and broadcast on B.B.C. Radio 1 on Sunday the 25th of February 1973.
Elton John
Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player
At No.1, on the “The Top 50 U.K. Albums Chart” on my 1st Birthday, is Elton John with “Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player”.
I’ve actually got this album.
Not from back then (though that would be impressive) but picked up from somewhere at some point. Up until now I’d probably only played it once.
This is the one that had the hits ‘Daniel’, (currently featuring in the U.K. Singles Chart) which I used to hear all the time at one point in the late ‘80’s onwards, and ‘Crocodile Rock’ which I used to think was a bit cheesy. It’s gained more respect for me since then.
I think it will get played a bit more in the future…
I do like the early Elton output, and himself and Bernie Taupin were churning out a hell of a lot back then.
Although he famously didn’t hit No.1 in the singles chart for about 20 years, his albums regularly hit the top of the tree. In fact this was Elton’s first album to hit the top spot.
The title could have originated from a number of ways.
One of them is a quote from Oscar Wilde “Don’t shoot the piano player, he’s doing his best” which Wilde reportedly spotted in a saloon bar while on a visit to the U.S.
Another is a nod to a Francois Truffaut film “Shoot The Piano Player”.
The biggest answer references the line was actually spoken by Elton at a party Groucho Marx threw and Elton played piano at.
The story goes that Groucho constantly teased Elton during the evening eventually holding two of his fingers out and his thumb in the air as if imitating a gun and pointing at Elton as if to shoot him, at which Elton turned to face him with his hands up in a gesture of surrender and shouted “Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player”! (probably himself nodding to the first two theories above).
There’s also a nod to Groucho on the front cover in the form of the movie poster.
He’s not the only one to get a nod either.
A few tracks give a tip of the hat to other artists such as Van Morrison, Bobby Vee, The Rolling Stones, and Elton’s friend Marc Bolan.
For me, from here, this album still sounds fresh, an album by an up and coming artist who, even though he’d now successfully scaled the mountain of the U.K. Albums Chart, was still to reach his peak, and you can tell at this point he was still enjoying himself.
The album had been the highest new entry a couple of weeks before,..
…when it had shot like a bullet straight to the top of the charts on the 4th of Feb.
This week would be its third at No.1, and Elton could look forward to three more at that position in the next few weeks.
After that, the album will fall away, very gradually at first, then gain momentum before falling out of the chart altogether after the 7th of July.
It would resurface to see out the end of that month for a two week stay, before coming back for another couple of weeks in mid-August. After which there will only be a couple of week-long appearances in September and November to round off this current year.
He’ll be back briefly the following year, to see the album appear to see the end of February turn to March for three weeks, before a more substantial run, which would occupy 9 consecutive weeks from the last day of that month to the first day of June 1974, with another week tacking onto mid-June.
Elton’s final week on the U.K. Chart with this album to date will be one final week in July before the album falls away for good, with total of 42 weeks on chart.
I’ve created my own separate playlists for Sides 1 and 2 of this album with (I hope) the correct versions and the original track sequencing order for the U.K. release.
Side 1
Side 2
Many thanks go to the following YouTube Channels for providing the chance to hear this music once again.
Please show your appreciation by visiting their channel:
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the week of my 1st Birthday:
The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart Playlist for the day I was born:
Grab Your Binoculars, Come Follow Me
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