This thoroughly dated affair is the result of a chance re-acquaintance between
Elton John
(vocals) and
Pete Bellotte
(producer). The artist was not fully satisfied with the initial results of the three-song
"Mama Can't Buy You Love"
EP, which became as much a product of
Philly soul
maverick
Thom Bell
as it did
John
. When
Bellotte
approached
to record a full-length
disco
album, he took him up on the offer. This was providing that
's contributions would be limited to providing vocals only. The results can be heard on
Victim of Love
(1979), a dismissible platter of Teutonic
4/4
rhythms and extended (mostly) instrumental indulgence. None of the seven cuts offer very much in terms of what
enthusiasts would not only have expected, but more importantly, enjoyed. Although the title track was extracted as a single in the U.S. and the disgraceful cover of
Chuck Berry
's
"Johnny B. Goode"
was issued as a 45 rpm in Europe, neither made much impact. In fact, with the exception of the
Friends
(1971) motion picture soundtrack -- consisting of mostly instrumental incidental scoring --
was
's lowest charting album to date. Although on a temporary touring hiatus, once
returned to the road, he wisely chose not to incorporate any of the material from the project on-stage. In fact, contrasting the blatant sonic excess of this release,
was concurrently performing as a solo act, backed only by longtime percussionist
Ray Cooper
. This "unplugged" setting restored some of the good will between
and his audience that
had disenfranchised. Thankfully, the artist (and the rest of the music world) abandoned
as the 1970s turned into the 1980s. His next effort,
21 at 33
(1980), allowed him to begin a long re-ascension on the music charts as well a restoration of his
pop/rock
leanings. ~ Lindsay Planer