september 1999 issue no: 48 since 1988 · service, the web - and a special new service since...

HERCULES Hotline on 0906 888 20 20

For up-to-the-minute news about Elton, callers in the UK can call the

HERCULES Hotline on 0906 888 20 20Calls cost 60p per minute anytime


inside this issue:

News of Eltonshealth scare

The split withJohn Reid

Review: Solo Tour

Exclusiveinterview withCharlie Morgan

Announcing: First EverWorldwideConvention

September 1999 Issue No: 48

THE MAGsince 1988

This is no official tour schedule, as it also includes rumoured and unconfirmed dates.

Quarterly Fanzine. Issue 48. September 1999 27Hercules. The Elton John Fan Club2

Annual membership fee is £14 in the UK/Europeand £17/US$30 for the USA and Rest of the World.Please note that your renewal date is printed onyour address label in European formatday/month/year.

Membership passes are available from your localHERCULES department: send a small photo ofyourself when requesting your pass.

Please don't send enquiries or fan mail to the EltonJohn management, but to HERCULES Coordination.Letters will be passed on if necessary.

HERCULES is a quarterly publication released inMarch, June, September and December. In event ofcircumstances beyond our control, there is noguarantee for punctual shipment. It is published inEnglish and German.

Printed articles do not necessarily reflect the editors'opinions. All information is based on the best ofknowledge and belief. Reproductions permitted onlyby prior arrangement with HERCULES.

Member participation is always welcome. We arethankful for your submissions of any kind: reports,articles, photos, drawings, and suggestions. Pleasesend them to the Editor, Tammi Law or to the FanAdviser. Please understand that we cannot alwayspublish all contributions.

UK Hotline 0906 888 20 20 (60p per minute)USA/Canada Hotline 815/293 3843Web site http://www.eltonfan.com

COPYRIGHT: HERCULES

Deadline for Issue No. 49is 1 November 1999

No. 49 will be released 1 December 1999

Backcover: Elton at Halle (Photo: Jimmie Collins)

Watford’s new strip - withthanks to Peter Cook &Watford FC web site

FAN CLUB INFORMATION

Fanzine of the Elton John Fan Club

Issue No. 48SEPTEMBER 1999

THE MAG

CONTENTSFEATURESElton John & Hercules

at Halle ..........................8Heart in the right

place... Insight into pacemakers ................12

I don’t have much money, but if I didElton discusses his ‘mis-managed funds’ 10

Looking like a TrueSurvivor Part 2 of our exclusiveCharlie Morganinterview ......................12

Yet another overnight drivecontinuing JohnJorgenson’s tour diary..............................20

REGULARSBetween 17 and 20

Elton trivia & gossip ..18Club Information ............2Convention Reports ......18Kaleidoscope Eyes

EJ’s TV & Videoappearances ................14

Letters to the Editor......26Lyric Quiz ......................15News Bullets ....................4Small ads ........................24Take Me Down To

The Ocean - EJ web site reviews ....16

Tour Dates ......................27Watford Watch ..............24

HERCULES Chief Editor Tammi Law49 Horseshoe Crescent,PeatmoorSwindon SN5 5AX, U.K.Tel. +44 (0)1793 881 [email protected] Assistants:George MatlockBarbara TurnerDavid WrightUrpu Kallio (Hercules Nordic)Francoise Linden-Gilles(Hercules Francais)Design:Turnstyle Design

Translations:Sabine AsenkirschbaumerStefanie GanterMireille Mölbert

For subscription details,please write to your localHERCULES department or to HERCULES Coordinaton:

HERCULES Coordinationc/o Stephan HeimbecherOrleansstr. 59D-81667 München, GERMANYTel. +49 (0)89 48900369Fax +49 (0)89 [email protected]

HERCULES Fan Adviserc/o Mireille MölbertZaunweg 11D-80805 München, GERMANYTel. +49 (0)89 [email protected]

HERCULES USA/Canadac/o Sharon KalinoskiP.O. Box 398La Grange, IL 60525, [email protected]

HERCULES U.K.P.O. Box 315RichmondSurrey TW9 3QX, [email protected]

HERCULES Beneluxc/o Arjen BuikstraSav. Lohmannstr. 1NL-3214 XA ZuidlandTel. +31 (0)1881 [email protected]: Tim Blezer

HERCULES Italyc/o Luca ZerbiniVia Scheiwiller n.9/AI-20139 Milano, [email protected]

TOUR DATESPlans & RumoursPlans & RumoursSOLO PIANO TOUR EUROPE4-Sept-99 ..................................Maidstone, Kent, UK. Leeds Castle (open air)5-Sept-99 ..................................Maidstone, Kent, UK. Leeds Castle (open air)6-Sept-99 ..................................Maidstone, Kent, UK. Leeds Castle (open air)

SOLO PIANO TOUR USA23-Sept-99 ..............................................................................Jacksonville, FL. Coliseum

24-Sept-99 ................................................Atlanta, GA. Phillips Arena28-Sep-99 ................................................................Springfield, IL. tba29-Sep-99 ........................................Rockford, IL. Metro Center01-Oct-99 ........Champaign-Urbana, IL. Assembly Hall02-Oct-99 ..............................................................................Moline, IL. ................................Mark Of The Quad Cities Arena

05-Oct-99....................................................Madison, WI. tba15-Oct-99 ....................................................New York, NY

..............................Madison Square Garden 16-Oct-99 ........................................New York, NY.

..........................Madison Square Garden

SMASH HITS / MISCELLANEOUS21-Sept-99 ............................Kansas City, KS. ..........Missouri Municipal Auditorium, ............Smash Hits Tennis Tournament25-Sept-99 ................................Las Vegas, NV............................MGM Grand Arena, ..................Andre Agassi's Grand Slam

ELTON JOHN & TINA TURNER30-Dec-99..................................................Las Vegas, ....................NV Thomas & Mack Center

TOUR 200018-June-00 Prague, Czech Republic, t.b.a.............(postponed from June 30, 1999)

Please note that if you have paid yourMembership Fee by Credit Card, yourcard will automatically be chargedagain for the renewal fee, at the end ofyour membership year. If your card hasexpired in the meantime, or if youhave switched companies, pleaseforward your new Credit Carddetails to HerculesCoordination in time for yournext renewal.

1999~2000Smash Hits Auction Dec.'98(Photo: Sharon Kalinoski)

FUNERAL FOR A FRIENDHERCULES is very sad to report the

passing of a very dear friend ofmany Hercules members and staff,

as well as many Elton fansworldwide. Keith Levine of New

York City died on August 22, 1999at the young age of 38. He has left

many broken hearts among hisfriends. We will always rememberall he did for us, in getting together

EJ fans on many occasions in the1980's and 90's.

Keith, you will be missed so much.

Hercules. The Elton John Fan Club26

AND IT’S TIMES LIKE THESE WHEN WE ALL NEED TO HEAR THE RADIO.....

When I was asked to come on a radio show recently, Imentioned to them Hercules was the name of Elton'sinternational fan club, when talking about Elton's fullname. This was a 30 minute long interview on one ofFrance's biggest radio networks - France Inter, on a showcalled "Hexagonal Pursuit".

I was interviewed as a fan and a specialist of Elton'scareer. The journalists were very impressed about howknowledgeable I am on this subject! They couldn't findany question I couldn't answer. It was a great experience.

Olivier Flous, FranceEd’s note: Thank you Olivier for remembering

Hercules. Many fans go to pieces when asked about Eltonby media. If you're on radio, tv, or a newspaper, pleaseremember to mention Hercules like Olivier did.

PUFFING LIKE A GRAND OLD LADY...

Hello. I love the new design and the name for theHercules quarterly, now called "The Mag"! Thank you for ajob well done. I did find one tiny error, though. In the lastissue (#47), there was an article about Dusty Springfield("You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" by GeorgeMatlock) which contained an omission that I think you andEJ's fans might have missed. Mr. Matlock stated that Dustyappeared as a background singer on only one album(Tumbleweed Connection). I guess he forgot about whenshe, along with Clyde King, Sherlie Matthews, and JessieMae Smith, sang background vocals on "The Bitch Is Back"(Caribou). I'm sure that it was an honest mistake, but onethat needed to be acknowledged. Who, besides me, takesthe time to read and remember every little detail of thealbum credits anyway? Well, I'm looking forward to thenext issue of "The Mag" with many more to come.

Dixie Lily (Ed’s note: yes, really!), USA

LETT

ERS

TO T

HE E

DITO

R

Send your letters to Tammi Law, Editor (address onpage 2) or e.mail her at [email protected].

1) Tonight 2) I guess that's why they call it the blues3) Candle in the wind 4) Curtains 5) Runaway train 6) Latitude

7) Better off dead 8) I never knew her name 9) Love lies bleeding 10) Club at the end of the street11) Amy12) Hymn 2000

LYRIC QUIZ ANSWERS

I thought the last issue ofHercules was absolutely brilliant.It now has an even moreprofessional look and it’scertainly worthy of the musicalsuperstar we all love so much.Keep up the good work!

D Hewett, UK

Nice job on the new Magwith better paper and colorcover. My preference as an EJfan is the Hercules Mag over anyothers available out there, whichat present have no direction.Hercules contents are what EJfans really want to read. Onceagain, good job.

Fooska, USA

Love the new look. I drooledwhen I took The Mag out of themailing envelope. Impressiveand a big boost for HERCULES.Very pleasing to the eyes andeasier to read. Graphics arealways a good reference pointwhen trying to quickly find thetext again. Looking forward tomany more issues. Keep thoseprinting presses rolling!

Reggie Zippo, USA

Thank you so much for thegreat coloured magazine issuefor June 99. I appreciate youtaking the time, and lookforward to hearing more aboutSir Elton soon!

E Perry, N Ireland

new-lookHerculesFanzine

Strongreaction to

Well, it seems as though youlove your new-look Herculesfanzine! We received a greatresponse from you after the Juneissue of The Mag was published- here are just a few of yourcomments...

ALWAYS let us know the expiry date of the card, and thecardholders name.

ALWAYS state your membership number if you send a cheque toHercules, or pay into one of the Club accounts.

PLEASE REMEMBER...

The big news this season hasbeen Elton’s health scareand heart operation - he

certainly had us all worried for awhile! But the good news is thathe is well on the way to a fullrecovery, and has alreadyreturned to work, performing aprivate concert in Florida justweeks after the surgery. Eltonalso plans to record a new studioalbum this year, for release in theSpring. See our news pages formore information about thepacemaker operation.

Hercules organised a "Get wellsoon book" on behalf of fans -and we received many letters,cards and presents from you forElton. All of your get well wisheswere forwarded to EJ via hisoffice.

There are many benefits ofbelonging to Hercules - and oneof them is the regular meetingsand conventions which weorganise. These can vary from justa few like-minded people havinga chat over a drink - to muchlarger conventions withcompetitions and raffles etc. SomeUK members decided to carry onwith their gathering at a venueclose to Leeds Castle, althoughElton’s concert planned for thatevening had been cancelled justtwo days earlier due to his illness.You can read details of this get-together, along with others onpages 18 and 19. Also in thisissue we announce our plans forour first ever international fanconvention.

We realise that the majority ofpeople who read The Mag do nothave access to the Internet, and itcan be a bit frustrating to keepreading about our Web site forthose who have not yet seen it.However, as it is part of theservice which Hercules provides,we feel that it is important thatyou are made aware that the Web

site exists. The quarterly fanzine isa great way to catch up on Elton’srecent news stories, collector’sarticles, and to read about fellowEJ fans experiences over the years,but if you need more immediateinformation, please read page 23for more details.

We are delighted to announcenew, better, discounts forHercules members on Eltonmerchandise from Wrap It Up!From August 1, 1999, fans canenjoy a universal 10% discounton orders they place - just quote"Hercules Universe" whenordering from Alan.

Thanks for all your letters andopinions about the new-lookfanzine - it appears you really likeit! You can read some of thecomments I received on page 26.For the next issue - I would like tohear from you about a certaintopic; over the years I know lotsof you have seen Elton in concertmany times. I would like to hearabout your thoughts on Elton’sperformances during his well-documented and self-confessedyears of drug abuse.

Do you think the drugsaffected his performances andhave his concerts improved sincehe recovered from his addictions?I, for one, remember coming outof a few shows in the late ’80swondering whether he haddeliberately sung a certain versetwice…….! I’ll print some of thereplies in the next issue - I lookforward to hearing from you. Theaddress to write to is on page 2.

And finally, we have two newmembers of the Hercules team, tooffer you an even better service!For French-speaking fans, wehave Francoise Linden-Gilles, andUrpu Kallio, who lives in Finland,has become the Nordicrepresentative.

Quarterly Fanzine. Issue 48. September 1999 3

(photos: C Hochmuth, June 1999)

FROM THE EDITOR...


Fan and Club Member David Wright gives us his views, with someinteresting facts, about Elton's recent heart operation.....

Well, didn’t Elton give us all a scare? When the Italian concerts werecancelled due to heat-stroke my first reaction was “silly so-and-so, he’sold enough and ugly enough to know how much sun and heat he cancope with!” When he then had an ear infection I began to wonder ifsomething was really wrong. Then the pacemaker operation wasannounced and I am sure many fans were seriously worried. The mediacoverage I saw gave some of the information but didn’t answer all thequestions I wanted to ask. So I spoke to one the world’s leading heartsurgeons, Dr Tony Rickards, for some help with the following facts:

1. Elton has had a long history ofalcoholism, cocaine addiction andbulimia but this is not likely to havecontributed to his recent scare.

2. If his heart problem had notbeen diagnosed, he would havestarted fainting with the dangerof death.

3. I cringed at the thought of localanaesthetic for such an operation,but apparently this is normal!

4. I was concerned that Elton had gone back to Nice when his Windsor home is very closeto the London clinic. However,there are complications withless than 1% of pacemakerpatients.

5. Dr Rickards has patentedseveral pacemakers himself but Elton is not carrying one of his.

6. We were told that a simplemovement such as brushing hishair could dislodge the wires.This brought images of himtiptoeing around forever, but it isonly a concern for the first 48hours.

7. A pacemaker lasts for 8 to 10years and would then needreplacing.

8. And now the big one.Pacemaker patients can expect toreturn to a normal life quitequickly. It concerned me thatElton does not lead a normal life!He has an incredibly busyschedule and hasn’t stoppedtouring for several years. Wehave seen backstage footage ofhim fighting for breath. On top ofthat there have been film scoresand musicals. Whilst composingand recording are probably nottoo stressful, performing isphysically very demanding. Itseriously worried me that if hedoesn’t slow his schedule downhe could finish himself off. Shouldhe slow down or stopperforming? Dr Rickards says“Let him carry on.”

9. Elton’s life expectancy is nodifferent than it was before.

HEART IN THE RIGHT PLACE...

I would like to express mythanks to Dr Rickards for his help.

Also, if Elton reads this andthinks I am being intrusive orcritical of his lifestyle, I hope I amnot. Like all fans, I was simplyconcerned and, it goes withoutsaying I wish him all the very bestfor a full recovery.


Full details of the following news items have appeared on our Hotline and Web-site

NEWS BULLETS...

News of Elton’s illnessspread fast, and within 24hours of having an

operation to install a pacemakeron July 9th, we were pleased tosee EJ walking out of hospital,and laughing and joking with thewaiting press reporters thefollowing morning.

The hour long procedure was,by all appearances, a success. "Ifeel very well," Elton toldreporters awaiting him in front ofLondon’s Wellington Hospital."I'm a bit stiff, a bit sore, buteverything went really well. Itcame as a bit of a shock, but theoperation was a simpleprocedure, the only thing I reallyregret is cancelling my shows.''(referring to the open-air UKshows, which were subsequentlyre-scheduled for the beginning ofSeptember)

What was first thought to bethe result of heat stroke, then anear infection, finally wasdiagnosed as an irregularheartbeat. "Literally, I was on theplane to David and Victoria'swedding, but I was ill and had tohave some tests," Elton said. "ButI was given the all-clear so wentback to France, with medicationfor an ear-infection."

“Then I was playing tennis inthe afternoon when David(Furnish) suddenly rushed downto the court and said ‘You haveto stop playing, your doctor’sbeen on the phone - there’s aproblem with your heart’..... so Iimmediately flew back tohospital in London.”

An official statement fromElton said the only downside ofwearing a pacemaker "is that Ihave to carry a card explainingwhy I set off the alarms when Iwalk through airport security. Iwill resume a normal lifestyleafter a couple of months rest. Lifewill get back to normal."

Elton promised to reschedule

every postponed show. "Mydoctors have ordered me to restfor the rest of the month and Iwill not therefore be able to playat any of the concerts plannedthis month'', Elton explained.

On behalf of all his fansHercules wishes Elton a full andspeedy recovery!

John Barrett, the charge nursemanaging the cardiac floor ofWellington Hospital in northLondon, said Sir Elton was fineand there were no problems withthe operation. "I would expect nocomplications. The procedure isvery simple and less than 1% ofpatients get a complication."

Sir Elton: "Thank God for theBritish medical system"

The BBC's Lisa Holland: "Heis now well on the way torecovery. Sir Elton has beengiven strict orders not to makeany sudden movements to ensurethat the wires attached to hisheart become properlyembedded. He will be unable toplay tennis or play the piano forat least two weeks, because hemust not lift his left arm above

his shoulder. Doctors have givenhim a two-month convalescenceperiod in total."

Mr Barrett said Sir Elton mustrest to allow the wires attachedto the pacemaker to becomeembedded inside his heart.General movements, even thoseas simple as brushing your hair(!!) could dislodge the wires, headded. An incision would havebeen made in the left side of thechest before wires were insertedinto the heart. The wires are thenattached to the battery-operatedpacemaker.

Sir Elton described theoperation in which hispacemaker was fitted: "It was a 2-hour operation, but I wasconscious for the last 25minutes.... but I was in no painwhatsoever. I could chat to thesurgeons as they finished."

The life expectancy of apacemaker is between eight and10 years.

See page 25 for moreinformation on Elton'spacemaker

DON’T GO BREAKING MY HEART...

Elton waves to fans as he leaves hospital

Hercules’ regular WatfordFC reporter, DavidWright, looks forward to

the new season;After a shorter summer

break than ever, Watfordkicked-off their first season inthe top flight for 11 years inAugust. Last season they playedthe likes of Bury, Stockport andQPR. This season it will beArsenal, Manchester Unitedand Chelsea.

Whilst some of their newopponents have been spending£10 million or more on oneplayer, manager Graham Taylorhas spent nothing – not a bean!He has brought three newplayers in by free transfer, butno-one who will set the footballworld alight. Elton has beentrue to his word in not spendinghis millions.

In these big money days ithas been a fantasticachievement to get promoted,but it will be an even biggertask to stay up. Hopefully,Watford FC will not be

relegated in record time, buteven if they do go back down,they will be richer for theexperience, both financiallyand in footballing terms, andI’m sure they will bouncestraight back for another go.

And Elton himself has said; “I think anyone who saw me

on television when we won theplay-off final on 31 May willhave no doubt about whatplaying in the Premiershipmeans. For those who didn'tsee it, yes, I got a bit emotional,and rightly so. This has been amassive achievement forWatford.

Yes, a big percentage ofclubs who go up come straightdown again, but since whenhave Watford, Graham Taylor,our players and our fans everbeen put off by a challenge?We can do our best to run aprofessional, welcomingorganisation. We have alwaystried to come at things from aslightly different angle and ourchallenge now is to see if wecan stand out again -irrespective of where we are inthe table.”

W


WWWatfordatch

SMALL ADSEJ PHOTOS FOR SALE

For sale: 10 beautiful photos(EJ close-ups) taken at theLudwigslust concert in June 99,price: DEM 20 (includingpostage). Brigitte Obermaier,Ehegarten 4, D-88494 Neumarkt– St. Veit, GERMANY,+49 (0) 8722 / 1498.

END OF SEASON SALE:Vinyl albums, 7" & 12"

singles; some rarities; from my EJcollection. Request a full listfrom: Mireille Mölbert, Zaunweg11, D-80805 Munich,GERMANY; e-mail:[email protected]

LOOKING FOR EVERYTHING ABOUT ELTON JOHN

Esp. Recent videos from 1990on (TV appearances, interviews,concerts), newspaper clippings,and so-called rare EJ-songs (b-sides, demo versions etc.): EstherKapohl, Dostojewskistr. 17, D-65187 Wiesbaden,DEUTSCHLAND.

LIST OF ELTON JOHN ITEMS FOR SALE

Small, but beautifully formedlist of Elton John items for sale -including 7", 12", LPs, CDS,books and other memorabilia.Please write to; Stuart Plant,22,Paris Road, Scholes,Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, UK ore.mail:[email protected]

WANTED - ELTON CONCERT PHOTOS

... of the Wembley Stadiumconcert in June 98 (without BillyJoel). Please write to: MarkSnape, 6 Dundonald Road,Ramsgate, Kent CT11 9TB, UK.


These news items have appeared on our Hotline and Web-site

NEWS BULLETS...ELTON BACK ON STAGE!

Elton gave his firstperformance since he was fittedwith a heart pacemaker lastmonth. According to spokesmanSimon Prytherch, Elton gave aprivate concert in Orlando,Florida, on August 14, 1999. "Heplayed a full solo set for 3,500people. The concert wentbrilliantly," Prytherch said,quoting EJ as saying: "It's been awhile since I played. I'm a littlerusty, but I hope you like it."

NEW ALBUMAccording to unconfirmed

sources, Elton and the band willbe back in the studio later in1999 to record a new studioalbum expected to be released inspring 2000. Elton will take a oneyear break from touring - exceptfor the five postponed UK soloshows late August/earlySeptember. Be prepared to seehim back on the road with theband in June/July 2000.

SHOWS POSTPONEDElton's solo shows in Linz,

Austria (June 27) and in Prague,Czech Republic (June 30) werepostponed to year 2000. Thelatter, because of rumours ofpoor ticket sales, wasrescheduled to June 18, 2000.Also postponed (for healthreasons) were Brescia, Trieste,Graz, Madrid and UK.

CANDLE IN THE WIND RE-INTRODUCED

Elton finished the second legof his US Solo Tour 1999 at theProvidence Civic Center June 19.He experiments on the set listevery other show. Elton'sreported rehearsing Amazes Me,Come Down In Time andBelieve. Surprisingly, Eltonreplaces The Last Song withCandle In The Wind at University

of Wyoming's Arena-Auditoriumon June 1 - a benefit show foranti-hate organisations. It's thefirst time he's performed Candlesince Princess Diana's funeral.

SATELLITEElton's solo concert in Lucca,

Italy July 2, was broadcast live onthe national radio RAI RADIO 2.It proved to be the last Italianshow before his heart operation.

FANS ARRIVE AT CANCELLED GIG

Media coverage of Elton’s illhealth was so extensive that onlynine people arrived at LeedsCastle, UK, unaware that thelong-awaited performances werenot going ahead. The open-airgigs had only been postponed 2days before. Castle special eventsmanager Nick Day said: "We hadfour people on the Saturday,three on Sunday and two onMonday, all from overseas.

ELTON KNOWS THE SCORE!Comedy movie The Muse was

released in USA on August 20. Ithas an Elton music score, andHercules sneaked in to offer apreview in the June 1999 fanzineedition.

AIDS FOUNDATIONIn June, Elton took heat from

AIDS activists who want him toaccount for money raisedthrough EJAF. The AIDSAccountability Project says it'sbeen bugging EJ for 3 years forforms required by the U.S. taxauthority, the Internal RevenueService. An Elton representativeis quoted saying: "We haveaccountants who deal with thesethings and I'm sure they justhaven't gotten the forms yet."

Meanwhile, attorneys for EJAFfire back at the AIDS activists.

According to Sarah McMullen,the EJAF's publicity director,Michael Petrelis of the AIDSAccountability Project insinuatedEJAF failed to provide tax recordsafter he requested them numeroustimes. US law requires charities tomake tax returns available to thepublic upon request.

"(EJAF) has always fullycomplied with this law,"according to a statement releasedby EJAF. McMullen claims EJAFfirst found out about Petrelis'request for the records a weekbefore, and promptly mailedthem. The press release stated,"from 1992 through 1998, theElton John AIDS Foundationfunded more than 1,100 grants inNorth America. To date, the EltonJohn AIDS Foundation hasdistributed over $12 million ingrants in North America and $5million internationally."

CHARITY GIG APPEARANCEElton flew in from US

Midwest between concerts toMansfield, Massachusetts on June5, for the 20th annual KISSconcert at the Tweeter Center. Heplayed Crocodile Rock, then waspresented with two chequestotalling $50,000, one from KISS-108 (a Boston radio station), anda second from Brooks Pharmacychain, to the Genesis FundCharity.

DAVID FURNISH ON TVUK independent TV network

ITV, televised Falling for a Star onMay 30 - interviews with severalcelebrities about theirrelationships and cuts DavidFurnish in and out of theprogramme several timesbetween other famous peopleand their partners. David talksabout his relationship and lifewith Elton, telling us that Eltonwas very protective towards himin the beginning.


Even though the stage was stillquite high, the crowd was in themood to party and let us know.During "Bennie and the Jets"Billy and Elton cracked eachother (and the bands) up byquoting all kinds of songs duringtheir "trade-off" solos at the endof the song- everything from"The Lumberjack Song" to "PopGoes The Weasel"!

22nd March 1998Melbourne (2nd show)

We said a collective farewellto Australia last night duringMelbourne's second gig. Theshow went really well, and againBilly and Elton were in a greatmood and joking around. Eltoneven got up from his piano andjoined Davey, Tommy, DaveSantos, Mark Rivera and myselfdoing some "choreography"during "You May Be Right", andduring "The Bitch Is Back" BillyJoel "played" my guitar with hisred fly-swatter! It felt very muchlike the "closing night" of a tour,as we won't see a lot of the localcrew again. We will sorely missthe caterers, "More than aMorsel" - they have beencooking up the best food thatI've ever had from a cateringcompany.

After the show, the promotersthrew an end of tour party at oneof the hotels. I was enjoyingvisiting with Billy Joel, his bandand crew, and the promoter'sstaff.

I'll soon say a fond farewellas I get near to the end of myfirst trip to Australia. I know I'llbe back soon- I've made toomany new friends not to comeback to this amazing continent.The next post will be comingfrom Japan- Goodbye fromOZ!!!!

Whatever your worries areabout not getting Elton news inbetween editions of THE MAG,Hercules offers a great Internetservice, THE WEB - and a specialnew service since January 1999 -Hercules Web Member.

Hercules Web Memberprovides extra news, interviewsand features exclusive toHercules, called Hercules WebSpecials. There's also an archiveand search facility, allowing youto check for stories over theyears, and exclusive video andaudio clips for your enjoyment.

It’s free to visit the Web site

and read about the latest news.And the special Hercules WebMember costs just $20 (£14) ayear, and you can join online.

Combine it with yoursubscription to Hercules THEMAG, and you enjoy a 25%discount on the WHOLE package- called the Hercules Goldmembership. If you don't haveinternet access at home or in theoffice, then don't worry! WebCafes are everywhere! Theseoffer a coffee, bite to eat, PCsand friendly technical support.You can enjoy our web site atwww.eltonfan.com

www.eltonfan.comwww.eltonfan.comwww.eltonfan.com

Please be assured that despite the fascination of this new medium,Hercules will also give you the best service possible via the

traditional ways of communication. The Mag also continues to go from strength to strength!

HERCULES ON THE INTERNETEven if you don't have PC at home or office...

read on for details of how to visit our Web site

THE WEBTHE WEB



NEWS BULLETS...ELTON "AND" TINA TURNER

Remember back before Eltonand Tina Turner had their publicfalling out a few months ago andcancelled their plans for a jointtour? Well, they do plan toperform at year's end in LasVegas, but they're not performingtogether. On December 30, 1999they'll perform, separately, at theThomas & Mack Center. And thenext really big night both will beperforming in Caesars Palace --in two different showrooms, forinvitation-only.

A BIG SEASON FOR WATFORD FC

Watford FC is playing in thePremier League this season! ButElton says he won't bankroll theteam even though they needmillions of pounds to survive inthe Premiership.

Sir Elton said: "When I cameback as chairman I made it clearit would not be a case ofbottomless pockets. It has to beup to the club to raise thefinances. We have to acquiremany new players and improveour overall standard but Graham(Taylor) will be cautious becausehe knows we do not have thefunds that other clubs have. Wehave to stay in the Premiershipand try to establish ourselves. Iknow how difficult that will bebut we already have a goodcollection of young players andthey will give it their best shot."

DON’T LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON ME

Elton's Don't Let The Sun GoDown On Me turned out to bethe hush-hush anthem of the totaleclipse of the sun that happenedover parts of Europe on August11, 1999. German radio stationsplayed the original song and itsvarious cover versions all daylong.

ELTON HOSTS SUMMER BALL

Sir Elton's summer ball rolledon July 1. And despite reports offinancial problems, everythingsmells of roses in England. Eventhe flowers for Elton's party atWoodside - which cost £30,000 -are paid for by sponsors OK!Magazine. The party bill is£150,000. Elton invites starsincluding George Michael, ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, actressCatherine Zeta Jones, MichaelDouglas, Sean Connery, and SirDavid Frost. Guests stump up£1,000 for tickets to benefit theElton John Aids Foundation.

ELTON & DAVID AT FASHION EXHIBITION

Elton and partner DavidFurnish attended the VersaceFashion Exhibition in Via DelGesù, Milan, June 27. The nextmorning, they walked to theVersace shop in Via MonteNapoleone to do some shopping.After less than an hour they cameout and walked back to theirhotel. Later that same day Eltonand David flew back to Nice.

ANOTHER GUEST APPEARANCE Elton makes a cameo

appearance on the new Mary J.Blige album "Mary" which isreleased August 17, 1999. Otherappearances are by Lauryn Hill,Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton,and K-Ci.

"LES LUNETTES D'ELTON JOHN" The English play "Elton John's

glasses" by David Farr has beenadapted in French and will berunning at the Tristan BernardTheatre in Paris from August 23,1999.

AIDA ON THE STAGEElton and Tim Rice's Aida will

debut at Chicago's PalaceTheater December 9. It moves toNew York April 6, 2000. Thisnew version of the musical - a bitdifferent from the first staging inAtlanta in 1998 - directed byRobert Falls, will again starHeather Headley as Aida.

Elton with his mother, stepfather and David during the Summer Ball at Woodside


of food at thegigs.

Beforethe show,Elton calledme into hisdressing

room tosay helloand to

introduceme toLawrenceFishburne,who had comeout to see theshow. He isdown hereworking on amovie withKeanu Reeves,and was a

very warm and friendly person. Itshows just how good an actor heis--he was scary as Ike Turner!The sound onstage tonight wasexcellent, and that made for avery comfortable set. Elton is stillbattling a cold, but was in a greatmood and performed well. Clivesaid from his perspective that weall played well, and he had agood night with the sound also.During the encore segment,Dave Santos (BJ's bassist) and Itry to rock harder each night on"You May Be Right"--and tonightI think we outdid ourselves! Werocked so hard that we had tohigh five each other after thatsong. Tomorrow is a day off herein Sydney, and I'm lookingforward to that after a goodnight's sleep.

14th March 1998Sydney, Australia

Friday was a day off, and Idid a little shopping at theQueen Victoria Building. It's abeautiful old buildingtransformed into a shoppingcenter full of specialty boutiquesand shops. The designer Joe wasthere and told me that Elton had

bought some clothes from him,as well as Cliff Richard, BillyConnolly, and bassist Lee Sklar.

The Saturday night crowd wasready to party, and really gave ussome great feedback. It started torain during Billy's set, but thatdidn't dampen the enthusiasm ofthe crowd, who were all on theirfeet for the encore segment.Backstage the hospitality roomwas decorated like Bondi Beach,complete with waiters dressed inthe lifeguard uniforms! CharlieMorgan put one on and playedthe encore set dressed as alifeguard, with two of the waiterson either side of his drum set.We all were cracking up totally!You just never know what'sgoing to happen next...

16th March 1998Sydney, Australia (3rd show)

The show started an hourearlier than usual, so the firstthird of our set was still indaylight, eliminating the lightingeffects. The audience was a littlemore laid back than the Saturdaynight crowd, but still got up ontheir feet by the end of the show.Elton was in fine form, and spenta good deal of one of the encoresongs making some hystericallyfunny faces at me! Both Billy andElton love to joke around, andBilly cracked me up during "IGuess That's Why They Call ItThe Blues" to the point where Icouldn't keep singing myharmony parts!

We've got two days off herein Sydney before we head overto Adelaide, so I'm lookingforward to seeing more of thisarea and playing tourist for acouple days...

19th March 1998Adelaide, Australia

After the last Sydney show we

had a couple days off, and I tookadvantage of the time to see a bitmore of Sydney Harbor by takinga cruise aboard the Bounty. Thenover to the Centerpoint Tower fora spectacular view of the wholecity from up in the air.

This morning we saidgoodbye to Sydney and took alate morning flight over toAdelaide. The hotel was so closeto the venue that I could see thestage from the window of myroom! All of our audiences onthis tour have been big - this onewas no exception at around37,000 or so. The stage wasquite a bit higher than usual, andmade us feel even moredisconnected with the audience.I don't think the people standingup front could even see Elton! EJdecided to eliminate "Sad Songs"from the set tonight, and I have afeeling it might be permanentlyout of the set.

It was very casual and"camplike" backstage, and withthe weather being really pleasantwe all sat backstage and relaxed,listening to Billy's set while wewaited to go back on stage forthe encore set. Sometimes "thewaiting is the hardest part", but itwasn't tonight! We head outearly to fly to Melbourne - it's apity that there isn't a bit moretime to check out Adelaide, butthat's life on the road!

21st March 1998Melbourne (1st show)

Just back to the hotel after thefirst concert in Melbourne, and Ihave to say it was the most fun ofany show so far of the tour. Eltonwas in a great mood and wasjoking around backstage betweensegments of the show. I heardthat Status Quo had come to theshow, so we did some rockin'and posing in their honor. Theweather in Melbourne was quitehot and dry today, but byshowtime was very pleasant.

JJ’S TOUR DIARY


ROCKET RECORDS FINISHED?Media reports say Universal

Music Group/Island are to closeElton's Rocket Records label. Nocomment was available fromIsland executives as to why. ButElton will continue to record forIsland. Nevertheless, Elton tellsThe Mirror newspaper July 17he's considering leavingUniversal in USA.

EUROPEAN SOLO TOUR SONGSBefore his operation blocked

the European Tour, Elton played anearly 3 hour solo show atLudwigslust, Germany, on June25 - less than a week sinceending the US leg. Elton dropsTalking Old Soldiers (replaced byLive Like Horses), Blessed, CanYou Feel The Love Tonight, andRecover Your Soul. In Germantennis stadium at Halle's GerryWeber Stadium (June 26), headds Something About The WayYou Look Tonight, but doesn'tplay Written In The Stars. At theshow in Lucca, Italy (July 2) heworks in Song For Guy into theintro of Take Me To The Pilot.

ELTON TO HOST CHAT SHOWBefore news of Elton’s illness

broke, it was reported that he isto host his own TV chat show.Pal DJ Chris Evans persuadedhim to interview stars such asnewly weds Posh Spice andDavid Beckham, Michael Jacksonand Madonna in six one-hourspecials on Saturday evenings inthe UK. Ginger Television bossEvans will act as executiveproducer on the shows, alreadythe subject of fierce biddingbetween BBC1 and ITV. A friendof Elton said: "He'll be a naturalfor this kind of show. With hispersonality, he'll put people attheir ease. Elton's also got loadsof contacts in showbiz so gettingtop calibre guests will be easy." Itis not known whether EJ’s recentillness has changed these plans.

YOU DUMMY!Elton is one of the highlights

of Madame Tussaud's CelebrityEncounter in Las Vegas' newestattraction, The Venetian ResortHotel & Casino. The waxmuseum opened doors July 22.

ELTON AND BERNIE AREFAITHFUL

The new Marianne Faithfulalbum, Vagabond Ways, isavailable in Europe. It featuresthe Elton John/Bernie Taupinsong For Wanting You. In theUSA, the album is only availableas import.

MONEY MATTERS...There has been much

speculation in the press regardingElton’s finances, with new detailsemerging almost weekly.According to The Sunday TimesJune 27, Elton seeks a £25m loanto pay off his bills. Elton puts therecord straight in a frank interviewabout mis-management of fundson page 10. Elton's new manager,Frank Presland, is quoted "EltonJohn's finances are sound."According to Presland, Elton is justreorganising his finances and he istrying to gain more control overhis back catalogue.

EJ TALKS TO THE MIRRORElton gave an exclusive

interview to The Mirror newspaperJuly 17. He spoke of his medicalordeal, about his new projects andabout saying goodbye to his recentmanager, Colin Bell, and how hefelt let down by John Reid.

ELTON III CANDLE Slatkin & Co., New York has

recently informed us that theywill have a new Elton III candlein the year 2000. You read it herefirst! The great news is that theElton III candle will be availablelater this year.

CANDLE SCORE ON DISPLAYThe autographed musical

score of Candle in the Wind1997, as performed by Sir Eltonat Princess Diana’s funeral, andthe handwritten manuscript withthe song's new words written byBernie Taupin, are now housedin the "tribute room" at theDiana, Princess of Wales'museum in Althorp.

ELTON TO APPEAR AT EXPO 2000

According to German newsagency dpa, Elton is planning toperform a show during the WorldExhibition Expo 2000 inHannover, Germany, next year.The Expo will open doors June 1and run until October 31, 2000.

NOT ELTON, NOT AT THE WEDDING!

In a great spoof of the PoshSpice and David BeckhamWedding, London's EveningStandard newspaper July 5,called upon the help of our veryown Hercules member and look-a-like Raymond Johnson to re-create the special day. A grandcolour photo of Elton (Raymond)graced the cover of the pull-outsection. The newspaper claimsthat while OK! Magazine paid£1m for pictures of the realwedding...the Evening Standardpaid...a few pence!

Full details of these items have appeared on our Hotline and Web-site

NEWS BULLETS...


much time in the EJ/BJ show.Elton has been battling a cold forthe past few days--it's hard toavoid when we go through theseextreme climate changes. It'smade his voice a bit gravelly, buthe still gave the audience his alland no one is left unsatisfied!

11th March 1998Brisbane, Australia

Lots has happened since mylast report. Upon finishing up myreports after the second show inAuckland, I remembered thatOasis had checked into the hotelearlier, and so I went down tothe bar to see if Jason (Noel'sguitar tech) was there so I couldthank him for helping me gettickets to their Manchester show.Well, when I got down there theparty was in full swing, eventhough it was 2 am! I had achance to let Steve Cohen knowwhat a great job he was doing onthe lights.

I heard some harmonisinggoing on in the corner--BillyJoel's backup singer BeccaBramlett, guitarist Tommy Burnsand percussionist Crystal Talifieriwere singing with a couple

others that I didn't know. Theysounded great and were soonjoined by a gruff male voice thatI recognised as Joe Cocker's!!!Then the piano got unlocked anda full jam took place until about6 am! Amazing to think thatElton John's band, Billy Joel andhis band, Joe Cocker and hisband and Oasis would all be inthe same hotel on the same nightin New Zealand!

The next day was a bit roughafter the late night, but the funwas worth the price. I sadly saidgoodbye to New Zealand fornow. We took an afternoon flightto Brisbane, arriving there in theevening. The following day Iwent to the Lone Pine KoalaReserve. It was a veryworthwhile experience, and Iwould recommend it to anyonewho visits the Brisbane area.

The show in Brisbane wentwell--no surprises really, exceptfor a guy who jumped onstagebypassing all the security guardsand shook both Elton's andBilly's hands before jumpingback off again. The Brisbanecrowd was a little tamer than theKiwis in Auckland, but seemedto enjoy themselves anyway.

Billy and Elton are both feelingmore comfortable with the shownow, and are starting to goofaround with each other, trying tocrack each other up during thesongs. Billy succeeded when hestarted banging his piano keywith a fly swatter during "Bennieand the Jets"! Billy, like Eltonloves a good joke and nevermisses an opportunity to pull agag.


Wednesday afternoon wetook a flight from Brisbane downto Sydney. The weather isbeautiful here. Spent most of theday wandering around theneighbourhood around the hotel,just shopping and sightseeing.The band bus was practically fullon the way to the show, as mosteveryone's wives and childrenhave come down to Sydney for avisit. It made for a different vibe--a little more like the WillieNelson Family Band or theGrateful Dead! The caterers inAustralia are excellent--we've allbeen enjoying some greatcooking and creative selections


From 11am the fans had beenarriving at the hotel"Ravensburger Hof" in Bielefeldto meet for a warm-up party.More than 50 Hercules membersand their partners found theirway to Bielefeld where we spentthe time with rare video andaudio recordings of Elton´sconcerts as well as withmemories of former tours andour own adventures inconnection with EJ.

At 5pm we formed a long carline and drove the 10 miles toHalle.

The Hercules members tooktheir seats in section C under analmost perfect blue sky and withtemperatures of about 30°C at6pm. In tough negotiations withthe tour organisers we hadmanaged to get a big number ofconnected seats for members.We even got them a bit cheaperthan the "normal" tickets bookedin advance. Unfortunately, wewere seated in the upper circleand not in the inside like I hadhoped. Still, in my opinion it wasnevertheless a special experienceto spend a whole concerttogether with like-minded peopleand longtime friends.

At exactly 7pm instrumentalmusic from AIDA started andonly a few minutes later Eltonappeared on stage with ratherstrangely coiffed hair. Heimmediately started with the firstnotes of Your Song. After that hewelcomed the German audience,announced some well-knownand some less well-known songsand declared how proud he wasto perform in the stadium, as heis a big tennis fan and had oftenseen it on TV.

But after that Elton´s pleasurein talking was almost done, andhe continued with what he doesbest: playing the piano andsinging. The first part of the

concert reminded me not only ofthe latest US tour, which hadfinished just one week ago, butalso of his concerts with RayCooper in 1994. The onlydifference being that Eltonremained on stage on his own allevening.

While he had performedTalking Old Soldiers in the USAit was now replaced by Live LikeHorses. But this was almost theonly variation to the Americanset. Undoubtably, a first highlightwas Rocket Man which soundedamazingly fresh and new after somany years and uncountable liveversions. Yet again, Elton gavethis classic a new touch. If Iremember correctly, this was thefirst time that he didn´t end thesong with "I think it´s gonna be along, long time" but with "I'm arocket man".

Unfortunately, this highlightwas immediately followed by alowpoint - in my opinion:Sacrifice. Although I enjoyed thesolo version a little bit more thanthe one with the band, it has justnever been one of my favouritesongs. But more than 10,000people in the audience werecrazy for it.

The next song, House, wasanother highlight, which stillsurprises me as the song is rathersimply made. Perhaps that’sexactly its secret. When Eltonstarted with "Something AboutThe Way You Look Tonight" andnot "I Guess That's Why TheyCall It The Blues" as he had donethe evening before I felt a littlehope that this could be my firstconcert for years where I didn´thave to hear it. But of course,Elton played it immediatelyafterwards.

But now I don't want to stressthe negative aspects too much -there is absolutely no reason fordoing so. A perfect sound and an

Your SongSkyline Pigeon

The Greatest DiscoveryBorder Song

Live Like HorsesDaniel

Honky CatRocket Man

SacrificeBetter Off Dead

HouseSomething About The Way

You Look TonightI Guess That's Why They Call

It The BluesTicking

Carla EtudeTonight

I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That

The OneBlue Eyes

Mona Lisas And Mad HattersTake Me To The Pilot

Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word

LevonCrocodile Rock

Don't Let The Sun Go Down On MeCircle Of Life

Bennie And The JetsCandle In The Wind

ELTON JOHN AND HERCULES IN HALLE (WESTFALEN/GERMANY)

SET LIST

So far, this 26 June1999 had been a

perfect day and itshould even become

better as we were now onour way to the Gerry

Weber Stadium in Halle(Westfalen/Germany)looking forward to anElton John concert of

probably several hours.


5th March 1998Perth, Australia

We got down to Perth lastSaturday after a long flight fromL.A. to Sydney, then another toPerth. We had a half day torecover from jetlag before it wastime to start rehearsing and

soundchecking. We did a littleeach day, some with justEJ's band, some withElton and the band andsome with Billy Joel,Elton and both bands!The show starts with EJ

and BJ doing "Your Song"and "Honesty" with just their

two pianos. Then EJ's bandcomes onstage for a 90minute set in which BJguests on "..The Blues".

Then BJ and his band doa 90 minute set with EJas a guest. ThenBOTH bands jointogether for encores.Then for a final encore

EJ and BJ are back to just thetwo pianos for "Piano Man".

The audience was pretty laidback, it had been quite hotduring the day, and since theshow started at 6:30 there wasn'ta chance for the temperature tocool down at all before the show.33,000 is quite a big crowd forPerth though, and I think they allhad a good time.

Right now we're on achartered flight to Auckland, NZwith our crew, and Billy Joel, hisband and crew. For about twohours we've had a big sing-a-long, led by Billy Joel himself. Allthe 50's, Beatles, Motown--youname it, they've been sung in thecabin by everybody who wantedto join in. The cabin attendantshave been well entertained!We'll have a day off in Aucklandbefore the two shows onSaturday and Sunday.

7th March 1998Auckland, New Zealand (Day 1)

After a nice day off inAuckland, we had our first showhere tonight. Although it was hotin the daytime, by 7:30 when theconcert started it was very niceand cool with a breeze. Thestage setup was a little better,and Davey, Bob and I were on ariser. I found it much easier toperform when I could see theaudience! The crowd was muchmore energetic than in Perth, andpeople were up and dancing atthe edge of the stage midwaythrough our set, and just gotbetter from there. After we didour set, I went out by thesoundboard to watch Billy Joel'sset. He and his band soundedgreat, and it was fun to see thelighting effects.

When we all got back onstage for the encores, it felt muchmore comfortable, as I've had achance to start getting to knowBJ's band members. It's mucheasier to perform onstage withsomeone when you know them alittle! The strange part of theshow for me is getting warmedup, then sitting around for anhour and coming back onstageagain. Keeping the energy levelup is the trick for me.


The crowd at the showtonight was even better than lastnight - up to the stage in the thirdnumber and rockin' out fromthen on! A very good-lookingaudience I must say too. We cuta couple of songs out to makeour set more in line with BillyJoel's, time wise. I did miss themto be honest-- "If The River CanBend", "Tiny Dancer" and"Believe". Oh well--they'llprobably be put back in for theUS shows, but there is only so

JOHNJORGENSONJ

JJ’S TOUR DIARY

Yet another overnight drive...Extracts from John Jorgenson's tour diary

THIS ISSUE'S FEATURE: ELTON & BILLY TOUR AUSTRALIA, 1998


Elton in splendid performingmood made this concertunforgettable. Especially sowhen he played the series ofTicking, Carla Etude and Tonight.This was certainly the climax ofthe evening.

Our block of 100 Herculesmembers tried to make theaudience move from their seatsduring the following I Don'tWanna Go On With You LikeThat but we only succeeded halfan hour later when Elton playedCrocodile Rock. Before that heperformed a brilliant version ofTake Me To The Pilot. This againwas - like Rocket Man - a smallsurprise for me because youhave heard this so so many timesduring the last years.Nevertheless, Take Me To ThePilot sounded amazingly "new".Another surprise was that WrittenIn The Stars was left out. Eltonhadn´t played it in Ludwigslusteither, meaning that this was ashow without the current single,although the concert wasintroduced with sounds of AIDA.

Because of all that, a setwithout a lot of unexpected andunusual songs still becameinteresting and exciting.Although Elton had already quithis abstinence from Candle InThe Wind at the end of his UStour, it was yet somehow strangeto hear it as an encore after athree-hours non-stopprogramme.

Although the audience hadneeded some time to warm up -no wonder when there are onlysome pseudo-VIPs in the first tenrows who seemed unable toshow enthusiasm - it finallycelebrated Elton with standingovations after Crocodile Rock.He obviously enjoyed this andreturned thanks to the fans infront of the stage with lengthyautograph sessions.

HALLE

elton john &hercules at

by Stephan Heimbecher

(Pho

to: J

imm

ie C

ollin

s)


Elton has a green andwhite Sydney tramnestled in the gardensof his house in Windsorwhich he bought in1984 whilst touring inAustralia. Davidcurrently uses it as hisoffice.

I’m sure Elton’s ex-wifeRenate has a goodsinging voice, but onNovember 4th 1987 ata children's charityconcert in London,Elton said he woulddonate £7000 if Renatewas stopped fromsinging on stage withJonathan Ross, BobGeldof and a host ofother stars.

On the 9th September1988, the bannersadvertising theSotheby’s sale of the‘Elton John Collection’sold for £550 each.They had been hangingoutside their front doorand were added as anextra lot at the end ofthe auction. The auctionraised £4,838022 - wellin excess of theestimated £3 million.

The famous giantPinball Wizard DocMartin boots from thefilm Tommy sold at theSotheby’s auction inSeptember 1988 for£11,000.

BETWEEN 17 AND 20 • BETWEEN 17 AND 20GOSSIP ABOUT ELTON - FOUND OF COURSE, BETWEEN PAGES 17 AND 20!!

FINLAND

Have you seen The North?The hot and sunnyweather caused a lack of

people at the inauguralconvention in Finland on July 10.Still a few brave, loyal fansgathered to meet each other andto have fun. We had a long,interesting discussion aboutElton's recent activities. However,we didn't yet know about hispacemaker operation, so therewas a lot of guessing about hiscondition of health.

Some rare videos were alsowatched, and everybodyrefreshed their memories aboutElton's last summer concert inHelsinki. Everyone agreed that itwas the best day of their life.After having a 4-hour Elton Partywe went out into the beautifulweather to see the town.

It was fun, but next time wewill do it at some cooler time,when it's more like Finland!

For future Finland fanactivities, contact Urpu Kallio,Hercules Nordic Representative.

were happy to meet "old pals"again after such a long time.Many people who were presenthave been with Hercules sincethe very beginning in May 1988,and so the meeting had manyelements of a "family re-union".But there was also Elton-stuff tolook at, including our GermanElton look-a-like, Andreas Herr.

Later in the afternoon, thegroup made the 15-minute tripto the stadium where a block ofmore than 100 seats had beenreserved for Hercules members!

speakingGERMANYby Stephan Heimbecher

After a long break, we finallyhad the chance to organiseanother fan meeting in

Germany. This time, we took thechance of Elton's solo show atthe Gerry Weber tennis stadiumin Halle/Westfalen to meet innearby Bielefeld prior to theshow. Since this was a Saturday(June 26), more than 50 fansmade the effort to drive to thehotel in Bielefeldso they couldparticipate in the"warm up" eventfor the followingshow. However,this would havebeen betterscheduled as a"cool down"convention asoutsidetemperatures wereexceeding 30degrees Celsius.

It was obviousthat many fans

German fans let EJ know how they feel.

Whilst recovering from his heart operation

in the South of France, Eltonreportedly took the opportunityto break his silence over therecent split with long-timemanager John Reid. The UK’sDaily Mirror newspaper reportedon July 16 that Elton phonedthem with allegations of Reid’smis-management. He launched astinging attack on his formermanager, whom he accused ofcreaming off millions from hispop fortune with excessivemanagement fees.

He sensationally revealed thatReid even secretly remortgagedhis beloved 37-acre home,Woodside, in Windsor. And thetrusted aide had also quietly soldoff the rights to his first six albums- the most successful and lucrativework of his glittering career - for apaltry £3 million. "As far as I'mconcerned John Reid's a liar and acheat," Elton was reported to havesaid. "It all started in Atlanta acouple of years ago. I'd been withJohn for 28 years - five of them ina personal relationship. He wasmy first love.

"I figured out something waswrong so I asked my lawyer, FrankPresland, who's been with me for18 years, to take a look at myfinances. It was the first time I'dasked for an audit in all thoseyears. I didn't know how muchmoney I had. And what did wefind? The biggest mess you canimagine. There were literallydozens of horrendous deals. It wasa total mess and very alarming. Iestimate £20 million had gone.

"I discovered £5.5 millionworth of borrowings secured onthe Windsor house plus two of myfavourite paintings - a Francis

Bacon and a Magritte. He'd sold itoff at less than favourable ratesand he creamed a heftycommission off the top."

The Mirror reported that Eltonhas been angered by a series ofhighly inaccurate reports aboutthe state of his finances and calledThe Mirror to put the recordstraight. And he apparentlyconfirmed that he has taken out a£25 million loan to buy back allhis assets and the rights to hisown music and will have notrouble paying it back.

"There's a lot to sort out andthat takes a lot of time andenergy," said Elton. "Foryears the managementof my finances wascarried out behind myback and wasdisgraceful. As thefull extent ofthe troubleswereexplained tome I literallywent intoshock, but Ihad a greatsupport teamwith me andthey are helpingme now.

"It's ludicrousand untrue to sayI'm in financialdifficulty. I'm notskint, nothing couldbe further fromthe truth, but myteam and I haveone goal - to buildfor the future. Itrusted John as afriend, but as a

business adviser I was always keptin the dark. When I discoveredwhat had gone on it came as avery severe blow. It's bad enoughto lose £20 million to someoneyou trusted, but the money reallyis of secondary importance. It'sthe act of betrayal which reallyhurts, especially a betrayal ofsomeone I trusted. He used tohate me doing things for the EltonJohn Aids Foundation because itwasn't earning him any money.”

Elton fired John Reid, 49, inMay last year. Frank Preslandimmediately took over as chiefexecutive for Elton’s companiesand began the long process of

clawing the cash back. Among the

astonishing discoveriesreported by the

Mirror was thatElton had madea £12,000 losson a sell-out44-date UStour in1980 whilehismanagerhad madenearly£600,000.

And Eltonwent on to

comment aboutthe recentrumours of hisfinancialproblems; "Thetruth is, I dospend a lot ofmoney. I don'tdeny that. It'srubbish tosuggest that I


“I thought we were

friends”Elton and John Reid

ELTON TALKS ABOUT HIS BITTER SPLIT WITH JOHN REID, AND REVEALS THE TRUTH ABOUT THOSE FINANCIAL RUMOURS

I don’t have much money,BUT IF I DID...


On the 13th of thismonth (Sept.) it will beexactly 19 years sinceElton dressed up asDonald Duck for hisconcert in Central Park,New York.

On March 7th 1976Elton was the first rockstar since The Beatles tobe immortalised in waxat Madame Tussaud’s inLondon.

The Album ‘21 at 33’was so called becauseat 33 years of age it wasElton’s 21st album.

The first piano that Eltonever bought was a blackSteinway grand whichhe has subsequently hadpainted to look asthough it is made ofWalnut. To have had anew one made in actualWalnut would havebeen too costly.

On 23rd December1974 The DailyTelegraph reported ‘noamount of spangledgimmickry, clowning ornoise can hide his greattalent as a musician anda performer of goodsongs’ (we could havetold them that!!)

James Galway, theclassical flautistincludes Elton’s ‘LittleJeannie’ as the finaltrack on his album‘James Galway - APortrait’, recorded in1996 (BMG/RCAVictor). We think it wasincluded on the albumas a thank you to Eltonfor writing the awardwinning film score song‘Basque’ which Galwayperformed.

BETWEEN 17 AND 20 • BETWEEN 17 AND 20ANOTHER VERSE OF OUR REGULAR COLUMN FEATURING TRIVIA AND

UNITED KINGDOMby George Matlock

This was due to be a pre-concert convention in a pubnear to Leeds Castle, on the

day of Elton’s first open-air UKshow. We had heard just a coupleof days before that the showwould be postponed, so naturallydisappointment and concern forEJ’s health were the main feelingsfor the day. But thank you tothose of you who made the effortto keep your Saturday free and

come down to the Castle on July10. We had a great time, as fansfrom Belgium, Netherlands,Germany, New Zealand andJapan joined British fans for ajamboree at the George Inn pub.

Naturally, fans were hardly inthe mood for a sing-a-long, andtheir thoughts were with Eltonfollowing the shock health news.However, Hercules salesmanager Alan from Wrap It Up!was able to provide a few giftideas for the fans, and a funevent was enjoyed by all.

The weather was superb, fullsunshine, about 28 degrees, anda light breeze. Some fans wentover to Leeds Castle to inspectwhat might have been, and tosoak up the atmosphere of anaborted midsummer concert.Excitement soon built up againat the thought of the postponedshows taking place in just a fewweeks time!

Media interest was high, andlocal press published reports ofthe event. It was even brieflymentioned in The Sunnewspaper!

conventionally

Leeds Castle - where are you EJ?? The George Inn - spot the Hercules logo!

(pho

tos:

G M

atlo

ck)


spend more than I earn although,that said, I do spend a lot. Ibelieve in living while you'reliving. I've got nobody to leave itto, but my partner, DavidFurnish, my family and myemployees. I'm very proud of myemployees and trust themimplicitly which is why John'sbetrayal hurts me so much. Youknow, I've paid off the mortgagesof many of my staff so they didn'thave to worry about their futures.

"All the stuff over the years ofReid discovering me as somekind of pub pianist and makingme a superstar, well it's justbulls***. I got where I am todaythanks to bloody hard work andDick James, the man who firstbelieved in me and made me astar in America before Reid waseven in the picture. But we'vemoved on. It's interesting to seehe doesn't manage anyone of anysignificance any more."

The Mirror said that Elton hasnot spoken with Reid since hefired him and has no plans to doso in the future. “We werefriends for a hell of a long time -or at least I thought we werefriends."

John Reid denied allegationsof mis-management in a reportrun by UK’s Daily Mailnewspaper later that same week.Reid also told the Mail he isconsidering legal action fordefamation against Elton. Headded that if and when the casecomes to court in London, Reidwill be exonerated by the facts.Hercules understands that case(due this autumn) will be settledout of court, however.

This is an early announcement for a Hercules FanConvention that is planned to be held in Las VegasSeptember 10-16, 2000. While Hercules is stillnegotiating with some of the Las Vegas’ hotels, wewould like to give fans an early chance to mark thisdate in their calendars.

We hope as many of you as possible will be ableto come to our first ever International event. Its agreat chance for Elton John fans from all over theworld to get together. You have a whole year to planfor it - and as there will also be plenty of free time -make the trip part of your annual family holiday. Forthat reason we have scheduled a one-week programwhich is planned to proceed something like this:

SundayDinner party with some special guests.

Elton look-a-like competition

MondayAll day convention with trade area, music,

videos, seminars, contests and surprises

TuesdayAll day convention continued until 6 pm

Wednesday - FridayDiverse activities in and around Las Vegas.

(e.g. Hoover Dam tour, Grand Canyon tour, etc.)

SaturdayDeparture

We’re still working on the details which will bemade available as soon as possible. You shouldexpect a registration fee of approx. $150 for thethree-day convention (Sun-Tue). Room rates will beapprox. $100 single or double a night. Tours andother activities (Wed-Fri) will be charged separately.

If you want to receive future updates on theHercules Fan Convention 2000, simply send apostcard with your complete postal address toStephan Heimbecher, Hercules Fan Convention2000, Orleansstr. 59, D-81667 Muenchen, Germany,or e-mail us at [email protected].

ANNOUNCINGHERCULES FAN

CONVENTION 2000


CONVENTION 2000


CONVENTION 2000


/the.oceanPlease keep in mind that these reviews do not reflect the opinions ofHERCULES, its staff members, nor its supporters.

Directly after visiting "TheElton John WorshipPage", I happened upon

"The Healing Hands Elton JohnWebsite" almost immediately."This could not be just achance encounter", I thought.As the main page loaded in, Iwas met with the same solemnreverence that the first siteprovided. That is where thesimilarities ended, though.While the webmaster of thissite had the best of intentions,the "Healing Hands" themeended after the "To BeContinued" photo loaded in atthe beginning. So much couldhave been done to expand onthe title of the website. As withall "tripod" websites, that peskypopup advert reared its uglyhead as the main page loadedin. This is no fault of thewebmaster, though. Since thissite does not provide anynavigational links on any of thesubpages, you must go back tothe main page every time toaccess each section. This is amajor turn off. Additionally,there are no "back to the homepage" links either. The contentprovided is exceptional in thatthere are updated news andconcert dates, discography andcharting information, a fewcool concert photos, and evenan EJ poll to cast a vote.Concerning the overallconstruction, typical EJwebmasters try to "windowdress" each page with graphics

to distract the fact that theircontent is amateurish at best.Not so here. The informationwas very professionallyresearched and the pages arepresented in a simple, nononsense manner. My onlygripe is the lack of thenavigational links on all of thesubpages. So, until that error iscorrected, I must reluctantlybestow 2 Royal Waves for thissite.

T H E H E A L I N G H A N D S E LT O N J O H N W E B S I T E

RATING: 2 ROYAL WAVES

http://members.tripod.com/HealingHandsSwinger/index.htm


HERCULES was delighted towelcome Elton’s ex-drummer Charlie Morgan

to the UK Convention inLondon, March 99. We continuehere where we left it in the Juneissue, with the second part ofthis exclusive interview.

Before his departure from theband, Charlie was the only UKresident on board. "Previouslythere had been a time when in1985/86 the entire brass sectionwere UK residents, DavidPaynton the bass player was UK,all the singers were UK too,Shirley Lewis, Alan Carvell, andGordon Neville. It was onlyDavey Johnstone and FredMandell who were US residents.

But that changed. "So I wasalways a bit on a limb because Iwas always dealing with themanagement in the UK, theywere dealing with managementin the US. I became separatedfrom the rest of the guys. Theywere seeing each other sociallyall the time.

"The only time I did see themsocially was for instance inSeptember 1997. I went over toLos Angeles ahead of the tourrehearsals and John Mahon(percussionist) and Bob Birchtook me up the Burbank Hills todo some mountain biking.

"I never saw much of them offthe road. When we played in LAthey were at home and when weplayed here, I was at home.You're not going to put someoneup in a hotel if they live 20 milesaway. It was different on theroad. It's a false environment,and an extended family. Ibecame separated and I hadhuge problems with my maritallife for three years.

"It has to be a very strongrelationship when you're on theroad so much. My wife shutherself off. My (new) fianceeunderstands me and backs me allthe way."

Charlie hopes to join her inthe USA. He's applied for USresidence, his Green Card. Healready has a work VISA, and ahouse owned in Orlando, andhopes to work out of Nashville. "Ithink Elton is aware I will be USresident and I will be in touchwith the guys in the band."

The rapport's still there. Andwill he return to the band? "Thedoor's not been closed. This hashappened before. It's not the firsttime I've left the band. But we'recontracted on a tour by tour basisand there's always a chance I'llbe picked up on the next tour."

Charlie, echoing comments toHercules by guitarist JohnJorgenson last year when theshock news of Charlie's releasewas announced, admitted:"Sometimes change is a goodthing. Elton hadn't changed the

band for a long time."The fans are choking to know,

why did Elton release Charlie lastyear? Like Nigel Olsson, whowas released in the mid-1970sand rehired in the 1980s, this isalso Charlie's second exit fromthe band. Charlie briefly left in1989 when "Sleeping with thePast" was recorded with anotherdrummer.

In Charlie's own words: "Idon't know. But being the onlyUK resident, I got caught up in alot of problems over my salary.There was a period when I hadn'tbeen paid for six months. Themanagement had changed, andthe money stopped coming in.I'd just left my wife, so shewasn't phoning up themanagement to ask where themoney was, and I was on tour!

"I got angry and made noises Imight not go on the next tour.The only wedge I could drive toget paid. It was all sorted out inthe end by the newmanagement."

Charlie thinks that a lot of itwas misunderstanding. "And Idon't think Elton was even awareof any of this. Elton was aninnocent bystander to this, asindeed was I to a large extent."

Charlie feels the newmanagement was left worryinghe wouldn't tour. "But I didn't geta chance to tell them I wouldn'thave left them in the lurch.When I was talking about leavingthe band, I was talking aboutthree or four months' notice."

Returning to his new love,Charlie admits he met her on theinternet. Yes, there is hope for allyou anoraks out there!! Charliewas the band's pioneer at settingup a web site in 1995.

"Yes, during the autumn of1997 I had a well-establishedweb site for a couple of years,and I was writing reports with adigital camera on a weekly basis.Several people knew my AOLscreen name I was using at the

PART 2 OF OUR

EXCLUSIVE

INTERVIEW

WITH DRUMMER

CHARLIEMORGAN

looking like a true survivor

Ludvigshist, Germany. June '99(Photo: H Reppel)


To some fans, Elton Johnis THE greatest singerand songwriter of all

time. To others, he is merelyan outlet for social andpersonal expression. To thewebmaster of "The Elton JohnWorship Page", however,Elton is the basis of a religionwhere EJ reigns supreme. Asthe main page of this siteloads in, the visitor is metwith a very sombre andreverent atmosphere. "AllHomage To The Elton". Thiswebsite is steeped inspirituality! As you ventureforward, this theme is quiteprevalent throughout all ofthe subsequent "worship"pages. The blackbackground of the mainpage, however, is replacedwith pure white for the restof the site. This change givesyou the feeling of basking inhis divine light and wisdom.While most EJ sites arecreated with a particulartheme and the best ofintentions in mind, thepurpose is usually lost on allof the subpages. The same,though, cannot be said ofthis uniquely constructedsite. In the sanctuary of "TheChurch of Elton Worship"there are "Holy Cards","Sacred Chants", A hymnbook, worship events,sermons, worship resources,

testimonials, and fellowshippages (to name just a few).Concerning the text of eachsection, the webmaster isquite careful to keep thecontent in line with thetheme. The "usual" EJinformation is a refreshingchange from the normalrepetition that the other sitesprovide. You must read the EJprayers too. They are all verywell written. Before leaving,be sure to download yourvery own "All Homage To

The Elton" worship graphics.Needless to say, after fullyexploring this site, I am ableto offer 4 Royal Waves tosuch a deserving EJ religiousexperience. "All Homage ToThe Elton"!

THE ELTON JOHN WORSHIP PAGE


http://eltonworship.virtualave.net

take.me.down/toa.web.surfer's/guide/to.finding/ej/on.the.netby Reggie Zippo ([email protected]) All websites are rated from 0 to 4 Royal Waves.


time, and when I went on atnight I'd get instant messages for"Bob Barnet".

"There were messages from alady called "Laura" who lived justsouth of Atlanta. She was 14years old and a very keen Eltonfan. She loved animals. She toldme all about her life. Owned andlooked after a horse. She said shewas going to the Tallahasseeconcert on 21 November 1997.She told me her mother woulddrive her down, wait for her, anddrive her back. I thought theymust love each other a lot, get onwell, especially for a 14 year old!She told me they were veryclose." So impressed was Charlieby the family tie, he managed toreserve Laura's mother a ticket tothe show!

He agreed to meet them inthe hotel lobby before theconcert. "I had no ideawhat Laura looked like,let alone the mother!"Charlie was already inthe midst of maritalproblems. "Basically, wemet in the lobby, Laurasaid to me she's a madblonde. There was thisdark-haired lady, Jerilyn,who is about the sameage as me. After theshow, we talked in thebar to practically threeor four in the morning!"

Charlie thinks they'llmarry. His divorce camethrough earlier this year.

At this stage, weopen the interview up toclub members at theconvention. Edinburghfan Steven Betts askedhow Charlie gets onwith fellow Scot DaveyJohnstone. "Very well.He's a good musicaldirector, able to smoothover troubles. He tries totranslate what Eltonwants from us beforeshows."

Paul Goddard asks is Charliefriends with Bernie? "Don't seemuch of him. We respect his lowprofile. He turns up for openingnights in the US, and anywherenear LA.

Charlie admits that althoughNigel Olsson was also a biginfluence on Charlie, and he hadto try to follow closely Elton'sback catalogue to Nigel's originalbeat, their styles were verydifferent. "I wouldn't call it tryingto mimic Nigel. I'd say it wasmore of a tribute to him. Certaindrum fills had to be played theway he had done them. In others,I introduced some of my ownstyle."

Charlie says that on "Don't Letthe Sun" and "Someone SavedMy Life Tonight" he had to matchNigel's style: "It's the huge greatslow rock ballad style which

Nigel pioneered with Elton'smusic."

Like Nigel, who continues toplay sessions, Charlie has noBitter Fingers either! As well assupporting the Papa GeorgeBand, he does session work. Twoweeks ago he did a session for afilm soundtrack which Iceland'sBjork is scoring.

Prior to Christmas, Charliesupported old friend TomRobinson for a couple of weeksat the Birmingham outpost ofBritain's most famous jazz club,Ronnie Scott's. "We've alsorecorded some tracks in mystudio for Tom's new album."

Among his association withTom 20 years ago, Charlierecorded with him theElton/Robinson classic "NeverGonna Fall In Love Again" - adisco version in 1979 for a Gay

Pride week album. Theyalso toured the US andEurope that year.

Closing off theinterview, we return'back to the future'.Internet-enthusiastCharlie has some advicefor Davey Johnstone.Davey told Hercules inZurich last June that he'snot much interested inweb sites and will beenjoying a cool drink onJanuary 1, 2000, whencomputers crash andusers freak out.

"He'll be enjoying anice cool drink, while hisfax machine blows up,his air conditioning unitgoes to town, while hiscellular phone ceases towork, and the gas, waterand electricity stopworking, failing to chillhis drinks because thelocal company providerhasn't got its system Y2Kcompatible. So I'm notsure about that!"

"Anything you can do... " (Photo: Mark Swinden)


Part Four ofour collectorsseries onElton's TV andVideoappearancesby George Matlockand Sharon Kalinoski.

KALEIDOSCOPE EYES

J U S T F O R F U N

J U S T F O R F U N

LYRIC QUIZ

1 I see the storm approachingLong before the rain starts falling.

2 Just stare into spacePicture my face in your hands

3 Hollywood created a superstarAnd pain was the price you paid.

4 Beneath these branchesI once wrote such childish words for you.

5 Tell Monday I'll be around next weekI'm running ahead of my days

6 Window frames captureMoments in time

7 Well they've locked up their daughtersAnd battened the hatches.

8 I was killing time with JesusWhen the wedding bells began

9 You're a bluebird on a telegraph lineI hope you're happy now

10 There's a downtown smell of cookingFrom the flame on an open grill

11 I don’t whistle at you down the streetI would if I could, but I can’t whistle you see.

12 And I don’t want to beThe son of any freak

How well do you know your Elton lyrics? Test yourself with the following - we give you a line - can you name the song title? (Answers on page 26)

Should you be able to add the missing Directors, or know of anyvideo singles which aren’t listed, please [email protected] or write to Hercules UK, PO Box 315,Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3QX, England. Thanks to Wayne Martin.

Part 5 continues in December 99.

1981 Donner Pour Donnerwith France Gall / Franco-Deutsch Single

1981 The Fox album. Eachtrack produced as a video -Dir: Russell Mulcahy

1982 Blue Eyes / Jump Up! - Dir: Stephen Priest, filmed in Australia

1982 Empty Garden / JumpUp! - filmed in Australia

1982 Ball & Chain / Jump Up!

1983 Cold As Christmas / TooLow For Zero

1983 I Guess That's WhyThey Call It The Blues/Too Low For Zero - Dir: Russell Mulcahy, filmed in south of France

1983 I'm Still Standing / TooLow For Zero - Dir: Russell Mulcahy, filmed in south of France

1983 Kiss The Bride / Too LowFor Zero - Dir: Godley &Creme

1984 Sad Songs (Say So Much)/ Breaking Hearts - Dir: Russell Mulcahy

1984 Passengers / BreakingHearts - Dir: Simon Milne

1984 Who Wears These Shoes/ Breaking Hearts

1984 In Neon / BreakingHearts - Dir: Bernie Taupin

1985 Act Of War with MillieJackson / Ice On Fire

1985 Cry to Heaven / Ice OnFire - Dir: Ken Russell

1985 Nikita / Ice In Fire - Dir:Ken Russell

1985 Wrap Her Up / Ice OnFire - Dir: Russell Mulcahy

1986 Paris / Leather Jackets

1986 Slow Rivers / LeatherJackets

1986 Heartache All Over TheWorld / Leather Jackets

1986 That's what Friend's AreFor / Dionne Warwick's"Friends"

1987 Take Me To The Pilot /Live In Australia - Dir: MarkFitzgerald

1987 Flames Of Paradisew/Jennifer Rush / HeartOver Mind

1987 Candle In The Wind /Live In Australia - Dir: MarkFitzgerald

1988 I Don't Wanna Go OnWith You Like That / RegStrikes Back - Dir: RussellMulcahy

1988 A Word In Spanish / RegStrikes Back

1988 Town Of Plenty / RegStrikes Back

1989 Club At The End Of TheStreet / Sleeping with the Past

1989 Healing Hands /Sleeping with the Past - Dir: Russell Mulcahy

1989 When We Was Fab /George Harrison's "Cloud"

1989 Through the Storm withAretha Franklin

1989 Japanese Hands / RegStrikes Back

1990 Sacrifice / Sleeping withthe Past - Dir: AlexKeshishian

1990 You Gotta LoveSomeone / "The Days ofThunder" soundtrack Dir: Andy Morahn

1990 Easier To Walk Away /New Song From the "To BeContinued"

1991 Don't Let The Sun GoDown On Me with GeorgeMichael Dir: GeorgeMichael & Andy Morahan

1992 Runaway Train withEric Clapton / The One

1992 The One / The One -Dir: Russell Mulcahy

1992 The Last Song / The One- Dir: Gus Van Sant

1993 Simple Life / The One -Dir: Russell Mulcahy

1993 Don't Go Breaking MyHeart with Ru Paul / Duets- Dir: Randy Barbato &Fenton Baily

1993 True Love with Kiki Dee/ Duets - Dir: Vadim Jean

1994 Can You Feel The LoveTonight?/"The Lion King"soundtrack - Dir: MatthewAmos

1994 Circle Of Life / "TheLion King" soundtrack - Dir: Mathew Amos

1995 Believe / Made InEngland - Dir: MarcusNispell

1995 Blessed / Made InEngland - Dir: David &Raphael Vital-Durand

1995 Made In England / MadeIn England - Dir: MarcusNispel

1995 Please / Made In England- Dir: Howard Greenhald(Directors credited where known)

Continued from previous issue, where we itemised the videos up to 1980

VIDEOS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE FOR THE PROMOTION OF A SINGLE.

KALEIDOSCOPE EYES

Please be aware Hercules is unable to supply any of theserecordings to you!


To some fans, Elton Johnis THE greatest singerand songwriter of all

time. To others, he is merelyan outlet for social andpersonal expression. To thewebmaster of "The Elton JohnWorship Page", however,Elton is the basis of a religionwhere EJ reigns supreme. Asthe main page of this siteloads in, the visitor is metwith a very sombre andreverent atmosphere. "AllHomage To The Elton". Thiswebsite is steeped inspirituality! As you ventureforward, this theme is quiteprevalent throughout all ofthe subsequent "worship"pages. The blackbackground of the mainpage, however, is replacedwith pure white for the restof the site. This change givesyou the feeling of basking inhis divine light and wisdom.While most EJ sites arecreated with a particulartheme and the best ofintentions in mind, thepurpose is usually lost on allof the subpages. The same,though, cannot be said ofthis uniquely constructedsite. In the sanctuary of "TheChurch of Elton Worship"there are "Holy Cards","Sacred Chants", A hymnbook, worship events,sermons, worship resources,

testimonials, and fellowshippages (to name just a few).Concerning the text of eachsection, the webmaster isquite careful to keep thecontent in line with thetheme. The "usual" EJinformation is a refreshingchange from the normalrepetition that the other sitesprovide. You must read the EJprayers too. They are all verywell written. Before leaving,be sure to download yourvery own "All Homage To

The Elton" worship graphics.Needless to say, after fullyexploring this site, I am ableto offer 4 Royal Waves tosuch a deserving EJ religiousexperience. "All Homage ToThe Elton"!

THE ELTON JOHN WORSHIP PAGE


http://eltonworship.virtualave.net

take.me.down/toa.web.surfer's/guide/to.finding/ej/on.the.netby Reggie Zippo ([email protected]) All websites are rated from 0 to 4 Royal Waves.


time, and when I went on atnight I'd get instant messages for"Bob Barnet".

"There were messages from alady called "Laura" who lived justsouth of Atlanta. She was 14years old and a very keen Eltonfan. She loved animals. She toldme all about her life. Owned andlooked after a horse. She said shewas going to the Tallahasseeconcert on 21 November 1997.She told me her mother woulddrive her down, wait for her, anddrive her back. I thought theymust love each other a lot, get onwell, especially for a 14 year old!She told me they were veryclose." So impressed was Charlieby the family tie, he managed toreserve Laura's mother a ticket tothe show!

He agreed to meet them inthe hotel lobby before theconcert. "I had no ideawhat Laura looked like,let alone the mother!"Charlie was already inthe midst of maritalproblems. "Basically, wemet in the lobby, Laurasaid to me she's a madblonde. There was thisdark-haired lady, Jerilyn,who is about the sameage as me. After theshow, we talked in thebar to practically threeor four in the morning!"

Charlie thinks they'llmarry. His divorce camethrough earlier this year.

At this stage, weopen the interview up toclub members at theconvention. Edinburghfan Steven Betts askedhow Charlie gets onwith fellow Scot DaveyJohnstone. "Very well.He's a good musicaldirector, able to smoothover troubles. He tries totranslate what Eltonwants from us beforeshows."

Paul Goddard asks is Charliefriends with Bernie? "Don't seemuch of him. We respect his lowprofile. He turns up for openingnights in the US, and anywherenear LA.

Charlie admits that althoughNigel Olsson was also a biginfluence on Charlie, and he hadto try to follow closely Elton'sback catalogue to Nigel's originalbeat, their styles were verydifferent. "I wouldn't call it tryingto mimic Nigel. I'd say it wasmore of a tribute to him. Certaindrum fills had to be played theway he had done them. In others,I introduced some of my ownstyle."

Charlie says that on "Don't Letthe Sun" and "Someone SavedMy Life Tonight" he had to matchNigel's style: "It's the huge greatslow rock ballad style which

Nigel pioneered with Elton'smusic."

Like Nigel, who continues toplay sessions, Charlie has noBitter Fingers either! As well assupporting the Papa GeorgeBand, he does session work. Twoweeks ago he did a session for afilm soundtrack which Iceland'sBjork is scoring.

Prior to Christmas, Charliesupported old friend TomRobinson for a couple of weeksat the Birmingham outpost ofBritain's most famous jazz club,Ronnie Scott's. "We've alsorecorded some tracks in mystudio for Tom's new album."

Among his association withTom 20 years ago, Charlierecorded with him theElton/Robinson classic "NeverGonna Fall In Love Again" - adisco version in 1979 for a Gay

Pride week album. Theyalso toured the US andEurope that year.

Closing off theinterview, we return'back to the future'.Internet-enthusiastCharlie has some advicefor Davey Johnstone.Davey told Hercules inZurich last June that he'snot much interested inweb sites and will beenjoying a cool drink onJanuary 1, 2000, whencomputers crash andusers freak out.

"He'll be enjoying anice cool drink, while hisfax machine blows up,his air conditioning unitgoes to town, while hiscellular phone ceases towork, and the gas, waterand electricity stopworking, failing to chillhis drinks because thelocal company providerhasn't got its system Y2Kcompatible. So I'm notsure about that!"

"Anything you can do... " (Photo: Mark Swinden)


/the.oceanPlease keep in mind that these reviews do not reflect the opinions ofHERCULES, its staff members, nor its supporters.

Directly after visiting "TheElton John WorshipPage", I happened upon

"The Healing Hands Elton JohnWebsite" almost immediately."This could not be just achance encounter", I thought.As the main page loaded in, Iwas met with the same solemnreverence that the first siteprovided. That is where thesimilarities ended, though.While the webmaster of thissite had the best of intentions,the "Healing Hands" themeended after the "To BeContinued" photo loaded in atthe beginning. So much couldhave been done to expand onthe title of the website. As withall "tripod" websites, that peskypopup advert reared its uglyhead as the main page loadedin. This is no fault of thewebmaster, though. Since thissite does not provide anynavigational links on any of thesubpages, you must go back tothe main page every time toaccess each section. This is amajor turn off. Additionally,there are no "back to the homepage" links either. The contentprovided is exceptional in thatthere are updated news andconcert dates, discography andcharting information, a fewcool concert photos, and evenan EJ poll to cast a vote.Concerning the overallconstruction, typical EJwebmasters try to "windowdress" each page with graphics

to distract the fact that theircontent is amateurish at best.Not so here. The informationwas very professionallyresearched and the pages arepresented in a simple, nononsense manner. My onlygripe is the lack of thenavigational links on all of thesubpages. So, until that error iscorrected, I must reluctantlybestow 2 Royal Waves for thissite.

T H E H E A L I N G H A N D S E LT O N J O H N W E B S I T E


http://members.tripod.com/HealingHandsSwinger/index.htm


HERCULES was delighted towelcome Elton’s ex-drummer Charlie Morgan

to the UK Convention inLondon, March 99. We continuehere where we left it in the Juneissue, with the second part ofthis exclusive interview.

Before his departure from theband, Charlie was the only UKresident on board. "Previouslythere had been a time when in1985/86 the entire brass sectionwere UK residents, DavidPaynton the bass player was UK,all the singers were UK too,Shirley Lewis, Alan Carvell, andGordon Neville. It was onlyDavey Johnstone and FredMandell who were US residents.

But that changed. "So I wasalways a bit on a limb because Iwas always dealing with themanagement in the UK, theywere dealing with managementin the US. I became separatedfrom the rest of the guys. Theywere seeing each other sociallyall the time.

"The only time I did see themsocially was for instance inSeptember 1997. I went over toLos Angeles ahead of the tourrehearsals and John Mahon(percussionist) and Bob Birchtook me up the Burbank Hills todo some mountain biking.

"I never saw much of them offthe road. When we played in LAthey were at home and when weplayed here, I was at home.You're not going to put someoneup in a hotel if they live 20 milesaway. It was different on theroad. It's a false environment,and an extended family. Ibecame separated and I hadhuge problems with my maritallife for three years.

"It has to be a very strongrelationship when you're on theroad so much. My wife shutherself off. My (new) fianceeunderstands me and backs me allthe way."

Charlie hopes to join her inthe USA. He's applied for USresidence, his Green Card. Healready has a work VISA, and ahouse owned in Orlando, andhopes to work out of Nashville. "Ithink Elton is aware I will be USresident and I will be in touchwith the guys in the band."

The rapport's still there. Andwill he return to the band? "Thedoor's not been closed. This hashappened before. It's not the firsttime I've left the band. But we'recontracted on a tour by tour basisand there's always a chance I'llbe picked up on the next tour."

Charlie, echoing comments toHercules by guitarist JohnJorgenson last year when theshock news of Charlie's releasewas announced, admitted:"Sometimes change is a goodthing. Elton hadn't changed the

band for a long time."The fans are choking to know,

why did Elton release Charlie lastyear? Like Nigel Olsson, whowas released in the mid-1970sand rehired in the 1980s, this isalso Charlie's second exit fromthe band. Charlie briefly left in1989 when "Sleeping with thePast" was recorded with anotherdrummer.

In Charlie's own words: "Idon't know. But being the onlyUK resident, I got caught up in alot of problems over my salary.There was a period when I hadn'tbeen paid for six months. Themanagement had changed, andthe money stopped coming in.I'd just left my wife, so shewasn't phoning up themanagement to ask where themoney was, and I was on tour!

"I got angry and made noises Imight not go on the next tour.The only wedge I could drive toget paid. It was all sorted out inthe end by the newmanagement."

Charlie thinks that a lot of itwas misunderstanding. "And Idon't think Elton was even awareof any of this. Elton was aninnocent bystander to this, asindeed was I to a large extent."

Charlie feels the newmanagement was left worryinghe wouldn't tour. "But I didn't geta chance to tell them I wouldn'thave left them in the lurch.When I was talking about leavingthe band, I was talking aboutthree or four months' notice."

Returning to his new love,Charlie admits he met her on theinternet. Yes, there is hope for allyou anoraks out there!! Charliewas the band's pioneer at settingup a web site in 1995.

"Yes, during the autumn of1997 I had a well-establishedweb site for a couple of years,and I was writing reports with adigital camera on a weekly basis.Several people knew my AOLscreen name I was using at the

PART 2 OF OUR

EXCLUSIVE

INTERVIEW

WITH DRUMMER

CHARLIEMORGAN

looking like a true survivor

Ludvigshist, Germany. June '99(Photo: H Reppel)


On the 13th of thismonth (Sept.) it will beexactly 19 years sinceElton dressed up asDonald Duck for hisconcert in Central Park,New York.

On March 7th 1976Elton was the first rockstar since The Beatles tobe immortalised in waxat Madame Tussaud’s inLondon.

The Album ‘21 at 33’was so called becauseat 33 years of age it wasElton’s 21st album.

The first piano that Eltonever bought was a blackSteinway grand whichhe has subsequently hadpainted to look asthough it is made ofWalnut. To have had anew one made in actualWalnut would havebeen too costly.

On 23rd December1974 The DailyTelegraph reported ‘noamount of spangledgimmickry, clowning ornoise can hide his greattalent as a musician anda performer of goodsongs’ (we could havetold them that!!)

James Galway, theclassical flautistincludes Elton’s ‘LittleJeannie’ as the finaltrack on his album‘James Galway - APortrait’, recorded in1996 (BMG/RCAVictor). We think it wasincluded on the albumas a thank you to Eltonfor writing the awardwinning film score song‘Basque’ which Galwayperformed.

BETWEEN 17 AND 20 • BETWEEN 17 AND 20ANOTHER VERSE OF OUR REGULAR COLUMN FEATURING TRIVIA AND

UNITED KINGDOMby George Matlock

This was due to be a pre-concert convention in a pubnear to Leeds Castle, on the

day of Elton’s first open-air UKshow. We had heard just a coupleof days before that the showwould be postponed, so naturallydisappointment and concern forEJ’s health were the main feelingsfor the day. But thank you tothose of you who made the effortto keep your Saturday free and

come down to the Castle on July10. We had a great time, as fansfrom Belgium, Netherlands,Germany, New Zealand andJapan joined British fans for ajamboree at the George Inn pub.

Naturally, fans were hardly inthe mood for a sing-a-long, andtheir thoughts were with Eltonfollowing the shock health news.However, Hercules salesmanager Alan from Wrap It Up!was able to provide a few giftideas for the fans, and a funevent was enjoyed by all.

The weather was superb, fullsunshine, about 28 degrees, anda light breeze. Some fans wentover to Leeds Castle to inspectwhat might have been, and tosoak up the atmosphere of anaborted midsummer concert.Excitement soon built up againat the thought of the postponedshows taking place in just a fewweeks time!

Media interest was high, andlocal press published reports ofthe event. It was even brieflymentioned in The Sunnewspaper!

conventionally

Leeds Castle - where are you EJ?? The George Inn - spot the Hercules logo!

(pho

tos:

G M

atlo

ck)


spend more than I earn although,that said, I do spend a lot. Ibelieve in living while you'reliving. I've got nobody to leave itto, but my partner, DavidFurnish, my family and myemployees. I'm very proud of myemployees and trust themimplicitly which is why John'sbetrayal hurts me so much. Youknow, I've paid off the mortgagesof many of my staff so they didn'thave to worry about their futures.

"All the stuff over the years ofReid discovering me as somekind of pub pianist and makingme a superstar, well it's justbulls***. I got where I am todaythanks to bloody hard work andDick James, the man who firstbelieved in me and made me astar in America before Reid waseven in the picture. But we'vemoved on. It's interesting to seehe doesn't manage anyone of anysignificance any more."

The Mirror said that Elton hasnot spoken with Reid since hefired him and has no plans to doso in the future. “We werefriends for a hell of a long time -or at least I thought we werefriends."

John Reid denied allegationsof mis-management in a reportrun by UK’s Daily Mailnewspaper later that same week.Reid also told the Mail he isconsidering legal action fordefamation against Elton. Headded that if and when the casecomes to court in London, Reidwill be exonerated by the facts.Hercules understands that case(due this autumn) will be settledout of court, however.

This is an early announcement for a Hercules FanConvention that is planned to be held in Las VegasSeptember 10-16, 2000. While Hercules is stillnegotiating with some of the Las Vegas’ hotels, wewould like to give fans an early chance to mark thisdate in their calendars.

We hope as many of you as possible will be ableto come to our first ever International event. Its agreat chance for Elton John fans from all over theworld to get together. You have a whole year to planfor it - and as there will also be plenty of free time -make the trip part of your annual family holiday. Forthat reason we have scheduled a one-week programwhich is planned to proceed something like this:

SundayDinner party with some special guests.

Elton look-a-like competition

MondayAll day convention with trade area, music,

videos, seminars, contests and surprises

TuesdayAll day convention continued until 6 pm

Wednesday - FridayDiverse activities in and around Las Vegas.

(e.g. Hoover Dam tour, Grand Canyon tour, etc.)

SaturdayDeparture

We’re still working on the details which will bemade available as soon as possible. You shouldexpect a registration fee of approx. $150 for thethree-day convention (Sun-Tue). Room rates will beapprox. $100 single or double a night. Tours andother activities (Wed-Fri) will be charged separately.

If you want to receive future updates on theHercules Fan Convention 2000, simply send apostcard with your complete postal address toStephan Heimbecher, Hercules Fan Convention2000, Orleansstr. 59, D-81667 Muenchen, Germany,or e-mail us at [email protected].


CONVENTION 2000


CONVENTION 2000


CONVENTION 2000


Elton has a green andwhite Sydney tramnestled in the gardensof his house in Windsorwhich he bought in1984 whilst touring inAustralia. Davidcurrently uses it as hisoffice.

I’m sure Elton’s ex-wifeRenate has a goodsinging voice, but onNovember 4th 1987 ata children's charityconcert in London,Elton said he woulddonate £7000 if Renatewas stopped fromsinging on stage withJonathan Ross, BobGeldof and a host ofother stars.

On the 9th September1988, the bannersadvertising theSotheby’s sale of the‘Elton John Collection’sold for £550 each.They had been hangingoutside their front doorand were added as anextra lot at the end ofthe auction. The auctionraised £4,838022 - wellin excess of theestimated £3 million.

The famous giantPinball Wizard DocMartin boots from thefilm Tommy sold at theSotheby’s auction inSeptember 1988 for£11,000.

BETWEEN 17 AND 20 • BETWEEN 17 AND 20GOSSIP ABOUT ELTON - FOUND OF COURSE, BETWEEN PAGES 17 AND 20!!

FINLAND

Have you seen The North?The hot and sunnyweather caused a lack of

people at the inauguralconvention in Finland on July 10.Still a few brave, loyal fansgathered to meet each other andto have fun. We had a long,interesting discussion aboutElton's recent activities. However,we didn't yet know about hispacemaker operation, so therewas a lot of guessing about hiscondition of health.

Some rare videos were alsowatched, and everybodyrefreshed their memories aboutElton's last summer concert inHelsinki. Everyone agreed that itwas the best day of their life.After having a 4-hour Elton Partywe went out into the beautifulweather to see the town.

It was fun, but next time wewill do it at some cooler time,when it's more like Finland!

For future Finland fanactivities, contact Urpu Kallio,Hercules Nordic Representative.

were happy to meet "old pals"again after such a long time.Many people who were presenthave been with Hercules sincethe very beginning in May 1988,and so the meeting had manyelements of a "family re-union".But there was also Elton-stuff tolook at, including our GermanElton look-a-like, Andreas Herr.

Later in the afternoon, thegroup made the 15-minute tripto the stadium where a block ofmore than 100 seats had beenreserved for Hercules members!

speakingGERMANYby Stephan Heimbecher

After a long break, we finallyhad the chance to organiseanother fan meeting in

Germany. This time, we took thechance of Elton's solo show atthe Gerry Weber tennis stadiumin Halle/Westfalen to meet innearby Bielefeld prior to theshow. Since this was a Saturday(June 26), more than 50 fansmade the effort to drive to thehotel in Bielefeldso they couldparticipate in the"warm up" eventfor the followingshow. However,this would havebeen betterscheduled as a"cool down"convention asoutsidetemperatures wereexceeding 30degrees Celsius.

It was obviousthat many fans

German fans let EJ know how they feel.

Whilst recovering from his heart operation

in the South of France, Eltonreportedly took the opportunityto break his silence over therecent split with long-timemanager John Reid. The UK’sDaily Mirror newspaper reportedon July 16 that Elton phonedthem with allegations of Reid’smis-management. He launched astinging attack on his formermanager, whom he accused ofcreaming off millions from hispop fortune with excessivemanagement fees.

He sensationally revealed thatReid even secretly remortgagedhis beloved 37-acre home,Woodside, in Windsor. And thetrusted aide had also quietly soldoff the rights to his first six albums- the most successful and lucrativework of his glittering career - for apaltry £3 million. "As far as I'mconcerned John Reid's a liar and acheat," Elton was reported to havesaid. "It all started in Atlanta acouple of years ago. I'd been withJohn for 28 years - five of them ina personal relationship. He wasmy first love.

"I figured out something waswrong so I asked my lawyer, FrankPresland, who's been with me for18 years, to take a look at myfinances. It was the first time I'dasked for an audit in all thoseyears. I didn't know how muchmoney I had. And what did wefind? The biggest mess you canimagine. There were literallydozens of horrendous deals. It wasa total mess and very alarming. Iestimate £20 million had gone.

"I discovered £5.5 millionworth of borrowings secured onthe Windsor house plus two of myfavourite paintings - a Francis

Bacon and a Magritte. He'd sold itoff at less than favourable ratesand he creamed a heftycommission off the top."

The Mirror reported that Eltonhas been angered by a series ofhighly inaccurate reports aboutthe state of his finances and calledThe Mirror to put the recordstraight. And he apparentlyconfirmed that he has taken out a£25 million loan to buy back allhis assets and the rights to hisown music and will have notrouble paying it back.

"There's a lot to sort out andthat takes a lot of time andenergy," said Elton. "Foryears the managementof my finances wascarried out behind myback and wasdisgraceful. As thefull extent ofthe troubleswereexplained tome I literallywent intoshock, but Ihad a greatsupport teamwith me andthey are helpingme now.

"It's ludicrousand untrue to sayI'm in financialdifficulty. I'm notskint, nothing couldbe further fromthe truth, but myteam and I haveone goal - to buildfor the future. Itrusted John as afriend, but as a

business adviser I was always keptin the dark. When I discoveredwhat had gone on it came as avery severe blow. It's bad enoughto lose £20 million to someoneyou trusted, but the money reallyis of secondary importance. It'sthe act of betrayal which reallyhurts, especially a betrayal ofsomeone I trusted. He used tohate me doing things for the EltonJohn Aids Foundation because itwasn't earning him any money.”

Elton fired John Reid, 49, inMay last year. Frank Preslandimmediately took over as chiefexecutive for Elton’s companiesand began the long process of

clawing the cash back. Among the

astonishing discoveriesreported by the

Mirror was thatElton had madea £12,000 losson a sell-out44-date UStour in1980 whilehismanagerhad madenearly£600,000.

And Eltonwent on to

comment aboutthe recentrumours of hisfinancialproblems; "Thetruth is, I dospend a lot ofmoney. I don'tdeny that. It'srubbish tosuggest that I


“I thought we were

friends”Elton and John Reid

ELTON TALKS ABOUT HIS BITTER SPLIT WITH JOHN REID, AND REVEALS THE TRUTH ABOUT THOSE FINANCIAL RUMOURS

I don’t have much money,BUT IF I DID...


5th March 1998Perth, Australia

We got down to Perth lastSaturday after a long flight fromL.A. to Sydney, then another toPerth. We had a half day torecover from jetlag before it wastime to start rehearsing and

soundchecking. We did a littleeach day, some with justEJ's band, some withElton and the band andsome with Billy Joel,Elton and both bands!The show starts with EJ

and BJ doing "Your Song"and "Honesty" with just their

two pianos. Then EJ's bandcomes onstage for a 90minute set in which BJguests on "..The Blues".

Then BJ and his band doa 90 minute set with EJas a guest. ThenBOTH bands jointogether for encores.Then for a final encore

EJ and BJ are back to just thetwo pianos for "Piano Man".

The audience was pretty laidback, it had been quite hotduring the day, and since theshow started at 6:30 there wasn'ta chance for the temperature tocool down at all before the show.33,000 is quite a big crowd forPerth though, and I think they allhad a good time.

Right now we're on achartered flight to Auckland, NZwith our crew, and Billy Joel, hisband and crew. For about twohours we've had a big sing-a-long, led by Billy Joel himself. Allthe 50's, Beatles, Motown--youname it, they've been sung in thecabin by everybody who wantedto join in. The cabin attendantshave been well entertained!We'll have a day off in Aucklandbefore the two shows onSaturday and Sunday.


After a nice day off inAuckland, we had our first showhere tonight. Although it was hotin the daytime, by 7:30 when theconcert started it was very niceand cool with a breeze. Thestage setup was a little better,and Davey, Bob and I were on ariser. I found it much easier toperform when I could see theaudience! The crowd was muchmore energetic than in Perth, andpeople were up and dancing atthe edge of the stage midwaythrough our set, and just gotbetter from there. After we didour set, I went out by thesoundboard to watch Billy Joel'sset. He and his band soundedgreat, and it was fun to see thelighting effects.

When we all got back onstage for the encores, it felt muchmore comfortable, as I've had achance to start getting to knowBJ's band members. It's mucheasier to perform onstage withsomeone when you know them alittle! The strange part of theshow for me is getting warmedup, then sitting around for anhour and coming back onstageagain. Keeping the energy levelup is the trick for me.


The crowd at the showtonight was even better than lastnight - up to the stage in the thirdnumber and rockin' out fromthen on! A very good-lookingaudience I must say too. We cuta couple of songs out to makeour set more in line with BillyJoel's, time wise. I did miss themto be honest-- "If The River CanBend", "Tiny Dancer" and"Believe". Oh well--they'llprobably be put back in for theUS shows, but there is only so

JOHNJORGENSONJ

JJ’S TOUR DIARY

Yet another overnight drive...Extracts from John Jorgenson's tour diary

THIS ISSUE'S FEATURE: ELTON & BILLY TOUR AUSTRALIA, 1998


Elton in splendid performingmood made this concertunforgettable. Especially sowhen he played the series ofTicking, Carla Etude and Tonight.This was certainly the climax ofthe evening.

Our block of 100 Herculesmembers tried to make theaudience move from their seatsduring the following I Don'tWanna Go On With You LikeThat but we only succeeded halfan hour later when Elton playedCrocodile Rock. Before that heperformed a brilliant version ofTake Me To The Pilot. This againwas - like Rocket Man - a smallsurprise for me because youhave heard this so so many timesduring the last years.Nevertheless, Take Me To ThePilot sounded amazingly "new".Another surprise was that WrittenIn The Stars was left out. Eltonhadn´t played it in Ludwigslusteither, meaning that this was ashow without the current single,although the concert wasintroduced with sounds of AIDA.

Because of all that, a setwithout a lot of unexpected andunusual songs still becameinteresting and exciting.Although Elton had already quithis abstinence from Candle InThe Wind at the end of his UStour, it was yet somehow strangeto hear it as an encore after athree-hours non-stopprogramme.

Although the audience hadneeded some time to warm up -no wonder when there are onlysome pseudo-VIPs in the first tenrows who seemed unable toshow enthusiasm - it finallycelebrated Elton with standingovations after Crocodile Rock.He obviously enjoyed this andreturned thanks to the fans infront of the stage with lengthyautograph sessions.

HALLE

elton john &hercules at

by Stephan Heimbecher

(Pho

to: J

imm

ie C

ollin

s)


much time in the EJ/BJ show.Elton has been battling a cold forthe past few days--it's hard toavoid when we go through theseextreme climate changes. It'smade his voice a bit gravelly, buthe still gave the audience his alland no one is left unsatisfied!

11th March 1998Brisbane, Australia

Lots has happened since mylast report. Upon finishing up myreports after the second show inAuckland, I remembered thatOasis had checked into the hotelearlier, and so I went down tothe bar to see if Jason (Noel'sguitar tech) was there so I couldthank him for helping me gettickets to their Manchester show.Well, when I got down there theparty was in full swing, eventhough it was 2 am! I had achance to let Steve Cohen knowwhat a great job he was doing onthe lights.

I heard some harmonisinggoing on in the corner--BillyJoel's backup singer BeccaBramlett, guitarist Tommy Burnsand percussionist Crystal Talifieriwere singing with a couple

others that I didn't know. Theysounded great and were soonjoined by a gruff male voice thatI recognised as Joe Cocker's!!!Then the piano got unlocked anda full jam took place until about6 am! Amazing to think thatElton John's band, Billy Joel andhis band, Joe Cocker and hisband and Oasis would all be inthe same hotel on the same nightin New Zealand!

The next day was a bit roughafter the late night, but the funwas worth the price. I sadly saidgoodbye to New Zealand fornow. We took an afternoon flightto Brisbane, arriving there in theevening. The following day Iwent to the Lone Pine KoalaReserve. It was a veryworthwhile experience, and Iwould recommend it to anyonewho visits the Brisbane area.

The show in Brisbane wentwell--no surprises really, exceptfor a guy who jumped onstagebypassing all the security guardsand shook both Elton's andBilly's hands before jumpingback off again. The Brisbanecrowd was a little tamer than theKiwis in Auckland, but seemedto enjoy themselves anyway.

Billy and Elton are both feelingmore comfortable with the shownow, and are starting to goofaround with each other, trying tocrack each other up during thesongs. Billy succeeded when hestarted banging his piano keywith a fly swatter during "Bennieand the Jets"! Billy, like Eltonloves a good joke and nevermisses an opportunity to pull agag.


Wednesday afternoon wetook a flight from Brisbane downto Sydney. The weather isbeautiful here. Spent most of theday wandering around theneighbourhood around the hotel,just shopping and sightseeing.The band bus was practically fullon the way to the show, as mosteveryone's wives and childrenhave come down to Sydney for avisit. It made for a different vibe--a little more like the WillieNelson Family Band or theGrateful Dead! The caterers inAustralia are excellent--we've allbeen enjoying some greatcooking and creative selections


From 11am the fans had beenarriving at the hotel"Ravensburger Hof" in Bielefeldto meet for a warm-up party.More than 50 Hercules membersand their partners found theirway to Bielefeld where we spentthe time with rare video andaudio recordings of Elton´sconcerts as well as withmemories of former tours andour own adventures inconnection with EJ.

At 5pm we formed a long carline and drove the 10 miles toHalle.

The Hercules members tooktheir seats in section C under analmost perfect blue sky and withtemperatures of about 30°C at6pm. In tough negotiations withthe tour organisers we hadmanaged to get a big number ofconnected seats for members.We even got them a bit cheaperthan the "normal" tickets bookedin advance. Unfortunately, wewere seated in the upper circleand not in the inside like I hadhoped. Still, in my opinion it wasnevertheless a special experienceto spend a whole concerttogether with like-minded peopleand longtime friends.

At exactly 7pm instrumentalmusic from AIDA started andonly a few minutes later Eltonappeared on stage with ratherstrangely coiffed hair. Heimmediately started with the firstnotes of Your Song. After that hewelcomed the German audience,announced some well-knownand some less well-known songsand declared how proud he wasto perform in the stadium, as heis a big tennis fan and had oftenseen it on TV.

But after that Elton´s pleasurein talking was almost done, andhe continued with what he doesbest: playing the piano andsinging. The first part of the

concert reminded me not only ofthe latest US tour, which hadfinished just one week ago, butalso of his concerts with RayCooper in 1994. The onlydifference being that Eltonremained on stage on his own allevening.

While he had performedTalking Old Soldiers in the USAit was now replaced by Live LikeHorses. But this was almost theonly variation to the Americanset. Undoubtably, a first highlightwas Rocket Man which soundedamazingly fresh and new after somany years and uncountable liveversions. Yet again, Elton gavethis classic a new touch. If Iremember correctly, this was thefirst time that he didn´t end thesong with "I think it´s gonna be along, long time" but with "I'm arocket man".

Unfortunately, this highlightwas immediately followed by alowpoint - in my opinion:Sacrifice. Although I enjoyed thesolo version a little bit more thanthe one with the band, it has justnever been one of my favouritesongs. But more than 10,000people in the audience werecrazy for it.

The next song, House, wasanother highlight, which stillsurprises me as the song is rathersimply made. Perhaps that’sexactly its secret. When Eltonstarted with "Something AboutThe Way You Look Tonight" andnot "I Guess That's Why TheyCall It The Blues" as he had donethe evening before I felt a littlehope that this could be my firstconcert for years where I didn´thave to hear it. But of course,Elton played it immediatelyafterwards.

But now I don't want to stressthe negative aspects too much -there is absolutely no reason fordoing so. A perfect sound and an

Your SongSkyline Pigeon

The Greatest DiscoveryBorder Song

Live Like HorsesDaniel

Honky CatRocket Man

SacrificeBetter Off Dead

HouseSomething About The Way

You Look TonightI Guess That's Why They Call

It The BluesTicking

Carla EtudeTonight

I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That

The OneBlue Eyes

Mona Lisas And Mad HattersTake Me To The Pilot

Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word

LevonCrocodile Rock

Don't Let The Sun Go Down On MeCircle Of Life

Bennie And The JetsCandle In The Wind

ELTON JOHN AND HERCULES IN HALLE (WESTFALEN/GERMANY)

SET LIST

So far, this 26 June1999 had been a

perfect day and itshould even become

better as we were now onour way to the Gerry

Weber Stadium in Halle(Westfalen/Germany)looking forward to anElton John concert of

probably several hours.


of food at thegigs.

Beforethe show,Elton calledme into hisdressing

room tosay helloand to

introduceme toLawrenceFishburne,who had comeout to see theshow. He isdown hereworking on amovie withKeanu Reeves,and was a

very warm and friendly person. Itshows just how good an actor heis--he was scary as Ike Turner!The sound onstage tonight wasexcellent, and that made for avery comfortable set. Elton is stillbattling a cold, but was in a greatmood and performed well. Clivesaid from his perspective that weall played well, and he had agood night with the sound also.During the encore segment,Dave Santos (BJ's bassist) and Itry to rock harder each night on"You May Be Right"--and tonightI think we outdid ourselves! Werocked so hard that we had tohigh five each other after thatsong. Tomorrow is a day off herein Sydney, and I'm lookingforward to that after a goodnight's sleep.


Friday was a day off, and Idid a little shopping at theQueen Victoria Building. It's abeautiful old buildingtransformed into a shoppingcenter full of specialty boutiquesand shops. The designer Joe wasthere and told me that Elton had

bought some clothes from him,as well as Cliff Richard, BillyConnolly, and bassist Lee Sklar.

The Saturday night crowd wasready to party, and really gave ussome great feedback. It started torain during Billy's set, but thatdidn't dampen the enthusiasm ofthe crowd, who were all on theirfeet for the encore segment.Backstage the hospitality roomwas decorated like Bondi Beach,complete with waiters dressed inthe lifeguard uniforms! CharlieMorgan put one on and playedthe encore set dressed as alifeguard, with two of the waiterson either side of his drum set.We all were cracking up totally!You just never know what'sgoing to happen next...

16th March 1998Sydney, Australia (3rd show)

The show started an hourearlier than usual, so the firstthird of our set was still indaylight, eliminating the lightingeffects. The audience was a littlemore laid back than the Saturdaynight crowd, but still got up ontheir feet by the end of the show.Elton was in fine form, and spenta good deal of one of the encoresongs making some hystericallyfunny faces at me! Both Billy andElton love to joke around, andBilly cracked me up during "IGuess That's Why They Call ItThe Blues" to the point where Icouldn't keep singing myharmony parts!

We've got two days off herein Sydney before we head overto Adelaide, so I'm lookingforward to seeing more of thisarea and playing tourist for acouple days...

19th March 1998Adelaide, Australia

After the last Sydney show we

had a couple days off, and I tookadvantage of the time to see a bitmore of Sydney Harbor by takinga cruise aboard the Bounty. Thenover to the Centerpoint Tower fora spectacular view of the wholecity from up in the air.

This morning we saidgoodbye to Sydney and took alate morning flight over toAdelaide. The hotel was so closeto the venue that I could see thestage from the window of myroom! All of our audiences onthis tour have been big - this onewas no exception at around37,000 or so. The stage wasquite a bit higher than usual, andmade us feel even moredisconnected with the audience.I don't think the people standingup front could even see Elton! EJdecided to eliminate "Sad Songs"from the set tonight, and I have afeeling it might be permanentlyout of the set.

It was very casual and"camplike" backstage, and withthe weather being really pleasantwe all sat backstage and relaxed,listening to Billy's set while wewaited to go back on stage forthe encore set. Sometimes "thewaiting is the hardest part", but itwasn't tonight! We head outearly to fly to Melbourne - it's apity that there isn't a bit moretime to check out Adelaide, butthat's life on the road!

21st March 1998Melbourne (1st show)

Just back to the hotel after thefirst concert in Melbourne, and Ihave to say it was the most fun ofany show so far of the tour. Eltonwas in a great mood and wasjoking around backstage betweensegments of the show. I heardthat Status Quo had come to theshow, so we did some rockin'and posing in their honor. Theweather in Melbourne was quitehot and dry today, but byshowtime was very pleasant.

JJ’S TOUR DIARY


ROCKET RECORDS FINISHED?Media reports say Universal

Music Group/Island are to closeElton's Rocket Records label. Nocomment was available fromIsland executives as to why. ButElton will continue to record forIsland. Nevertheless, Elton tellsThe Mirror newspaper July 17he's considering leavingUniversal in USA.

EUROPEAN SOLO TOUR SONGSBefore his operation blocked

the European Tour, Elton played anearly 3 hour solo show atLudwigslust, Germany, on June25 - less than a week sinceending the US leg. Elton dropsTalking Old Soldiers (replaced byLive Like Horses), Blessed, CanYou Feel The Love Tonight, andRecover Your Soul. In Germantennis stadium at Halle's GerryWeber Stadium (June 26), headds Something About The WayYou Look Tonight, but doesn'tplay Written In The Stars. At theshow in Lucca, Italy (July 2) heworks in Song For Guy into theintro of Take Me To The Pilot.

ELTON TO HOST CHAT SHOWBefore news of Elton’s illness

broke, it was reported that he isto host his own TV chat show.Pal DJ Chris Evans persuadedhim to interview stars such asnewly weds Posh Spice andDavid Beckham, Michael Jacksonand Madonna in six one-hourspecials on Saturday evenings inthe UK. Ginger Television bossEvans will act as executiveproducer on the shows, alreadythe subject of fierce biddingbetween BBC1 and ITV. A friendof Elton said: "He'll be a naturalfor this kind of show. With hispersonality, he'll put people attheir ease. Elton's also got loadsof contacts in showbiz so gettingtop calibre guests will be easy." Itis not known whether EJ’s recentillness has changed these plans.

YOU DUMMY!Elton is one of the highlights

of Madame Tussaud's CelebrityEncounter in Las Vegas' newestattraction, The Venetian ResortHotel & Casino. The waxmuseum opened doors July 22.

ELTON AND BERNIE AREFAITHFUL

The new Marianne Faithfulalbum, Vagabond Ways, isavailable in Europe. It featuresthe Elton John/Bernie Taupinsong For Wanting You. In theUSA, the album is only availableas import.

MONEY MATTERS...There has been much

speculation in the press regardingElton’s finances, with new detailsemerging almost weekly.According to The Sunday TimesJune 27, Elton seeks a £25m loanto pay off his bills. Elton puts therecord straight in a frank interviewabout mis-management of fundson page 10. Elton's new manager,Frank Presland, is quoted "EltonJohn's finances are sound."According to Presland, Elton is justreorganising his finances and he istrying to gain more control overhis back catalogue.

EJ TALKS TO THE MIRRORElton gave an exclusive

interview to The Mirror newspaperJuly 17. He spoke of his medicalordeal, about his new projects andabout saying goodbye to his recentmanager, Colin Bell, and how hefelt let down by John Reid.

ELTON III CANDLE Slatkin & Co., New York has

recently informed us that theywill have a new Elton III candlein the year 2000. You read it herefirst! The great news is that theElton III candle will be availablelater this year.

CANDLE SCORE ON DISPLAYThe autographed musical

score of Candle in the Wind1997, as performed by Sir Eltonat Princess Diana’s funeral, andthe handwritten manuscript withthe song's new words written byBernie Taupin, are now housedin the "tribute room" at theDiana, Princess of Wales'museum in Althorp.

ELTON TO APPEAR AT EXPO 2000

According to German newsagency dpa, Elton is planning toperform a show during the WorldExhibition Expo 2000 inHannover, Germany, next year.The Expo will open doors June 1and run until October 31, 2000.

NOT ELTON, NOT AT THE WEDDING!

In a great spoof of the PoshSpice and David BeckhamWedding, London's EveningStandard newspaper July 5,called upon the help of our veryown Hercules member and look-a-like Raymond Johnson to re-create the special day. A grandcolour photo of Elton (Raymond)graced the cover of the pull-outsection. The newspaper claimsthat while OK! Magazine paid£1m for pictures of the realwedding...the Evening Standardpaid...a few pence!

Full details of these items have appeared on our Hotline and Web-site

NEWS BULLETS...


Even though the stage was stillquite high, the crowd was in themood to party and let us know.During "Bennie and the Jets"Billy and Elton cracked eachother (and the bands) up byquoting all kinds of songs duringtheir "trade-off" solos at the endof the song- everything from"The Lumberjack Song" to "PopGoes The Weasel"!

22nd March 1998Melbourne (2nd show)

We said a collective farewellto Australia last night duringMelbourne's second gig. Theshow went really well, and againBilly and Elton were in a greatmood and joking around. Eltoneven got up from his piano andjoined Davey, Tommy, DaveSantos, Mark Rivera and myselfdoing some "choreography"during "You May Be Right", andduring "The Bitch Is Back" BillyJoel "played" my guitar with hisred fly-swatter! It felt very muchlike the "closing night" of a tour,as we won't see a lot of the localcrew again. We will sorely missthe caterers, "More than aMorsel" - they have beencooking up the best food thatI've ever had from a cateringcompany.

After the show, the promotersthrew an end of tour party at oneof the hotels. I was enjoyingvisiting with Billy Joel, his bandand crew, and the promoter'sstaff.

I'll soon say a fond farewellas I get near to the end of myfirst trip to Australia. I know I'llbe back soon- I've made toomany new friends not to comeback to this amazing continent.The next post will be comingfrom Japan- Goodbye fromOZ!!!!

Whatever your worries areabout not getting Elton news inbetween editions of THE MAG,Hercules offers a great Internetservice, THE WEB - and a specialnew service since January 1999 -Hercules Web Member.

Hercules Web Memberprovides extra news, interviewsand features exclusive toHercules, called Hercules WebSpecials. There's also an archiveand search facility, allowing youto check for stories over theyears, and exclusive video andaudio clips for your enjoyment.

It’s free to visit the Web site

and read about the latest news.And the special Hercules WebMember costs just $20 (£14) ayear, and you can join online.

Combine it with yoursubscription to Hercules THEMAG, and you enjoy a 25%discount on the WHOLE package- called the Hercules Goldmembership. If you don't haveinternet access at home or in theoffice, then don't worry! WebCafes are everywhere! Theseoffer a coffee, bite to eat, PCsand friendly technical support.You can enjoy our web site atwww.eltonfan.com

www.eltonfan.comwww.eltonfan.comwww.eltonfan.com

Please be assured that despite the fascination of this new medium,Hercules will also give you the best service possible via the

traditional ways of communication. The Mag also continues to go from strength to strength!

HERCULES ON THE INTERNETEven if you don't have PC at home or office...

read on for details of how to visit our Web site

THE WEBTHE WEB



NEWS BULLETS...ELTON "AND" TINA TURNER

Remember back before Eltonand Tina Turner had their publicfalling out a few months ago andcancelled their plans for a jointtour? Well, they do plan toperform at year's end in LasVegas, but they're not performingtogether. On December 30, 1999they'll perform, separately, at theThomas & Mack Center. And thenext really big night both will beperforming in Caesars Palace --in two different showrooms, forinvitation-only.

A BIG SEASON FOR WATFORD FC

Watford FC is playing in thePremier League this season! ButElton says he won't bankroll theteam even though they needmillions of pounds to survive inthe Premiership.

Sir Elton said: "When I cameback as chairman I made it clearit would not be a case ofbottomless pockets. It has to beup to the club to raise thefinances. We have to acquiremany new players and improveour overall standard but Graham(Taylor) will be cautious becausehe knows we do not have thefunds that other clubs have. Wehave to stay in the Premiershipand try to establish ourselves. Iknow how difficult that will bebut we already have a goodcollection of young players andthey will give it their best shot."

DON’T LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON ME

Elton's Don't Let The Sun GoDown On Me turned out to bethe hush-hush anthem of the totaleclipse of the sun that happenedover parts of Europe on August11, 1999. German radio stationsplayed the original song and itsvarious cover versions all daylong.

ELTON HOSTS SUMMER BALL

Sir Elton's summer ball rolledon July 1. And despite reports offinancial problems, everythingsmells of roses in England. Eventhe flowers for Elton's party atWoodside - which cost £30,000 -are paid for by sponsors OK!Magazine. The party bill is£150,000. Elton invites starsincluding George Michael, ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, actressCatherine Zeta Jones, MichaelDouglas, Sean Connery, and SirDavid Frost. Guests stump up£1,000 for tickets to benefit theElton John Aids Foundation.

ELTON & DAVID AT FASHION EXHIBITION

Elton and partner DavidFurnish attended the VersaceFashion Exhibition in Via DelGesù, Milan, June 27. The nextmorning, they walked to theVersace shop in Via MonteNapoleone to do some shopping.After less than an hour they cameout and walked back to theirhotel. Later that same day Eltonand David flew back to Nice.

ANOTHER GUEST APPEARANCE Elton makes a cameo

appearance on the new Mary J.Blige album "Mary" which isreleased August 17, 1999. Otherappearances are by Lauryn Hill,Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton,and K-Ci.

"LES LUNETTES D'ELTON JOHN" The English play "Elton John's

glasses" by David Farr has beenadapted in French and will berunning at the Tristan BernardTheatre in Paris from August 23,1999.

AIDA ON THE STAGEElton and Tim Rice's Aida will

debut at Chicago's PalaceTheater December 9. It moves toNew York April 6, 2000. Thisnew version of the musical - a bitdifferent from the first staging inAtlanta in 1998 - directed byRobert Falls, will again starHeather Headley as Aida.

Elton with his mother, stepfather and David during the Summer Ball at Woodside

Hercules’ regular WatfordFC reporter, DavidWright, looks forward to

the new season;After a shorter summer

break than ever, Watfordkicked-off their first season inthe top flight for 11 years inAugust. Last season they playedthe likes of Bury, Stockport andQPR. This season it will beArsenal, Manchester Unitedand Chelsea.

Whilst some of their newopponents have been spending£10 million or more on oneplayer, manager Graham Taylorhas spent nothing – not a bean!He has brought three newplayers in by free transfer, butno-one who will set the footballworld alight. Elton has beentrue to his word in not spendinghis millions.

In these big money days ithas been a fantasticachievement to get promoted,but it will be an even biggertask to stay up. Hopefully,Watford FC will not be

relegated in record time, buteven if they do go back down,they will be richer for theexperience, both financiallyand in footballing terms, andI’m sure they will bouncestraight back for another go.

And Elton himself has said; “I think anyone who saw me

on television when we won theplay-off final on 31 May willhave no doubt about whatplaying in the Premiershipmeans. For those who didn'tsee it, yes, I got a bit emotional,and rightly so. This has been amassive achievement forWatford.

Yes, a big percentage ofclubs who go up come straightdown again, but since whenhave Watford, Graham Taylor,our players and our fans everbeen put off by a challenge?We can do our best to run aprofessional, welcomingorganisation. We have alwaystried to come at things from aslightly different angle and ourchallenge now is to see if wecan stand out again -irrespective of where we are inthe table.”

W


WWWatfordatch

SMALL ADSEJ PHOTOS FOR SALE

For sale: 10 beautiful photos(EJ close-ups) taken at theLudwigslust concert in June 99,price: DEM 20 (includingpostage). Brigitte Obermaier,Ehegarten 4, D-88494 Neumarkt– St. Veit, GERMANY,+49 (0) 8722 / 1498.

END OF SEASON SALE:Vinyl albums, 7" & 12"

singles; some rarities; from my EJcollection. Request a full listfrom: Mireille Mölbert, Zaunweg11, D-80805 Munich,GERMANY; e-mail:[email protected]

LOOKING FOR EVERYTHING ABOUT ELTON JOHN

Esp. Recent videos from 1990on (TV appearances, interviews,concerts), newspaper clippings,and so-called rare EJ-songs (b-sides, demo versions etc.): EstherKapohl, Dostojewskistr. 17, D-65187 Wiesbaden,DEUTSCHLAND.

LIST OF ELTON JOHN ITEMS FOR SALE

Small, but beautifully formedlist of Elton John items for sale -including 7", 12", LPs, CDS,books and other memorabilia.Please write to; Stuart Plant,22,Paris Road, Scholes,Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, UK ore.mail:[email protected]

WANTED - ELTON CONCERT PHOTOS

... of the Wembley Stadiumconcert in June 98 (without BillyJoel). Please write to: MarkSnape, 6 Dundonald Road,Ramsgate, Kent CT11 9TB, UK.


These news items have appeared on our Hotline and Web-site

NEWS BULLETS...ELTON BACK ON STAGE!

Elton gave his firstperformance since he was fittedwith a heart pacemaker lastmonth. According to spokesmanSimon Prytherch, Elton gave aprivate concert in Orlando,Florida, on August 14, 1999. "Heplayed a full solo set for 3,500people. The concert wentbrilliantly," Prytherch said,quoting EJ as saying: "It's been awhile since I played. I'm a littlerusty, but I hope you like it."

NEW ALBUMAccording to unconfirmed

sources, Elton and the band willbe back in the studio later in1999 to record a new studioalbum expected to be released inspring 2000. Elton will take a oneyear break from touring - exceptfor the five postponed UK soloshows late August/earlySeptember. Be prepared to seehim back on the road with theband in June/July 2000.

SHOWS POSTPONEDElton's solo shows in Linz,

Austria (June 27) and in Prague,Czech Republic (June 30) werepostponed to year 2000. Thelatter, because of rumours ofpoor ticket sales, wasrescheduled to June 18, 2000.Also postponed (for healthreasons) were Brescia, Trieste,Graz, Madrid and UK.

CANDLE IN THE WIND RE-INTRODUCED

Elton finished the second legof his US Solo Tour 1999 at theProvidence Civic Center June 19.He experiments on the set listevery other show. Elton'sreported rehearsing Amazes Me,Come Down In Time andBelieve. Surprisingly, Eltonreplaces The Last Song withCandle In The Wind at University

of Wyoming's Arena-Auditoriumon June 1 - a benefit show foranti-hate organisations. It's thefirst time he's performed Candlesince Princess Diana's funeral.

SATELLITEElton's solo concert in Lucca,

Italy July 2, was broadcast live onthe national radio RAI RADIO 2.It proved to be the last Italianshow before his heart operation.

FANS ARRIVE AT CANCELLED GIG

Media coverage of Elton’s illhealth was so extensive that onlynine people arrived at LeedsCastle, UK, unaware that thelong-awaited performances werenot going ahead. The open-airgigs had only been postponed 2days before. Castle special eventsmanager Nick Day said: "We hadfour people on the Saturday,three on Sunday and two onMonday, all from overseas.

ELTON KNOWS THE SCORE!Comedy movie The Muse was

released in USA on August 20. Ithas an Elton music score, andHercules sneaked in to offer apreview in the June 1999 fanzineedition.

AIDS FOUNDATIONIn June, Elton took heat from

AIDS activists who want him toaccount for money raisedthrough EJAF. The AIDSAccountability Project says it'sbeen bugging EJ for 3 years forforms required by the U.S. taxauthority, the Internal RevenueService. An Elton representativeis quoted saying: "We haveaccountants who deal with thesethings and I'm sure they justhaven't gotten the forms yet."

Meanwhile, attorneys for EJAFfire back at the AIDS activists.

According to Sarah McMullen,the EJAF's publicity director,Michael Petrelis of the AIDSAccountability Project insinuatedEJAF failed to provide tax recordsafter he requested them numeroustimes. US law requires charities tomake tax returns available to thepublic upon request.

"(EJAF) has always fullycomplied with this law,"according to a statement releasedby EJAF. McMullen claims EJAFfirst found out about Petrelis'request for the records a weekbefore, and promptly mailedthem. The press release stated,"from 1992 through 1998, theElton John AIDS Foundationfunded more than 1,100 grants inNorth America. To date, the EltonJohn AIDS Foundation hasdistributed over $12 million ingrants in North America and $5million internationally."

CHARITY GIG APPEARANCEElton flew in from US

Midwest between concerts toMansfield, Massachusetts on June5, for the 20th annual KISSconcert at the Tweeter Center. Heplayed Crocodile Rock, then waspresented with two chequestotalling $50,000, one from KISS-108 (a Boston radio station), anda second from Brooks Pharmacychain, to the Genesis FundCharity.

DAVID FURNISH ON TVUK independent TV network

ITV, televised Falling for a Star onMay 30 - interviews with severalcelebrities about theirrelationships and cuts DavidFurnish in and out of theprogramme several timesbetween other famous peopleand their partners. David talksabout his relationship and lifewith Elton, telling us that Eltonwas very protective towards himin the beginning.


Fan and Club Member David Wright gives us his views, with someinteresting facts, about Elton's recent heart operation.....

Well, didn’t Elton give us all a scare? When the Italian concerts werecancelled due to heat-stroke my first reaction was “silly so-and-so, he’sold enough and ugly enough to know how much sun and heat he cancope with!” When he then had an ear infection I began to wonder ifsomething was really wrong. Then the pacemaker operation wasannounced and I am sure many fans were seriously worried. The mediacoverage I saw gave some of the information but didn’t answer all thequestions I wanted to ask. So I spoke to one the world’s leading heartsurgeons, Dr Tony Rickards, for some help with the following facts:

1. Elton has had a long history ofalcoholism, cocaine addiction andbulimia but this is not likely to havecontributed to his recent scare.

2. If his heart problem had notbeen diagnosed, he would havestarted fainting with the dangerof death.

3. I cringed at the thought of localanaesthetic for such an operation,but apparently this is normal!

4. I was concerned that Elton had gone back to Nice when his Windsor home is very closeto the London clinic. However,there are complications withless than 1% of pacemakerpatients.

5. Dr Rickards has patentedseveral pacemakers himself but Elton is not carrying one of his.

6. We were told that a simplemovement such as brushing hishair could dislodge the wires.This brought images of himtiptoeing around forever, but it isonly a concern for the first 48hours.

7. A pacemaker lasts for 8 to 10years and would then needreplacing.

8. And now the big one.Pacemaker patients can expect toreturn to a normal life quitequickly. It concerned me thatElton does not lead a normal life!He has an incredibly busyschedule and hasn’t stoppedtouring for several years. Wehave seen backstage footage ofhim fighting for breath. On top ofthat there have been film scoresand musicals. Whilst composingand recording are probably nottoo stressful, performing isphysically very demanding. Itseriously worried me that if hedoesn’t slow his schedule downhe could finish himself off. Shouldhe slow down or stopperforming? Dr Rickards says“Let him carry on.”

9. Elton’s life expectancy is nodifferent than it was before.

HEART IN THE RIGHT PLACE...

I would like to express mythanks to Dr Rickards for his help.

Also, if Elton reads this andthinks I am being intrusive orcritical of his lifestyle, I hope I amnot. Like all fans, I was simplyconcerned and, it goes withoutsaying I wish him all the very bestfor a full recovery.



NEWS BULLETS...

News of Elton’s illnessspread fast, and within 24hours of having an

operation to install a pacemakeron July 9th, we were pleased tosee EJ walking out of hospital,and laughing and joking with thewaiting press reporters thefollowing morning.

The hour long procedure was,by all appearances, a success. "Ifeel very well," Elton toldreporters awaiting him in front ofLondon’s Wellington Hospital."I'm a bit stiff, a bit sore, buteverything went really well. Itcame as a bit of a shock, but theoperation was a simpleprocedure, the only thing I reallyregret is cancelling my shows.''(referring to the open-air UKshows, which were subsequentlyre-scheduled for the beginning ofSeptember)

What was first thought to bethe result of heat stroke, then anear infection, finally wasdiagnosed as an irregularheartbeat. "Literally, I was on theplane to David and Victoria'swedding, but I was ill and had tohave some tests," Elton said. "ButI was given the all-clear so wentback to France, with medicationfor an ear-infection."

“Then I was playing tennis inthe afternoon when David(Furnish) suddenly rushed downto the court and said ‘You haveto stop playing, your doctor’sbeen on the phone - there’s aproblem with your heart’..... so Iimmediately flew back tohospital in London.”

An official statement fromElton said the only downside ofwearing a pacemaker "is that Ihave to carry a card explainingwhy I set off the alarms when Iwalk through airport security. Iwill resume a normal lifestyleafter a couple of months rest. Lifewill get back to normal."

Elton promised to reschedule

every postponed show. "Mydoctors have ordered me to restfor the rest of the month and Iwill not therefore be able to playat any of the concerts plannedthis month'', Elton explained.

On behalf of all his fansHercules wishes Elton a full andspeedy recovery!

John Barrett, the charge nursemanaging the cardiac floor ofWellington Hospital in northLondon, said Sir Elton was fineand there were no problems withthe operation. "I would expect nocomplications. The procedure isvery simple and less than 1% ofpatients get a complication."

Sir Elton: "Thank God for theBritish medical system"

The BBC's Lisa Holland: "Heis now well on the way torecovery. Sir Elton has beengiven strict orders not to makeany sudden movements to ensurethat the wires attached to hisheart become properlyembedded. He will be unable toplay tennis or play the piano forat least two weeks, because hemust not lift his left arm above

his shoulder. Doctors have givenhim a two-month convalescenceperiod in total."

Mr Barrett said Sir Elton mustrest to allow the wires attachedto the pacemaker to becomeembedded inside his heart.General movements, even thoseas simple as brushing your hair(!!) could dislodge the wires, headded. An incision would havebeen made in the left side of thechest before wires were insertedinto the heart. The wires are thenattached to the battery-operatedpacemaker.

Sir Elton described theoperation in which hispacemaker was fitted: "It was a 2-hour operation, but I wasconscious for the last 25minutes.... but I was in no painwhatsoever. I could chat to thesurgeons as they finished."

The life expectancy of apacemaker is between eight and10 years.

See page 25 for moreinformation on Elton'spacemaker

DON’T GO BREAKING MY HEART...

Elton waves to fans as he leaves hospital


AND IT’S TIMES LIKE THESE WHEN WE ALL NEED TO HEAR THE RADIO.....

When I was asked to come on a radio show recently, Imentioned to them Hercules was the name of Elton'sinternational fan club, when talking about Elton's fullname. This was a 30 minute long interview on one ofFrance's biggest radio networks - France Inter, on a showcalled "Hexagonal Pursuit".

I was interviewed as a fan and a specialist of Elton'scareer. The journalists were very impressed about howknowledgeable I am on this subject! They couldn't findany question I couldn't answer. It was a great experience.

Olivier Flous, FranceEd’s note: Thank you Olivier for remembering

Hercules. Many fans go to pieces when asked about Eltonby media. If you're on radio, tv, or a newspaper, pleaseremember to mention Hercules like Olivier did.

PUFFING LIKE A GRAND OLD LADY...

Hello. I love the new design and the name for theHercules quarterly, now called "The Mag"! Thank you for ajob well done. I did find one tiny error, though. In the lastissue (#47), there was an article about Dusty Springfield("You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" by GeorgeMatlock) which contained an omission that I think you andEJ's fans might have missed. Mr. Matlock stated that Dustyappeared as a background singer on only one album(Tumbleweed Connection). I guess he forgot about whenshe, along with Clyde King, Sherlie Matthews, and JessieMae Smith, sang background vocals on "The Bitch Is Back"(Caribou). I'm sure that it was an honest mistake, but onethat needed to be acknowledged. Who, besides me, takesthe time to read and remember every little detail of thealbum credits anyway? Well, I'm looking forward to thenext issue of "The Mag" with many more to come.

Dixie Lily (Ed’s note: yes, really!), USA

LETT

ERS

TO T

HE E

DITO

R

Send your letters to Tammi Law, Editor (address onpage 2) or e.mail her at [email protected].

1) Tonight 2) I guess that's why they call it the blues3) Candle in the wind 4) Curtains 5) Runaway train 6) Latitude

7) Better off dead 8) I never knew her name 9) Love lies bleeding 10) Club at the end of the street11) Amy12) Hymn 2000

LYRIC QUIZ ANSWERS

I thought the last issue ofHercules was absolutely brilliant.It now has an even moreprofessional look and it’scertainly worthy of the musicalsuperstar we all love so much.Keep up the good work!

D Hewett, UK

Nice job on the new Magwith better paper and colorcover. My preference as an EJfan is the Hercules Mag over anyothers available out there, whichat present have no direction.Hercules contents are what EJfans really want to read. Onceagain, good job.

Fooska, USA

Love the new look. I drooledwhen I took The Mag out of themailing envelope. Impressiveand a big boost for HERCULES.Very pleasing to the eyes andeasier to read. Graphics arealways a good reference pointwhen trying to quickly find thetext again. Looking forward tomany more issues. Keep thoseprinting presses rolling!

Reggie Zippo, USA

Thank you so much for thegreat coloured magazine issuefor June 99. I appreciate youtaking the time, and lookforward to hearing more aboutSir Elton soon!

E Perry, N Ireland

new-lookHerculesFanzine

Strongreaction to

Well, it seems as though youlove your new-look Herculesfanzine! We received a greatresponse from you after the Juneissue of The Mag was published- here are just a few of yourcomments...

ALWAYS let us know the expiry date of the card, and thecardholders name.

ALWAYS state your membership number if you send a cheque toHercules, or pay into one of the Club accounts.

PLEASE REMEMBER...

The big news this season hasbeen Elton’s health scareand heart operation - he

certainly had us all worried for awhile! But the good news is thathe is well on the way to a fullrecovery, and has alreadyreturned to work, performing aprivate concert in Florida justweeks after the surgery. Eltonalso plans to record a new studioalbum this year, for release in theSpring. See our news pages formore information about thepacemaker operation.

Hercules organised a "Get wellsoon book" on behalf of fans -and we received many letters,cards and presents from you forElton. All of your get well wisheswere forwarded to EJ via hisoffice.

There are many benefits ofbelonging to Hercules - and oneof them is the regular meetingsand conventions which weorganise. These can vary from justa few like-minded people havinga chat over a drink - to muchlarger conventions withcompetitions and raffles etc. SomeUK members decided to carry onwith their gathering at a venueclose to Leeds Castle, althoughElton’s concert planned for thatevening had been cancelled justtwo days earlier due to his illness.You can read details of this get-together, along with others onpages 18 and 19. Also in thisissue we announce our plans forour first ever international fanconvention.

We realise that the majority ofpeople who read The Mag do nothave access to the Internet, and itcan be a bit frustrating to keepreading about our Web site forthose who have not yet seen it.However, as it is part of theservice which Hercules provides,we feel that it is important thatyou are made aware that the Web

site exists. The quarterly fanzine isa great way to catch up on Elton’srecent news stories, collector’sarticles, and to read about fellowEJ fans experiences over the years,but if you need more immediateinformation, please read page 23for more details.

We are delighted to announcenew, better, discounts forHercules members on Eltonmerchandise from Wrap It Up!From August 1, 1999, fans canenjoy a universal 10% discounton orders they place - just quote"Hercules Universe" whenordering from Alan.

Thanks for all your letters andopinions about the new-lookfanzine - it appears you really likeit! You can read some of thecomments I received on page 26.For the next issue - I would like tohear from you about a certaintopic; over the years I know lotsof you have seen Elton in concertmany times. I would like to hearabout your thoughts on Elton’sperformances during his well-documented and self-confessedyears of drug abuse.

Do you think the drugsaffected his performances andhave his concerts improved sincehe recovered from his addictions?I, for one, remember coming outof a few shows in the late ’80swondering whether he haddeliberately sung a certain versetwice…….! I’ll print some of thereplies in the next issue - I lookforward to hearing from you. Theaddress to write to is on page 2.

And finally, we have two newmembers of the Hercules team, tooffer you an even better service!For French-speaking fans, wehave Francoise Linden-Gilles, andUrpu Kallio, who lives in Finland,has become the Nordicrepresentative.


(photos: C Hochmuth, June 1999)

FROM THE EDITOR...

This is no official tour schedule, as it also includes rumoured and unconfirmed dates.


Annual membership fee is £14 in the UK/Europeand £17/US$30 for the USA and Rest of the World.Please note that your renewal date is printed onyour address label in European formatday/month/year.

Membership passes are available from your localHERCULES department: send a small photo ofyourself when requesting your pass.

Please don't send enquiries or fan mail to the EltonJohn management, but to HERCULES Coordination.Letters will be passed on if necessary.

HERCULES is a quarterly publication released inMarch, June, September and December. In event ofcircumstances beyond our control, there is noguarantee for punctual shipment. It is published inEnglish and German.

Printed articles do not necessarily reflect the editors'opinions. All information is based on the best ofknowledge and belief. Reproductions permitted onlyby prior arrangement with HERCULES.

Member participation is always welcome. We arethankful for your submissions of any kind: reports,articles, photos, drawings, and suggestions. Pleasesend them to the Editor, Tammi Law or to the FanAdviser. Please understand that we cannot alwayspublish all contributions.

UK Hotline 0906 888 20 20 (60p per minute)USA/Canada Hotline 815/293 3843Web site http://www.eltonfan.com

COPYRIGHT: HERCULES

Deadline for Issue No. 49is 1 November 1999

No. 49 will be released 1 December 1999

Backcover: Elton at Halle (Photo: Jimmie Collins)

Watford’s new strip - withthanks to Peter Cook &Watford FC web site

FAN CLUB INFORMATION

Fanzine of the Elton John Fan Club

Issue No. 48SEPTEMBER 1999

THE MAG

CONTENTSFEATURESElton John & Hercules

at Halle ..........................8Heart in the right

place... Insight into pacemakers ................12

I don’t have much money, but if I didElton discusses his ‘mis-managed funds’ 10

Looking like a TrueSurvivor Part 2 of our exclusiveCharlie Morganinterview ......................12

Yet another overnight drivecontinuing JohnJorgenson’s tour diary..............................20

REGULARSBetween 17 and 20

Elton trivia & gossip ..18Club Information ............2Convention Reports ......18Kaleidoscope Eyes

EJ’s TV & Videoappearances ................14

Letters to the Editor......26Lyric Quiz ......................15News Bullets ....................4Small ads ........................24Take Me Down To

The Ocean - EJ web site reviews ....16

Tour Dates ......................27Watford Watch ..............24

HERCULES Chief Editor Tammi Law49 Horseshoe Crescent,PeatmoorSwindon SN5 5AX, U.K.Tel. +44 (0)1793 881 [email protected] Assistants:George MatlockBarbara TurnerDavid WrightUrpu Kallio (Hercules Nordic)Francoise Linden-Gilles(Hercules Francais)Design:Turnstyle Design

Translations:Sabine AsenkirschbaumerStefanie GanterMireille Mölbert

For subscription details,please write to your localHERCULES department or to HERCULES Coordinaton:

HERCULES Coordinationc/o Stephan HeimbecherOrleansstr. 59D-81667 München, GERMANYTel. +49 (0)89 48900369Fax +49 (0)89 [email protected]

HERCULES Fan Adviserc/o Mireille MölbertZaunweg 11D-80805 München, GERMANYTel. +49 (0)89 [email protected]

HERCULES USA/Canadac/o Sharon KalinoskiP.O. Box 398La Grange, IL 60525, [email protected]

HERCULES U.K.P.O. Box 315RichmondSurrey TW9 3QX, [email protected]

HERCULES Beneluxc/o Arjen BuikstraSav. Lohmannstr. 1NL-3214 XA ZuidlandTel. +31 (0)1881 [email protected]: Tim Blezer

HERCULES Italyc/o Luca ZerbiniVia Scheiwiller n.9/AI-20139 Milano, [email protected]

TOUR DATESPlans & RumoursPlans & RumoursSOLO PIANO TOUR EUROPE4-Sept-99 ..................................Maidstone, Kent, UK. Leeds Castle (open air)5-Sept-99 ..................................Maidstone, Kent, UK. Leeds Castle (open air)6-Sept-99 ..................................Maidstone, Kent, UK. Leeds Castle (open air)

SOLO PIANO TOUR USA23-Sept-99 ..............................................................................Jacksonville, FL. Coliseum

24-Sept-99 ................................................Atlanta, GA. Phillips Arena28-Sep-99 ................................................................Springfield, IL. tba29-Sep-99 ........................................Rockford, IL. Metro Center01-Oct-99 ........Champaign-Urbana, IL. Assembly Hall02-Oct-99 ..............................................................................Moline, IL. ................................Mark Of The Quad Cities Arena

05-Oct-99....................................................Madison, WI. tba15-Oct-99 ....................................................New York, NY

..............................Madison Square Garden 16-Oct-99 ........................................New York, NY.

..........................Madison Square Garden

SMASH HITS / MISCELLANEOUS21-Sept-99 ............................Kansas City, KS. ..........Missouri Municipal Auditorium, ............Smash Hits Tennis Tournament25-Sept-99 ................................Las Vegas, NV............................MGM Grand Arena, ..................Andre Agassi's Grand Slam

ELTON JOHN & TINA TURNER30-Dec-99..................................................Las Vegas, ....................NV Thomas & Mack Center

TOUR 200018-June-00 Prague, Czech Republic, t.b.a.............(postponed from June 30, 1999)

Please note that if you have paid yourMembership Fee by Credit Card, yourcard will automatically be chargedagain for the renewal fee, at the end ofyour membership year. If your card hasexpired in the meantime, or if youhave switched companies, pleaseforward your new Credit Carddetails to HerculesCoordination in time for yournext renewal.

1999~2000Smash Hits Auction Dec.'98(Photo: Sharon Kalinoski)

FUNERAL FOR A FRIENDHERCULES is very sad to report the

passing of a very dear friend ofmany Hercules members and staff,

as well as many Elton fansworldwide. Keith Levine of New

York City died on August 22, 1999at the young age of 38. He has left

many broken hearts among hisfriends. We will always rememberall he did for us, in getting together

EJ fans on many occasions in the1980's and 90's.

Keith, you will be missed so much.

HERCULES Hotline on 0906 888 20 20


HERCULES Hotline on 0906 888 20 20Calls cost 60p per minute anytime


inside this issue:

News of Eltonshealth scare

The split withJohn Reid

Review: Solo Tour

Exclusiveinterview withCharlie Morgan

Announcing: First EverWorldwideConvention

September 1999 Issue No: 48

THE MAGsince 1988

september 1999 issue no: 48 since 1988 · service, the web - and a special new service since...

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