6 MusicWeek 06.09.13 NEWS MUSIC LEGEND GIVEN NEWLY-INTRODUCED BRIT AWARD AT THE LONDON PALLADIUM
TALENT n BY PAUL WILLIAMS
ir Elton John reserved special praise for his songwriting partner Bernie
Icon Elton pays tribute to Taupin S
September 16. “Don’t forget there’s a new
Taupin as he became the first ever recipient of a Brits Icon Award on Monday night. The music legend was given
the newly-introduced award at the London Palladium in an evening that included him performing some of his most famous songs and being interviewed by Dermot O’Leary. The results will be broadcast by ITV at 9pm on Friday, September 13. Sir Elton told the audience
that without lyricist Taupin, whom he first wrote with in 1967 and has since created a deep catalogue of classic songs with him, “I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you now”. “We’ve never worked in the
same room and we’ve never had an argument. It’s one of the greatest, most beautiful stories you could ever hear,” he said of their
album coming out called the Ironing Board,” he said. “That is because of the backlog of domestic chores because of his two children.” Elton returned in kind, noting
Stewart was bringing out an album “called Rarities of the songs he sang in tune”, while discussed their long-time, friendly rival. “We’ve been rivals ever since
Left to right is Virgin Records UK president Ted Cockle, BPI chairman Tony Wadsworth, Sir Elton John, Brit Awards chairman Christian Tattersfield and BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor
now 46-year working partnership. Among the night’s
performances was their 1971 breakthrough hit Your Song, which Elton described as “just the perfect love song”. “It’s got a beautiful feeling about it. It’s poetic. Bernie’s a very poetic writer.”
Other songs featured included
Rocket Man, Tiny Dancer, Philadelphia Freedom and The Bitch Is Back plus Home Again and Mexican Vacation from his forthcoming album The Diving Board, while Rod Stewart flew in from Los Angeles to present the award and the pair then
performed Sad Songs (Say So Much) together. “It’s no easy task finding the
right words to sum up this man and his amazing career,” said Stewart who jokingly made reference to his old friend’s new album, which is released by Mercury/Virgin EMI on
[we broke through] in a really good natured way,” said Elton. “For example, he was playing at Earls Court and he had a big balloon above Earls Court promoting his record and everything and I had it shot down. Then I played Olympia and there was a sign across the road saying ‘Elton John Olympia’. It was up for two minutes.” The Brits Icon Award has
been introduced by the BPI for artists whose work has made a lasting impact on the nation’s culture.
Mayer falls short of US album chart summit
BUT PARADISE VALLEY IS SINGER/SONGWRITER’S MOST WIDELY CHARTED LP TO DATE John Mayer Paradise Valley
GLOBAL n BY ALAN JONES
Singer/songwriter John Mayer’s fifth album Born And Raised was his most successful yet globally, debuting at No.1 in The USA, Australia, Canada, Denmark, The Netherlands and New Zealand in June 2012. Follow-up Paradise Valley follows suit this week, in Australia, Canada, Denmark and The Netherlands but falls short of the summit in his native America - where it enters at
number two, unable to unseat country star Luke Bryan’s Crash My Party - and New Zealand, where it opens at No.6. Despite these setbacks the
album - which debuted at No.4 in the UK last week - replaces Born And Raised as Mayer’s most widely charted album, also earning Top 20 debuts in Norway (No.2), Switzerland (No.4), Taiwan (No.5), Ireland (No.7), Sweden (No.9), Portugal (No.10), Austria (No.13), Italy (No.14), Flanders (No.17), Germany (No.17), Spain
Not quite the force they once
(No.17), Japan (No.18) and Poland (No.18). It also charts in Brazil (No.28), The Czech Republic (No.39), Wallonia (No.44) and France (No.49).
were, Travis’ seventh album, Where You Stand, nevertheless improves on immediate predecessor Ode To J Smith’s record everywhere that the two sets have charted. Matching its UK number three peak in Switzerland, Where You Stand also opens at No.6 in Germany, No.16 in Norway, No.18 in Austria, No.25 in Japan, No.32 in Spain, No.46 in The Netherlands, No.64 in Flanders, No.78 in France and No.100 in The USA. It also opens at No.63
in Ireland, where Ode To J Smith didn't make the Top 100 at all. Fellow Scots Franz Ferdinand's fourth album, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action should make multiple debuts next week, and opens its account by debuting in Japan at No.12. Passenger’s All The Little
Lights reaches a new peak in America, climbing 124-102. It remains at its peak (No.13) in Spain, and at No.5 in Australia - where it has been as high as No.2 - while climbing 52-36 in Germany and 47-39 in Flanders.
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