The Fox

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The Fox
Studio album by Elton John

Publication
(s)

May 20, 1981

Label (s) Geffen Records (US)
The Rocket Record Company

Format (s)

LP, cassette, CD

Genre (s)

Rock , soft rock , pop rock , new wave

Title (number)

11

running time

45:48

production

Clive Franks, Elton John, Chris Thomas

Studio (s)

Super Bear Studios, Berre-les-Alpes , France
Sunset Sound Recorders and
The Village Recorder and
Davlen Studios, Los Angeles, USA
Abbey Road Studios, London

chronology
21 at 33
(1980)
The Fox Jump up!
(1982)
Single releases
May 8, 1981 Nobody wins
July 1981 Just Like Belgium
July 1981 Chloe
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The Fox (Eng. "The Fox") is the 15th studio album by the British singer and composer Elton John .

background

Five recordings of this album came from the sessions for 21 at 33 and also the B-sides of the single released. As with the previous album, very few of the lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin .

Before John started his 1980 World Tour in September and performed mainly in the USA and Australia for the rest of the year, he recorded another half a dozen songs in addition to the recordings from the previous year.

One of the first tracks that John composed with Taupin after years of separation was The Fox , which was also to give the album its name. John himself is The Fox . The song is about how he ignores American critics who badmouth his music. His message was that he would never give up making music just because they disliked his music and asked him to leave the concert stage for good.

Visions - The videos for the album

In 1982, in addition to the album, the video collection Visions was launched. Produced by Alan Schoenberger and directed by Russel Mulcahy, a video was shot for all the titles and linked in a brief framework story. The video was not only offered in the VHS video format , which was popular at the time , but also on the relatively new medium laser disc . Officially, the videos have not been republished since then, but are easy to find on YouTube.

It has been reported repeatedly that Elton's song was not played on the radio in some countries. The version of Visions distributed in the UK also did not contain the title because the content shown was associated with homosexuality.

reception

While a number of The Fox's songs came from the recording sessions of the extraordinary album 21 At 33 , it's a shame that the spark from that album didn't make it to The Fox . That's not to say The Fox is just a bad album, but it's just a collection of B-sides.

Track list

LP

page 1

  1. Breaking Down Barriers (John, Gary Osborne ) - 4:42 **
  2. Heart in the Right Place (John, Osborne) - 5:15 *
  3. Just Like Belgium (John, Bernie Taupin ) - 4:10 **
  4. Nobody Wins (Jean-Paul Dreau, Osborne) - 3:40 **
  5. Fascist Faces (John, Taupin) - 5:12 **

Page 2

  1. Carla / Etude (John) - 4:46 *
  2. Fanfare (John, James Newton Howard ) - 1: 26 *
  3. Chloe (John, Osborne) - 4:40 *
  4. Heels of the Wind (John, Taupin) - 3:35 **
  5. Elton's Song (John, Tom Robinson ) - 3:02 *
  6. The Fox (John, Taupin) - 5:20 **

(*): Produced by John and Clive Franks and recorded in August and December 1979 and in January 1980 together with the recordings for the album 21 at 33 . (**): Produced by Chris Thomas for the album The Fox .

B sides

title A side
Fools in Fashion * Nobody Wins 7 "(US / UK)
Nobody wins Nobody Wins 12 "(US)
Je Veux De La Tendresse (French version of Nobody Wins ) Nobody Wins 12 "(US)
Can't Get Over Getting Over Losing You * Just Like Belgium 7 "(UK)
Tortured * Chloe 7 "(US)

(*): Produced by John and Clive Franks and recorded in August and December 1979 and in January 1980 together with the recordings for the album 21 at 33 .

occupation

The numbering used relates to the order of the songs on the CD.

  • Elton John - vocals, accompaniment (1, 2, 4, 5, 9), piano (1–3, 5, 6, 8–11),
  • Ronald Baker - backing voice on "The Fox"
  • Colette Bertrand - French voice on "Just Like Belgium"
  • Carl Carwell - backing voice on "The Fox"
  • Chuck Cissel - backing voice on "The Fox"
  • Bill Champlin - accompaniment (1, 8, 9), tambourine on "Chloe" and "Heels of the Wind"
  • James Cleveland - speaker and choirmaster on "Fascist Faces"
  • Cornerstone Baptist Church Choir - Choir on "Fascist Faces"
  • Victor Feldman - percussion on "Fanfare" and "Chloe"
  • Clarence Ford - backing voice on "The Fox"
  • Roy Galloway - backing voice on "The Fox"
  • Jimmy Gilstrap - backing voice on "The Fox"
  • Venette Gloud - backing voice on "Breaking Down Barriers" and "Heels of the Wind"
  • Max Carl - backing voice on "Chloe"
  • Jim Horn - alto saxophone on "Just Like Belgium"
  • Roger Linn - programming on "Nobody Wins"
  • John Lehman - backing voice on "The Fox"
  • Tamara Matoesian, now Tamara Champlin - accompanying voice on "Breaking Down Barriers" and "Heels of the Wind"
  • Reggie McBride - bass guitar (2, 8)
  • Dee Murray - bass guitar (1, 3, 5, 9, 11), backing voice on "Chloe"
  • James Newton Howard - synthesizer (1–4, 7, 9, 10), vocoder (2), programming (4, 10), piano, Fender Rhodes (8), Hammond organ (11)
  • Marty Paich - violin arrangement on "Chloe"
  • Nigel Olsson - drums (1, 3, 5, 9, 11)
  • Gary Osborne - backing voice on "Chloe"
  • Mickey Raphael - Harmonica on "The Fox"
  • Stephanie Spruill - tambourine and accompanying voice on "Breaking Down Barriers" and "Heels of the Wind"
  • Alvin Taylor - drums (2, 8)
  • Oren Waters - backing part on "The Fox"
  • Richie Zito - guitar (1, 3, 5, 9, 11)
  • London Symphony Orchestra - violins on "Carla / Etude" and "Chloe"
  • Jeff Porcaro - Drum Programming (5)
  • Steve Porcaro - Synthesizer (5)
  • Steve Lukather - guitar (9)

production

  • Producers: Chris Thomas (tracks 1, 3-5, 9, 11); Clive Franks and Elton John (titles 2, 6-8, 10).
  • Sound engineer: Bill Price
  • Engineering assistant: Karen Siegel
  • Art Director: Richard Seireeni
  • Photography: Eric Blum
  • Elton John Photo: Terry O'Neill

Individual evidence

  1. http://www.eltonography.com/tours/1980.html
  2. https://www.songfacts.com/facts/elton-john/the-fox
  3. https://www.discogs.com/de/Elton-John-Visions/release/9100223
  4. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEiFa-TFQIkTY9olc3-fK6YY8G295zq6T
  5. Elton John - The Fox (Album Review). Retrieved August 10, 2020 (American English).
  6. a b c https://www.sessiondays.com/2014/08/1981-elton-john-fox/