The Fox (Elton John album)
The Fox is the fifteenth studio album by English singer Elton John, released in 1981.
The Fox | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 20 May 1981 | |||
Recorded | August 1979 – March 1980 January 1981[1] | |||
Studio | Super Bear (Nice, France); Sunset Sound Recorders, The Village Recorder and Davlen (Los Angeles); Abbey Road (London) | |||
Genre | Rock, soft rock, pop rock, new wave | |||
Length | 45:48 | |||
Label | Geffen (US), Rocket (UK) | |||
Producer | Chris Thomas, Elton John, Clive Franks | |||
Elton John chronology | ||||
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Singles from The Fox | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Rolling Stone | [3] |
The album was produced by John, Clive Franks, and, for the first time, Chris Thomas, who would produce many more albums with John through most of the 1980s and '90s.
Five of the songs (noted below) were recorded during the sessions for his previous album 21 at 33. All B-sides released around this time were also from those sessions. The first single, "Nobody Wins", charted in the US at #21, but charted best in Norway, peaking at #10. The next single, "Chloe", charted even better on the Adult Contemporary chart at #16.
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Breaking Down Barriers" | John, Gary Osborne | 4:42 |
2. | "Heart in the Right Place" | John, Osborne | 5:15 |
3. | "Just Like Belgium" | John, Bernie Taupin | 4:10 |
4. | "Nobody Wins" | Jean-Paul Dreau, Osborne | 3:40 |
5. | "Fascist Faces" | John, Taupin | 5:12 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Carla/Etude" | John | 4:46 |
2. | "Fanfare" | John, James Newton Howard | 1:26 |
3. | "Chloe" | John, Osborne | 4:40 |
4. | "Heels of the Wind" | John, Taupin | 3:35 |
5. | "Elton's Song" | John, Tom Robinson | 3:02 |
6. | "The Fox" | John, Taupin | 5:20 |
Total length: | 45:48 |
Notes
- Heart in the Right Place, Carla/Etude, Fanfare, Chloe, and Elton's Song were recorded in August 1979 to March 1980 and produced by John and Clive Franks. Chris Thomas produced the other tracks.
- In 2003, Mercury/Universal and The Rocket Record Company reissued the album on CD, remastered by Gary Moore. The line-up contained no bonus tracks. On the 2003 reissue and remaster (and European) CD, Carla/Etude, Fanfare, and Chloe are combined into one track, making it a nine-track album.
- French and Quebec releases of the album included "J'Veux de la Tendresse" in place of "Nobody Wins". "Tendresse" was the original French version of the song which Osborne wrote English lyrics for, thus transforming the song into "Nobody Wins".
- After 1981, only "Chloe", "Just Like Belgium", "Nobody Wins" and "Elton's Song" would be included in Elton's Jump Up tour in 1982. While "Chloe", "Just Like Belgium" and "Nobody Wins" have never been performed again since that tour, "Elton's Song" was performed a few times on a solo tour in 1999. Since then, however, Elton has also stopped performing that song.
- However, since the album's release, Elton would perform "Carla/Etude" on his 1986 world tour with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and on subsequent solo tours, plus on a set of 2004 shows with the Royal Academy of Music Orchestra, making it the only song off the album that was performed up to 2010 on a tour with Ray Cooper.
B-sides
Song | Format |
---|---|
"Fools in Fashion" | "Nobody Wins" 7" (US/UK)[4] |
"Nobody Wins" (extended version) | "Nobody Wins" 12" (US) |
"Je Veux De La Tendresse" (French version of "Nobody Wins") | "Nobody Wins" 12" (US) |
"Can't Get Over Getting Over Losing You" | "Just Like Belgium" 7" (UK) |
"Tortured" | "Chloe" 7" (US) |
Visions: The videos from The Fox
Visions, released on VHS in 1982, is a video of all ten songs recorded for The Fox album. It is notable as one of the first long-form video releases of an album. The collection was also released on RCA's CED video disc and Laserdisc, a precursor to the DVD, but has not been released since. The video for "Elton's Song", which dealt with the story of a teenage boy's admiration for another teenage boy he yearns for, but who is too shy to confront his feelings, was excluded from the UK video release because the public school it was filmed in objected to the theme of the song. All the videos were conceptualised by Keith Williams and directed by Russell Mulcahy.
Personnel
Track numbering refers to CD and digital releases of the album.
- Elton John - lead vocals, backing vocals (1, 2, 4, 5, 9), piano (1-3, 5, 6, 8-11), vocal solo on "Breaking Down Barriers"
- Ronald Baker - backing vocals on "The Fox"
- Colette Bertrand - French girl on "Just Like Belgium"
- Carl Carwell - backing vocals on "The Fox"
- Chuck Cissel - backing vocals on "The Fox"
- Bill Champlin - backing vocals (1, 8, 9), tambourine on "Chloe" and "Heels of the Wind"
- James Cleveland - spoken voice and choir director on "Fascist Faces"
- Cornerstone Baptist Church Choir - choir on "Fascist Faces"
- Victor Feldman - percussion on "Fanfare" and "Chloe"
- Clarence Ford - backing vocals on "The Fox"
- Roy Galloway - backing vocals on "The Fox"
- Jimmy Gilstrap - backing vocals on "The Fox"
- Venette Gloud - backing vocals on "Breaking Down Barriers" and "Heels of the Wind"
- Max Carl - backing vocals on "Chloe"
- Jim Horn - alto saxophone on "Just Like Belgium"
- Roger Linn - programming on "Nobody Wins"
- John Lehman - backing vocals on "The Fox"
- Tamara Matoesian, now Tamara Champlin - backing vocals on "Breaking Down Barriers" and "Heels of the Wind"
- Reggie McBride - bass guitar (2, 8)
- Dee Murray - bass guitar (1, 3, 5, 9, 11), backing vocals on "Chloe"
- James Newton Howard - synthesizer (1-4, 7, 9, 10), vocoder (2), programming (4, 10), piano, Fender Rhodes (8), Hammond organ (11)
- Marty Paich - string arrangement on "Chloe"
- Nigel Olsson - drums (1, 3, 5, 9, 11)
- Gary Osborne - backing vocals on "Chloe"
- Mickey Raphael - harmonica on "The Fox"
- Stephanie Spruill - tambourine and backing vocals on "Breaking Down Barriers" and "Heels of the Wind"
- Alvin Taylor - drums (2, 8)
- Oren Waters - backing vocals on "The Fox"
- Richie Zito - guitar (1, 3, 5, 9, 11)
- London Symphony Orchestra - strings on "Carla/Etude" and "Chloe"
- Jeff Porcaro - drum programming (5)[5]
- Steve Porcaro - synth (5)[5]
- Steve Lukather - guitar (9)[5]
Production
- Producers: Chris Thomas (Tracks #1, 3-5, 9, 11); Clive Franks and Elton John (Tracks #2, 6-8, 10).
- Engineered by Bill Price
- Assistant Engineer: Karen Siegel
- Art Direction: Richard Seireeni
- Photography: Eric Blum
- Elton John Photo: Terry O'Neill
Charts
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
Certifications}
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References
- Rosenthal, Elizabeth J. (2001). His Song: The Musical Journey of Elton John. United States of America: Billboard Books. p. 203. ISBN 0-8230-8893-6.
- "The Fox". Allmusic. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
- Archived 16 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- Elton John - Nobody Wins, retrieved 23 June 2019
- https://www.sessiondays.com/2014/08/1981-elton-john-fox/
- Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- "austriancharts.at Elton John – The Fox" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Retrieved 29 October 2011.
- Library and Archives Canada. Archived 29 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 29 January 2012
- "dutchcharts.nl Elton John – The Fox" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
- "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original (PHP) on 10 September 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
- "charts.nz Elton John – The Fox" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
- "norwegiancharts.com Elton John – The Fox" (ASP). Hung Medien. VG-lista. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
- "swedishcharts.com Elton John – The Fox" (ASP) (in Swedish). Retrieved 29 January 2012.
- "The Official Charts Company – Elton John – The Fox" (PHP). Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
- "allmusic ((( The Fox > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
- "Album Search: Elton John – The Fox" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
- "Les Albums (CD) de 1981 par InfoDisc" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original (PHP) on 29 December 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
- "Major fight economics with quirky rock originals". Billboard. 12 June 1982. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
- "British album certifications – Elton John – The Fox". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type The Fox in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.